Adventures By Disney

TP2000

Well-Known Member
The Tiki Room was well advertised as a state of the art "new form of entertainment" with an audio animatronic cast". I doubt anyone in 1963 would be willing to pay more for an attraction with a mundane name like the "Enchanted Tiki Room" over the Matterhorm Bobsleds or the Jungle Cruise without at least knowing why it cost more.
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Sure, of course you as a knowledgeable and caring fan would know that. And be able to pull together some of that wonderful 1963 ephemera and information with a quick Google search. Thank you!

But info provided by an actual WDW Tour Guide, on the Disney payroll with a plaid skirt and a nametag and WDW management charging $99 per person to take this official tour? Yeah, she's just making stuff up. For $99 per person.

Because, Florida.
 
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Sharon&Susan

Well-Known Member
Sure, of course you as a knowledgeable and caring fan would know that. And be able to pull together some of that wonderful 1963 ephemera and information with a quick Google search. Thank you!

But info provided by an actual WDW Tour Guide, on the Disney payroll with a plaid skirt and a nametag and WDW management charging $99 per person to take this official tour? Yeah, she's just making stuff up. For $99 per person.

Because, Florida.
The worst thing is that there are plenty of interesting stories to tell about WDW, there is no need to make up any facts about father's favorite, big brother Disneyland.

I'm sure these WDW tours mention the Hatbox Ghost (which has very little to do with the WDW Haunted Mansion) all the time. But, barely mention the Squeaky Door Ghost or the Corpse that was caught in the web (both of which were intended to be WDW exclusive, and both made it very late into production/lasted a few days).

And it's not like WDW's ETR is lacking any interesting stories, while it may not be PR friendly the story behind the (kinda) return of the original show, after being "Under New Management" is fascinating.
 

PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
I am definitely looking into this tour. I don't love the price or care about Hollywood, but I'd love to see the Studio and Imagineering. Backstage at Disneyland and the Jim Henson Studio are nice bonuses.

I actually was talking to my Disney travel buddy yesterday to try and see if we might be able to make it work for this summer too!
 

SirWillow

Well-Known Member
Love how he gets one bad tour guide at WDW and jumps to the conclusion that they are all bad tour guides who don't have a clue what they are talking about and don't pay any attention to the scripts or facts. :rolleyes:

I've done a few of the tours at WDW and didn't have a bad guide in the bunch. Actually learned a couple of things when I took the KttK tour last Feb (and yes, I fact checked them because I'm just that kind of a person). Does a bad guide who makes things up or gets their facts confused get in there sometimes? Sure. And I'm also quite sure it happens at Disneyland as well.

But I believe the original post was about the Adventures by Disney multi-day tour in Southern California, wasn't it? I'd love to see more information about that tour as it looks like it would cover a lot of things that the short tours in the parks don't.
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
Going back on topic, I did the Adventures by Disney tour this summer, and loved it. I mainly did it to get access to WDI, Jim Henson, and WDS. The DLR stuff was extra bonus. I loved it, glad I did it but don’t need to do it again. If you want spoilers on what extra things happened for us in the park each day here it is, and realize I was there during the summer.

Arrived around 3:30, unloaded in hotel and then met to go into DL. Had dinner at French Quarter. We got one anytime FP and one for the HM which we all did together after dinner. Lastly we had a reserved section for Fantasmic

We has breakfast at Plaza Inn after getting shots in front of the castle with no one else there. We had a tour of Fantasyland with FOL access for Pan, Carousel and Matterhorn. We got to go up to Walt’s Apt, we got a SWGE reservation, a gift card for lunch/dinner ($30) and 5 anytime FPs and a reserved spot for DL Forever

Breakfast at Storytellers Cafe, Group Ride and backstage tour of RSR, group ride on TSMM and GotG, group ride on Soarin followed by a tour backstage where we got to see the ride cycle from behind the screen, 5 anytime FP, dinner at Carthay Circle, reserved section for WOC.

Breakfast at Steakhouse 55, 1 use anytime FP

I won’t spoil the Hollywood stuff, for that is the reason you should take this tour, if that doesn’t interest you get a private VIP tour or go on walk in Walt’s footsteps.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Going back on topic, I did the Adventures by Disney tour this summer, and loved it. I mainly did it to get access to WDI, Jim Henson, and WDS. The DLR stuff was extra bonus. I loved it, glad I did it but don’t need to do it again. If you want spoilers on what extra things happened for us in the park each day here it is, and realize I was there during the summer.

Thank you!

Steering this back OT for @blreinsel who is probably sitting here thinking "What the heck did these crazy Californians just do to my thread?!?" :rolleyes:...

