Discounts on VIP Tours & Club Level at Disney World Show Wealthy Aren’t Bottomless Wallets
Walt Disney World is now offering discounts on VIP Tours and Club Level rooms for select dates through Fall 2025. This covers details about the deals, but more importantly, commentary about Walt Disney World running special offers on these limited-capacity offerings that, presumably, are aimed at the top 10% of guests.
This VIP Tours discount comes hot on the heels of yesterday’s post, Is Walt Disney World Too Expensive for Middle Class Americans?, which discussed the company’s increasing reliance on the top 10% to 20% of household incomes. This is just one of several recent posts that has covered the negative long-term ramifications of pricing out families and alienating longtime fans.
That also covered how we expect Walt Disney World to continue aiming more upmarket going forward, as that represents a growth area (Lightning Lane Premier Pass being one of several such examples). This isn’t unique to Walt Disney World, as the hospitality industry as a whole is chasing higher-spending customers, with airlines reducing their inventory of economy seats and replacing them with fewer premium cabins and hotels replacing standard rooms with suites.
Given all of that, it seems worth sharing the latest discount on VIP Tours at Walt Disney World:
For a limited time, guests staying in Club Level Rooms or Club Level Suites at Walt Disney World Resort on select dates from April 28 to September 27, 2025, can save 20% on a Disney Private VIP Tour during their stay.
Make your Disney day unforgettable with a private VIP Tour Guide, turning your adventure into a magical, personalized experience! Enjoy a fully customizable experience with private transportation, guided by Disney’s most knowledgeable and friendly Cast Members.
Walt Disney World’s personalized VIP services include:
- Pre-arrival planning
- A flexible start time, picked by you
- Visits to multiple theme parks
- The ability to enjoy some of your favorite attractions efficiently during your visit
- Shared insight from your highly knowledgeable Disney Private VIP Tour Guide throughout your tour
This Walt Disney World VIP Tour discount is valid from April 28 through September 27, 2025 during a Resort stay. The number of tours allocated for this offer is limited. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same tour. Reservations required. Valid for new reservations only.
Offer is nontransferable and proof of eligibility may be required at the time of booking and at the time of the tour. Valid Theme Park admission for each Park visited on the tour is required and is not included. Offer may not be combined with any other offer, discount or promotion. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice.
VIP Tour Discount Blockout Dates:
- May 23-26, 2025
- June 19-26, 2025
- July 4-7, 2025
- August 30 to September 1, 2025
This discount is also being offered to eligible Disney Vacation Club Members. Details are identical to the above, right down to offer and blockout dates. There are a few other added terms & conditions:
Eligible Disney Vacation Club Member must pay for the tour and be on the tour. Offer is non-transferable and proof of eligibility is required at the time of booking. A valid digital Disney Vacation Club Membership Card and photo ID are required at the time of the tour.
All tours must be booked for a minimum duration of 7 continuous hours, and your party may include up to 10 Guests, including infants. Guests age 17 or younger must be accompanied by a participating adult. The price for VIP Tours ranges from $450 to $900 per hour depending on the date booked. Admission to the parks is not included in the price of the VIP Tour.
Separately, special offers no longer categorically exclude Club Level rooms–as was the case for a long stretch during the peak of pent-up demand. This is not a brand-new development, but has been a gradual change over the course of the last couple discount cycles. (I’ve probably mentioned it in deal analysis, but can’t recall.)
During the height of revenge travel, Club Level was excluded from discounts because it was easily booking up at full price. As we’ve definitely commented elsewhere, Club Level went from being a common free upgrade to one of the most competitive room categories–even at exorbitant rack rates that often start at over $1,000 per night.
Accordingly, I thought it was interesting when I went to price rooms for an upcoming May 2025 trip via the Stay Longer & Save Up to 30% Off Disney World Resorts in Spring to Fall 2025, and Club Level rooms were the only options for my dates at my first two choices: Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary Resort. The former was $794/night and the latter was $979…with a discount.
