What is it really like on a Disney World VIP Tour? Is the luxury service at Disney World worth the expense? Today we are sharing our review of a VIP tour at Disney World.
Let me start with the basics. A VIP tour at Walt Disney World is expensive. The Disney Private VIP Tours start at $450.00 an hour and this is in addition to your park admission.
Is a private VIP tour at Disney World worth it? YES….but it is not for everyone. This is a huge additional expense to your Disney vacation cost and I would only recommend it to people that have the budget it do it.
If you have a large budget for your Disney World vacation and are considering booking a tour I think you will feel it is worth the money, if not you can still have an incredible Disney trip.
In this post I go into details of what is a Disney World private VIP tour as well as well as my experience on a tour at Disney World.
Basics of a Disney Private VIP Tour
Disney World can be a chaotic vacation, but with a VIP tour guide everything is taken care of for you.
A Disney tour guide VIP service will help you avoid long lines, make the most of each day at the parks, offer private vehicle service, and spend less time figuring out where to go.
- Cost: $450.00-$900.00 an hour with 7 hour minimum.
- Includes up to 10 guests.
- Theme park admission not included and must be purchased separately.
- Pre-arrival planning.
- Enjoy many attractions through the Lightning Lane entrances.
- Opportunity to visit all 4 theme parks in one day.
- Remember to budget at tip for your Disney World VIP tour guide. Their hard work make your trip unique and magical.
Cost of a Disney World Private VIP Tour
The cost can range between $450-$900 per hour depending on the season of your visit. There is a minimum of 7 hours and up to 10 guests. All guests must have a valid theme park admission ticket.
On the low end a Disney World VIP Tour can cost around $3,200 for the day. That does not include your admission tickets or dining during your day.
Disney VIP Tour Options
Currently the Disney Private VIP Tours are the only VIP tours offered through the Walt Disney World Resort.
In previous years Disney World offered larger group tours. As of April 2024: The Ultimate Day of Thrills, Ultimate Classic VIP Tour, Ultimate Nights of Adventure, and Taste of Magic Kingdom VIP Tour are currently not available to book. I have kept the details below and will update more if they become available to book.
Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour
The Ultimate Day of Thrills is a 7 hour action packed day that starts at the Magic Kingdom.
You will experience Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train followed by a quick-service meal included in your VIP tour cost.
From there head over to Epcot to experience Soarin’ and finish your day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. At Hollywood Studios enjoy Toy Story Mania!, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours.
This tour starts at about $349 a person and park hopper is required for admission.
Ultimate Disney Classic VIP Tour
The Ultimate Disney Classic VIP Tour has guests enjoy 10 of the classic Magic Kingdom attractions. This is a great option for families with small children because all of the attractions do not have a height requirement. The tour is $249 a person and guests must have a valid theme park admission.
Ultimate Nights of Adventure
The Ultimate Nights of Adventure tour is a 4-hour group tour at Animal Kingdom. Included in your tour guests will experience Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, Avatar Flight of Passage, Na’vi River Journey, Dinosaur, and Rivers of Light night show.
Guests also receive a signature snack and specialty beverage along with a souvenir lanyard and other surprises. This tour is $249 a person and guest must have a valid theme park ticket.
Taste of Magic Kingdom Park VIP Tour
On this 3 hour tour you will go behind the scenes at the Magic Kingdom to experience the food and menu items at the Disney parks. Guests will visit backstage kitchens and sample delicious menu items as well.
*All rides and itineraries are subject to change. Learn more at Walt Disney World VIP Tours.
FAQ’s About Disney VIP Tours
Do you skip lines on a Disney VIP Tour?
A misconception is that the Disney VIP Tours give you front of the line access, it doesn’t work that way for all attraction.
Disney VIP Tour guests use the Lightning Lane entrances. Guests do not have to book reservations or join boarding groups for certain attractions.
Do you have to stay at a Disney Resort to book a Disney VIP Tour?
No you do not have to stay on-site at Disney World to purchase a Walt Disney World VIP Tour.
Will the Disney VIP Tour Guide Ride attractions with you?
Yes, most of them. They usually do not ride the water attractions. They also are not required to ride the attractions with you. It is really up to you and your guide.
Are Disney VIP Tours Worth It?