The Adventures by Disney tour of SoCal is basically paying $3,199 for tourist access to WDI's campus in Glendale, Jim Henson Studio, and the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank.

Realize the tours of these campuses, especially WDI, will be tightly curated and scripted; you won't be wandering off down the halls to chat with random Imagineers working on Mumbai Disneyland or anything. You will see only things that have been approved by Legal and that have already been disclosed publicly. But if you're a big Disney fan, it can be fun to just be on the WDI campus and the Burbank Studios for a few hours, see Walt's office, the Mary Poppins sound stage, etc. For many folks that would be worth $3,199!

If you are merely a movie studio fan, there are better tours available of SoCal movie studios. The Warner Brothers Tour is said to be fabulous. The VIP Tour at Universal Studios is also said to be incredible, wandering through the real prop warehouse, walking through famous 100 year old sound stages, etc., etc. For a fraction of the cost of the Adventures By Disney trip.

The Disneyland portion of this itinerary, with the exception of a few "backstage" elements at Radiator Racers and Soarin', can be mostly duplicated for a fraction of the cost by taking the three hour Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour for 100 bucks, and/or the tour Disneyland offers of the Disneyland Railroad; it's Walt history, it's engineering and operation.
 
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PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
Thank you!

Steering this back OT for @blreinsel who is probably sitting here thinking "What the heck did these crazy Californians just do to my thread?!?" :rolleyes:...

The Adventures by Disney tour of SoCal is basically paying $3,199 for tourist access to WDI's campus in Glendale, Jim Henson Studio, and the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank.

Realize the tours of these campuses, especially WDI, will be tightly curated and scripted; you won't be wandering off down the halls to chat with random Imagineers working on Mumbai Disneyland or anything. You will see only things that have been approved by Legal and that have already been disclosed publicly. But if you're a big Disney fan, it can be fun to just be on the WDI campus and the Burbank Studios for a few hours.

If you are merely a movie studio fan, there are better tours available of SoCal movie studios. The Warner Brothers Tour is said to be fabulous. The VIP Tour at Universal Studios is also said to be incredible, wandering through the real prop warehouse, walking through famous 100 year old sound stages, etc., etc. For a fraction of the cost of the Adventures By Disney trip.

The Disneyland portion of this itinerary, with the exception of a few "backstage" elements, can be mostly duplicated for a fraction of the cost by taking the three hour Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour for 100 bucks, and/or the tour Disneyland offers of the Disneyland Railroad; it's Walt history, it's engineering and operation.

Sounds about right.

I have no illusions of anything super in depth, but just being there is enough of a draw for me to pony up the cash.

Are there any other ways to get into the studio? I think occasionally D23 offers some tours and I know you used to be able to get in with Disney Movie Rewards too. Other than just knowing someone who works there.

I have done all of the basic studio tours available to the public and Warner Bros. is easily the best one. A solid three hour experience of visiting sets, actually getting to stop and walk around parts of their sizable backlot (unlike USH), while also getting to see sets, some props, and their recently enhanced ending. Universal's tour is fun but co-opted by attraction segments of varying quality and there's minimal depth. Sony and Paramount pale in comparison to the other two, but I'd probably take Sony over Paramount if forced to choose (Sony's 1st impression is horrific though, you park in the parking garage and sit there on benches waiting for your tour to start while an endless stream of people rush past you into the lot). The Universal VIP tour is also on my to-do list.
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
The Universal VIP tour was really nice, and another tour I really enjoyed. Being able to walk around WDI and Archives was really neat though and I probably enjoyed the WDS tour more, but that’s probably colored by me being a bigger Disney fan.

The tour includes 5 nights in fantastic hotels and some nice meals. The tour guides treat you like VIPs, I thought it was “worth it” to do once, if you are interested in seeing those places and can afford it I recommend it.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
The Universal VIP tour was really nice, and another tour I really enjoyed. Being able to walk around WDI and Archives was really neat though and I probably enjoyed the WDS tour more, but that’s probably colored by me being a bigger Disney fan.

The tour includes 5 nights in fantastic hotels and some nice meals. The tour guides treat you like VIPs, I thought it was “worth it” to do once, if you are interested in seeing those places and can afford it I recommend it.

Very solid advice.

If @blreinsel is comfortable with the price point, then it sounds like she should go for it!
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
Also, you get to shop at the WDS and WDI stores too, I love my WDS and (multiple) WDI polos I now own, it’s a great thing to wear to the parks and proclaim my nerdom.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Oh my gosh you guys, @blreinsel is here and "Liking" some of my posts. That means she's good natured and has a sense of humor, but she's still probably trying to figure out what the heck happened to her thread.

