When my family and I visited Florida in January 2025, I decided to book a private Walt Disney World Tour to make our vacation as special as possible.
We spent two magical days in the company of our dedicated tour guide, and you can read my full review of a Walt Disney World VIP tour here.
Disney VIP Tour guests enjoy the celebrity treatment on an escorted tour of the Disney theme parks, combining exclusive access to the top attractions with top-notch hospitality and priority show access.
A private tour is a luxury experience, and it carries a luxury price tag to match. So, if you’re thinking about booking a trip for your family, you’ll probably want to know what’s included in the price.
So, I’ve rounded up all the information you need to know, from the perks included in your tour to the extra costs you need to consider before you book.
What’s included in a Disney VIP Tour?
We visited Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, but private tours are also available at Disneyland in California and Disneyland Paris. Availability is strictly limited, so I highly recommend booking your tour as soon as possible.
The cost of these private tours ranges from $450 to $900 per hour, depending on the time of year when you visit. Your tour must last a minimum of 7 hours and up to a maximum of 10 hours. This price covers parties of up to 10 guests and each person attending counts, including babies.
Here’s what your tour price includes:
Private Transportation
Your VIP Disney experience starts with the option of private transportation from your Disney hotel or other select hotels. You’ll travel to the resort in a luxury vehicle, which is likely to be a comfortable 15-passenger van, a large town car, or an SUV.
If you take up this option, the clock starts on your 7-10 hour tour as soon as you are collected from your hotel. For this reason, most people opt to plan their own transportation to the resort and meet the tour guide there, which allows you to maximize your tour time.
Whichever option you take, you’ll have access to the private vehicle throughout the VIP tour, making travel between the Disney parks easier. It’s also a handy place to leave coats and bags while you’re exploring the park.
Dedicated Tour Guide
Your Disney VIP Tour Guide will spend the entire day with you, helping you choose the best attractions for your group, providing tips for maximizing your time in the park, and sharing behind-the-scenes stories. Basically, they will make sure you have a great experience.
These expert guides can also help with other basic tasks, such as holding bags while you’re on rides or pushing strollers around the park. This assistance can be really handy if you’re visiting the resort with a large group of children. The guide can also stay back with a member of the group who doesn’t want to ride a particular ride, or they can join you to prevent a stranger from being grouped with you on a ride.
We got to know our Disney tour guide, Jonathan, at the start of the first day of our tour. He checked which attractions were our priorities and our comfort level with thrill rides, so he could plan an itinerary to keep everyone happy.
Jonathan clearly knew a great deal about the theme parks and the Disney company, and his friendly professionalism helped give us the best experience possible.
Flexible Start Time
Your private Disney tour must last a minimum of 7 consecutive hours, but you can set your own start time and finish time.
Early risers might like to start the day at rope drop and make the most of the park while it’s quiet. Alternatively, you might prefer a more relaxed start to the day and opt to begin your tour after a leisurely breakfast.
The VIP tour’s flexibility allows you to plan the best time to suit your tour group.
Unlimited Access to the Attractions
The Disney VIP Tour is perfect for people who hate waiting in line at theme parks. Your tour guide will provide you with unlimited Lightning Lane access to all the attractions, so you can spend less time waiting in line and more time enjoying the rides.
Our guide also knew some quick shortcuts between the attractions, which saved us so much time over the course of each full day. I’d say this alone is worth the cost of the tour.
My Must-Have Disney Packing List
See what else you need to bring on my Amazon storefront.
A Customizable Itinerary
With four different theme parks to explore, it might be hard to know where to begin. Your expert tour guide can help tailor your day to suit your group’s priorities and interests, which is a great way to tick everything off your personal list of must-do attractions.
We booked a two-day tour and visited Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom on the first day, and then Epcot and Hollywood Studios on our second day.
Our private guide put together a detailed plan that made sure we hit all the main attractions and still made it to the VIP viewing platform in time for the Magic Kingdom fireworks show!
Exclusive VIP Viewing Areas
Speaking of the fireworks show, this was one of my bucket list attractions and made the perfect end to our first day at Walt Disney World.
Private tour guests receive priority access for parades and fireworks shows, with special viewing areas reserved for them.
This priority access helps save you even more time waiting in line. It also guarantees you enjoy a fantastic view of the action for the most magical experience possible.
Snacks and Beverages
The Disney private tour includes unlimited bottled water and a selection of snacks that are available throughout the day. These snacks could include things like ice creams, bags of popcorn, granola bars, and Mickey pretzels.
Our Disney VIP guide went the extra mile to surprise us with treats like gluten-free churros from a restaurant we didn’t have time to visit. He also fetched me a much-needed coffee from Starbucks while we were on a ride, which saved us waiting around in between attractions.
