Colosseum - book a tour, waltz straight in?

We did a tour with Walks of Italy tour in October 2015 and we did indeed walk to the front of the line, past many, many people. I don't know if the line was for tickets or security. If they did security, I don't remember it very well because we visited a lot of places. It may have been a "open your purse" like at a concert. There was only 12 of us so it went really fast.

We went on the Walks of Italy underground colosseum tour in October. There was a very short security line - maybe 5 minutes, probably less. There seemed to be a separate, faster security line for tours (at least our tour at that time) because other people were in a longer security line. Everyone has to go through security but my experience was that the tour made it faster. Just skipping the huge ticket line was a great benefit.

I did a Walks of Italy tour in early October 2016 and we waited in a security line for perhaps 25 minutes. We did not seem to have any particular advantage as a group. Everyone funneled in to a few airport-type x-ray machines for purses and backpacks. This was a contrast to 2014 when groups were waved right in.
Cynthia

I did a City Wonders tour in August last year and we didn't have to wait in a line at all at the Colosseum. We did, indeed, waltz straight in on a tour, right through security, etc. This was the tour we were on. We really enjoyed it: http://citywonders.com/rome-tours/colosseum-underground-tour

It's common for attractions to have separate lines for groups and individuals or line managers who waive groups around. Procedures are also subject to change at any time.

Tour groups have their own line but must still go through security.

You don't need to book a tour to bypass the lines. If you purchase entry tickets online you get to bypass the very long ticket line, going directly to the security check point. The only people who wait in a really long line are those who don't prepurchase tickets or a tour.

Donna