The Ultimate Day Of Thrills VIP Tour Review | Ty The Hunter

ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS VIP TOUR REVIEW

2/13/2019

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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)

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.

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!

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

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.

WE REVAMPED ALLOWANCE WITH THE GREENLIGHT DEBIT CARD FOR KIDS

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.

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!

UNIVERSAL YUMS IS OUR FAVORITE SNACK BOX SUBSCRIPTION

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

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.

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.

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.

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. :)

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.

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!

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

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!

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.

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

15 Comments

Jasmyn

4/15/2019 09:52:32 pm

We have booked this tour for September (as well as the Ultimate Night Of Adventure at Animal Kingdom), so it was great to read both of your reviews!

We are coming from Australia and thought this would be great use of our money/time to ensure we get ALL the best rides in during our 10 day holiday. We thought this way we are guarenteed to ride a majority of the rides without a long wait, the rest of our holiday we can take at our own pace without feeling the need to rush and really take it all in!
Reading this had made me even more excited!!

Sheila (Ty The Hunter)

4/16/2019 06:29:15 am

Hi Jasmyn!

I am SO excited for your trip! You really will have tons of time to take things at your own pace in 10 days, but doing both of these tours is going to be a real treat. They're both fast paced (you make very good use of the time you have), but relaxing because you KNOW you are going to be riding the rides, and you know your guides have got you covered. I'm actually heading to Disney World next week with some girl friends, and we're doing The Ultimate Day Of Thrills together. It'll be my fourth time. :) Since I come in a day before everyone, I'll be doing the Ultimate Nights Of Adventure by myself. So, you know I REALLY think they're a great value!

Have a great trip, and if you think about it when you get back, reply and tell me how you liked it. :)

Sheila

Michaela

4/22/2019 06:48:03 am

Hi!

When do you get your email with your itinerary?
We booked this over 2 months ago and was told we don’t receive confirmation emails for this

4/22/2019 07:03:37 am

Hi Michaela!

I've definitely gotten an itinerary confirmation each time I've done the tour. We're actually doing it again this Friday on a girl's trip, and my confirmation just came through my travel agent, which she forwarded on to me. It was super close to time, though.

I'm doing the Ultimate Nights of Adventure on the 24th, and I got that email one week out to the day. I'm thinking The Ultimate Day of Thrills was the same, the email came two days later, so a week out from Friday.

I wouldn't look for it until around a week before, but if you don't have it like 6 days out, I'd definitely call and at least confirm your meeting area.

I say this because I've done the tour four times (Friday will be four) and we've met up to start the tour in three different places, so that itinerary is necessary. This time we'll have the same meeting place as last time (which was November), but this is the first time we've gotten the same meeting spot.

When you called to book your tour, did you give them your email address? If so, I do think you'll get an itinerary. If not, I'd probably just give them a call today and say, "I don't think I gave you my email, and I know you're going to need it for that itinerary confirmation..."

I'd offer you my itinerary confirmation, but I would hate to send you to the wrong place, in case it's not the same.

I hope this helps, and I hope you have a great time!

Sheila

Nina

7/16/2019 08:49:30 pm

Hi Sheila, i booked directly via Disney on the phone and they told me i wouldnt get any email, and asked me just to write down the confirmation number. Do u know if u got the email just because u booked via travel agency? Im quite wotried now

7/22/2019 06:39:38 pm

Hey Nina! I'm at Disney right now with a good friend who is also my travel agent, so I double checked with her. You will likely not get an email when you book initially, I don't think I ever have, and I've booked on my own and via agent. However I have always gotten an email about a week before hand reminding me of the tour and the meeting place. When I've booked through my TA, she's the one who's gotten the email and sent it on to me. If you want more reassurance, or have more questions, feel free to send her a message. https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=343611539305855&ref=content_filter

Niki

7/22/2019 12:04:05 pm

Do you know if strollers are allowed? My 5yo is a big thrill seeker and loves roller coasters but we plan to have a stroller for him when he gets tired. Just wondering if you know if they are allowed on this tour. Thanks!

7/22/2019 06:40:20 pm

Hey Niki!

Yes, strollers are absolutely allowed. There are some regulations you need to follow, making sure they're not overly big, etc, but otherwise, yes. Not only are they welcome, but your tour guide will move the stroller for you when you get on a ride, have it ready for you when you get off the ride, and they will even stay with your son if he is too short for a ride or doesn't want to ride a certain ride. Of course that's totally optional, and will depend on your comfort level, but they are going to accommodate you, I promise! Here's the stroller policy - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/strollers/

Have fun!!
Sheila

Rhonda

8/2/2019 10:10:18 pm

Hi, we are doing the Ultimate VIP Tour in a week, can we wear flip flops?
Someone told us to wear closed toe shoes, it’s going to be hot and we prefer sandals.

