What the $9.5k Disney VIP tour REALLY gets you as viral debate erupts over the pricey experience

If you thought a regular day at Disney World was expensive, then brace yourself for the price of the VIP tour.

The luxury experience, which can cost up to $9,500, comes with a slew of perks like getting to skip the regular lines and private transfers to the park.

But is the pricey endeavor really worth forking over thousands of dollars?

A debate recently erupted online over it after one guest posted a video detailing one of the benefits that she received.

The woman, named Kyla Daisy, known as @kyladaisytravels and @thepixieplanner online, shared a clip back in August showing her VIP guide waiting for her and her family at the exit of a ride with milkshakes.

‘POV: You get off [the] Guardians [ride] and your VIP tour guide is waiting with free milkshakes for you,’ she wrote in the text overlay, adding in the caption, ‘This is what dreams are made of.’

But when someone took a screenshot and shared it to X (formerly Twitter) this week, writing, ‘Free?!?!?’ with a bunch of laughing emojis, a heated conversation about Disney’s VIP tour ensued.

‘Free?! You just paid roughly $750 per person for that $15 shake,’ one person replied.

‘You’re already overpaying for the tour. That’s the least they can do,’ added another.

‘The milkshakes might be free, but the gal handing them to you cost $1,000/hour,’ joked someone else.

‘Brother paid $1,000 for the tour that ain’t free,’ read a fourth tweet, while a fifth said, ‘Oh it ain’t free. It’s about a $7,000 milk shake.’

‘I think rich people who can afford the VIP tour guides forget how much they spent per person to GET the experience. “Free” to them, is just a surprise,’ quipped a different user.

‘That’s like saying the toilet paper in your hotel room is free,’ penned another person.

In addition to the ‘free’ milkshakes what exactly does Disney’s VIP tours come with? 

The Daily Mail has broken it all down for you so you can decide whether or not the expensive addition is worth it or not.

The price 

Let’s start with the price. The tour costs anywhere from $450 to $950 per hour, depending on the time of year, with a minimum of seven hours and a maximum of 10 hours.

That means that if you did the minimum seven hours it will cost you anywhere from $3,150 to $6,650 and the maximum of ten hours will cost you from $4,500 to $9,500.

Thankfully, it’s one price for the entire party, which can include up to 10 guests.

It does not include theme park tickets, however, which means on top of paying thousands for the tour itself, you also have to fork over hundreds more on admission for each guest.

One-day tickets at Disney range from $119 to $199 depending on the park, date and type.

While tipping is not required, many guests have also said in reviews that they felt inclined to tip their tour guides, usually adding another few hundred dollars to the cost.

The perks

According to Disney’s website, VIP tours include ‘door-to-door service and an array of personalized perks.’

‘Explore the parks with your own Disney Private VIP Tour Guide during a customizable experience filled with incredible benefits,’ reads a description.

‘See and do all of the things on your list with the help of the Disney Private VIP Tour service. 

‘Simply tell your tour guide what you’d like to see, and they’ll customize your day to match your tastes.’

Disney lists ‘pre-arrival planning, a flexible start time picked by you, a private pickup from your hotel, visits to multiple theme parks, the ability to enjoy some of your favorite attractions efficiently during your visit, and shared insight from your highly knowledgeable Disney Private VIP Tour Guide throughout your tour’ as some of the perks.

You get a tour guide who accompanies your group throughout the day, as well as access to Disney’s Lightning Lane when getting on rides – a separate line that usually has a much-shorter wait and costs extra for regular guests.

Many people have documented their experiences with a Disney VIP tour on TikTok. 

‘You never have to wait in regular lines. If there’s no Lighting Lane available for a ride your guide will take you through the exit,’ shared one guest, named Kel.

You can also meet characters without waiting in line and watch the shows, parade and fireworks from a special, reserved area, per Kel.

And if you want to move from park to park, you will be taken in a private vehicle and go through private, cast member-only entrances and exits to make it quicker and smoother.

‘They take you through the employee entrance,’ another person, named Jeremy, who used the service in April, revealed on TikTok. ‘No waiting at all [to get in].’

In addition, you get a free Disney VIP pin, water bottles, small snacks throughout the day and access to buy exclusive VIP tour merch.

‘While we were on rides [our guide] made sure we were hydrated by getting complimentary waters,’ a woman named Lauren said in another video.

‘And throughout the day he surprised us with so many snacks like churros and cookies.’

VIP guides also hold guests bags for them and push strollers – and if a youngster doesn’t want to go on a ride or is too short, they can sometimes hang back with the guide while parents ride, depending on the guide’s comfortability as well as the child’s.

The drawbacks 

A travel blogger named Ashley highlighted some of the drawbacks to the tour in a recent post.

First, she said she ‘wasn’t impressed’ with the pre-visit VIP planning services.

‘They’re described online as a VIP concierge who can help you plan your visit ahead of your arrival, get restaurant reservations, and so on. Unfortunately, this part of the service fell really flat for me,’ she wrote. 

‘Some of our family members have food allergies, so I emailed the team for help with recommendations and reservations. 

‘I asked some specific questions about quick-serve restaurants, but the reply that came back was clearly generated automatically by a customer support bot. 

‘So, I emailed again and got a reply from a human this time, but the information was still very generic.

‘Eventually I had to turn to other travel blogs and Reddit forums to get any helpful information.’ 

She also noted that despite using the Lighting Lane line on rides, they ended up waiting for ‘quite some time’ for the popular attractions. 

Another woman, named Leslie, wrote in her review that the tour was a little more ‘intense’ than she expected.

‘It is a lot of rides quickly. Doing four to seven [rides] in an hour is INTENSE. I was feeling a little nauseous and certainly exhausted as the day wore on,’ she said.

The verdict: Is it worth it? 

In the end, every family is different, and it’s up to you to decide whether or not this perk is worth it for you.

But many reviewers have shared their honest take on whether or not they felt it was worth the high price after experiencing a VIP tour.

Despite the downsides, Ashley, who paid $5,250 for seven hours, said she ultimately felt it was worth it for the ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience.’

‘Our tour guide helped our family have the best possible Disney experience. We had a great time, and that was well worth the money,’ she wrote.

Leslie also decided it was worth it, gushing, ‘It was so cool. It totally spoiled us for the next few days at Disney.

‘I would never recommend going into debt for this, but if you can invest this much into your Disney Vacation, I’d absolutely recommend it.’

A mom named Katie said she found the tour ‘1000 percent worth the cost without question.’ 

‘There’s three things that truly make a Disney VIP Tour worth it to me- the amount of attractions we did, the incredibly low wait time, and the overall experience we had as a family,’ she explained.

‘The amount of experiences we were able to do would have taken a week on our own.

‘We … did more attractions this day than in [the whole year[ combined! On past Disney days, it’s always been a question of “is it really worth an hour to ride this thing I’ve done so many times before.” On a VIP tour, though, the only question is “do I want to do this ride.”‘