I did a Disneyland VIP tour and it was the best money I’ve ever spent at a Disney Park.
Yes, I know, it’s expensive af, but let me start by saying that you have no idea how bad I’ve always wanted to do one.
Plus, pair that up with seeing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – a place I’ve been dreaming about visiting for years, and it was basically eating at me to go ever since it opened.
So I decided to bite the bullet.
Disneyland VIP Tour Review
Here’s a quick rundown on how it works:
- Instant access to 30 plus attractions which basically means you get unlimited access to all Fastpass attractions and priority access to about 15 additional attractions.
- Reserved viewing experiences for popular shows, parades, and fireworks in a special reserved viewing section.
- Faster access to character meet and greets.
- 7 hour minimum per tour
- Max 10 guest per 1 tour guide which asl includes children under 3 years old
So here’s how my Sunday with a VIP tour guide went at Disneyland (in May 2019).
And of course it was peak season so just my luck it was $600 an hour. So let me say that first just to get it over with.
Thankfully 2 of my friends came with us so I didn’t feel like I paying that much just for my wife and I.
We met our tour guide Samantha outside of California adventure and proceeded directly to Disneyland park.
Then we finally made it to Galaxy’s Edge. Seeing the Millennium Falcon was everything.
Then with a 5 minute wait, we headed right into the Millennium Falcon.
Riding it twice and being both pilots was a dream. I honestly could’ve went home right after.
Then we did some exploring around Galaxy’s Edge and got some snacks like Green and Blue Milk…
…sweet and spicy popcorn….
…and the coolest Coke bottle you’ll ever see, period.
Then it was time to ride some more rides with our “unlimited Fastpasses!” Our tour guide even rode with us which was pretty cool.
Then once we knocked out all the major rides like Indiana Jones, Big Thunder, Matterhorn, and Hyperspace Mountain, we went over to Disney’s California Adventure to to the same.
The best part was honestly being able to rides Radiator Springs Racers stress-free.
Then once we finished up at the park, we headed back to Disneyland as the sun went down.
Last but not least, we got to watch the fireworks in a reserved, roped off seating area on benches. No standing necessary.
And to make things even better, during the Fireworks, our tour guide went to Galaxy’s Edge and got us a reservation to ride Smugglers Run one last time.
Just a perfect way to end the day.
How much is a Disneyland VIP Tour?
A Disneyland VIP tour ranges from $425 to $600 an hour for a minimum of 7 hours.
The pricing for a Disneyland VIP Tour varies by season and crowd levels.
- Hourly rate is $400 – $600 per hour, per tour guide
- 7 hour minimum
- Park admission is an additional fee
- 2 hour cancellation fees is charged when tours are cancelled within 48 hours.
Is a Disneyland VIP tour worth it?
That 100% depends on you.
Would I do it for 3 days at that peak season rate? Hell no!
But if you only have one day at Disneyland and it’s a weekend and you really really really want to ride a certain ride or explore a new attraction, then yes.
Because in all honesty, there’s only one thing a VIP tour really saves you and that’s time.
No waiting, short lines, and even access to Star War Land, I mean come on, it’s a fantastic offer.
But if money is an issue, bring 9 people with you, split the cost, and it can be quite affordable, especially during offseason (like February).
So in conclusion…
I’ve been to Disneyland quite a few times and I must say, just those 7 hours alone was probably one of the best visits I’ve EVER had.
Great VIP tour guide, awesome company, and nonstop rides at both Disneyland and California Adventure and you got yourself the perfect day.
Update: My Tour in February 2022
So I went on another VIP Tour on February 1, 2022 and I must say, it was a pretty similar experience. But instead of only four of us, there was 8 of us total. But that really didn’t slow us down as we were able to knock out every major ride with a couple hours to spare for repeats.
One difference between this tour and the previous one is that no rides were off-limits. We got to ride Web Slingers in Avengers Campus back to back and entered using the Individual Lightning Lane entrance.
The only thing that was semi-limited was that you are only able to ride Rise of the Resistance once, but honestly, once is enough, especially if you get to bypass that 90+ minute wait.
But if there was one thing that truly separated this experience from my previous VIP tour, its the price.
Since it was off-season and not a Friday or weekend, my hourly rate was $400 (with a 7 hour minimum still).
