Here’s a well known secret – I am a HUGE Disney fan and have been my entire life (since age 3 or so when my parents first took me to Walt Disney World in Florida – not counting the time they took my sister and me when I was in the womb, ha). As an adult, that fact has not changed but perhaps only intensified because now I can go when I choose! Friend trips, family trips, solo trips – I really don’t need much of an excuse for someone to convince me as I count Disney World among my favorite places to visit across the globe. As a Disney-lifer, I pride myself on making new discoveries and continuing to explore the parks inside and out as there is so much to see and do, and something seemingly new offered every year. I recently was able to cross off two of my top bucket list items in Florida – the first was visiting the parks around New Year’s Eve so I could experience the mayhem and thrilling fireworks that they typically show on TV firsthand (woohoo!) and the second was fulfilling a lifelong Disney dream to attend a private VIP tour!! How was I able to accomplish this? By discovering the group VIP tours now offered to the masses and attending an Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP tour!
If you’ve ever been to the parks, you’ve probably noticed official looking guides walking by with a small group in tow, wearing crisp blue pants, a red and blue plaid vest and/or suspenders over white shirt, a shiny gold pin and cast member name tag. These are Disney’s official VIP tour guides and they have the ability to lead their small group to the front of the line and get on rides in what seems to be an instant – and then of course the natural reaction is to quickly glance-over who they are accompanying to see if one of them is a celebrity. Sometimes that may be the case, but more often when I’ve checked them out, these people appear to be ordinary everyday folk, leaving you wondering if they either are in fact related to a celebrity, know someone very high up at Disney or just have a ton of money to spend.
For anyone unfamiliar, a private Disney VIP tour (what they call their Premium Tours) doesn’t come cheap. You and up to 10 guests of your choosing can pay a flat rate of $400 to $600 per hour for your group (the higher rate applies in what Disney designates as their peak seasons or around holidays), which wouldn’t be too bad if, say, you wanted to give this perk a spin for just an hour or two. However, to book a private VIP tour you have to be willing to pay that $400-$600 hourly rate for a minimum of 7 consecutive hours and that 10 person count includes every person in your party, even infants. That means those parties who you see on these tours have spent at least between $2,800 to $4,200, depending on the time of year you are visiting – not including the actual cost of their individual ticket as admission is added on top of any tour you take at either Walt Disney World or Disneyland. Anyone paying for this privilege has the option to extend the tour well past the 7 hour minimum mark, but then that is extra money you’re paying every hour, not including tip (as the guides are one of the only entities in the parks that are ALLOWED to accept tips given their job is to personally customize your plans and make sure your day is fully maximized to your liking).
Remember when I said earlier that I was able to take a VIP tour myself? Well, I can certainly tell you that spending upwards of $2,800 for a single day in the parks just wasn’t a part of my budget. But, in recent years, I began noticing that Disney has started to offer “magical extras” in the form of various incentives that you can buy to make your trip even more special, and one of the offerings that appealed to me just happens to be a less expensive version of their coveted VIP tours.
Overview of the Ultimate Tours at Walt Disney World
If you check out Disney World’s tour services webpage, listed just under the private VIP tours are three other VIP tour options in what Disney refers to on their phone line as the “Ultimate” series. This includes a 7 hour tour of their top thrill rides and which includes a lunch called The Ultimate Day of Thrills, a 4 hour tour of up to 10 classic Magic Kingdom rides called The Ultimate Disney Classics VIP tour (with each attraction chosen having no height requirements, making it appropriate for all ages to enjoy – even your under 3-year-old who is thankfully able to participate in these tours for free), or a 4 hour tour of Animal Kingdom park at night that they just began offering as of July 2017 called The Ultimate Nights of Adventure (this one includes snacks, a specialty beverage and access to 5 expedited rides and their new evening show, Rivers of Light). All of these Ultimate tours are group guided tours, which unlike the fully customizable private VIP experience where you choose what you want to do in what order, includes a pre-established itinerary that you can opt to do with the same knowledgeable VIP tour guides for a much lower cost. Both the Ultimate Day of Thrills and Disney Classics tours are held only on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, while the Animal Kingdom tour is held on Thursdays and Saturday-Sunday. The Ultimate Day of Thrills tour is currently the only offering within their VIP tour packages that requires a park hopper ticket as it visits three out of the four main parks (excluding water parks and other Disney extras).