Exclusive Access Behind-the-Scenes
Your private tour includes transportation between attractions and between the different theme parks. Some of this will involve using shortcuts through backstage parts of the park, which also gives you a chance to peek behind the scenes at Disney.
Remember that you can’t use your cameras, cellphones, or video equipment when you’re backstage. This is a strict rule and an essential part of Disney etiquette, ensuring you don’t spoil the magic of Walt Disney World for other visitors.
Disney VIP Pin
Each guest receives a VIP pin at the end of their tour. If you do multiple days, you only get one pin. I think they do this so that you won’t turn around and resell them, but at the price, I really felt like we should have each gotten two.
What doesn’t the VIP Disney Tour price include?
Although the private tour is expensive, it can work out to be good value if you’re visiting with a larger group. Our list of free things to do at Disney will help you keep the cost down during your visit.
If you go ahead with the private tour option, there are some additional costs you need to bear in mind.
Theme Park Admission and Reservations
You’ll need to purchase separate tickets for each theme park you want to visit, as these aren’t part of the tour price. I’d recommend buying the Park Hopper ticket that allows you to visit more than one of the four theme parks, so you get maximum benefit from your private tour.
These tickets meaningfully add to the cost of your day – a one-day park hopper ticket will cost $116/person, with the daily price going down if you get multiple days. Most days, the park hopper ticket will be much more than $116, up to $169/person.
I’d also recommend booking your hotel as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. If you’re planning to stay at a Disney hotel, you can make your reservation up to 60 days before your stay.
We stayed at the Caribe Royale Orlando, which is only a few minutes away from the Walt Disney World resort. You can read my full Caribe Royale Orlando review here.
You can also make dining reservations and book any other tours and experiences in advance.
Meals
Private tour guests enjoy complimentary snacks and drinks throughout the day, but your tour price doesn’t include sit-down meals. You’ll need to pay for these separately.
It’s also important to remember that the time taken for sit-down meals will count towards the 7-10 hours of your tour. Eating at quick-service restaurants or making reservations before and after your tour will help you get the most out of your tour time.
If you’re traveling with younger kids, though, the downtime you have at meals can be a valuable chance to rest tired feet and recharge.
Tips
Tips are not included in the price of a private tour. Although gratuities are not mandatory, the Disney cast members who act as private VIP tour guides rely on them to supplement their regular salaries.
There’s no official guideline on how much to tip your Disney tour guide. Some people tip a percentage of the tour price (10-20% is a rough figure), others tip the cost of an extra hour.
However much you decide to tip, be sure to bring cash for your gratuity, as you can’t add it onto your debit or credit card payment.
PhotoPass
The Disney PhotoPass is a professional photographer service that gives you the chance to have digital photos and videos taken in certain locations around the Disney parks. This is an extra cost on top of your tour fee, so if you want this service, you’ll need to book it separately.
However, I don’t think the PhotoPass is really necessary on a private tour, as your private tour guide will be happy to take as many photos and videos as you want. They can take photos anywhere in the park, apart from backstage.
Of course, your guide isn’t a professional photographer and they’ll be using your phone instead of a professional camera. But they’re pretty good at knowing great spots for photos, and our guide, Jonathan, was happy to take photos whenever we wanted.
Souvenirs
Of course, you’re sure to want to take home a souvenir of your visit to Walt Disney World.
The Magic Kingdom has an exclusive area where you can buy clothes, ornaments, and other gifts in the Disney VIP Plaid. These souvenirs aren’t included in your tour price, apart from the special VIP pin every private tour guest receives at the end of the day.
You’ll need to factor the cost of souvenirs and any other shopping into your Disney vacation budget. Do be warned that VIP souvenirs are ridiculously expensive. I think we spent around $700 for 3 caps, a long sleeved shirt, and this pin pack.
Ponchos/Umbrellas
We were unlucky to get caught in a rainstorm in the middle of our tour, but luckily, Jonathan managed to conjure up some umbrellas from somewhere. I’m not sure if that’s a standard part of the tour or if he was just well prepared!
However, if you need ponchos for water rides or bad weather, your tour price doesn’t include these and you’ll need to pay for them separately.
The “Full Disney Experience”
Some people think that booking the VIP tour means you miss out on the complete Disney experience. That’s because you enter the rides directly at the front of the line and skip the themed queues for attractions.
It’s true that you won’t see all of the entertainment in the themed lines, and that might be a disappointment for some people. However, I reckon this downside is outweighed by the benefits of spending less time standing in long lines at the most popular rides and getting to go on more rides!
As you can see, the price of your Walt Disney VIP Tour includes a wide range of benefits, and my family had a great time exploring the park with our private tour guide.
I’m sure that if you decide to book a private Disney tour, you and your family will also enjoy a magical day at Walt Disney World!
