Let’s face it: the lines in Disney World can be LONG.
Cinderella Castle
And without Fastpasses currently available, you may be wishing there was another way you could skip the lines. Well, it turns out there are a few options! But they’ll all cost ya.
Private VIP Tours
A Private VIP Tour is the ULTIMATE way to skip the lines in Disney World. You’ll get to pick everything you want to see and do, and your tour guide will customize your day for you. You can park-hop and skip the lines at many attractions, while your VIP Tour Guide shares fun facts about what’s around you.
Tower of Terror
If the ride you’re experiencing has a Lightning Lane, you’ll hop in that to ride. Otherwise, you can scoot right up to the front! VIP Tours Cast Members have told us that these tour WILL also include a ride on Rise of the Resistance, meaning if you’re on the tour, you can bypass the line for one ride!
Don’t let them know you’re with the Resistance!
You’ll get some other benefits with the tour, too, like pre-arrival planning, a flexible start time, and transportation to and from the parks.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Okay, let’s talk PRICE. You’re PAYING for all those perks! The Private VIP Tours range from $425 to $750 per HOUR, for a minimum of 7 hours. That’s anywhere from $2,975 to $5,250 per day! And if you were thinking about getting a big group and spitting the bill: you can have max 10 guests per group. So your charge per person would range from $297.50 to $525. Oh, and that does NOT include park admission.
EPCOT
It’s also customary to tip your VIP Tour guide, so you may wanna factor that into your budgeting. Depending on how much you choose to tip, that could run you an extra several hundred dollars! And while you’re planning, make sure you get a Park Pass reservation for park you plan to start the day of your VIP Tour. That’s not included, either.
Pandora
This is your priciest option, but it’s the most efficient way to minimize waiting in lines. Your wait time will be shortened — or eliminated altogether! — for the attractions you choose. Think no one is shelling out the cash for this ultra-luxe experience? Think again — we see private VIP tours in the parks all the time since the reopening. It’s a pricey option but will guarantee you won’t be waiting in those lines.
But let’s explore some other (AKA CHEAPER) options. (Spoiler: these are currently unavailable, but good to keep in mind for the future.)
Check Out Our Tips for Skipping the Lines Without Paying for a Tour!
Other VIP Tours
Guys, we meant only SLIGHTLY cheaper! Disney offers a range of Group VIP Tours (all of which are temporarily unavailable) that cost slightly less than those Private VIP Tours.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
You’ve got a few options for which tour you wanna go with here. The Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour is $349 per person, and it’s a 7-hour tour that lets you skip the line for popular attractions in Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios. The Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour will cost ya $249 per person, and it focuses on Magic Kingdom rides with no height restriction (making it a great choice for kids of all ages!). You can enjoy the Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Jungle Cruise, and more!
Pirates of the Caribbean
And on the Ultimate Nights of Adventure VIP Tour, you can ride Animal Kingdom attractions — plus enjoy snacks and a specialty drink! It also costs $249 per person. And just a reminder: park admission and Park Pass reservations are NOT included in these tours, so factor that in when you’re planning!
Animal Kingdom
Disney World also launched a special 50th Anniversary Celebration tour, appropriately named The 50th Anniversary Tour, which includes lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant and a spin on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Guests must be above the age of 12 to participate, and groups are limited to a maximum of six.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opened up for the 50th Anniversary.
These can be cheaper than the Private VIP Tours, but they don’t offer that same range of flexibility. But you still get to skip the lines, which is the end goal here, right? And while they’re currently unavailable, we’ll make sure you’re the first to know when they return! Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.
Check Out Another VIP Tour That Doesn’t Involve Skipping Lines!
Backstage Tours
Disney also offers a wide range of backstage tours, which are also currently unavailable. These place a bigger emphasis on getting a behind-the-scenes look at the parks, but many do include the chance to hop on a few rides without a wait. For example, on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour ($99 per person), you can ride the Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion! However, the focus is placed on learning about the history and inner workings of the rides and park.
Haunted Mansion
As with the other tours, park admission and Park Pass reservations are not included for any of these experiences! They aren’t a great pick if you just want to do a bunch of rides and call it a day. But if you want to learn more about the parks (and even get a peek backstage!), they do offer that added bonus of skipping a few lines.
The Land Pavilion
These backstage tours will be your cheapest option, but you’ll get the fewest rides for your buck. And again, they’re not available right now.
Get a Full List of Tours Offered!
How to Book
So you’ve decided to book a tour! You can make your reservation up to 60 days in advance by calling Disney’s tour line at 407-WDW-TOUR. If you’re planning your tour outside this 60-day window, you can still call for pricing info. Make sure you book as early as possible for holidays, summer, and throughout Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary! There’s limited availability for all of these tours, and they’ll book up quickly during peak seasons.
