V.I.P. is the Hollywood Way!

Universal Studios Hollywood has the most spectacular VIP Experience!  The number of perks you get make it a worthwhile way to experience this classic theme park.  I only wish other theme parks did it like Universal Hollywood does.

Being only one theme park, it won't take you more than one day to really enjoy this theme park.  Consider that a one day ticket will cost you about $109 or $199 if you want Express Pass.  The VIP tour is about $369 per person.
Let me breakdown why this is totally worth it.

Included in this VIP Experience is your park ticket, Unlimited Express Pass, front of the line access for all rides, VIP seating for the WaterWorld stunt show, snack/breakfast spread, full sit-down lunch, bottles of water throughout the day, special backlot tour access inside the movie sets, AND A GREAT TOUR GUIDE!  Here's their marketing image but I'll explain further.

---

Before the Tour even begins, if you drove to the parks you get Valet Parking.  VIP's have their own little side entrance where you are checked in and taken up to the lounge area.

Here you will have a nice buffet of snacks and beverages while you wait for your tour to begin.  Small sandwiches, fruit, juice, and coffee are what you can expect.  It's definitely enough of a spread to qualify as a breakfast or lunch depending on the time of your tour.

There are also bottles of water for you to grab and take with you on your tour.  We waited roughly 20 minutes or so for our tour guide to show up,  Now this is not a "Private" Tour, there were about 12 people on the tour total, so you will be hanging out with some strangers for most of the day.

We did get to start our tour with the NEW Super Nintendo World that was just built there.  The Tour didn't include much time to wander and explore this area, but depending on the time of your tour there is plenty of time to explore the rest of the park either before or after your tour.

Our VIP access badge allowed us to go through the shorter line for the Mario Kart ride, even Express Passes aren't allowed on this ride yet.  Definitely a cool ride!  If you want more info on Super Nintendo World read our previous blog for a much more in-depth look at this part of the park.

Even though we had Express Passes, all the other rides in the park we were give "Front Of the Line" Access.  Our Tour Guide would take us around the line to get us right up to where the ride begins.  You definitely feel like a VIP when you skip 98% of the line to get on the rides.

If you've ever been to Universal Studios in Orlando you will recognize the majority of the rides.

There are a few rides and experiences that are exclusive to Hollywood though.  The Secret Life of Pets ride is really adorable.  You are pets waiting to be adopted and end up on an adventure along the way.

There is also a Water World Stunt Show that has some great performances.  A Kung Fu Panda 3D theater show and several other shows that are in the process of being changed out for other experiences.  They even recently announced they are working on a Fast and the Furious Roller Coaster to be added in the next year or so.

We had a very nice catered Lunch, though this may qualify as dinner depending on the time of your tour.  We had a lot great food choices along with desserts and beverages.  There was something for everyone on this buffet.

You also get a few characters visiting during your meal.  We had Doc Brown from Back to the Future and Lucy from I Love Lucy show up and chat with us during our meal.  Both performers were fantastic.  We had about an hour and a half for eating and then it was back to the tour!

We have done this tour twice in the last few years and both times we had INCREDIBLE Tour guides.  They gave us lots of info and taught us some pieces of movie magic throughout our whole tour.  You get A LOT more of that information during your Backlot Tour.  Our Tour Bus even had a cooler full of water bottles for us to enjoy along the way.

Now Universal Studios Hollywood is an actual working Movie Studio!  So there are actual functioning TV and movies being shot on the property.  Normal Park guests have a tram tour that they take through the Studio, but as VIP guests we had portions of the tour where we got off the bus and could walk around.

We stopped front of the classic City Hall with the Clock from back to the Future!  We walked through several out door sets, like the town square from The Good Place.

We had so much detail and movie history shared with us.  Explaining how some of the movie magic is done and sets are constructed.  Each tour can be a little different though as sometimes a crew will be actively filming in an area so you don't get to stop and get off there.

These two different spots on the tour were used in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film.  Jack Sparrow hides in that little alcove behind a statue (the statue is gone) and picks up his drunken friend surrounded by mud and pigs in the other.

There are rides and experiences built into the tour!  This little bit of movie magic showed us a controlled storm/flood experience.

We go through some classic Universal rides that are no longer in Orlando like Jaws and EARTHQUAKE!  We also drive through the Fast and the Furious Ride and Kong: Skull Island.

The Tour also goes around several movie sets.  I forget which film the plane crash was from.  We also stopped off on pieces of the set from the film NOPE.

This an amazing experience for any film fan as you get to see real movie industry standards as well as learn a lot about classic cinema.

After our VIP tour we took some time to visit Hogsmead in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  The kids took some time to practice their wand skills.

The rest of our time at Universal Hollywood was spent going back over rides we enjoyed or hitting a ride that the tour missed due to time constraints.  But since we had Express Passes we didn't have to wait very long for anything.

I only wish Universal Orlando's VIP tour was run like this.  We had an AMAZING time, this is definitely the best and most efficient way to spend at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Mouse O'Clock is glad to help you plan out your next amazing adventure.  We try out everything firsthand to give you our best and honest opinions and everything in the parks.
When it's time to plan your next vacation remember:

it's Mouse O'Clock!