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View Full Version : A walk in Walt's footsteps tour?



Mickeyslittlehelper
08-05-2003, 02:38 PM
I was wondering about doing this in 2 weeks? I know pretty much everything about DL and am not a newbie. Would you suggest this? Is it worth the money? and what do you get to see besides the RR, 33, Tiki room, and lunch at the gallery???

Thanks,
John

t-14 days!!

evildorko
08-05-2003, 04:24 PM
John,
I took the tour just two weeks ago. Having been a Disney history buff for quite a while I was really excited about the prospect of learning some new tidbits about Walt and Disneyland. Unfortunately I left the park that day with pretty much no new knowledge. Thats not to say that I didn't enjoy the tour. On the contrary, I thought it was well planned and thought out and I think I was expecting a little to much from it. I attended with my girlfriend and brother and they both found it very interesting and learned a lot of new things. I also found our tour guide to be extremely knowledgeable, but she clearly had an itinerary to stick to and did not go into as many stories as she clearly could have.
Some of the keypoints to the tour:
Main Street
Opera House/Walt and Lincoln video/Walt's office/Disneyland early plans
Firehouse/Walt's Apartment (didn't go in, but she did talk about it)
Adventureland
Tiki Room show w/ presentation of an animatronic flower
NOS
Club 33 Lobby (I seriously considered running up those stairs...)
Train ride to Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland mural
House of the Future base in Triton's Gardens area
Fantasyland
Lot of info about the castle

After that it was on to the Gallery for lunch. The chicken caesar sandwhich was very good as was the apple pie :)

In all, I'd say it was a good experience and I don't mind the $50 I paid for it. Just don't go in expecting a lot of information that isn't readily available by just reading through the forums here at Mouseplanet or maybe at Jim Hill's site.

Hope that helps!

DopeyWife
08-05-2003, 05:07 PM
If you have a AAA card, I think you can get a discount.

pixiepal
08-05-2003, 07:19 PM
Yes, if you pay in person at Disneyland (instead of over the phone) they will give you 10.00 off the price of the tour (49.00) by showing your AAA card.

Laffite
08-05-2003, 09:05 PM
I'd do it just for the lunch at the gallery

hbquikcomjamesl
08-06-2003, 07:52 AM
I've taken the tour annually, every year since its inception. The current revision is the best yet, overall (though I miss the trip around the park aboard the Lilly Belle, from the first year or two of the tour).

One year (I believe it was in the first two years), I was the entire tour group that morning, and the guide and I had great fun finishing each other's sentences (not something I'd do in a larger group, or if the guide seemed the least bit touchy about it).

With many guides, you'll get anecdotes about their personal experiences with attractions, both current and "Yesterland," and interesting stories about goings-on in Walt's apartment (like the time somebody who wasn't "in the know" turned the traditional "lamp in the window" off.)

It ain't WDW's BackStage Magic, or Keys to the Kingdom, or The Magic of our Steam Trains, nor is it even the experimental backstage tour that ran in WDW, but it's well worth the price, and the time, anyway.

Also, please note that the guides have a certain amount of discretion with this tour, and with what gets covered, and so even though the route roughly follows the route Walt customarily took on his pre-opening inspection tours, it's still rarely the same tour twice, even if you manage to get the same guide twice.

Anthony
08-06-2003, 01:02 PM
$50??? Wow!!! That is one heck of a tour. I am a DL rookie and my first trip will be in Oct. with my GF. Do you guys reccomend the tour? How long does it take? Do you get a discount if you have an AP? I have been learing so much about DL through this site, I wonder if the money is worth it. I read about having lunch somewhere special? Is that a place that you normally cannot access?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Anthony

DopeyWife
08-06-2003, 01:59 PM
No discounts for AP holders. I think the only one is the AAA discount.

Silrandil
08-06-2003, 02:13 PM
Originally posted by Anthony
$50??? Wow!!! That is one heck of a tour. I am a DL rookie and my first trip will be in Oct. with my GF. Do you guys reccomend the tour? How long does it take? Do you get a discount if you have an AP? I have been learing so much about DL through this site, I wonder if the money is worth it. I read about having lunch somewhere special? Is that a place that you normally cannot access?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Anthony

I'd reccomend it to anybody whether or not they've been around disney their whole lives. When I took the tour there were some of each and everyone learned lots. The money is totally worth it. When I took it we ate in the outside are of the Disney Gallery, people can access it, but the food is amazing!

hbquikcomjamesl
08-06-2003, 04:08 PM
$50??? Wow!!!

Is that "Wow, that's expensive," or "Wow, that's a lot for $50"?

Either way, you ought to do BackStage Magic ("BSM") at WDW. All day, with a catered family-style lunch at Mama Melrose's, most of the tour in "no camera" zones, for $199.