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Jackie
Sounds like you had a blast…but if you really want to save money and time. All you have to do is be the first group at the park… then you really have time to ride all your favorite rides 2-3 times each (we always do). Then in our group we like pretty much every fantastic ride so we ride each ride by town. Oh and in between these rides we definitely stop at our favorites again like Space mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones etc. and little ride nearly all rides at the park. Oh and easier waiting in the lines when you have a person who is handicapped. When your handicapped you cant cut lines, but you do get to sit down and be called to your ride spot and take the elevator. Oh and while your waiting on say that one ride you go grab the fast passes to your favorites before hand and match the times. Your done and have immediate access to the next ride… but we only pay the ticket and food or merchandise. Lastly, we do have time for the parade and some people stay…I dont because that is a prime time to go ride rides…just have a map or you will get lost and cut off multiple times due to the parade. Overall, Disneyland is starting to become a 2 day thing. Because lines are ridiculous. But we like our ways of getting around them.
Blu
Seriously that’s just insane, terrible advice from a 1%’er or just an idiot that doesn’t know how to plan his day at Disney
DARREN HUNTER
This is a dumb article.
Ramiro Licea
Oh and Yes this is what everyone does.
Sarah
I could not read this. My 9 year old has better grammar than this author.
Kendal
I could not read this paltry remark. My 7 year old has better insults than Sarah’s 9 year old.
John bremburger
This was a very nice first world story with people who have some intense first world problems.
Kendal
No problems were mentioned at all – very petty comment to make – envious much?
Looks like you learned a new adjective and your goal was to use it twice in one day. Congrats!
Anonymous
Stfu rich cunt, youre just mad because your precious hege funds are in trouble and your daddys gonna be broke
Marcus B
Hilarious how a complete stranger can push your buttons and cause you to toss out obscenities on a site devoted to Disney. Emotion much?
Fred Rubble
I can tell by your language you are both trash and obviously uneducated. I would bet money you do not even know what hedge fund really is or the tax implications and advantages to owning or investing one. However I can see that you will never enjoy the success of having money to spend and are full of vitriol towards perfect strangers who simply advised about a good time they had. We are nothing more than sad that you will live a pathetic existence full of failure and hate. Have fun with that!
Chris B
Jeez. You people are a bunch of whining, petty jerk offs. Oh wait. I get it. Disneyland is in OC. You’re just behaving OC-typical.
Anonymous
Sounds like someone is jealous!!
David
Well, you basically have two options. You can continue to angrily respond to everyone pointing out that no matter how well off a person is, this is an insane amount of money to throw at an amusement park (as if your replies will somehow change that fact)….or you can go spend several thousand yourself on this experience. I guarantee you no one here will be upset if you choose to throw away your money that way.
Tommy
I didn’t see anger in the commenter’s comments, just a response to people attacking the author. And that someone gets to the point where they are lashing out and say “STFU…cunt” wow…..complete overreaction.
I respectfully disagree there are 2 options he has – and you know that as well. It’s just your way of marginalizing their comments to two negative responses.
Whether or not it’s an insane amount of money, calling someone out for their grammar/spelling is rude.
As far as the insane amount of money, I’m still interested in hearing what options are out there – even if I choose not to spend my money that way.
Why do people want to get snarky about how someone else spends their money?
Anonymous
I have to agree with that
Dan
I’m doing this trip..and if you had the money you would to! Don’t hate, participate…
Nujubs
Quit trying to sell this over priced experience. We need to send disney a message. “Make your shit parks more affordable” the end.
Andrew V Rossetti
Never been to Disney yet, but that seems like a real good way to go! Thanks for posting
Adam Bryan
For sure!
Michelle
Thanks for posting. I am considering a Disneyland trip with my kiddos someday in the future and I appreciate all the tips people write in their articles. Thanks again!!
Adam Bryan
no problem!
Wakko
Alot of jealous people commenting i see. Good for you man for experiencing a good day at Disneyland!
Ricco
To all readers
Sadly this will not happen at Disneyland Park in California with all the new restriction guidelines
We’ll have to make a reservation then you’re limited to guests being parks
You’ll have to make reservations to get on rides a lot of changes I don’t know how it is in Florida but in California it’ll be way different
Adam Bryan
Yeah that’s kind of a bummer. They did bring back the tours for Orlando so helpfully sometime in the next couple years it returns to Cali
Kristen S
My family & I have been to Disney countless times, know the parks & always have a blast. We sprang for the VIP last time (first time) it was worth every penny! I would do it again in a heartbeat. We had 10 in our group & it was amazing. We hit every experience & ride in both parks in our time in one day. Our guide was amazing, the kids still talk about him.
