The Universal Studios VIP Tour Experience is Totally Worth It!
I had a milestone birthday this year and to celebrate, my big sister took me on a trip to Florida… complete with a Universal Studios VIP Tour Experience! The day we spent as VIPs was the most amazing day of our trip and I can’t recommend it enough.
How Does the Universal Studios VIP Tour Experience Work?
The VIP Tour Experience is a guided group tour through Universal theme parks. The tour includes backstage access and insider information, plus cut-the-line access to major attractions!
When we signed up, we had our choice of a VIP experience at a single park or both Universal theme parks. We chose the two-park experience for our trip, which was estimated to be 7 hours in length.
The VIP Tour Experience also includes reserved seating at shows, complimentary valet parking, and complimentary meals (breakfast and lunch).
Our VIP Experience Tour Group
Each Universal Studios VIP Experience Tour group is made up of about a dozen people. If there aren’t 12 in your group, you’ll be added to a group with other VIP guests. (You can also purchase a private VIP experience.)
Yes, you’re grouped up with strangers! Believe it or not, this introvert enjoyed this part of the trip. Our group was made up of groups of two and three: parents with children, couples, and siblings from all around the country. I enjoyed getting to know them throughout the day, particularly at meals.
Each group is assigned a VIP Tour Experience guide for the day. Our guide, Anthony, was friendly, knowledgeable, and energetic. He was able to find a way to balance our requests and manage the diversity of ages and interests in our group in a way that seemed effortless. We adored him! He really made our experience special.
We met at breakfast and Anthony gave VIP lanyards and passes to wear throughout the day. These gave us access to some backstage areas, including areas between the parks that we cut through! It also gave us access to the attractions.
Accssing the Attractions
The true benefit of the VIP Tour Experience is in comparison to the other access offered at Universal Orlando. There are a few ways to access attractions beyond standing in traditional lines: Early Park Admission, the Universal Express Pass, and the Universal VIP Tour Experience. We tried all three and found that the other two could not compare to the VIP Tour Experience.
Early Park Admission
Early Park Admission grants park access one hour before opening and is available to guests of Universal hotels and other select groups, like passholders.
There are a few limitations of this service. First, it’s only available in one park at a time. If your must-do attraction is in the other park, there is no advantage. Second, you must still wait in line. It’s quite likely that the other guests will be rushing to the same attractions you want to experience, so while your wait will be substantially less than during other parts of the day, there will be a wait.
I should also note that Early Park Admission is really only useful for folks who don’t mind getting up early and rushing to the parks. Some people prefer to move at a leisurely pace while on vacation and an 11:00AM tour might be a much better fit.
We took advantage of Early Park Admission on our other days at Universal Orlando. It is an excellent advantage for the first and maybe second attraction of the day, but after that, we faced diminishing returns. It definitely saved us time in line on those first couple attractions, though.
Universal Express Pass
The Universal Express Pass offers cut-the-line access to most attractions and is available for purchase. It is also free to select hotel guests and free to VIP Tour Experience guests once their tour has ended.
This pass has one major limitation. Two e-ticket attractions, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and Jurassic World VelociCoaster, cannot be accessed with the Express Pass.
The Express Pass doesn’t guarantee that you will not wait, but it does mean your wait time is much shorter since you’re in an express queue. One key advantage to express pass is that you are able to experience the queue of each attraction. Particularly in the Wizarding World, the queues are extremely detailed and almost as enjoyable as the attractions.
We used the Express Pass after our VIP Tour Experience and found that it significantly cut our wait time, sometimes by as much as 45 minutes on a single attraction. It saved us more time overall than Early Park Admission, but we couldn’t use it on two key attractions we wanted to experience. If we didn’t know we had an upcoming VIP Tour Experience that would give us access to Hagrid’s and VelociCoaster, we may have been disappointed.
The VIP Tour Experience
With the Universal Studios VIP Tour Experience, there is no queue. We bypassed everything! We were led in a separate entrance and right onto the attractions of our choosing. This included all of the major attractions, even those that do not accept Express Pass.
We took advantage of the Universal Express Pass after our VIP Tour Experience. The pass provided by our guide acted as an Express Pass for the rest of the day! This gave us the ability to experience all three types of park access and say, without question, that the VIP Tour Experience provides the best access.
The only downside to the VIP Tour Experience is that we did not have a chance to see the elaborately themed queues throughout the park. I returned on other days to explore them, but if it had been my only day at the park, I would have felt I missed out. (Note that we still understood the story behind each attraction because our guide explained what was disclosed in the pre-show on our way there.)