The only Club Level I’d actually want right now, Chronos Club, is the most difficult to book…presumably because it’s also the least expensive (minor detail). I’d like to re-review that, but it has become my white whale. Unsurprisingly so, since it can be under $400/night with a discount, which is the lowest Club Level room by hundreds of dollars!
As you know by know, Walt Disney World doesn’t offer discounts out of the goodness of its heart. It’s not like the company is thinking that the wealthy have really had a tough go of it lately, and deserve to save some of their hard-earned dollars on VIP Tours or Club Level rooms. To the contrary, it’s all about demand–or more accurately, the lack thereof.
Interest in VIP Tours has died down in the last year-plus, but it wasn’t that long ago that Walt Disney World had off-the-charts demand at full price. I recall hearing from Club 33 members that they were being offered trades of exclusive artwork in exchange for their allotted VIP Tours, because Walt Disney World didn’t have enough guides and was having trouble satisfying demand from guests willing to pay out of pocket.
Now, demand for both high-end product offerings has dropped to the point that they’re being discounted. Keep in mind that it’s not as if Walt Disney World has a huge inventory of Club Level rooms or endless supply of VIP Tour Guides. These are both extremely low-capacity offerings aimed at a very low percentage of guests.
Walt Disney World being unable to fill Club Level rooms or VIP Tours, despite the low-capacity of both, certainly would suggest that a strategy of catering to wealthy guests is bound to backfire. It also probably indicates that even the top tier of Walt Disney World guests are trading down for lower-cost vacations as compared to what they were spending during the height of revenge travel.
Bigger picture, this further reinforces that Disney should not predicate its forward-looking expectations on what happened in 2022. Pent-up demand was an anomaly, as its name suggests. Expecting consumers to maintain that level of spending or product preferences is a recipe for unrealistic expectations and bad business decisions.
In the case of VIP Tours, it’s almost certain that Lightning Lane Premier Pass has cannibalized some demand. This was an inevitability, as it’s a more cost effective option for some affluent guests. While LLPP is a product aimed at filling the gap between Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and VIP Tours, it’s almost certain that some prior or potential purchasers of the guided tours are trading down to LLPP. Just because people are wealthy doesn’t mean they aren’t also frugal or value conscious.
There’s also the reality that some people would find Lightning Lane Premier Pass to be more subjectively compelling, even at equivalent costs. To wit: I’m not in the market for either of these products, but if I were, I’d buy LLPP over a VIP Tour since being accompanied in the parks by a stranger is very unappealing to me. Obviously, not everyone is like me, and well-heeled first-timers are likely to appreciate the value added by the guide. But some people are like me, and would prefer their limited family time be spent with…their families.
A bit tangential, but I’m curious as to whether Lightning Lane Premier Pass is viewed as a success internally. It’s something the CFO touted on a recent earnings call, but that sounded like fluff–telling investors what they want to hear. LLPP has come at a cost–both a monetary one if a large number of guests are trading down from VIP Tours and reputational one thanks to the flurry of negative press. (To the latter point, I’ve seen several mainstream media articles that now mention in passing that Lightning Lanes can cost “over $400” without explaining the starting price, range, or differentiating products. That’s not a good first impression for those unfamiliar with Disney!)
Ultimately, all of this should underscore some of what we’ve been warning about Walt Disney World not being overreliant on the wealthy, top 10/20% of earners, and so forth. Although there are unrealized opportunities among these demographics for Disney, there’s also the reality that affluent are fickle and have no loyalty to Disney.
