ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS VIP TOUR REVIEW

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​I feel like I can make this post with ALL the knowledge, because I've taken this tour four times, and will be doing it for a fifth time in January. (read more)

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BEFORE YOU BOOK YOUR NEXT
​DISNEY TRIP

I'm not a travel agent, but I do love to travel, and I also love to travel for as inexpensively as possible. For that reason, I love Get Away Today. They scan the sites so you don't have to, and they'll beat any competitor's price on everything from airfare to Disney packages. Be sure to use the code TYTHEHUNTER10 for $10 off your next Disneyland package.

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THE ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS

In case you weren't quite sure if the tour is worth the cost, let me reassure you, as someone who's paid for it three times, for two people each time, it IS worth the cost.

Whether you're short on time at Disney World and can only visit for a day or two; if you just want to get some history and some awesome dedicated touring, or you just want to Fast Pass all the "good" rides...The Ultimate Day Of Thrills has got you covered.

If you've read my other posts, you know I'm a die hard fan of Touring Plans, and while they are all things awesome and amazing, and will certainly maximize your riding time in a single park, it's a little different when you're trying to hit all the good rides in THREE parks in one day. 

That said, go get Touring Plans. If you have a few days at Disney, having a good Touring Plan will get you everything you need to hit every ride, and then some. Take five minutes and build your perfect plan so you spend time riding rides and meeting characters, instead of standing in line.

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Ultimate Day Of Thrills Review Video

I do talk about our multiple tours in this video, if you'd like to watch. I hope it helps!

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Now, in case you're confused, since I recently made a post about the year we took a Disney VIP Tour on a family vacation, these two tours are not the same.

The VIP tour is much more expensive, but allows you to completely customize your day in the parks. This tour, the one I'm talking about in this post, is a "one size fits all" tour aimed at getting you around the parks quickly so you can ride all of the thrill rides in all of the parks, except for Animal Kingdom.

There is another tour for Animal Kingdom called the Ultimate Nights of Adventure. I've posted my review of that in a separate blog post, so be sure to check it out.

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DISNEY WORLD NOT DISNEYLAND

This is something I hear people getting confused about, so let me clarify one more time. 

The tour is only offered at Disney World. If you're planning on going soon, but haven't decided whether to book through a Travel Agent or rent DVC points, I've got a super helpful post about going both routes. And, don't worry, I'm not a travel agent, so I definitely will not be biased in my reviews of those methods.

​I have not seen any of these tours offered at Disneyland, other than the VIP Tour. So, if you want to hire a dedicated tour guide just for you and your family for the day, you can do that at Land or World, but if you want one of these "pre-made group tours", it's World only.

Got it?

Great!

THE TOP TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO PACK FOR YOUR NEXT DISNEY VACATION

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THE ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS

Let's start from the top. 

You'll need to plan on getting to Magic Kingdom (that's where the tour starts, unless you are told different in your confirmation email) around 8 a.m. the morning of. 

They recommend giving yourself an hour and a half of travel time. Now, I'm an Uber girl, so I tend to cut this closer, but one year I did get stuck on the Monorail and had to call the tour to let them know I was running late. I wasn't late, but I was later than I intended, and my personality doesn't handle stuff like that well, so give yourself time to get there.

Remember, even if you Uber, you can only go as far at the Ticket and Transportation Center. From there, you will need to get the Monorail to Magic Kingdom.

You can also opt to take a bus directly from your hotel, but if you do, really do give yourself loads of time. Those buses can fill up, easily leaving you standing outside while you wait for the next one.

My recommendation is to take an Uber or Lyft to Contemporary Resort then walk from Contemporary to Magic Kingdom. Even from the furthest hotels, this will only take you a half hour. The walk to MK from Contemporary is 10 minutes, tops.

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YOU'RE IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM
NOW WHAT?

Your confirmation email is going to tell you exactly where to meet up with your group. I would tell you where to meet up, but in the three times I've done this tour, we've met up in three difference places.

The first year we met up in Tomorrow Land, the second year we met up in The Plaza Diner, and last year we met up near the Liberty Square Ticket Center, next to The Hall Of Presidents.

So basically, check your email because there is no "set" meeting place.

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If you do meet up in a place that is open prior to "rope drop", you'll just walk into the designated shop/restaurant and give them your name. They'll be waiting for you.

If you need to meet up in an area that doesn't open until after "rope drop", you'll need to see a nice person with a clipboard, give them your name, and tell them you have a tour. 

This is going to be in the same area you'd give your name for ADR's, like if you were going to have breakfast at Be Our Guest.

Don't worry, they're very nice, and they are looking for you!

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Once you've gotten checked in, you'll get a lanyard with a plastic card on it that says "VIP". It's super cute, and the last time we went, we got a different one than the first two times, so you never know what it'll look like, exactly.