Our VIP Tour Experience included walk-on access of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jurassic World Velocicoaster, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, E.T. Adventure, Men in Black: Alien Attack, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, Fast & Furious Supercharged, Transformers: The Ride 3D, Revenge of the Mummy, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, and The Incredible Hulk Coaster. We used our VIP Tour Experience passes as Express Passes for four additional attractions that day.
The Meals
Our VIP Tour Experience included 2 complimentary meals: breakfast and lunch. Both were served buffet-style at Café La Bamba in Universal Studios. Each tour group sat at a single, large table.
Breakfast
We had breakfast around 9:00AM, right before the start of our tour. Hot items included bacon, eggs, sausage, and red potatoes with onions. Breakfast sandwiches were also available. The cold bar included fruit, oats, and yogurt.
Everything we ate was good, but the standout savory item at breakfast was a biscuit-type thing I discovered on the hot bar. It was filled with scrambled eggs, mushrooms, and leeks. When I asked about it, I discovered that the buffet was made up of dishes from around the parks and that this particular item came from The Leaky Cauldron. (There it is appropriately named “Egg, Leek, & Mushroom Pasty.”)
My favorite sweet was an elderberry croissant. Light and flaky and stuffed with elderberry jam, it was the perfect breakfast bite! These are regularly available at the Today Café and San Francisco Pastry Company.
Lunch
We had lunch a little after noon. I was a bit nervous about stuffing myself before hopping on inverted coasters or motion simulators and the lunch menu did not help my fears. Every option was appetizing and the ones I tried were all delicious.
At the salad bar, we had our choice of Caesar, tomato and goat cheese, and Mediterranean orzo salads. The hot bar featured chicken, beef, and portobello sliders. Carved meats were also available. The sides included the crispiest tater tots I’ve ever eaten, macaroni and cheese, corn esquites, and roasted vegetables.
My favorite lunch item was the salmon, which was perfectly seasoned and cooked.
Discounts and Freebies
During the VIP Tour Experience, we had free access to paid (large) lockers on attractions that required us to be free of loose articles. The savings here wasn’t substantial, but it was definitely appreciated and convenient!
We definitely took advantage of the VIP Tour Experience discount on merchandise and food. We received 10% off by scanning our cards.
Everything Else
Because we stayed at a Universal resort, we had complimentary transportation and didn’t need valet parking. We also didn’t use our VIP Tour Experience for any shows, so we didn’t experience reserved seating.
We did get to visit some top-secret backstage areas during our tour! We used the backstage areas between parks to cut back and forth between them. It was neat to see how the parks were connected, to see the sound stages that were actually in use, and to have a better understanding of the scope and scale of these parks. (Note that no photos were allowed in these areas.)
We also had access to backstage parts of individual attractions. For example, we were allowed to walk through the floor (below the traditional queue) of Men in Black: Alien Attack. We took some selfies, signed the guest logs, and checked the desk drawers! Touches like that definitely made the VIP Tour Experience fun and unique.
Overall Impression
While I originally balked at the price tag of the VIP Tour Experience, it is definitely worth it. I would recommend it for anyone interested in backstage areas or perks, anyone who absolutely hates waiting in line, and anyone who has a day to spend in the parks and wants to maximize their time!
Plan Your Visit
Universal Orlando Resort VIP Tour Experience
Universal Studios
6000 Universal Boulevard
Orlando, Florida 32819
website
34 Comments
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HeatherB
I’m booking our Orlando trip now and was wondering if I should book the VIP tour & this helped me out SO much! I wondered about the rides, the meals, and the size of the group. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Holly
You’re welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m happy to help!
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Susan
Oh my goodness – I had no idea such an experience was available! Our next trip, I’m going to try to do this 🙂 Thank you for the awesome review!! It absolutely sounds like it would be worth the extra expense.
Holly
If you do, please let me know how you like it!
Chelsea
The VIP Tour totally looks like a great way to experience Universal. I love guided tours because you can learn things you wouldn’t when you go it solo.
Holly
You’re right! And I love that insider info!
Tammy Horvath
I never realized they offered a VIP tour. I’d love to have the valet parking and reserved seats at the shows. I’m glad you had a good birthday. Your sister sounds amazing, just like mine.
Holly
Yes, I’m blessed with two great sisters!
Terra Booth
I love VIP tours and always try to do them if they are available!! Yours sounds like it was an amazing experience!
Holly
Thanks! I’d love to hear about them.
I would love to do one at that other Orlando theme park next! 😉
Sabrina
We are headed to Orlando next year. So happy I read this post. We will be attending Universal Studios (my absolute favorite) and Disney this time around. The VIP admission sounds like something we would all love to do. Thanks for sharing.
Holly
I hope you also have an amazing tour guide!
Tiffany
What an awesome birthday experience! We were lucky in the off season and don’t really have any lines but the VIP sounds great on busy days!
