Universal Orlando VIP Experience

[NashSmartGuy]

I took the Universal Orlando VIP Experience Tour (shared group) last week, and thought I'd share some thoughts on the experience:

• We did not get to go into the "Immigration Room" at Men in Black. We didn't do the attraction at all. The guide said the room was closed for the day, but didn't know why. Very disappointing.
• We did not get to go under the Mummy tracks, but we did ride the Mummy.
• It really was front of line access for every ride we did. No waiting for anything, other than show cycling (like for Minions).
• We took a backstage route from Universal Studios to Islands of Adventure (they are surprisingly close to each other) to get to Hagrid's quickly as soon as it opened. There was a posted wait time of 180 minutes, but they put us right on with no wait. We asked if we could do it again (so we could try out the other vehicle seat), but we couldn't do that.
• The food at breakfast and lunch was very good. It was a hot buffet each time. There were lots of choices.\
• I asked if I could be a Mardi Gras float rider first thing in the morning, and the Guide hooked me up. In the afternoon, she brought me a wristband. I was able to show up at the last minute, walk right in, do the paperwork, get my costume, and only had to wait a little while before we were loaded onto the ride.
• We rode all of the big rides, except Doctor Doom, Men in Black, Storm Force, The Simpsons Ride, and all of the water rides. We didn't do anything in Seuss Landing.
• We didn't get to see much in the way of backstage or behind the scenes. This was essentially a tour that walks you from ride to ride where you may go into a backstage area to get to the front of the line.
• There was no presentation of any facts or insider knowledge about the parks, but the Guide was great about answering questions.
• There were no character encounters or experiences.
• There are multiple groups doing these tours simultaneously. While your group may be limited to 12 (ours was 13 with two scooter riders), there were quite a few groups of 12.

Overall, the tour was worth it for the front of the line access. The parks were VERY crowded the day I went (more crowded than I'd ever seen). Without the tour, it would have taken two days of waiting in very long lines to see all that we saw in one day.

 

[Lynne G]

Thank you for posting your thoughts about VIP. Sounds like a good deal, given the parks are getting crowded from Spring Break time.

And glad you enjoyed yourself. Too bad, could not do new Potter ride twice, but since so popular, can see why they said no.

Where was breakfast and Lunch? La Bamba?

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I am glad that you felt it was worth it. We did the same tour a couple of years back and loved it. We were fourtunate enough to get behind the scenes at MIB Mummy and Spiderman. I am sorry you were not able too. I recommend the tour to people if they have the extra money. I wonder if the tour guide may play a part in what you do and don't do.

Thanks for posting your review on it.

 

[cfoxga]

Thanks for the review. There isn't a ton of discussion of the tours, so every thread helps.

We've been to Universal Orlando three times (myself, DW, DD12 and DD13), but my parents have not. I was hoping for this to be more of a behind-the-scenes tour, rather than just a way to shorten lines lower than express pass levels. We are scheduled to take a non-private tour in 3 weeks, and I'm still trying to piece together how the day will go. If you don't mind, I have some questions:

1. We have a 9:30 am tour and were planning to get there at 9:00 (I think at Guest Services at US). Is that early enough?

2. Did you have the option to see any shows? It sounds like there might be a chance to talk to the actors at the Horror Make-up show, which would be really neat.

3. How was the itinerary determined? It sounds like you hit most of both parks during your tour. But did the guide skip any areas because no one was interested in them?

 

[NashSmartGuy]

Thank you for posting your thoughts about VIP. Sounds like a good deal, given the parks are getting crowded from Spring Break time.

And glad you enjoyed yourself. Too bad, could not do new Potter ride twice, but since so popular, can see why they said no.

Where was breakfast and Lunch? La Bamba?

Yes, both breakfast and lunch were at Cafe La Bamba. Both private and non private tours commingled there.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

Thanks for the review. There isn't a ton of discussion of the tours, so every thread helps.

We've been to Universal Orlando three times (myself, DW, DD12 and DD13), but my parents have not. I was hoping for this to be more of a behind-the-scenes tour, rather than just a way to shorten lines lower than express pass levels. We are scheduled to take a non-private tour in 3 weeks, and I'm still trying to piece together how the day will go. If you don't mind, I have some questions:

1. We have a 9:30 am tour and were planning to get there at 9:00 (I think at Guest Services at US). Is that early enough?

2. Did you have the option to see any shows? It sounds like there might be a chance to talk to the actors at the Horror Make-up show, which would be really neat.

3. How was the itinerary determined? It sounds like you hit most of both parks during your tour. But did the guide skip any areas because no one was interested in them?

1. Yes, 30 minutes early would be fine, depending on how fast you eat. You check in, get your credentials, and they send you to the cafe for breakfast. Your guide meets you there just before the tour starts.

2. We didn’t see any shows. We weren’t offered the opportunity. Considering how busy the parks were, I was glad to get to ride the rides.