The middle class is still Walt Disney World’s bread and butter, and the generational fans forged over decades is foundational to the parks’ 50-plus year success. Chasing high-spending guests may prove to be foolish and detrimental in the long-term, especially once those affluent Americans get their fill of Disney, realize it’s not the kind of luxury experience to which they’re accustomed, and move on.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about Walt Disney World offering discounts on VIP Tours and Club Level rooms? Does this suggest to you that, if WDW can’t even consistently sell out these low-inventory offerings, perhaps chasing the wealthy isn’t the most viable business plan at scale? Do you still think that Walt Disney World can sustain itself with these big-spenders? Or do you agree with our assessment that Walt Disney World is inherently a middle class destination, and it needs this bread & butter demo? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
What about those of us laying out nearly 20k for a 2 bedroom villa for a week? I feel a little chuffed that we don’t qualify for any discounts, VIP tour or otherwise, especially given I plan on booking 2 for our stay. I guess my special extended family vacation doesn’t count; The one I have been saving for for nearly 10 years. I will remember that and this will likely be the last time I go.
Tom –
Need your help. You indicated a change was made for annual passes, and that out-of-state purchases by DVC members, could be purchased on an instalment basis, FOR THE SORCERER PASS, like Forida residents. We are trying to accomplish that but calls to Disney and the web site deny that that is the case. I had asked at the time for the effective date, and some other questions, but I did not see a reply, and I registered for notifications. Can you clear that up? We arrive on April first and previously had annual passes. We let them expire at the beginning of the year, since it was just too large a cost to put in at that time. Since then, we have had two additional trips planned that were not on the radar, so we want the annual pass back again, but currently are a bit pressed for the whole fee at one time. I believe it was the sorcerer pas that you said was being changed to add this benefit ? Any further info on how we access it?
RANDY YOUNG
I’m in the parks a lot. I still see a lot of VIP tours even at WDW. It’s amusing to me to watch the guides pushing strollers and delivering food to their guests as they exit rides!
Tom,
I recently stayed at Chronos Club level in December . Stayed club level at wilderness Lodge in June. Both not our first time, either. I think the service at wilderness Lodge is above and beyond! I think they have better food and more of a variety of food. Love their filtered water. And even though we are not drinkers, the alcohol is self serve. Old faithful lounge, went above and beyond and got certain food/Gatorade that they don’t normally offer upon our request.I was really unimpressed in December at Coronado Springs. While they do make special mocktails and cocktails and wait on you in that sense, the food was very subpar.
It was hit or miss with cast members in their hospitality service. we won’t be returning to Chronos. when we stayed at Coronado Springs in 2019, it was above and beyond the best club we had ever experienced. of course it was their grand opening, and had an excellent concierge manager, running the show then. But it has went down since.
I’m curious as to why it is your white whale. 🙂
I am one of the people considering the LLPP for a few specific reasons. I have considered a VIP tour in the past and have decided against it because I’ve been to Disney enough times I know I can get on any ride without an expensive guide! Even though with the 20% discount…it’s tempting to call up a DVC friend and split a tour! The LLPP appeals to me just to save steps and not need to criss cross the parks, etc. For my trip this summer with two teens I’m probably going to buy the LLPP for Epcot just to save those steps and not need to rope drop to get on everything with a short wait. Then, looking at Hollywood Studios…I just can’t justify the Premier pass when they have Disney after hours. We did after hours last year and loved it. For less than $200 you get all the popcorn/sodas/popsicles/mickey bars you can eat and get near-walk on rides after the park closes. When I considered the cost..the after hours wins for me over premier pass in Hollywood Studios. I know they do after hours at Epcot…but the park is so big, I don’t think I could accomplish as much as I’d like in the 3 hours after closing and they have extra hours on Mondays. Now when I take my 72 yr old dad next year…I’ll probably do Premier passes for each park except Animal kingdom to save him the steps and be able to ride headliners and take things at a leisurely pace.
For whatever it’s worth, I think your assessment is correct.
After Hours at DHS beats LLPP from my perspective. I also think After Hours at MK beats LLPP.
LLPP probably makes more sense at EPCOT due to the headliners being so far apart. There’s also the possibility of attraction downtime during After Hours, which really throws a monkey wrench into things.