Otis
How much did you tip your guide? On an hourly or daily rate?
Adam Bryan
We tipped off the hourly rate and a little bit extra since our tour guide did an awesome job
Nathan
Would you say you tipped roughly an extra hours worth?
MarkClusters
Cant you just buy a fast pass ticket for all the rides? It’s not clear to me wbat the added value is of dragging this guy along.
Adam Bryan
Yeah that’s usually how everyone (myself included) does it since it’s honestly the better option. However, since we were flying in from Orlando and Star Wars Land was very new and busy, this was the best way to practically guarantee entrance at that time.
Cyn
The lightening lane pass is only available on certain rides and does not include the new one in the Star Wars area (Resistance). So your guide will get you to the front of the line for ALL rides with a maximum wait time of 15ish minutes.
Marlisegl
Wow, what a mouth on the jealous chick! I think this is a great option …… I’ve done it three times with two families….. I’m sure it will change now …..plan on doing again ….great fun and time well spent , anyway between two families, you almost spend as much anyway ! We all had all year passes , by the way ……🤪
Sofia
Great article! Totally makes me consider doing a tour which I never considered before, thanks!
CJ
While the tour guide makes between $15-17/hour. Gotta love Disney. 🤣
MarkClusters
I really wonder what kind of people would spend $4200 to have a guy lead you around in Disneyland. Yes, you save a bit of time because the guy probably knows the place better than you. But you lose the sense of discovery. You lose the privacy and intimacy of your household. And you lose a disgusting amount of money.
Katherine Wong
Disgusting to YOU. How anyone chooses to spend their money is their business. What someone thinks is exorbitant is chump change for another. As for the other commenters saying the 1% blah blah, “hedge fund manager”, my husband is a mechanic. We scrimp and save for these experiences. Pre-pandemic Disneyland was a local-infested, freaking zoo. Wish people would add, in my opinion to their inane analyses on the way people live their lives. Live and let live. Or, live and let die.
Victor
What are you implying by “ local-infested, freaking zoo”?
MarkClusters
Still I find it weird that somebody would like to spend their day at Disneyland with a complete stranger, let alone pay for it. It’s not as if you need to find your way around in a strange country where you don’t speak the language and you risk your life if you end up in the wrong neighbourhood. It’s a f***ing theme park. You get a little map at the entrance.
Rene
For the price I was expecting to read that you learned a lot about the park, history or some behind the scenes gems. Here’s my pro tip, which is much cheaper: go early, avoid the magic morning park, buy a MaxPass (when available again), use the mobile app to preorder food as much as possible. Your feet will thank you.
John Marbles
For that price I would expect a blowjob by Minnie Mouse herself.
Katherine Wong
You like ’em dry…and with a side of hantivirus to boot, eh?
Fred Rubble
Crude but funny!
garthbiscuit
My preferred way of visiting Disney World is the following. I pay a professional journalist 250K to spend a whole week at the park. He will taste all the food items, ride all the rides and even interview other guests. Then he will write everything down in a nice booklet, which is then printed on fancy looking silky paper. This way, I can enjoy the park, reading the booklet in bed or on the toilet! I don’t even have to leave my house. And best of all, no waiting lines!
Mom
Thanks, Adam. I loved the article, and hope to take the tour, with my family, some time in the future. Just wondering how you tipped your guide?
Ben V
You had to pay for tparking??, that’s laughable, sad really.
No behind the scenes tour, or maybe a peek inside the apartment above the fire station.
Katherine Wong
Some people just go for the rides, ya know?
Sander Theys
As a european: why the hell do you have to tip the guide? You just gave him 4200 dollar to spend a day at disneyland. I really dont understand that whole tipping thing…
Windsong Conlon
I wonder that the hourly wage is for the tour guides. If it’s only $20 an hour then it’s just $140 pay for 7 hours. A $500 tip means everything to them if that’s the case. But I really don’t know.
Anonymous
Did they check your ID when entering? I know it’s only open to CA citizens but a few people in our party aren’t from California.
Izzy
Love this!! Thank you for the review!! Definitely considering this for our next trip to Disney!!
