My party of 6 did a VIP tour at Disneyland for $6,100. The perks made it worth every penny.

13.03.2024 - 12:07 / insider.com

It's hard to imagine forking over about $6,100 for a day at Disneyland. But that was my bill for a six-person family vacation ― and it was worth it.

For my nephew's fourth birthday, we decided to book a VIP tour and take on both Disneyland and California Adventure in one jam-packed day.

Although the price of a VIP tour varies based on the time of year, I paid $4,900 for a seven-hour experience, not including the price of park tickets.

Because we wanted to see both parks, and had to purchase tickets to do the tour, we chose to purchase park-hopper tickets. In total, I spent about $6,100, including the tip for our tour guide.

Here's what our VIP-tour experience was like.

We met our guide at the VIP tour desk inside Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. She explained that she'd be with us all day and would personalize the itinerary to make sure we got to do everything we wanted to.

She also told us we could go on all the rides we wanted without waiting in any lines, which was a huge perk since we were traveling with two small kids.

Throughout the day, our guide used our phones to snap pictures of us around the parks. Taking unique group photos isn't easy, so this was an incredible perk.

Another pleasant surprise was that we'd often get off a ride to find our guide waiting for us with water or popcorn.

When we went on Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure, our guide entertained my 2-year-old niece, who was too small to ride. This meant all the adults got to experience the ride with my nephew.

When we crossed into Disneyland, we went straight for the carousel. Horses and benches on the ride are first-come, first-served, but our guide reserved a bench for us. This was incredibly helpful because my niece, who was starting to get cranky, was able to sit next to her dad.

While we were on the carousel, our guide worked her magic and set up a character meet-and-greet with Anna and Elsa from "Frozen."

Typically, there's a long line to meet characters at Disneyland. With a VIP guide, however, we got to go in first.

The kids were mesmerized, and we appreciated the cleverly-arranged pick-me-up to reengage them.

We enjoyed lunch at Blue Bayou, which was spectacular. Although the meal wasn't included in the price of our VIP tour, our guide secured the last-minute reservation, which would have been almost impossible to get on our own.

She even made arrangements for a Mickey Mouse-themed cake to be delivered for my nephew's birthday celebration.

After lunch, we had time for a few more rides before taking our seats for the parade.

We were in a special roped-off section for VIP guests and could see every float up close.

For a great deal of money, we were able to do two parks in one day and never waited in a