​Here are my mom and I showing off our VIP badges, badly.

You can kind of see them in this picture, as well. Note that the people behind us are wearing them, too (hers is tucked into her sweater because it was cold). They were on the tour with us. We loved them so much, we basically wanted to adopt them by the end of the day.

That's one of the great things about these tours. While they can be very large (I think the one my oldest and I did in February of 2018 was almost 30 people), they can also be very small. This particular tour had maybe ten people, and the one I did with my mom in September of 2018 only had eight.

It's a fun way to make new friends! As a matter of fact, when I go in April for a girl's trip, I'll be doing the Animal Kingdom tour all by myself since my girl friends won't be in town yet, and I'm okay with that. The people on the tour are always fun, don't be afraid to go it alone!

WALT LIFE IS A DISNEY LOVER'S DREAM

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MAGIC KINGDOM RIDES

As I said, our day started in Magic Kingdom all three times. We began in Tomorrow Land; rode Space Mountain, rode Space Ranger Spin, and then started to make our way through the rest of the park.

The rides can and will change, depending on what's open. The first two years we did Space Ranger Spin, but only because Splash Mountain was down for refurb one year, and Pirates was down one year. 

Last year we did NOT ride Space Ranger spin, and I was glad. I'm not a fan of that ride at all. I find the one at Disneyland to be much more entertaining. 

From there we rode (these might not be in order), Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates Of The Caribbean & Haunted Mansion.

I recently took the tour for a fourth time after Slinky Dog Dash opened. In this case they removed Pirates from the itinerary and instead you got to ride Slinky. Great trade off!

​You do take a break after a few rides so you can potty and/or get a snack at the little red umbrella snack area up the street from Haunted Mansion. That snack is not included in the cost of the tour, unlike the lunch, which is.  I'll talk about that later.

Also, as you walk down to the Haunted Mansion after your break, if you look at the horse foot prints stamped into the concrete, you'll see that one set says "Maximus" inside of it.

Look up and to your right, it's Rapunzel's tower!

​Super cute!

After these rides, we went back to Tomorrow Land, took a back exit (no pictures, please) and got into a van headed to Epcot.

Once in Epcot, again through a back entrance (no pictures please) you enter the Soarin' pavilion and are able to order lunch from Sunshine Seasons. This might change as well. It has not in the three times I've done it, but I do know that prior to 2017, lunch was at Hollywood Studios; The Hollywood Brown Derby.

At Sunshine Seasons we were able to order a drink, an entree and a dessert, all of which were covered by the tour cost.

​You will need to get your magic band/card scanned when you enter the pavilion, so be sure you have it on you.

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Here we are riding Mine Train, Splash Mountain (it was freezing cold, we did NOT want to get wet), and you saw us on Space Mountain earlier. See our people? Like I said, the adoption papers are in the mail.

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EPCOT RIDES

Sadly, there is only one, but yay, it's Soarin'! You head right over to it after enjoying your lunch.

You don't get to ride Test Track, and I actually asked about the reasoning behind this because, in my opinion, it's a real thrill ride. 

It's just not conducive to getting you in and out. What with having to design a car, etc. it takes too long and would mean you don't get to ride ALL the thrill rides at Hollywood Studios.

That's right, ALL of them.

​Even Slinky Dog Dash!

Back you go, out the  way you came in (no pictures, please), into your waiting vans and off to Hollywood Studios.

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HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

You start by entering the park over near Rockin' Roller Coaster, but you don't ride that one first. 

Instead, you walk over to Toy Story Land and ride Slinky Dog Dash, and Toy Story Mania.

I always get the top score in the car, so if you get over 164,000, don't tell me.

I recently did Toy Story Early Morning Magic, you can read about that tour here.

Once you're done there, if I'm remembering correctly, you head over to Star Tours.

From there, it's on to Tower of Terror! 

And finally, you head back to Rockin' Roller Coaster, the last ride of your GLORIOUS day!

See our people again in the picture below? This was our whole group (plus some). If they've got a lanyard around their neck, they're on the tour.

And, the guy in the suit in the top middle, that was one of our guides. They were SO much fun!

WE GOT TO TAKE A PRIVATE VIP TOUR FOR A DAY WITH OUR OWN PERSONAL GUIDE

You don't see the husband of our adopted people in this picture, he didn't ride.

Which brings me to my next point.

If you want to sit out ANY of the rides, you can, no questions asked, so don't worry about letting the guides know that you'd rather walk through the exit while everyone else boards. They'll send someone with you to chat while everyone else rides the ride, and there are no hard feelings. :)

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A SURPRISE!

