But the third is the surest bet: to buy a ticket for a Universal VIP tour. This small-group tour might sound expensive — it starts at $369 per person — but once all is said and done, the math really works out in your favor. As does the enjoyment level for your day, but I digress. 

On the tour, you are one of a small group — the number varies but could be up to 24 — and the tour lasts about seven hours with a VIP guide. There are a lot of perks, but the biggest one by far is that the VIP tour is the only way to get front-of-line access to the Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge ride in Super Nintendo World. The park doesn’t offer express access to the ride, and while there is a single-rider lane, that benefits only solo riders. Part of the fun of the ride is competing within your party to see who gets the most coins and unlocks the most badges.

For a Thursday at the end of June, a park ticket costs $139 for basic entry, with the option of the $30 Super Nintendo World early entry, for a total of $169. A Universal Express ticket with one-time express lane entrance per ride for the same day costs $289, plus $30 early entry, totaling $319. Unlimited express for the same day totals $369. For a spot on a group VIP tour, the ticket is $469. (This is absolutely a lot of money, there’s no question about it — but keep in mind it’s also a ticket for peak summer season, and less expensive days are available.)

The VIP ticket includes a lot that you wouldn’t otherwise get: unlimited front-of-line access (even the express lines sometimes have a wait), free breakfast and lunch, free bottled water, concierge assistance with dining reservations, and other perks sprinkled throughout. It also includes a special extended Studio Tour; I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but that tour is a unique, absolutely unmissable attraction. 

The day starts in the VIP lounge, which has a separate entrance from the main Universal Studios gates. You go straight into the breakfast dining room, which has a spread of breakfast sandwiches, yogurt, pastries, fruit, desserts, juices, coffees and espresso drinks. (The person who checks you in also gives you a poncho for the Jurassic World water ride.)

Then you meet your guide for the day and embark on your tour, starting with the enhanced Studio Tour. If you love a Hollywood studio tour as much as I do, this part alone is worth the extra cost. The regular studio tour is about 45 minutes and runs through several working movie lots, like the Little Europe backlot, which was the location of “The Good Place” and all of the classic Universal movie monster films of the 1920s and ‘30s, and the airplane wreckage from Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds.”

Depending on how invested the group is in this part of the day, the enhanced studio tour can be two hours, or even longer. On our tour, we spent quite a while on a normally off-limits part of the backlot, the town square area with the famous courthouse and clock tower from “Back to the Future.” We got to stop at the set of Jupiter’s Claim from Jordan Peele’s “Nope,” where we went through the attraction and then pulled around to get off the trolley and walk around the set. We also walked through the Prop House, where I saw original set pieces from “King Kong” but wasn’t allowed to take a single picture. That part of the tour recently reopened; it had been closed since before the pandemic.

After the tour, we went to lunch, which is a surprisingly robust buffet at the private Moulin Rouge restaurant in the French section of the Upper Lot. Normally, Frankenstein and Dracula wander around here and talk to (terrorize?) guests, but during our lunch, Dracula came inside and went from table to table taking photos and interacting with all of us. When he left, Doc Brown came in. Spying Dracula still there, he said, “There must be a rip in the space-time continuum!” before the vampire took his leave.

The afternoon is dedicated to rides. The guide will take guests to the rides they prefer to do, but the big hits both times I’ve been on this tour were the Secret Life of Pets and Jurassic World, plus Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. 

In Super Nintendo World, if you do this tour, be prepared for a lot of dirty looks from people who have been waiting in line for an hour or more. They will understandably be upset to watch you skip the whole line. You can also do the same for the Bowser Jr. battle in his castle, which you can normally only play if you beat the three key challenges outside in the Mushroom Kingdom. Speaking of mushrooms, depending on the day, your guide might be able to help you get entry into the perpetually booked Toadstool Cafe inside Super Nintendo World. It’s not always possible, but it can sometimes be done. 

Once your tour is up and you’re on your own, your VIP badge acts like an unlimited express pass for the rest of the day. You can ride anything you want as many times as you want (except Mario Kart — that’s a one-time deal). The pass also gets you into preferred seating at the Waterworld stunt show. 

You can even ask your guide to help you get a table at a restaurant at Universal CityWalk, like the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Kitchen that opened in January. Most of the sit-down restaurants extend a free appetizer to people who have been on the VIP tour that day. By the time you total up what you would have spent on food during the day, the cost comes out to about the same for a park ticket or VIP ticket. 

There are private VIP tours of up to 10 people that act like the Disneyland VIP tours: You’re in your own group with just your party, and those tours cost several thousand dollars. Way out of my price range. But the group tour feels very special, even if you are with a few people you don’t know. By the end of mine, it felt like we were all friends.