3. The guide asked everyone what kind of rides we liked. I think they steer away from water rides, and I don’t think anyone wanted to get wet. The guide did take us to rides where the majority of the group didn’t want to ride. There were only three of us who rode Rip Ride Rocket.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi when I did my tour a couple of years ago the tour guide took the majority of what people wanted. We didn't have any young kids in our group so we were able to stick to the other rides. My group did do the Jurrasic Park River Ride but that was the only water one. You have to sign up for both parks to do it. It is more money to do both parks. I was glad that I did both. We did not do any shows either just the rides and the few behind the scenes.

We enjoyed it very much and I hope you do too.

 

[macraven]

Bobbie after I read the above posters question, I have been searching for your report when you did a private tour

It was a report that would help others !
Thanks for posting !

 

[NashSmartGuy]

One other thing I meant to mention. One drawback of doing the VIP Experience is that while you skip the lines, you also skip the queues. This means that you likely won't see any of the immersive elements in the queues or pre-shows. It's just straight onto the ride. For example, the show and elevators in Gringott's or the castle in Fantastic Journey. Still, it's great to skip those lines on really busy days.

I would recommend the tours for folks who have done the parks, but who don't want to wait in lines (especially if you have limited time or the parks are crowded). If you've never been to the parks, I'm thinking that you should experience everything on your own the first time. I would also recommend that you go during less busy times where long lines aren't going to take away from your experience.

 

[tink2424]

I did the group VIP tour at Universal Hollywood and it was awesome! There was a lot more behind the scenes there obviously as it is still a working studio. I would be torn on doing this tour in Orlando since there aren't really any "backstage" areas to see except for rides but this was a good review to help people make a decision.

And I agree that if you only have 1 day and it is busy then this would be the way to get to do all (or most) of the rides.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

I did the group VIP tour at Universal Hollywood and it was awesome! There was a lot more behind the scenes there obviously as it is still a working studio. I would be torn on doing this tour in Orlando since there aren't really any "backstage" areas to see except for rides but this was a good review to help people make a decision.

And I agree that if you only have 1 day and it is busy then this would be the way to get to do all (or most) of the rides.

Yes, I've done the Universal Hollywood VIP Tour, and it is amazing. You see a lot of behind the scenes things and get to walk through actual film and TV sets (like the Superstore store). This depends on what's shooting and such, but you may run into a star or see something secret in production. And you get to ride the rides, too. Hollywood is a movie studio with a little theme park. Orlando is a theme park with a tiny studio.

 

[angryduck71]

Hmmmmm... my son and I did a non-private tour a couple of years ago. We want to do it again. One reason: Hagrid's (although I know not guaranteed). The other reason my son really wants to do it if for the immigration room at MIB... so... scary if that might not happen. We did get some backstage stuff. And, lunch was at Leaky Cauldron. I wonder if Hagrid's kind of cut down on the ability to do some of that. Thanks for this report so I can tell him some things might change!

 

[NashSmartGuy]

Hmmmmm... my son and I did a non-private tour a couple of years ago. We want to do it again. One reason: Hagrid's (although I know not guaranteed). The other reason my son really wants to do it if for the immigration room at MIB... so... scary if that might not happen. We did get some backstage stuff. And, lunch was at Leaky Cauldron. I wonder if Hagrid's kind of cut down on the ability to do some of that. Thanks for this report so I can tell him some things might change!

I don't think they've cut the Immigration Room. She said she had gone there the day before, but got a text that morning that it wasn't available. I asked at the ride after the tour, and they also said it wasn't available. I'm not sure what was up. I was super disappointed because I wanted to get some cool pictures down there!

 

[only hope]

You don’t need to be on a tour to go to the immigration room. You just need good timing- have to ask when there’s a cm to spare. Mom and I hit it right our first attempt a few years ago. It’s awesome!!!

 

[angryduck71]

You don’t need to be on a tour to go to the immigration room. You just need good timing- have to ask when there’s a cm to spare. Mom and I hit it right our first attempt a few years ago. It’s awesome!!!

Yeah — told my kid this even before last tour. But we still loved it all so decided to do tour again.

 

[helenb]

Also, you don't have to ride MIB to do the immigration tour. Just go up the exit ramp (at the back of the store) and find a CM and ask.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

Also, you don't have to ride MIB to do the immigration tour. Just go up the exit ramp (at the back of the store) and find a CM and ask.

I've tried that twice, and been turned down twice! I'll keep asking every time I go, but so far, no luck!

 

[only hope]

I've tried that twice, and been turned down twice! I'll keep asking every time I go, but so far, no luck!

You have to ask when there is a tm to spare and they are offering tours that day. No way to know ahead of time really- if you get turned down, ask if it there is a chance that it’ll be offered later. Maybe first thing in the morning is good? There usually seems to be more tm than are really necessary then, seeing as few people go to MIB at park open.