Question: when Bill Gates wants to take his kid to WDW, will they close up just for him. Is there anyway to have special, limited access, paying more, far from the maddening crowds, etc.

Do I sense a stalker?

Just when you thought all the idiots had gone home.

What kind of post is this?

Are you Bill Gates?

Lottie...Why the F*** do you care?

I read once that you better know what shoes your kids have on before taking them to WDW, if they are snatched, their clothes will be changed and your only chance of having them recognized before they are removed from the park is by their shoes. So there is danger, let's not be naive.

My real question, though, was: are there celebrity type events at WDW, or let's say, limited access to allow a visit without the crowd.

Yes, the parks often close for private affairs. Corporations will rent a single park out for a private party - often staring around the dinner hours. And many schools do after regular closing hours during the night; I assume they get a better rate. So if any individual is willing to pay for private park access, I'm sure they can.

Yes Lottie...

And be careful when you take kids to NOLA....

They might wake up in a bathtub of ice missing a kidney.

The answer is yes, they will alow private access after the parks close. In WDW I believe the rate is anywhere from 20K-50K per hour. At Universal it is 10K per hour. I know because my husband's company would rent Universal for 3 hours for private access. Interested?

I think that with a big enough group it is a pretty fair idea. Are there any tour operators that provide these exclusive type packages....thanks...

lottie, you don't need a "special tour operator". Just call the parks and speak with someone in group sales. They'll be happy to give you info on renting the parks.

I do not think you can shut the park down for your private group at any cost. People have annual passes, people sometimes book months in advance, etc. It is not practical.

Of course you can rent pavillions and restrict access and/or pay for them to stay open past "normal" hours.

As far as celebs or rich folk go, you can pay for private tours where you get escorted around through areas not accessible to general public. My family once did the Jungle Cruise with Bob Sagat and his family who popped up at the boat loading and got right on, plus they filled the boat only 1/4 full.

Actually you can rent the entire park, not just pavillions. As I said, they only do this after closing. For instance many parks close at 7:00, so from 7:00-10:00 it remains open for a private group. This is very common especially with all the companies holding seminars and meetings at the Swan and Dolphin and now at the Universal Hotels.

Also Universal will take you on a private tour, where they let you in the back entrance of every ride. It is about $ 130 pp, plus park ticket. My neighbor did this last year. I'm guessing they have the same thing at Disney, which is what morecommonsense probably witnessed. They still have to walk through the crowds though!

Maybe I'm misunderstanding some of the posts here, but WDW and Universal will not "close down" their parks for special groups. Can you imagine the chaos that would cause?

When someone talks about "some parks" closing down for special hours, I think they're talking about local joints, like Sam's Picnic Park in Peoria (don't look it up -- it's a ficticious name).

And the last thing: Will someone please explain to me what in the world Lottie is talking about with the story about shoes on snatched kids? Really weird.

"Yes, officer, my son was wearing Nike sneakers. I'm sure he's the only kid at WDW who has a pair of those."

Certain venues can be closed down for enough money. I believe there have been weddings for the VERY wealthy actually in Sleeping Beauty's castle, and I don't think they waited until after closing.

If I had that kind of money, would I have a wedding there? AS IF!

Re: my comment on identifying kids shoes. This is realy! Even Nikes come in a variety of colors. If all you can tell someone is a 4 foot, female blonde, age and shoe color, at least generally, it could help your chances because I have read that the security staff is trained to look for this specifically. Am I the only one who read this article.

see lots of urban legends at:
www.snopes.com

YES - Disneyland & WDW DO rent out for private parties. This is done AFTER regular public hours. Example: during winter months Disneyland closes at 7pm - private party events start at 8 or 9pm & go until 1am.

Many high schools would hold "Grad Night" at Disneyland during June for seniors. I don't know if they still do this. Also, Disneyland will combine some corporate groups for special group nights, like credit union members, etc.

These special events do not interfere with the normal tourist operating hours.

Yes, you can close down a Disney park for a private funtion. Maybe certain time restrictions apply, but I have been both shut out at one visit, and part of a private party on another occasion.

When Bill Gates got married he rented the entire island of Lanai, including the airpsace overhead.
I think with enough $$$ you can rent anything.
The Russians take US citizens into space on their supersonic jets just to help pay the bills.

My experience at Disneyland: The operating hours were until 6:00 as it was the off season. One of the workers told me not to exit at 6:00 as a company was renting out the park for their employees after hours. He said no one would be checking to see if we belonged and that it was perfectly acceptable to stay during this time. We left anyway because we had been in the park long enough by then.

This is different than the grad night event when they do clear the park before the grads come in.