We got a 20% DVC discount in July 2024 before Premiere Pass launched. For a smaller group, I actually prefer PP.
I don’t think Disney is catering to the truly wealthy, they are catering to the upper end of the upper middle class and lower end of the wealthy. People who can afford these things but often times it still comes with a choice to not buy something else. With a few exceptions the truly wealthy do no not go to Disney World. They think Disney World is trashy and the people who go there are trashy and all of the VIP tours and line skipping options do not change the fact that a visit to a Disney park means rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses in the crowded and noisy theme park. My sister and her husband live in Manhattan. They are not super wealthy but the know people who are and she has educated me on this issue.
It’s regional. What your sister described sounds to me like East Coast old money snobbery.
While I don’t doubt that some of the truly wealthy throughout the United States look down their noses at theme parks, the dynamic is definitely less pronounced in the Midwest, South, and West Coast. Having lived in all of those places and known people who are well-off in all of them, I’m confident in this assessment. Even in the fanciest suburbs of Chicago (probably the closest approximate for the old money of the East Coast), there are still people who love Disney. Affluent Californians (of which there are many) love Disneyland. The only blind spot for me is Texas and the states to its north–but I suspect there’s a lot of “new money” there that loves Disney, too.
Keep in mind that it’s not just investment bankers, lawyers, doctors, and other prestige industries that have people who are financially well-off. Lots of wealth in car dealerships, distribution, small businesses, and so forth. A lot of fairly humble people are also fairly wealthy. And unlike the former group, they don’t have to spend in the same way to keep up appearances.
Just here to confirm Tom’s reply! There are “truly wealthy” people all over! They usually own businesses and they may be in the construction industry that has been booming for 15 years and counting…plumbing, electrical…all of these, and many more blue collar businesses have been booming for years and are growing more sophisticated and better at making money every year! I never heard much about going to Disney when I lived in a large city, but when we bought a farm and built a house in a rural suburb, my kids came home from school asking to go to Disney. It’s a big status thing the more rural you get. We went at the kid’s request, and fell in love with it and go once or twice a year (along with trips to many other places!)…not because of status, but because we genuinely enjoy our time in Disney world. So it may not be a desirable place for a wealthy Manhattanite, but yes, it’s something that appeals to many wealthy people.
There are plenty of rich northeasterners, and even Manhattanites, who love Disney vacations. My friend married a hedge fund principal in Manhattan and all her private school Mom friends trade advice on the Four Seasons vs. putting up with the poor service and crowds at a monorail resort. They all pay for VIP services because their husbands’ time is more valuable than $900 an hour. Their best shot at return Disney trips is maximizing utilization within a 3-4 day window. After 20-years in Manhattan, where plenty of families we knew enjoyed WDW vacations, we moved an hour east to Long Island and found that one of the social categories here is referred to as “the DVC SUV Moms.” If New Yorkers refused to lower themselves to a WDW vacations, the crowd calendar’s busiest weeks wouldn’t perfectly align with the NY state school calendar.
One point that is worth mentioning is that, even at the high end of splurges, for people for whom cost is no object, Disney is not that luxurious. We are in the demographic who could afford to spend a few weeks a year in a suite at Beach Club or Grand Floridian, but that is still a far cry from the average Four Seasons or St. Regis (to say nothing of some of the international luxury brands). I grew up with Disneyland as a family tradition but my husband’s view is “why are we spending so much just for you to stress about VQs and stand around in line even though we pay for line skipping” (fixing the overcrowded LLs has improved our trips a bit). I think our plan going forward is to only stay 2-3 days and do VIP tours instead staying 5-7 days and running ourselves ragged… though given recent events (this is me trying to avoid politics) we aren’t sure we’re going to be visiting Florida or WDW much at all for the next several years. I suspect that may have something to do with the high end slowdown also.