Holly
It really was an excellent birthday present! My typical Florida trips are in February and we don’t see many crowds then, either.
Barbara
What a great review filled with good information!
Holly
Thanks, Barbara!
Lisa Manderino
I’m sold….this would be amazing…and I can tell from the picture your tour guide looks awesome!
Holly
He was the best! I even contacted Universal to let him know what an excellent experience we had, all because of him!
Sabrina DeWalt
Thank you for the post. I had no idea this was an option.
Melissa Jones
This is great info! I’ve been to Universal on several occasions in the past and had no idea they had such tours! It sounds like a super good option to explore the parks in a unique way!!
Heather
How much did you tip your tour guide?
Holly
We tipped him 20%. He was amazing!
Danielle
We don’t agree with so many of the changes over at Disney World, so we are planning to pivot to Universal Studios instead. Thanks for the info – it sounds like a great experience!
Holly
WDW is becoming less affordable for us as well.
Cindy Moore
What a fun option! I love tours and the extra things you learn on them.
Sunny
Planning a trip now for July and I really want to do the VIP experience, I’m wondering if its worth it to stay at a on- site resort as well? It comes with the express passes (which we obviously won’t need VIP tour day). Wondering if I should book a cheaper hotel, or if we will want the express passes for other days we are there. Did you end up going back to the parks on other days? We will definitely want to spend one day at the Waterpark! Which hotel did you stay at and would you reccomend or have feedback about it?
Holly
We have stayed at Cabana Bay Beach Resort, Hard Rock Hotel, and Endless Summer Dockside. If you don’t mind switching, you can do a night or two at Endless Summer Surfside or Dockside or an off-site hotel for your VIP days, then move to a resort that offers Express Pass as a perk (not all do).
Our favorite of these three was Cabana Bay, but we are really itching to stay at Portofino Bay after spending an afternoon there!
Keely
We just booked the VIP after googling and getting such great reviews – especially yours! Can I ask you how they worked with requests? Like, if most of your group wants to go to a show, do you all have to go to the show or can you kind of do your own thing and meet back up?
Also, my daughter is OBSESSED with the Simpsons. It looks like the characters are only there to meet between 10-4:30, which would be during our tour time. Do you think based on your experience that they would be okay with us not doing a ride with the group and running to see a Simpson for my kiddo, then running back to catch the next ride with the tour? Or do they work in any character meets and skip you up the line for those?
We only have 1 day in the 2 parks, so we’re doing this to get more done, but it’ll be a bummer if by getting all the rides we miss all the Simpsons 🙂 We’ll still go to their ride and souvenir shop, so she won’t be like completely sad, but if we can make it all work that would be so much better. Thank you for any feedback you have!
Holly
Excellent! Our tour guide did a pulse check of the group and determined which attractions were most important to everyone and did his best to work those in.
We did not have the ability to do our own thing and meet back up during the tour, though we had time to explore the parks on our own afterward. The tour group moves behind the scenes and it would be impossible to move as quickly or easily between the parks without a guide.
I recommend you let your tour guide know what’s important to you and plan to leave the tour early for character meet and greets if that’s what you feel is most important. I also recommend packing Dramamine for that Simpsons ride because PHEW, it’s a doozy.
I hope y’all have a blast!
Keely
Thank you so much! That is super helpful! Can I ask you one other question that I can’t find the answer to anywhere? Is there time to grab any snacks or stuff from shops during the tour? Breakfast and lunch sound awesome, but we’re gonna need some butterbeer here and there 😉 And we’re going when there’s a horror night, so I’m hoping we can buy some things and check out Diagon Alley during the day while we’re there before it turns scary and they kick us out. It’s hard to tell if you’re just rushing from one ride to the next and then done or if you get to be in the places at all and have some snacks or buy souvenirs.
Lynn
So I understand they won’t let you book more than 6 people for the non-private VIP tour. There are 2 families in my party and if we book our VIP tours at the same time/day – how easy would it be to switch groups the day of check in so that we can be sure to be together? I know the only way to guarantee being together is to book a private but that is a bigger price jump. I’m thinking each of our 2 families will just book separately and hope that we can figure out how to be in the same group day of. Have you heard of anyone doing that? Or what is the process like for check in? are they super strict with pre-set groups?
Holly
I don’t think it would be easy. The groups are prearranged and we were set at a specific table for breakfast once we checked in. Our tour guide picked us up from there. If you traded, you’d need to be trading with a family of the same size. We did see other groups around meal times, but they were slightly staggered so that we didn’t deal with any crowding at lunch.
I think the best way to do it would be for both of you to book for the same day and make a request for the same tour guide!