This is not an easy question to answer because where and how a family spends their vacation budget is a personal decision.
If you have the budget to do a VIP tour I would recommend it. It was an amazing way to tour the parks.
Overall we rode 32 attractions, met 14 characters, and ate endless amounts of Mickey shaped treats on our Disney VIP tour. We created unforgettable memories too.
I would never suggest someone spends outside their means to go on vacation. You can have an amazing Disney vacation without breaking the bank.
With that being said. The Disney VIP Tours was incredible. It took all the stress out of navigating the park. If this is within your budget I highly recommend the tours.
48 Hour Disney VIP Tour Itinerary
We spent 2 days with a Disney VIP tour guide as part of a media trip. All opinions are honest and our own.
I have to admit I didn’t know what to expect when we were booked for our Disney World Private Premium VIP Tour.
Typically, I plan our Walt Disney World vacations and having someone set up the itinerary was a different kind of vacation for me. I also didn’t know how I would feel spending our entire vacation with a stranger.
I had so many thoughts running through my head. How would the kids react to another person on vacation with us? Would there be many moments of awkward silence?
Would my kids have a meltdown? Do we eat our meals with this person? What if we had nothing to talk about?
As we came down the escalators we saw Miss Kelly, our Private Disney VIP Tour guide, waiting with a sign and a welcoming smile.
It took about three minutes waiting for our luggage at the airport to realize all of my worries had melted away. This was going to be an amazing once in a lifetime Walt Disney World vacation!
We checked into our resort for the night, said goodbye to Kelly, and went to sleep anticipating an amazing day at the parks.
Disney VIP Tour-Day 1
We met our tour guide, Kelly, in the hotel lobby. We were greeted with a huge smile and it made us even more excited for the day.
During our Disney tour Kelly kept a running list of awesome on her phone. This was a full list of everything we did during our VIP Tours. It was amazing how much we got done with the help from Kelly and lots of pixie dust.
The Disney VIP Tours are serious about getting things done and you should be ready to walk! You really get your money’s worth of a full day of activities.
Guests can customize the tours to fit their needs, and if you want to stop and move at a slower pace you certainly can. Most people on this tour want to maximize their time because the cost of the tours make them a once in a lifetime Disney vacation.
For our first park we were starting at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
When you are on a Disney VIP Tour you are picked up at your resort and enter the parks from a special entrance. It was behind-the-scenes and we were not allowed to take pictures or video.
When we arrived at the back entrance, we were welcomed by cast members with snacks and water bottles and then made our way into the Magic Kingdom.
Your tour guide knows the best ways to get everywhere on property and they save you so much time. We had reservations at Be Our Guest at 12:45 so we started our day hopping from attraction to attraction.
We rode 9 attractions, met 5 princesses, and stopped for a sweet treat all before our reservations.
Lunch at Be Our Guest was amazing! It is the second time we have dined there and I always love the food. My kids liked the Mac & Cheese, Shrimp, and Chicken Fingers, and I loved the Potato Leek Soup.
Your Disney VIP tour guide will take care of everything. They made the reservations for us, and when we arrived she checked us in and got us set-up to order.
She also found us a table and helped make everything go as smoothly as possible.
When you are on a Disney World VIP tour you spend the day with your guide. This includes meals.
As a parent it is always a little nerve racking to take your kids out to dinner. Add in a theme park and heat and it can cause for a meltdown. Then add a person you met a few hours ago to the mix. I was a little worried!
Kelly seamlessly joined our family. From this moment on we knew we were in for a special treat with her. Having Kelly dine with us made the moment even more special and enhanced our vacation in ways I didn’t expect.
Kelly helped the kids pick out their meals and we felt the Disney magic throughout our day. When you have a Disney VIP tour guide with you, the attention to details are amazing and unlike anything we have ever experienced.
After our big lunch we headed over to Mickey’s Philharmagic to digest and get ready for the second part of our day. Mickey’s Philharmagic is a 3D show that we all really enjoy.
We finished our Magic Kingdom day with it’s a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Jungle Cruise. After Jungle Cruise we made our way to the car and headed over to Epcot.
Having a personal car to take you from park-to-park is a huge perk of the Disney VIP Tours. It saves so much time!
We arrived at Epcot and entered right by Test Track. From there we rode Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Finding Nemo, Living with the Land, Soarin’, and Journey Into Your Imagination.
At each attraction we entered through the fastpass line, now the Lightning Lane, this is a huge perk of the Disney VIP tours.
You do not skip the lines altogether, but having unlimited Lightning Lane/Genie+ allows you to experience all of the rides and attractions.
With a Disney VIP tour guide you don’t have to walk to the World Showcase, you exit behind attractions to your car and drive to World Showcase.
After we drove over to World Showcase we met Anna & Elsa, experienced the Frozen attraction and the Gran Fiesta Tour, and ended our day with dinner at San Angel Inn.
At this point we were exhausted and headed back to the resort for a good night sleep. We had another full day planned tomorrow.
Day 1- Itinerary of Disney Private VIP Tour
I think it is helpful to see what we did and how the day was spent. As you can see below we experienced so many attractions in one day.
- Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
- Space Mountain
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Ariel’s Grotto-Meet Ariel
- Under the Sea
- Gaston’s Tavern-Coffee and Snack break!
- Princess Fairytale Hall
*Rapunzel
*Princess Tiana
*Cinderella
*Elena of Avalor - Peter Pan’s Flight
- Splash Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Lunch at Be Our Guest
- Mickey’s Philharmagic
- it’s a small world
- Haunted Mansion
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Jungle Cruise
- Headed over to Epcot.
- Test Track
- Spaceship Earth
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends
- Living With the Land
- Soarin’
- Journey Into Your Imagination
- Frozen Ever After
- Royal Sommerhus-Meet Anna and Elsa
- Gran Fiesta Tour
- Dinner at San Angel Inn
Disney VIP Tour Itinerary-Day 2
Day 2 started with us meeting Kelly at the resort lobby at 8:30am. We went back to the Magic Kingdom to meet Mickey Mouse and then we headed over to Animal Kingdom.
We entered the park near Dinosaur and experienced all three attractions in DinoLand very quickly.
From there we drove over to Kilimanjaro’s Safari but decided against riding it because the line was really backed up.
A common misconception with the Disney VIP tours is that you skip the lines completely. This is not entirely true. There are a few attractions that offer special entrances, but most attractions you enter through the Lightning Lane line.
Obviously this saves an enormous amount of time and your VIP tour guide has planned your itinerary based on the best times to visit attractions.
From there we headed over to Pandora to enjoy Flight of Passage and Navi’ River Journey. We also stopped for lunch at Satuli Canteen.
Lunch was one of our favorites from the weekend. Check out the best quick service at Disney World.
The food was delicious and I highly recommend visiting. It is quick service and does not require reservations.
I recommend you take advantage of the mobile ordering system and use the My Disney Experience App on your phone. This saves you so much time waiting in lines to order.
We typically order while waiting in line for Flight of Passage or Navi’ River Journey. Then as we walk to lunch we check-in. It is a huge time saver and is not just for VIP tours. This is available to all guests.
After lunch we took a break and headed to the Beach Club to enjoy the pool. Our visit was so short and the kids wanted to try the water slide.
I do not recommend stopping for a break during your VIP tour because your tour cost does not change. The hours spent at the pool are included in your hours spent with your guide.
We took a short water slide break and were back with Kelly within 90 minutes. We also wanted to take a break to make cards for Kelly because she meant so much to us. Kelly picked us up and we headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to end our day.
At Hollywood Studios we entered near Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We rode both and Kelly got a chance to ride with the kids, which they loved! From there we headed to Star Wars Launch Bay and met Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, and BB-8.
Disney Hollywood Studios felt a little more slower pace.
We met characters, rode Toy Story Mania(2x!), enjoyed a fun dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café, and ended the day with Disney Movie Magic(A projections show of Disney Live Action Classics) and Star Wars A Galactic Spectacular.
Day 2 was a full day of three parks and so much fun. We were exhausted on the drive home but really sad to say goodbye.