When I first began planning my December Disney trip ahead of the 180 day mark, which is generally the earliest that guests can book advanced dining reservations and/or popular tours at Disney that are subject to sell out, I knew that our New Year’s trip would be one of the busiest times of the year and that line waits would most likely be excruciatingly long (think 2-3 hours). I had all but resigned myself to the fact that this trip would simply be about walking around, taking in the park decor and enjoying the atmosphere while eating good food…and then I learned about the Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP tour. Seeing as the price would be discounted for Disney Visa credit card holders by 15% (and I had just decided to apply for this card), paying $254 (or $270.67 post-tax) sounded very attractive for a guarantee of going on all my favorite rides with minimal wait times at one of the most crowded times of the year. Hey! It was already a super expensive time of year so I didn’t feel as badly about splurging a little extra to ensure this vacation would exceed our expectations. As an additional bonus, my daughter, who was under 3 years old, would be allowed to join us on the tour for free as the parks only begin charging for children ages 3 and up (same as with regular park admission), so it would just be an additional cost for my husband and I.
Given my excitement and knowing this would likely be a one-time splurge, my family was all set for taking this tour and I immediately got to planning the rest of our trip around it. This means at exactly the 180 days ahead mark, I not only booked this trip before it sold out for my date (which it eventually did) but also pre-booked a few dining reservations including requesting an outdoor patio seat at one of the Epcot restaurants which would allow us to have upfront seats for the fireworks display. Come the 60 day ahead mark, which is the earliest Disney hotel guests can book their Fastpass+ reservations in advance, I made sure to choose our attractions on each day based around our dining plans and also chose to book my 3 allotted Fastpass+ for the day of our tour at Animal Kingdom to ensure we would get on the rides we would not get to on the tour, given that our day was scheduled to end in that park around 3:30pm. Phew! As you can see, a trip to Disney World these days requires a lot of pre-planning which I understand isn’t for everyone, but if you navigate it far enough in advance you can usually manage to squeeze in most of what you want to do by just giving it some extra thought. The most relaxing vacation you’ve ever taken this may not be, but one that is sure to be packed with excitement and keep Disneyphiles like me completely satisfied. (The alternative again would be completing splurging for a VIP tour and then you don’t have to worry about planning anything as they do it all for you and act as unlimited human Fastpass+ – but then, given it was New Year’s, I’d be spending closer to $4,000 – no thank you.)
Changes to the Itinerary
Imagine my surprise when closer to my trip, around early December, I randomly re-visited the Disney World VIP tours page and saw that they had made a couple of changes to the itinerary! Those changes have remained in effect until today and include the following:
- The 12 rides once listed had been reduced down to 10 rides as part of the tour itinerary (meaning two less rides would be on the tour though the cost remained the same)
- The tour no longer visits Animal Kingdom at all, and instead visits Epcot mid-day before ending the day in Hollywood Studios (meaning all my Fastpass+ selections in Animal Kingdom for after the tour would be affected as we would now end the tour in another park entirely)
- The table service lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby, one of their few signature restaurants on property, has been changed to a quick service lunch at Epcot’s Sunshine Seasons (I had really been looking forward to the Derby as I had never been there before)
This meant that all my hard work of planning my day around my dining plans the days before and then specifically picking rides at Animal Kingdom for the day of were now for nought. With my trip in just a few short weeks I was concerned that all the best Fastpass+ times had already been snagged and I’d be left with slim pickings should I change my plans this last minute. Well, Disney came to the rescue and then some! When I realized the tour had significantly changed from what I paid for back in July some six months prior, I reached out to VIP tour services who put me in touch with an agent in charge. He explained that they had actually been spending the latter half of the past month contacting everyone who had booked the tour months in advance before the recent changes took effect, and offering everyone two anytime Fastpass+ credits that could be used toward any rides on the day of your choosing; they simply hadn’t gotten around to calling me yet. That solved the lack of 2 extra rides now included on the tour but I mentioned that the table service restaurant – specifically eating at the Hollywood Brown Derby — was something we had been looking forward to for this special trip, and in what I love about DIsney World, he endeavored to make it right. I was personally introduced by phone to the woman who would be one of our tour guides that day and promised that during the tour she would “magically” whisk our party away from the rest of the group to enjoy the lunch we had been promised. With this in mind, we looked forward to the tour with renewed confidence.
