By Samantha Matthews – Instagram: @tinyhandssam Twitter: @festiedancer

I’ve been in the EDM scene for many years now and yet have never purchased VIP tickets. Like most ravers, you can do more shows with only purchasing GA and attend with friends who aren’t 21 or can’t afford the VIP experience. As I’m reaching the “rave-to-the-grave” age, I figured my birthday would be the perfect time to try something new. If you are wondering how Pasquale Rotella and the Insomniac crew conduct Beyond Wonderland VIP, stay tuned.

Why I Chose VIP

I chose VIP for many reasons:

• It was my birthday weekend and wanted to do something special
• The VIP price was only $100 more than GA
• Both my friend and I are over 21 years of age
• I’ve only been to NOS Center once before for Dreamstate SoCal, and there I had heard of a lot of theft. I also hear about it a lot on EDM Twitter, so I assumed there would probably be less chance of theft in VIP.
• Both my friend and I are really short and want to experience the visuals and special performers Beyond Wonderland had without camping at the rail

VIP Included:

• Dedicated VIP dance areas at all stages
• Heated tent space
• Complimentary kandi bracelet making station
• Water refill
• Complimentary tea party and pastries
• Seating areas
• Complimentary beauty/glitter bar
• Hookah Lounge
• Mobile charging station
• VIP festival entrance
• Luxury restrooms
• Unique photo opportunities that weren’t available to everyone else

VIP doesn’t include: parking, lockers (both are extra costs)

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Pre-Festival

The wristband arrives in normal packaging and doesn’t include anything extra or fancy. As a bummer that can be, you do get more memorabilia (like the classic VIP lanyard and badge) when you arrive. We ride-shared the first day, but didn’t like it as much because of surge pricing on the way back. We drove the second day, parked in the free parking (which didn’t take as long as we expected), and made it into the festival just as quick as ride-share experience. But if you don’t have a designated driver, find a shuttle or utilize that ride-share.

Beyond Wonderland

The entrance to the festival was so easy. We showed up late (7pm) the first day and had no line. The second day we were a lot earlier and the line was about 5 minutes. You also received your 21+ wristband in line, so you didn’t have to go and wait in the ID check to purchase alcoholic beverages.

Most of the VIP dance sections were amazing and gave great perspective to the DJ/producer performing. There was only one stage that it was a little small and skewed too far to the side so you just had a lot of equipment in your face. But all the other stages were set up perfectly. Overall, I thought it was worth it because my friend and I were able to see all the visuals and performers, which really helped promote the experience the dj/producer probably intended.

We were worried about the energy and vibes being low, however that wasn’t the case at all. Everyone in VIP was so nice, guest or employee. There was plenty of space to dance and everyone went hard, even if the majority of people in VIP were considerably older. It was interesting talking to people and seeing how long they have been in the scene; some went to EDC when it was like $50 while others were new. A lot of the men in VIP took advantage of the beauty bar and were glittered up, which was a lot of fun. Overall, we didn’t miss the classic energy of GA as VIP was about the same but with more space to dance around without being in the back.

The VIP concierge desk had special surprises for us. Aside from the lanyard, they had bunny ears, hair ties, and bobby pins free of charge. The bathrooms were also very clean all the time. The line was a little long during the main sets, but otherwise were worth the wait because you could still hear the music. There was never a line for the water station. They also had little tea time snacks (while supplies lasted).

Something my friend and I didn’t anticipate to be a huge perk to VIP was when we were crossing from one stage to another, we lost each other in the GA crowd. We knew what stage we were going to so it ended up being very easy finding each other again at the next stage. We didn’t have to rely on a My Little Pony with Rezz goggles totem or a predetermined meeting spot since cell service was so spotty. My friend is also notorious for her phone dying, so having these VIP areas to meetup with friends made it simple.

Overall Consensus

My friend and I both agreed we would do Beyond Wonderland VIP again. At no point did we think it was a waste of money. The VIP crowd had the same energy as GA and we made a lot of friends. We traded a lot of kandi bracelets with guests, security, and employees. The performers were so cool to see up close and interact with. These performers and visuals were something I have always missed out on being short and preferring the back of GA for space. Plus there were flow arts in VIP also, so we didn’t miss out on that culture. Insomniac really went above our expectations for this experience, and cannot wait until next year.