Day 2- Itinerary of Disney Private VIP Tour
- Arrive at Magic Kingdom
- Meet Mickey Mouse in Town Square Theater
- Drive to Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Primeval Whirl
- Triceratops Spin
- Dinosaur
- Navi River Journey
- Avatar Flight of Passage(2)
- Lunch at Satuli Canteen
- *Swimming at Beach Club*
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Rock’n’Rollercoaster(2)
- Tower of Terror(2)
- Meet Chewbacca
- Encounter Kylo Ren
- Meet BB-8 Astromech on Duty
- Toy Story Midway Mania(2)
- Star Tours
- Muppet Vision 3D
- Dinner at 50s Primetime Café
- Meet Olaf
- Minnie and Mickey’s Red Carpet Dreams
- Disney Movie Magic
- Star Wars A Galactic Spectacular
Surprises from My Disney VIP Tour
So what makes a VIP tour so special at Disney World?
It really is the people behind the tours, the guides work so hard to enhance your trip and create magic for your group.
They make your Disney World trip a once in a lifetime experience.
Our Private Disney VIP Tour Guide Became Part of Our Vacation Memories
To us Kelly was not only our tour guide. She was not just a sweet and kind cast member. To our family Kelly became part of the vacation.
The kids negotiated who could ride with her next. They wanted her to be part of each picture and sit next to them during the shows.
As we collected pictures in our Disney Memory Maker I was happy Kelly was part of them. She showed us an entirely new way to experience Walt Disney World.
A visit to Walt Disney World is pretty amazing but having Kelly with us enhanced it a way I didn’t think was possible.
I seriously had no idea what a profound effect Kelly would have on my kids. She became part of our family for those few days we spent together.
The kids wanted to soak up every minute we had to spend with her. She added a new energy to our family vacation and we loved every minute of it.
As we waited in line she created secret handshakes, remembered that my son wants to be a park imagineer, and introduced the kids to the best waiting in line game ever: Heads UP!
Heads Up is an app on your phone much like Head Bands. You have to give clues to a person to guess the person or object. It is a fun way to pass the time in line and I am forever grateful Kelly showed it to us.
Final Thoughts
When I was thinking about the tour before we arrived, I didn’t even think about how difficult it would be to say goodbye. I didn’t think we would feel so emotional or really realize the impact Kelly would have on my family.
Before we left the kids each wanted to make Kelly cards to show her how much she meant to them.
Our final goodbye was filled with tears and hugs. We really bonded with her and it will be difficult to experience Walt Disney World without her.
It was not her VIP access or knowledge of the parks that made the tour so special. It was the kindness to my family, the attention to each one of my kids, and the overall experience of spending our time with Kelly that made it so special.
What Really Makes the Disney Private VIP Tour So Special
The magic behind the Disney VIP Tour is not the special access or the planned itineraries. It is not the back stage entrance or the special parade viewing areas.
It is the people. The cast members make your tour special for your family.
The VIP guides that work so hard to make your vacation special are pure magic. They truly believe in Disney magic and they want to share that with you in whatever ways they can. The tour guides seamlessly become part of your Disney vacation in the most incredible ways.
As I write this I still can’t believe we had the privilege to meet Kelly and share our Disney memories with her. We will miss her so much and she means so much more to us than a tour guide. She will forever be part of this special family vacation.
Tip: You can request Kelly when you book a Disney VIP Tour! Tell them I sent you.
If you are considering a Disney Private VIP Tour I highly recommend them. The guides will become part of your Disney story and they will help create an amazing magical Walt Disney World vacation that your family will never forget.
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Thank you to the Walt Disney World Resort for inviting us to experience the Private VIP Tours. All opinions are honest and my own.
Leah has been traveling with her family of 5 since 2012 and sharing her expertise on planning family vacations and visiting theme parks since 2016. Leah has been featured in Visit Rochester, Undercover Tourist, and Home Publications. She has worked with brands like Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, Hersheypark, Toyota, and various Tourism boards and destinations. Leah creates family travel itineraries based on real trip experiences with her family. Her guides and tips help others plan great family vacations. Learn more about Leah and Five for the Road.
Hi, how many hours did you do VIP each day?
Hi-During our visit we did 2.5 days and over 7+ hours a day. Our visit was part of a media trip to learn more about what a VIP tour is like.
This looks like great family fun! Our family has never been, but I’m sure they would love it!
It was a great experience that we will never forget!
What an amazing way to experience Disney! We are always so impressed with all the little details at Disney and the VIP experience sounds like it takes it to a whole other level!
It really was a once in a lifetime trip! We had a great time!