Not A Cheap Ass
Don’t listen to all these cheap ass people who live in liberal, broke ass, CA. The VIP IS 100% worth it. No need to get there early as hell or having to run around getting passes to ride what you want to ride. With the VIP, you do what you want, when you want.
The irony
Hates liberal, broke ass CA, drops over $4,500 to spend an entire day there. You really showed them my guy
Emil Cheaffers
I really don’t get why you would want to spend your day with a total stranger, breaking the intimacy of spending quality time with your family. I would not do this even if it was free. The only explanation I can think of why people should do this is when they are a bit retarded and not able to read the little park map you get at the entrance. You don’t want to get stuck in Alice’s maze for 9 hours straight.
Windsong Conlon
The tour guides are fun! At least that’s what I’ve heard 😉
N
Any idea if Webslingers or Rise of the Resistance is included?
Adam Bryan
So for a few days Rise of the Resistance was included but they backtracked on that. Web Slingers is probably still too new to be included
Sandy
Hello! Thank you for sharing. Your VIP tour guide followed you guys the whole 7 hours? Or let you guys walk around on your own and meet up later? How soon do you let the VIP tour guide know to reserved seats for the fireworks? The roped off seating area on benches sounds awesome. You mentioned 7 hours with the tour guide – from what time to start and end?
Adam Bryan
Hey Sandy, the tour guide follows you the entire time. The only time they ever left us was when they didn’t want to go on the ride with us. For the fireworks, we told our guide during the tour that we wanted to end the day watching fireworks so she made sure to get us back in front of the castle just before they stared. It’s a 7 hour minimum and you can choose any time slot. I just prefer afternoons/evenings so we started our later in the day. Hope this helps!
Jeremy
Great article. I think you just sold me on this. Definitely doing this next time. Totally worth it to knock out all the big rides and then some in one day for both parks. Cost per person is reasonable if you max out the # in your group, seems like a great deal to me. My time is worth way more than waiting in line for over an hour.
Those haters can go fly a kite. And I like having first world problems.
Happy new year!
AW
We are going for a VIP tour in the morning and CAN NOT Wait! Thank you for your article.
MarkClusters
Great! We did it last month and now we can’t get enough of this kind of activity. Yesterday I paid $7500 for the Walmart VIP Shopping Tour. This tour guide helped me picking the best produce and pointed me straight at the cash register with the shortest line. Money well spent, I would say!
Erin Holmes
I did it too! It was so worth the money. Not sure how I’ll ever do it again without the VIP!
Deborah Williams
Thank you for the info! Our VIP Tour (for Disneyland only) will be at the end of April and we are very much looking forward to it! Few perks have been added to the VIP Tour now that I’d like to share: free valet parking up to 2 cars at Grand Californian Hotel, free lockers, free manual wheelchair, free dinner/parade/fireworks reservations (even if your tour has concluded, you still get the reservations). I am waiting to hear back if we get complimentary ponchos for Splash Mountain so will report back. Also, not all Tour Guides will have a tour that day and will be assistants for those that do! So if you have merchandise, popcorn buckets, etc and don’t want to carry any more, an assistant will come and get your things and hold for you until tour has concluded. I saw a video of someone sharing their VIP Tou experience and the tour guide waited in line for popcorn for the guests! The guests still ad to pay but I mean waiting in line for a churro if I need to visit the ladies room? Yes please!!
Anonymous
How munch is it total for 5 people? And is it only for one day?
Kevin
Thanks for writing about your experience, as I was curious what the VIP tours entail. If money is no object, then it sounds well worth it especially not having to stand in those endless long lines Disneyland always seems to have.
John Galbraith
I don’t think those lines disappear just because you’re dragging a complete stranger along.
Ray Farley
My wife and I went on the VIP Disneyland California tour November 1st 2022. We have been visiting Disneyland from Ireland every year (except 20 & 21 since 1992. I will compare it with Universal VIP, Universal gives you breakfast & lunch, you get genuine immediate access to attractions, no wait in the lightning lane for 10 minutes, also you can still use your VIP pass after the tour has finished for the remainder of the day. Universal is very much less expensive, although you are in a group of about 15. Universal also gives you access to a special lounge. Disney is really out to make as much profit from people as possible, the guide was pleasant, but I felt the value was poor.
Teddy
Hi, Adam~
I was wondering how much you ended up tipping your guide? There are 4 of us that will be with our guide so similar to your first tour.
Thanks in advance!