8/4/2019 02:06:12 pm

Hi Rhonda!

I'm not 100% on this, but I feel like they did tell us closed toed shoes the last time I went, and I'm ALMOST certain they checked to make sure everyone was wearing closed toed shoes when we checked in. So I'm going to say yes, save yourself any chance of showing up with the wrong footwear and just go for closed toed. I know for sure they don't want you to have to ditch your shoes for Soarin, and you will for sure have to if you aren't wearing closed toe. Sorry about that, I know sometimes it can be more comfortable to go with sandals or flip flops, but for a tour like this, better not to risk it.

Have fun!

9/28/2019 01:36:51 am

Hi thank you for the information in your reviews! My sister and I really want to book the ultimate day of thrills in December but they are fully booked. Do they get cancellations and if so should I be calling them daily or is there a better way please?
Thanks

9/28/2019 06:18:32 am

Hi Nina,

I am so sorry to hear that they're booked up, that's frustrating. They do get cancellations. Anyone who has booked has up to two days before the tour to cancel the booking.

How many days are you and your sister there for? Any chance you could take the tour another day? If not, I'd just keep calling, every day if you can, as that'll be the best chance you have of getting a spot.

Barring that, could you do Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party? That lets you in the park after hours when other people aren't allowed in. You could pair that with a solid touring plan (http://bit.ly/TouringPlan) and get a ton ridden at Magic Kingdom, then do Hollywood Studios another day, also with a Touring Plan, and then go ride Soarin at Epcot.

I know it's not the tour, and you wouldn't get the pin, but you could definitely get all the same rides in. Otherwise, I'd just keep calling, people do cancel, for sure.

I hope it works out!

Aaron

2/15/2020 08:19:09 pm

My wife and I are taking the Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour in March 2020. Was able to watch your video on YouTube recently and I believe you took this tour a 5th time in January 2020. With the opening of Star Wars Galaxy Edge, including the Rise of the Resistance, has this changed the literary or do you still ride the standard 5 in Hollywood Studios? Thanks.

2/16/2020 02:07:41 am

Hey Aaron, you don’t do Galaxy’s Edge at all, at least we didn’t do it in January. We did Slinky, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, Rockin Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror. If you want to do Rise, you ought to plan to be at Hollywood Studios early so you can sign up for a boarding group. Once your group is called, you have two hours to get back to the park and ride the ride. You can easily single rider Smuggler’s Run at any point. I hope that helps!

2/27/2020 08:53:29 am

Thanks for the reply. We look forward to the tour in March.

ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS VIP TOUR REVIEW

BEFORE YOU BOOK YOUR NEXT
DISNEY TRIP

THE ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS

Ultimate Day Of Thrills Review Video

DISNEY WORLD NOT DISNEYLAND

THE ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS

YOU'RE IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM
NOW WHAT?

MAGIC KINGDOM RIDES

EPCOT RIDES

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

A SURPRISE!

ENDING THE DAY

BOOKING & COST

PHOTOPASS
THAT'S A NO

STROLLERS
RELUCTANT RIDERS
SMALL CHILDREN

QUESTIONS?

Leave a Reply.

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ABOUT THE
AUTHOR

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RECENT POSTS

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ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS VIP TOUR REVIEW

BEFORE YOU BOOK YOUR NEXT ​DISNEY TRIP

THE ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS

Ultimate Day Of Thrills Review Video

DISNEY WORLD NOT DISNEYLAND

THE ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS

YOU'RE IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM NOW WHAT?

MAGIC KINGDOM RIDES

EPCOT RIDES

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

A SURPRISE!

ENDING THE DAY

BOOKING & COST

PHOTOPASS THAT'S A NO

STROLLERS RELUCTANT RIDERS ​SMALL CHILDREN

QUESTIONS?

Leave a Reply.

VIVA/BARNES LAW ON LOCALS

VIVABARNESLAW.LOCALS.COM

FIND ME ON

ABOUT THE ​AUTHOR

TY WRITES KIDS BOOKS

RECENT POSTS

HAVE FUN IN AZEROTH!

OUR FAVORITE SNACK BOX

BEFORE YOU BOOK YOUR NEXT
DISNEY TRIP

YOU'RE IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM
NOW WHAT?

PHOTOPASS
THAT'S A NO

STROLLERS
RELUCTANT RIDERS
SMALL CHILDREN

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR