Universal Orlando Private VIP Tour Trip Report

I was recently lucky enough to checkout Universal Orlando’s VIP Experience! Universal offers 2 versions of the VIP tours- a group tour, which starts at $189 per person and goes up during peak times, and the private tour which is normally between $1500-$4000 (depending on the season) for a party of 5. On the group tour you will be guided around with other families, doing most of the major attractions on a planned schedule. On the private tour you will be able to do whatever you want as many times as you want, with no set schedule or route! This is a trip report on my day. If you have any questions please comment below, and as always you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Our tour started off at 10am at the Universal Studios Administration Building outside of Universal Studios Florida! We got checked in and were provided with lanyards, we were then introduced to our guide.. an awesome and very informative guide named Kendall!

Up until the beginning of December, all of the VIP tours started off by eating some snacks and pastries on the second floor of the administration building. But because the Superstar Character Breakfast recently closed, the VIP Tour department took over Cafe La Bamba and they now offer hot breakfast!

After eating breakfast we started exploring the park. Our first stop was Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. We skipped any waiting and walked straight upstairs to watch the Ragtime Gal’s perform in the upstairs holding room! From here our guide Kendall walked us backstage and we looked out the windows to find a fantastic view of the New York section of the park. Following this we took a look inside of the Race Through New York control booth. Kendall then took us on the attraction, and we sat in the best seats in the house!

We walked from Race Through New York over to Revenge of The Mummy. Here we went on the attraction and then saw our first backstage area of the tour by walking underneath the ride track!

After that we continued on to Men in Black! Kendall guided us to the downstairs section of the queue, also known as an “Immigration Tour”! After that we went to front of the line for the attraction! We walked directly to the front! No waiting!

From Men in Black we hopped over to Diagon Alley. Here we toured the land, watched Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees holiday show, and went on Escape from Gringotts. At Gringotts we walked through the bank lobby before taking a backstage walkway to the load station of the ride. Kendall then walked us over to E.T. Adventure; but instead of skipping the line here I asked Kendall if we could walk through the queue, and he had no problem doing so! We got to enjoy the amazing smell of the queue and then go on the ride itself.

After spending the morning exploring most of Universal Studios Florida we stopped to eat lunch. The tours come with a complimentary meal at one of Universal’s full service restaurants that are inside of the park- or you can eat at Cafe La Bamba- which features a stellar buffet. We picked La Bamba.

After lunch we saw the Horror Make-Up Show, and then took the Hogwarts Express to Island’s of Adventure. At Island’s we rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey… and it broke down! I was so excited! The lights came on! (a long time dream of mine)

We then did the Raptor Encounter, went on Skull Island Reign of Kong, Pteranodon Flyers, and we met the Grinch. We finished off Islands of Adventure by riding Poseidon’s Fury.

To get back to Universal Studios Florida we took a walking tour through the sound stages. Here we were able to peak inside and see what was happening inside of the various buildings. We concluded our tour by watching Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s in their reserved viewing area.

Universal's Holiday Parade featuring Macy's steps off with a blast! pic.twitter.com/liUkpUz2eD

— Park Pass (@ORLParkPass) December 3, 2017

Conclusion-

The VIP Experience at Universal Orlando is AWESOME! On the private tour the guides will customize the day to revolve around your party and you can go at any pace you wish- fast or slow. The food was fantastic and the hospitality our guide Kendall provided was amazing. I recommend this to anyone visiting Universal Orlando.

Here is some constructive criticism I have for the tour:

-Move the holiday parade viewing area to New York.

-Provide more backstage opportunities, most of these have been removed with the Disaster & Twister control booth tours being demolished.

-Add a designated Potter night show viewing area.

Overall, fantastic experience. Highly recommend it!