This turned out to be a fantastic tour and we’re both so happy we wound up splurging on the VIP. Our tour guide, Tom, was so knowledgeable and he catered to our every need all day. There was always cold bottled water around and bathroom breaks when needed.

We got to ride around in an air conditioned bus while we toured the movie lot. The VIP tour granted us access to areas the regular tour couldn’t go, like the property department. This is basically a giant warehouse filled with movie props. Directors can select items that they would like to use for their sets. They do so by taping a hold ticket to the item they want. The rules are pretty strict. If you are caught removing someone else’s ticket, you will be banned for life!

We also got to tour the set of the TV show Superstore. Eddie and I have never seen the show, but now that we’ve seen the set and learned many behind the scenes tricks, we’ve added it to our list of series to watch. Because it’s a live set, however, we were not allowed to take pics.

Our tour bus drove us through the set of Jurassic Park, Jaws and The Bates Motel where we were chased by a knife-wielding Norman Bates. We toured the set site of a plane crash and a ton of other movie sets.

The first place we went after our 2 hour movie set tour was to Harry Potter land. Our tour guide took us right up to the front of every line. Unfortunately, everything in Harry Potter land was a rollercoaster so only Eddie went on. At least he had the company of our other 8 VIP group members.

After Harry Potter land we were whisked away to a private dining area for lunch. Lunch was a huge buffet cooked by the executive chef. There were so many choices and everything was delicious. We even got to meet Count Dracula while we were dinning!

After lunch, our tour guide proceeded to take us to each and every ride in the park, bringing us directly to the front of the line. He even took us on shortcuts to get us through the park quickly. The park is much smaller than Orlando and there were twice as many people there. By the end of the day, the wait times were upwards of 150 minutes per ride. Doing the VIP tour was the best way to see the whole park and more, and we’re both happy we did it!