Totally agree. Even rich people want value for their money. No one wants to pay for a VIP tour or a premier pass and have multiple headliner rides down during their time in the parks. People aren’t paying all that money to NOT ride Frozen and Remi!
I want to get this straight. For the lowest possible price of $450 per hour (based on a minimum of 7 hours) or $3,150, you can give your private group of 10 people (under the watchful eye of a personal guide) a private tour of certain, not-as-yet-named “backstage areas,” as well as trips to theme parks to enjoy their “favorite attractions.”
Despite the personal guide, each person in the group still gets the “treat” of going through security (at each park) and then each must pay for, what I assume is a park-hopper ticket to enter all four parks the same day, which will costs $238.00
For the sake of argument, let’s say you take maximum advantage of the base price and your group comprises 10 people. Ten (10) park hopper tickets will run $2380. Your total cost has now ballooned to $5530, not including tax, meals, snacks, and drinks.
Assuming you visit all four theme parks, with a 15-minute drive between parks, a similar amount of time to get from the last park back to your departure point, and 15 minutes at each park for your group to get from the parking lot through security and past the ticket counter, your 7-hour has now been reduced to 5 hours.
Split between the four parks, that gives you 75 minutes maximum in each park…and you’ve paid $5530. That’s $18.43 per minute, or $1,106 per hour.
That is definitely a dunce-in-a-lifetime, more-money-than-brains opportunity.
It’s not that the ten-percenters don’t have bottomless wallets, they have better sense and refuse to be bamboozled by a bait-and-switch offer.
You don’t have to go through security at each park as the Plaid drives you around using back entrances. You can get more done in multiple parks with VIP than Premiere Pass, and with a large group, it’s pretty cost comparable. But for a smaller group, I prefer PP to VIP because you can just go on your own pace without the pressure of being paying by the hour and having to chit chat with the guide.
the drive between the parks is much quicker than you would think. Everything is done backstage.
I took my mom and sister on a VIP tour back in 2012.
The guide picked us up at 9 AM and we were with him all the way through Fantasmic and until he dropped us back at the resort.
So something like 12 hours, visiting all 4 parks (ending at MGM with Fantasmic).
You don’t go through security, you drive into the parks through a VIP back entrance.
Everything was VIP. We definitely had front of the line. Not the FP line. He brought us straight to the head of the line.
Also, when it was time for lunch, even though everywhere was already booked (i knew this from the reservations i’d made), he just called in, told them where we wanted to eat and voila, we walked past what looked like an hour long line of people who did have reservations and went straight to sit down.
Of course, this was back in 2012, when there were fewer VIP tours, not like there are now.
So perhaps things are different.
In truth, i didn’t enjoy it, since i’m used to going with my husband and kids and grandkids on our own.
I’ve been to WDW every year since 1974, so i do know it very well.
But my mom and sister really enjoyed being on the tour. So it was worth every penny for them (both of them have since passed away).
I always saw VIP tours as a way of offering an LLPP-type product without explicitly appearing to do so: they could pretend people valued the personal service and insights, but clearly most people were buying it for the Front of Line access. (How many tours would they have sold if the guide queued with you in standby? 😉 ) Disguised paid queue-jumping was a Disney tradition, a bit like how Tokyo has exorbitant “vacation packages” that just happen to give priority access to Fantasy Springs attractions alongside a range of other (meaningless) benefits, but doesn’t sell Priority Access to the rides at anything like the price the free market could command.
This wasn’t by accident – Disney must have had strong business reasons for not wanting to be seen to directly accept money for rides. Safe to say that has gone out the window at most parks (Tokyo is the only slight holdout). Anecdotally I used to see one or two VIP tours per trip – that number is now zero. That is hardly reliable data, but it fits my expectations that the VIP tour was only ever a fig leaf, and now an unnecessary one.
