PDA

View Full Version : Trip Report - Discover the Magic Tour w/ Spoilers



cmpeter
06-29-2004, 10:38 PM
Today I took my two kids on to Disneyland for the new Discover the Magic Tour. The tour started at 10:30 and ended around 2:00...we ran a little late. We saw and interacted with more characters than I have ever seen at Disney! I'll post the details...but if you are thinking about taking the tour, be warned this is a spoiler.

We met at City Hall. There was one other family on the tour with us, so a total of seven, plus our two fabulous tour guides. The guides had a lost book full of songs, our goal was to find out who the book belonged to and return it. The first song was from Snow White, so we headed off to find her and ask her if the book was hers. They gave us Honary Citizen name tags. Then we all picked out a musical instrument and skipped down Main Street singing and attempting to play music to High Ho High Ho.

We got to the castle, but Snow White wasn't there. So, we stopped by to visit Aurora and ask her if she knew if Snow White had lost a book. She didn't, so we stopped and asked Cinderella. Both times, we cut through the back of the line and didn't have to wait. The characters really played along and gave us hints, tips, etc.

We then headed over to Fantasyland to search for Mary Poppins. She had a song in the book too. We stopped by Captain Hook and Wendi. We all made alligator arms and sang out "tick, tock, tick, tock" and Captain Hook really played along...running and cringing from the kids. He went for his sword and we called him a Codfish. Then Wendy made him promise to be good. They both agreed to go find Mary Poppins with us. They left their line of autograph seekers (poor kids, I felt sorry for them) and went to the carousel with us. We met Mary Poppins and two penguins there...we all rode the carousel together. Mary sat by my daughter and Hook by my son. They really hammed it up and acted out their parts.

Mary said the book wasn't hers, so we headed off to see Jessie and Woody. We wore bandanas and pretended to gallop to Frontier land. We tipped our hats and told everyone we passed "howdy partner". We yodeled to Jessie and Woody and they left their autograph lines to come look at the book and help us out.

By then we were a bit tired and hungry so we stopped for lunch (included with the tour.) One of our tour guides made the kids roses out of their straw wrappers and did magic tricks with his bandana. After lunch we played musical chairs and then visited with Belle and the Beast to see if they had a clue about the book.

Since the book didn't belong to Woody or Jessie, we headed over to ask Tarzan. It wasn't his, but we had fun at the treehouse. They took us to the little back stage area near Indiana Jones and we rested and then found a treasure chest. It had a map to Tom Sawyer's Island in it along with pirate gear (hooks, swords and eye patches.) At this point we also discoved that a page was torn out of the book. There was a note from Captain Hook saying he took the page because he got mad when we called him a Codfish...man the kids were really loving this! We dressed up as pirates and then went and took over a raft to the Island.

On the raft ride over we sang Row Row Row Your Boat and yelled out pirate sayings...people thought we were nuts, but it was so much fun! At the Island we were met by Huck Finn. He helped us read the treasure map and find another treasure chest. We found a treasure chest with a missing last page to the book, which told us it belonged to Mickey Mouse. We also all got to pick a couple pieces of treasure out of the chest. Then Tom Sawyer and Huck taught us a song and dance...which we did for a huge crowd. We took another raft back to New Orleans Square and then hopped a train (again, no lines, they snuck us in the exit) to Toontown.

We found Mickey's house and went in to give him the book. They brought us into the room where Mickey takes pictures and let the kids visit with him for about 15 minutes. They told all about the adventure, who they asked, where they visited, etc. Micky acted so excited and thankful that we found his book.

Then we walked back to the castle and caught the double decker bus to City Hall. The Genie, Aladdin and Jasmine rode the bus back with us. My son sat right next to the Genie and my daughter was next to Aladdin...they ate it up! While we were waiting for everyone to load, Pinochio and Gephetto stopped by and said hello. This wasn't part of the tour, but just a chance meeting.

We got back to City Hall and they gave the kids autographed photos of Mickey with their name on them and a note telling them thanks and what a great job they did.

My kids had such a great time. I would highly recommend this tour. There is a lot of walking, but my 4 year old did OK with it. She did fall asleep the second we made it back to the car and slept for the next two hours.

biolabetty
06-30-2004, 12:46 AM
That sounds like so much fun! I always thought tours were for new visitors, but this one sounds like a good one to meet characters. Was it very expensive?

stan4d_steph
06-30-2004, 05:20 AM
MousePlanet ran a review of this tour recently. It's located here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/more/mm040610lp.htm) and includes details on pricing as well as some photos.

rentayenta
06-30-2004, 06:14 AM
What a great tour. My kids will love this! Did the characters sign their books and were you able to get pics with the characters?

lisap
06-30-2004, 08:03 AM
We got back to City Hall and they gave the kids autographed photos of Mickey with their name on them and a note telling them thanks and what a great job they did.


I'm so glad to hear they added this part--that was what was lacking just a bit at the end of our tour. :)

rentayenta--when we took the tour we didn't pause with the characters for autographs. The kids did get to pose with Pluto, but mostly we were taking candid shots as the characters talked with the children. This may have been adjusted as we were one of the first groups to take the tour--but it moves pretty quickly--there's a lot of ground to cover.

Dani24
06-30-2004, 08:17 AM
Wow! That sounds like so much fun. I'm totally jealous, cmpeter. :D

Now I wish I had kids so I could take them on something like that. I would have a lot of fun going without kids (but, I'm a big kid at heart anyway). I think my boyfriend would be too reserved to tag along with me. He wouldn't get into the singing and dancing and dressing up. If we had kids, he probably would, but not just for me. :(

I was actually surprised at the cost. I guess I thought it would be more than that. If you have a little extra money to spend (i.e. if you stayed at one of the budget hotels, instead of at a DLR hotel) it definitely sounds like it would be worth it for a unique experience.

Photographer
06-30-2004, 08:30 AM
My friend and I are taking the daughter of another friend to DL and thinking about taking the tour. I just emailed my friend asking how old the kid is because I can't remember exactly. I know it's designed for up to age 9, do the parental units here think that an 11 yr old would still like it? (watch she's probably 8 LOL). Also what did you have to choose from for lunch?

It looks like fun. I want to meet Tarzan!

cmpeter
06-30-2004, 08:46 AM
There was one point during the tour when my son said he was feeling a little embarrassed. Every time we crossed a bridge we did a different "bridge walk"...the hokey pokey, walk over on our heels, walk backwards, act like we were on a roller coaster, etc. Each bridge we crossed, the kids picked something different. My son is 8. His comment was made near the end of the tour...but it didn't stop him from participating. I know that parading down Main Street and skipping around, I sometimes felt a little self conscious, but it was still fun.

For lunch the kid’s choices were chicken nuggets or a bean burrito. Adults could chose from chicken, steak or veggie soft tacos (with rice and beans on the side.) Everyone's lunch was served in the little plastic kids lunch boxes. I had the chicken tacos and they were pretty good.

AVP
06-30-2004, 09:08 AM
I'm so glad to hear they added this part--that was what was lacking just a bit at the end of our tour. :) I was going to say the EXACT SAME THING! I am so glad they found a way to "conclude" the tour. When we took it, they just left us at Mickey's house, and it was a bit of a let down.

AVP