Now, the tour guides have asked me not to spoil this for you, so I won't, but suffice to say, you get a little gift at the end.

It's something you ONLY get when you take this tour, and you'll definitely want to hang on to it. 

​Shhhh, it's a secret.

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ENDING THE DAY

I always schedule Fast Passes for Hollywood Studios starting at 3:30 on the day of the tour. You have three to use for the day, so be sure and use them! Ride those good rides again!

You will want to follow the tour out the back entrance near Rockin' Roller Coaster so you can all say goodbye and thank your awesome guides, but once that's done, just walk right back in that back entrance and go use your Fast Passes.

If you don't have Fast Passes, or you're just totally wiped out, your tour guides have some options for you. 

They will either take you back to the Magic Kingdom or they will drop you at the Ticket and Transportation Center, totally up to you. You can take a bus back to your hotel from Hollywood Studios, of course, but if you have a car parked at T&TC, you can just ride with them to shorten your trip.

I am pretty sure my mom and I were the only ones who stayed in the park this last trip, so don't feel bad about asking for that ride!

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BOOKING & COST

You can book this tour 180 days out, and I suggest that you do, it can fill up fast! 

The cost, as of this post, is $349 per person, and you have to pay that when you book. If you have an annual pass, you can take 25% off that cost.

If you need to cancel, you can do so, penalty free, within 48 hours of the tour. 

Park admission is not included, and you must have a park hopper since you will be hopping.

You can't book on line, but your travel agent can handle it for you, or you can book it yourself by calling (407) 939-PLAY.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE FAN FICTION NOVELS YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS

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PHOTOPASS
THAT'S A NO

If you paid for PhotoPass, which I love and I really think is worth the money, you will NOT have time to use it on the tour.

You're moving right along at a pretty quick clip, the whole day.

You can stop for an unscheduled bathroom break if you like, but you might miss a ride, so stopping for pictures is definitely not going to happen.

Feel free to get to MK early so you can take pictures, like my mom and I did in the one below, or you can also stay in the parks after the tour to hit up those Hollywood Studio picture spots (or whichever park you choose to end your day).

You can't see it in the picture, but it was very cold in the park. Actually, you can see it, just look at all those sweaters and coats on the people behind us. Still, I made my mom ditch her jacket so we could show off our shirts! I have a ton of matching Disney shirts just for these trips. If you need a good place to have them made, try Our Three Moore Creations.

We also packed some thermal underwear that we both ended up putting on in the bathroom. Gotta be prepared for wacky "winter" weather!

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STROLLERS
RELUCTANT RIDERS
​SMALL CHILDREN

I seem to get questions about this a lot, so I thought I'd add a spot in the post, hopefully it helps!

You can absolutely bring strollers into Disney World and all of its parks. Just adhere to the Stroller Guidelines and you'll be fine. Mainly you need to know that you CANNOT bring wagons of any sort, and you cannot bring hugely oversized strollers.

Your VIP tour guides will handle the stroller for you when you get on a ride, and they will have it waiting for you when you get off the ride. If you are renting a stroller at Disney or from one of the large rental places in the area, let me recommend a Pomchie so you and the VIP guides can quickly spot your stroller. We just snapped ours onto the stroller handle, super simple.

​If you plan on being in the parks after dark; I am also recommending this LED light string with it's own battery pack. I used it and it made finding our stroller so easy!

If you bring a child that doesn't meet the height requirement for all rides, don't worry, the tour guides are more than happy to sit with your child while you ride. This also goes for children who perhaps thought they wanted to ride all the rides, but then found one of them a little too daunting. 

If your comfort level allows you to let your child sit with a tour guide for a bit, they'll absolutely do that for you, no problem. 

I actually did this tour with my 9 and 12 year old boys, both of whom are perfectly capable of walking, and tall enough to ride all of the rides. The 12 year old rode them all, but the 9 year old got a little freaked out when it came to Rockin Roller Coaster, so my mother waited with him while I rode with my 12 year old, but the tour guides would have done the same for me. 

We did also have a stroller, again because the 9 year old was getting tired of walking, and the tour guides handled the stroller every time we stopped for a new ride. It was never a big deal and really did seem like something they deal with all the time. 

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QUESTIONS?

Feel free to ask, I'll do my best to help! I may not know everything about Disney in general, but having done this tour three (now four) times makes me think I know more than the average Jane about this one part of the happiest place on earth!

And, don't forget to read the post about Renting DVC VS Booking Traditionally Especially if you like staying in Moderate or Deluxe Disney hotels, renting DVC can save you a LOT of money.

If you're not sure what to pack on your Disney trip, feel free to check out the list I made over on Amazon. I hope it helps

Happy Thrills!
​​Ty

TY'S DISNEY MUST HAVE PACKING LIST

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