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Under normal circumstances, I’d never voluntarily go to Disneyland over Memorial Day weekend. Summer crowds at theme parks are nonstarters for me \u2014 and a holiday just pushes the madness to the next level. I do not \u2014 cannot! \u2014 do lines like that<\/a> at this point in my life.<\/p>\n But this year, we were in for a treat that made me eager to make an exception to my rule: My cousin had arranged access to the Disneyland VIP Tour through work, and he invited my family to join in on the fun. I’d heard about this kind of experience, favored by celebs like Prince Harry and Meghan and their kids<\/a>, plus the Kardashian-Jenners<\/a>, Beyonce, and on and on and on \u2014 and, although I’m no Disney adult, I do love VIP treatment<\/a>. So I was pretty psyched to check it out.<\/p>\n Although we were only driving from our home in Los Angeles, and in spite of my best efforts, we were actually late meeting our guide at the front gates \u2014 because kids, because traffic, because I hadn’t realized valet parking at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa was actually included with the tour. I was stressed. Tours like this cost between $500 and $800 per hour with a seven-hour minimum, and I assumed every late minute was actively burning money.<\/p>\n Instead, my cousin calmly explained by text that he and his wife and daughter were already waiting alongside our guide for the day, Kevin. And Kevin had explained that Disney builds in a grace-period buffer of a full hour, so there’s no need to sweat this kind of thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n That small detail immediately set the tone of the day. Hey, no stress on the VIP Tour!<\/p>\n For the next eight hours \u2014\u00a0split almost evenly between California Adventure and then Disneyland \u2014 Kevin served as our Disney butler, concierge, strategist, logistics coordinator, snack facilitator, trivia dispenser, and occasionally emotional support person.<\/p>\n Before our arrival, the group had already discussed ride priorities with him. So instead of staring at maps and refreshing apps and calculating wait times all day, we simply followed Kevin from one attraction to the next while he handled the operational side of things. When you’re used to being the mom of the group, you realize how epic it is when someone else acts like the mom instead.<\/p>\n At Soarin’ Over California, Incredicoaster, and Radiator Springs Racers \u2014 where the regular standby lines climbed to around two hours \u2014 Kevin guided us through expedited entrances that reduced waits to mere minutes.<\/p>\n