Have you heard about the VIP Gold Tour?

It's only $425 per person. You get a park tour guide for nine hours and get to go in the front of the line. It also includes complimentary food and beverages. I am in if it includes beer. :)

I know a lot of people who did the VIP tour. Some say it was worth the money, while others said they'd rather just pay regular admission and wait in the line. From my understanding, VIP tour guests are allowed to repeat rides, but they must go to another attraction first.

The Gold Tour includes:
- admission: $60
- preferred parking: $25
- FOL access: $100
- dining plan: $30
- drink wristband: $8
- one on-ride photo: $10(?)

Total = $233

You also get ERT and priority seating at events, both of which are difficult to quantify. But I'd say between the two, they're worth $~20. Also, the drink wristband isn't even available unless you're part of a group of 25+, so that value may be more than $8. Also, FOL access is probably worth more than FL, since you have literally no line and can access all the rides. Then again, you can't repeat rides immediately, as TW mentioned.

So I think I have to agree that it's not worth it, especially if you're a PP holder. If you assume a PP holder visits 4 times per year, you could do this (substituting FL for FOL access, and without the guide and wristband, of course) for a little over $200.

It's worth it for a one time trip or if you have money to spend on the value.

I have seen people run from TTD to Power Tower and just marathon those for like a good 30 minutes going back and forth getting a ton of rides. It is a pretty sweet value to get off of one ride, and go straight to the next.

That's true, especially for those who visit very rarely. Or for those who can only visit in mid-July or whatever, since they could conceivably get more rides than FL guests, and there's the advantage of knowing you'll be able to ride a ton, and won't be at the mercy of whether or not there's a bunch of other FL guests.

But you could achieve the same result by purchasing FL on a weekday in May-June, for far less cost. So while I think there's a value case to be made, it's a pretty narrow set of circumstances where it's "worth it".

I know one thing - looking at the value proposition of VIP Gold suddenly makes FL seem like a bargain, for me at least.

I want to be the tour guide.

Speaking of FL..Hopefully CP doesn't follow suit like KI this year and open ERT to FL..That was ridiculous to see FL line utilized during ERT..

Yeah, I would agree. At the very least, they should make that stipulation known when advertising ERT as a benefit of the PP.

Last year there were also issues on one of our visits where they didn't restrict ERT to PP holders. That's infuriating, when a significant reason for our purchase is ERT.

IIRC, hotel guests also get ERT. But keep Fast Lane users out of there please.

Plus KI was doing it way wrong..Saw them clear a whole FL+ queue of 31 people before touching the primary queue line, bout pulled out the military voice on the ride op..

Plus dispatching empty seats, oh I was livid opening day, glad KI GM got word and headed to platform before I about got to the stairs lol.

Thabto, on our visit, they weren't checking any credentials of guests when letting them in for ERT. No pass check, and no resort guest card check. They were just letting everyone in.

DJ, yeah. That is annoying when they let everyone in for ert. In past seasons the park has claimed it was because there were not enough legit ert guests to fill the trains. (I call bull on that for the days I saw it happening). I suspect it has more to do with not wanting a confrontation at the gates either because someone isnt let in or because it takes too long to get people through. They probably figure the number of guests who sneek in is small enough that it doesnt matter.

Back to the original topic . . .

I would consider the vip tour worth it for the once in a lifetime visitors who can only make it on the very busy days. It also is an option they can offer to the pseudo-celebrities who think they are too 'important' to wait in line (even fastlane) with the commoners.

I would never want to be a vip tour guide. When I have seen them in the past they have been waiting for their group all loaded down with drink bottles and bags and umbrellas.

Something I have wondered, would CP object to an outside individual making money as a tour guide? Obviously they would not get front of the line access but someone knowledgeable could get a group around the park with the least possible waiting in line and hold their stuff for them while riding. Kind of like a human guide map/wait time board/pack mule.

I wouldn't expect to make a whole lot of money doing that. At least I don't see a lot of added value.

The park's main concern is everyone who's in the park has paid to get in. How an "expert" holds himself out once he gets in there probably isn't. Just a guess.

And I suppose how the tour is marketed would be the main issue. If one offered that service to his fraternity or church group who would know? But if one stood in the entry plaza holding a sign that said "guided tours over here: 20 bucks" then yeah, they'd probably have a problem with that.

I read about handicapped people in Orlando who were hired as "tour guides" for small groups so that the groups take advantage of handicapped status.

This is exactly what I thought of when I read hiring outside tour guides.

thedevariouseffect said:
Plus KI was doing it way wrong..Saw them clear a whole FL+ queue of 31 people before touching the primary queue line, bout pulled out the military voice on the ride op..

Plus dispatching empty seats, oh I was livid opening day, glad KI GM got word and headed to platform before I about got to the stairs lol.

It's about time someone saw the same thing I saw and agreed with me!! I got blasted for this comment on another site...

As an unabashed fan of Fast Lane, I say they were doing it the right way.

I love FL as much or more than the next guy, but that's not the right way to manage FL/standard queues.

I was being (mostly) sarcastic, but it does seem that it's very inconsistent. Even on the same ride it appears to be at the whim of the merge-worker as opposed to any kind of prescribed ratio.

Btw, remember to strategically use the phrase "I'm with them" (pointing to the people in front of you) when you are close to the cutoff.

The most frustrating experience I've had with FL as a standard queue guest was at Maverick. They were simply emptying out the FL queue constantly, which meant long stretches of time where the standard queue didn't move. People were noticing, and not happy.

Moving Maverick to FLP should help, but it's surprising they've apparently not come up with SOP's for how to appropriately mix the two queues.