What Happened the Day of the VIP Tour
FIRST STOP – MAGIC KINGDOM 
The morning of our tour we arrived 15 minutes ahead of the official check-in time at Tomorrowland Terrace, the start point in Magic Kingdom for the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour. As we were early, there was only a small handful of families gathered about the room (by calling ahead we had learned over 40 people were booked that day for our tour so our large group would be split in half), but the staff encouraged us to grab a snack and check in. A table had been set with various snacks and beverages including granola bars, water bottles, juice, coffee and tea. When we went up to the VIP tour guides with clipboards in hand and mentioned our name, our assigned tour guide greeted us (the one I had spoken to previously on the phone) and took us over to the side, handing out our VIP tour lanyards and offering us the opportunity to visit the bathroom or get started on our tour. We mentioned we were all set and so at approximately 8:17am (ahead of the 8:30 official start time) our tour began!
The tour involved brisk walking, which was fine by my husband and me as we are fast walkers and had come prepared in comfortable shoes, and walking expediently was a great way to get across the park more quickly. Luckily for us, my parents, who live in Florida, had offered to drive up for the day and spend time with their granddaughter so we did not have to worry about lugging along her stroller and switching off rides that she could not yet go on – which meant my husband and I got to relax and enjoy the tour as the ride-loving thrillseekers that we are. By 8:25am, still ahead of the official tour start time, we climbed aboard our first ride – Pirates of the Caribbean. Given the early hour of the day, our boat was entirely empty save for our tour guide, my husband and I. By 8:40am, we made it to our second ride – Splash Mountain. Our tour guide conveniently stepped aside and allowed us to ride by ourselves so she wouldn’t get her uniform wet – but not before suggesting where in the boat we should sit if we wanted to avoid the downpour of water (not front row and left is best)! Just after 9am, we were just getting off our third ride of the morning – Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – when it dawned on me that the rest of our group wasn’t joining us and I turned to my husband and said, “Are we going to do this entire tour on our own?!”
We were then escorted to Haunted Mansion where our guide gave us excellent trivia on the ride’s exterior and explained that the best spot to be the first onto the ride when you enter the stretching room is actually just under the girl with the parasol as that is where the door opens (I had never figured that out so really appreciated this tip).
While we paid for the group VIP tour, we ended up getting a pseudo-private VIP tour for the same reduced cost.
After the ride we were given a bathroom break by “it’s a small world,” before heading to the Fastpass+ line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, one of the park’s newer roller coasters, where our tour guide gave us another very useful tip we never knew about – if you rock from side to side during the ride in unison and everyone in your car participates, you can actually make the roller coaster car swing from side to side throughout the ride – that was SO COOL. Also cool was the fact that this was the first ride we saw the VIP treatment in action. By this point of the morning lines had started to form and the standby line was in full swing. When we approached the cast member toward the part of the line where the Fastpass merges with standby, our guide leaned over and told the cast member to please allow our party to get on the next train as we were on a tight schedule, and the cast member swiftly obliged. This was the first ride of the day where we had to wait at all and only a few minutes at that, as our tour guide made sure we moved from ride to ride with precision. As ride lovers, my husband and I nearly melted with glee.
Following Seven Dwarfs, we next rode Space Mountain with very minimal wait (probably closer to a 10 minute wait on this one as there is just no getting around their long cues).
Our last ride in this park was Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which our tour guide told us was included due to us making great time (despite this one appearing on the original itinerary so my guess is it’s only included on more expedient mornings).
At this point, she informed us that our time at Magic Kingdom had come to an end and we were taken into a backstage area not normally allowed to the public (and thus sadly, no photos were allowed) before she had us climb into a private vehicle. In the car, we were given ice cold water bottles which was incredibly refreshing after a morning walking from place to place, as was the van’s refreshing air conditioning, and she took us straight over to Epcot.
SECOND STOP – EPCOT 
As we drove in a cast member entrance, we saw the back of the iconic World Showcase buildings I had grown up enjoying. It was like looking at a soundstage, which I guess for all intents and purposes is what theme parks are – you just never know it! She whisked past Test Track (sadly not part of this tour as she indicated the lines are too long given there is a whole interactive design aspect to the ride), taking us directly near a side entrance to Soarin’ where she once again offered us the opportunity to take a bathroom break. Our entrance took us right to the start of the line cue and it was there that she pointed out Sunshine Seasons, the regularly scheduled lunch stop for this tour.
After Soarin’, that was it for the scheduled attractions in Epcot – yup, just one ride and lunch are included there – so we climbed back in the vehicle one last time and she made sure we retrieved our bags and water bottles as we would not be returning to the car. Just before we entered Hollywood Studios another cast member came out and scanned our MagicBands (which serve as park tickets at Disney World) so this is exactly why a park hopper ticket is required for this tour as they do check.
LAST TOUR STOP – HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS 
We entered the park again from a side cast member entrance, this one near Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which she mentioned would normally occur at this point of the tour, but given the Fastpass+ line was a little long and looked like it would exceed a half hour wait, we would circle back and do that later. Instead, she took us straight to Tower of Terror which had a much shorter wait.
After this ride, we walked over to the Hollywood Brown Derby for lunch. We were given the regular menu and told that we were allowed to order a beverage (lemonade, coffee, tea, water or soft drink), appetizer and entree apiece – I chose the oyster brie soup and lamb duo while my husband selected the jumbo lump crab cakes and charred filet of beef. While a little heavy, the portions weren’t too big so we were able to manage it. But supposedly this was another reason Disney decided to scratch this part of the tour as some families had complained a full meal after all the rides was a bit heavy – for us, we enjoy a sit down meal so this was an extra bonus and great to finally see the interiors of this iconic restaurant. The food, however, we thought was a bit meh.
To give our stomachs some time to rest, we next visited Toy Story Mania – below is our blurry selfie we took just before the ride.
After that, we went on Star Tours, followed by our final ride on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, where the line had indeed gone down giving us a minimal wait. My husband and I recited the pre-show lines to each other under our breaths as we’ve ridden this ride so many times (my other park ride favorite) and waited a few extra minutes to ride in the front row, accompanied by our tour guide (this really must be the best job in the parks)! It was at this point we were given a choice of taking the vehicle back to Magic Kingdom if we wanted (or even to Animal Kingdom since that is where we had initially planned to end our day), but we had made pre-arrangements for a Fastpass+ to the now defunct Great Movie Ride in Hollywood Studios so opted to part ways. We then partook in extra snacks instead by way of my first Mickey pretzel (I prefer the German pretzel in Epcot) and pizza at the newly launched PizzeRizzo to see if the pizza was just as good as the old Toy Story Pizza Planet (it was exactly the same).
Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour Takeaways
Our takeaway was this: the tour was amazing! I would do this again on a future trip if I only had one or two days to enjoy the entirety of the parks as you can save on the cost of a ticket for an extra day and/or hotel lodging while really treating yourself, or I might consider doing their new Animal Kingdom offering to get in all the top attractions at Pandora! Again, note that Animal Kingdom is not included at all on the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour. You really do get your money’s worth in terms of personalized attention and access to tips and secrets about the parks, plus the private chauffeured vehicle transportation from park to park. As you can see, we did accomplish 12 Fastpass rides on this tour plus had time for up to three additional Fastpass+ afterwards! While we realize the unanticipated private tour was a bonus given we booked before the tour changes took place, we would happily do the same experience with a larger group – some day. On less popular days I’ve read reports that some families end up taking this tour nearly by themselves anyway. When we mentioned to our tour guide that we were into Disney trivia, she kept it coming for the remainder of the tour so it was great to talk to someone who was just as passionate about Disney and could give us some insider tips. You also get to keep the VIP lanyard, which I wore for the rest of the day as it shows cast members I just came off a private VIP tour! One important note: since we were so fast we never saw the regular tour group until the end of our tour when they were just getting to the park (I believe around 2:30 or so). Our tour ended around 2:48pm, ahead of the 3:30 end time we anticipated, but since we had already achieved all that was scheduled we did part ways early – so just note you can’t squeeze in extra attractions that are not part of this official tour, even if you do end early.
Tour Pricing
The thrill rides tour is $299 per person, plus tax, and requires the addition of a park hopper pass as you will be visiting three out of the four parks plus partaking in a lunch – again, the regular lunch now scheduled is at Epcot’s Sunshine Seasons, a quick service food court. For anyone interested in the other Ultimate Tours, the Animal Kingdom group guided tour is $249 per person plus tax and the Magic Kingdom group guided tour is now $199 per person, modified from what they used to call the “Ultimate Day for Young Families” which formerly went to all the same Magic Kingdom attractions listed on their website for the Classics tour, plus kid-friendly attractions in 2 other parks and included a lunch for $299 per person – here is a link to their old brochure for more info on those changes. (I believe a number of people must have complained that 7 hours and a lunch with young kids attending and minimal bathroom breaks was too much, so Disney took note and made it occur in just the one park for a shorter period of time – nixing the lunch but adding a quick park snack). These VIP tours are only offered at Walt Disney World, not Disneyland, but again you do get a slight 15% discount if you are either a Disney Vacation Club member, Annual Passholder at Disney World (annual passholders at Disneyland do not count), or Disney Visa credit card holder.
In comparison to a regular VIP tour, I can almost see why someone might be willing to splurge for the $2,800 minimum cost. It might make sense if you have money to burn or if this is your only Disney trip you are ever going to take and you want the primo experience, or if you are traveling to Disney with a large party consisting of several families together or large group of friends (or can find another random family or two willing to split costs with you). If you split the costs, that $400 to $600 hourly rate doesn’t seem half as bad since you’ll be receiving the ultimate royal treatment in exchange, which includes a private Disney vehicle picking you up at the time of your choosing from your Orlando hotel (even if it is off Disney property – goodbye overcrowded but free Disney shuttles! – note: this is one part that is different from the group Ultimate tours), being whisked through an expedited entrance line (no more long bag check lines), receiving an unlimited use of Fastpass+ without the hassle of having to pre-plan your entire itinerary like I did and ride whatever you want in whatever order you want on the day of, having the ability to go on your favorite rides repeatedly with minimal wait (15 minutes or less generally), watch your favorite shows, firework spectaculars or parades from special reserved VIP viewing areas roped off just for you, and have the opportunity to take your designated tour guide with you from park to park, thus fully maximizing your time at Disney World while everyone around you enviously stares. NOTE: many years ago I believe the VIP tour guides were able to take their private parties to special side entrances or straight to the back of the line to get right on the rides – and maybe this is still the case with some celebrities – but for the majority of those paying for the private VIP tours, this is no longer. They are only able to take each party directly into the Fastpass+ line at character greetings, shows and rides, BUT the good news is that nearly 90% of the available entertainment, including character meet and greets if that is your priority as well as all the biggest thrill rides, at Disney World is all Fastpass+ so you would still be maximizing your time with them either way. If I ever did this, I would just save the non-Fastpass+ attractions for when our pre-paid 7 hour expedited window is up as those lines tend to be shorter in general anyway.
I actually called VIP services to gauge pricing and if one were to book the private VIP tours in October, with the exception of Columbus Day weekend when many schools are out and thus the parks are crowded, the price would come to $425/hour for the fall. Not too shabby.
A few tips when traveling during the holiday season:
- Cast members know the parks will be crowded so if you simply visit Guest Services (either at the front of each park or within your own Disney hotel), you can check to see if they can add any additional Fastpasses for you. Maybe it was because we were staying at a moderate hotel vs. the value hotels we typically stay in (in this case, the moderate was only slightly higher than the value for this time of year so we upgraded), but the employees were exceptionally kind and helpful, noting that we had a toddler with us and trying to help us squeeze in extra character meet and greets and toddler-friendly attractions like Dumbo at Magic Kingdom to ensure that our little girl would have plenty of fun. So I definitely would pay Guest Services a visit and see what they can do despite the busy season.
- New Year’s is a great time to visit for the simple fact that besides the special New Year’s celebrations held in every park (I am assuming Animal Kingdom will do something this year as they now have added nighttime hours that didn’t exist in years past), you also still can view the Christmas holiday decorations on display throughout the parks and at each resort. We spent one half day alone traveling by monorail to all the deluxe hotels as well as walking by the ones near Epcot to take it all in!
- Our hotel gave us Disney buttons in advance – things that say I’m Celebrating, or Happy Anniversary!, Happy Birthday! and the like, without us having to wait until we got to the parks. This is convenient if you want to let their employees know how you’re celebrating a special occasion as they will often wish you congratulations and sometimes even give you a complimentary treat on the house! (This is not just a holiday season tip but a tip in general fyi)
Due to the extra Fastpasses and services catered to our little one, we felt like VIPs for the entire length of the trip, not just on the day we took the tour, making this a pretty special trip and giving us fond memories that will last us all a really long time!!! Would you take this VIP tour? Feel free to leave a comment below on your own personal experience or Disney bucket list items.
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Excellent advice! I had thought about taking a VIP tour a few years back. I will take one on my next visit to Disney World!
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