Splash Mountain
When booking, you’ll need to provide your credit card info — Disney will place a hold on your tour and will not run the charge until 24 hours before. And you’ll be able to cancel up to 48 hours before your tour. It’s preferred to have the full names of everyone in your party right when you book, but it’s not required. If you don’t have that info just yet, you’ll just need to follow up with those names before the start of your tour.
Animal Kingdom
And FYI: you CAN give these tours as a gift! Just book with your credit card info and the names of your recipients. You’ll be responsible for informing your friend/family member about their special surprise. Keep in mind if you’re celebrating anything, let them know when booking. We’ve seen special VIP tour birthday buttons in the past. You never know what special ways you could get to celebrate.
Tomorrowland
So…are these tours worth it? Without FastPasses currently available, this is your only chance to skip the lines. And only YOU can decide if the hefty price is worth it. If you do choose to splurge, the Private VIP Tours offer a ton of flexibility. You can explore whichever park or attractions you want. And at the end of the day, you’ll get a LOT more done in those 7+ hours than you would if you spent time in lines.
Toy Story Land
If you won’t be in Disney for too long and you want to experience everything the parks have to offer — and you have the budget to do so — these Private VIP Tours may be a good option. If you wanna spend less, but still want that VIP experience, you may want to check out the other VIP Tours or even the Backstage Tours when they return. They’ll offer unique experiences with the benefits of some shorter lines.
Genie+
The most affordable option to skip the lines by far, but still requires a fee, is purchasing Genie+, Disney World’s new service that allows guests to bypass the queue and experience expedited wait times. Sound familiar? That’s because Genie+ is the new paid version of what used to be FastPass+.
Mission: SPACE
Genie+ costs $15 per guest, per day, and includes the ability to book a return time to access a ride’s Lightning Lane (formerly known as the FastPass lane). Most rides are included with Genie+, but there are a few select in-demand rides like Rise of the Resistance, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Flight of Passage, that require a separate fee in order to book a return time.
Peter Pan’s Flight Lightning Lane
Keep in mind that standby queues are still available at no additional fee, nor do you have to purchase Genie+ if you want to book a return time for Disney World’s select individual attractions (a.k.a. their popular, “fancy rides”). Genie+ is by far a cheaper option to “skip the line” than the ones we mentioned previously, but it can still add a considerable amount to your total vacation bill if you have a large travel party.
Skip the line by using the Lightning Lane
We’ll keep you posted with the latest Disney tips, tricks, and updates, so stay tuned to DFB!
Check Out How to Skip Merchandise Lines in Disney World!
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Have you ever done a Disney World tour? Let us know in the comments!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
We used VIP Tours numerous times when visiting WDW with small children to preserve our sanity. The guides were simply amazing and worth every penny. We never stood in a line, always had the best seats/location and every request was deftly handled. However, many of the most experienced guides have since left and what they can offer has been limited while the cost per hour has doubled. Unless visiting WDW for a very short trip – 1 or 2 days – it’s just no longer worth it.
Love VIP Tours and have done several. We always do them on one of our first days, and then we can relax and take our time in the parks since we’ve already ridden everything. Love to pick the brains of our guides as well! Prior to shutdown, if you wanted to visit more than one park on a tour, you had to have the park hopper option. Not sure if that’s still the rule or not. We’ve done two since July 2020, but we’re AP, and the other people with us had hoppers, so it didn’t come up as an issue.
I would never be able to afford it unless I had 10 people with me. I can’t find 10 people to go because they can’t afford it; I am lucky to find just one.
Unfortunately, unless you really want to learn the history of the parks…these tours are exactly everything that’s wrong with Disney now. The reality is the people with money can buy their experience, while the rest of us stand in lines (I know…that’s life in general). Look…I get it…it’s a free market. If someone wants to drop thousands of dollars, that’s up to them. It’s just discouraging seeing someone who already leads a pretty privileged life to then jump in front of everyone else because they can. Do a handful of people taking these tours impact me? No…of course not. I’m sure it’s a small number and not even noticeable in daily operations. Going to Disney isn’t a right…so if you can afford it…good for you. The problem just snowballs because as more people are willing to pay, then Disney will charge it. They are in business to maximize profits….so I struggle with that as someone who would love to go more often, but must be conscientious with where I spend my money.
On our next big trip, when all the tours are finally back, I’m hoping to arrange multiple backstage and VIP tours as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Probably a 3 week experience staying at multiple club-level Disney resorts (if ya gonna blow the wallet, might as well do it right!). And then spend the next year exercising the weight gain off from the vacation!
We were in Disney mid-May with a 6 and 3 year old… Mind you, I am an avid Disney go-er and experienced planner of Disney trips. We had a great 6 days and accomplished almost everything we really wanted (with the exception of hitching a ride on the skyliner).
The longest we waited was 50 min for a ride (Slinky Dog). We found splitting up for a couple hours allowed us to accomplish even more esp given the age difference between kiddos. Talking to someone who has experience with Disney trips is helpful as is utilizing the Disney app.