They had a program for a short period of time before COVID at Animal Kingdom – pay something like $150 for some sort of behind the scenes tour and receive fast passes to Avatar, Navi River Journey, Everest, the Safari, and Dinosaur. It was advertised as a behind the scenes tour but everybody viewed as pay $150 and get fast passes to AK’s E-Ticket rides with a tour thrown in.
There was a similar program with Star Wars at DHS.
Chris, are you saying you now see zero VIP tours per trip at Walt Disney World? If so, that’s definitely an anomaly. While my anecdotal perception is that they’ve declined since 2022, I still see plenty of them. Not as many as at Disneyland, but they’re not uncommon.
I’d also say that paid line-skipping has gotten pretty bad at TDR. Between the Vacation Packages and charging for seating at shows and parades, it’s really worsened the guest experience (Big Band Beat: A Special Treat is the one that annoys me most).
Unfortunately, I agree in part and disagree in part. I’d like to agree totally with Tom and say this is a clear sign that relying on the upper class to pad the growth doesn’t work; these are two separate categories (park tickets and resort reservations) of clear evidence that there are limits. I can’t, because right now there is still a healthy appetite for DVC points; unless the February data comes in much lower or new incentives occur, demand appears to be increasing more than the supply – even excluding the Poly! Maybe it’s enough to note that DVC buyers have more knowledge of WDW future plans and know there’s actually plans to open new attractions each year at least for the next five? For the next year or so, there’s less reason for a return trip even if you’re Scrooge McDuck.
“I’m curious as to whether Lightning Lane Premier Pass is viewed as a success internally.”
If I recall correctly, Tom, before LLPP opened up to non-WDW resort guests you heard it was missing its targets by 50% or so. While it may be profitable enough to keep doing as compared to the pre-LLPP baseline, if higher expectations aren’t being met LLPP could still be seen as a failure financially. (Only time can tell on how WDW internally thinks of the reputational damage.)
I agree with the previous comments and just want to add my frustration and disappointment that while the question of Disney’s affordability for middle-class Americans is in national headlines, they release a discount aimed squarely at the wealthy. A great discount to have released at this time would have been the return of the 4 Park Magic ticket from last year, it gives families the opportunity to experience all 4 parks and they could have touted that it is all for UNDER $100 a day. What a tone deaf offering they released and a missed opportunity for offering an olive branch to the middle class.
P.S. Thank you Tom for all of the resources on this site. I have gotten so many great tips as well as learned a lot of Disney history. I’ve been a reader for many years, but this is my first comment. My hope is that someone at Disney looks at comments on your site and sees true fans’ feedback to their choices.
Recently I have seen a lot of negative reviews for the Disneyland and WDW VIP tours. Wondering if that has caused bookings to drop off requiring the discount.
This isn’t the first time they have done this recently – last year they had the same discount at least for DVC members.
We are squarely in the middle class, and would need to go into debt or sacrifice in other areas to make a relatively simple trip happen now, and we live just over two hours away. The combination of inflation, their nickel and dime approach, other price increases, etc., has made Disney World untenable for us, and we’re DINKs. We decided to go a short beach trip this year instead, even with family gifting us some Disney gift cards. We might venture to Disney Springs at some point, but we can’t justify staying on property, going to the parks, plus paying for food and 1-2 souvenirs.
I think people are feeling the squeeze and Disney will need to more aggressively pursue their bread and butter at some point. The pool of people in the top 10-20% who want to splurge on Disney will dry up as other premium / luxury experiences have more appeal. Especially if international travel decreases and other economic factors cause decrease in consumer sentiment.
I agree with you 100 percent on this! We did a VIP tour on our last trip as we had grandparents with us and a shortened trip timeline. Of course our guide was fantastic and skipping the lines was wonderful but I couldn’t help constantly crunching the numbers. I didn’t want to stop to eat or take restroom breaks because I kept thinking how much each of these “cost me”. Even if it was built into our trip budget I just prefer a more leisurely visit, grabbing a coffee when I want or poking my head into a store when I want and not thinking well there went another $100!