Everybody just act natural! 🧐
 

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I have not done it, but had friends who did. You need to be a Disney nerd, but if you can wear that badge proudly you will probably enjoy it.

What I have been told is that it is vastly superior to any sort of Guided Tour that WDW does via their Keys To The Kingdom or Backstage Magic tours, where the tour guides deal mostly in urban legends and go wildly off script and/or just make stuff up about what Walt did or said, or might have done or might have said. Lies and the liars who tell them.

The Adventures by Disney tours are handled much like the Disneyland Guided Tours and are highly professional and thoroughly fact checked. Unlike WDW, you won't have aged tour guides in plaid skirts making stuff up and creating fake news out of thin air just because they have poor supervision and even poorer training at WDW.



Seriously, hit Play and realize she's just making stuff up here. And people paid cash money for that, and she's wearing a plaid skirt and a nametag so they probably believe her.

Good luck with Adventures by Disney! It will at least be noticeably more professional and polished than WDW.


I'm a huge Disney nerd, so this is a badge I'm interested in earning lol. We did Keys to the Kingdom 2 years ago and loved it. Our tour guide was pretty great, but I did notice a couple of discrepancies in her presentation... so that part of your reply didn't surprise me. I did really love getting access to the behind the scenes stuff though, so that's a huge draw with this itinerary as well.

Thank you!

Steering this back OT for @blreinsel who is probably sitting here thinking "What the heck did these crazy Californians just do to my thread?!?" :rolleyes:...

The Adventures by Disney tour of SoCal is basically paying $3,199 for tourist access to WDI's campus in Glendale, Jim Henson Studio, and the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank.

Realize the tours of these campuses, especially WDI, will be tightly curated and scripted; you won't be wandering off down the halls to chat with random Imagineers working on Mumbai Disneyland or anything. You will see only things that have been approved by Legal and that have already been disclosed publicly. But if you're a big Disney fan, it can be fun to just be on the WDI campus and the Burbank Studios for a few hours, see Walt's office, the Mary Poppins sound stage, etc. For many folks that would be worth $3,199!

If you are merely a movie studio fan, there are better tours available of SoCal movie studios. The Warner Brothers Tour is said to be fabulous. The VIP Tour at Universal Studios is also said to be incredible, wandering through the real prop warehouse, walking through famous 100 year old sound stages, etc., etc. For a fraction of the cost of the Adventures By Disney trip.

The Disneyland portion of this itinerary, with the exception of a few "backstage" elements at Radiator Racers and Soarin', can be mostly duplicated for a fraction of the cost by taking the three hour Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour for 100 bucks, and/or the tour Disneyland offers of the Disneyland Railroad; it's Walt history, it's engineering and operation.

Lol! No worries. I've done some research on what's included in the Studios and Imagineering tours, so I'm not expecting a free-for-all type of situation. I know that they'll only share as much as they want us to know, and honestly I'm fine with that because I just want to WALK where Walt walked (re: Disney nerd). I'm not going for the sake of the studio side of it as much as I'm going for the Disney history side of it.


I’ve never done any of the Adventures by Disney trips, however I have experienced the majority of the things included in the Southern California package, with the exception of the Jim Henson tour.

Disneyland and California Adventure are givens. I enjoy both, but Disneyland is one of my favorite places on earth. If you’d like specific information and tips on the parks, I’d suggest checking out our info thread:


I have stayed at the Loews Hotel in Hollywood and enjoyed my experience. Manage your expectations for Hollywood. It is not like how it was during the Golden Age. You will find many tourists, people in costumes trying to get you to take pictures with them for a fee, people trying to sell you their music, people with signs, claiming we’re all going to hell if we don’t praise Jesus Christ and claim Him as our Lord and Savior, amongst other things.

With that being said, there are many redeeming qualities about Hollywood and Highland. The Hollywood and Highland Center is a very nice, open-air mall with lots of shops and some restaurants. You can get some nice shots of the Hollywood sign from specific vantage points from the mall. The Chinese Theatre is lovely and a gem, as is the El Capitan Theatre, which is owned by Disney. If you can, try and see a movie there. It’s a fun experience. The theater shows both new and old Disney movies. It also has a Disney store attached that happens to include a Ghirardelli’s. The Dolby Theatre is also really cool.

There’s an In-N-Out within walking distance. Try it out! ;)

The Walt Disney Studios is another one of my favorite places. I’ve been many times and it was always a treat and privilege when going as a kid. Take in the history and relish in the fact that you’re walking the same grounds that Walt Disney and his animators walked many years ago. It’s a special place that I hope you enjoy! It’s very quaint and cute. I’m not sure if you guys and gals will be eating in the cafeteria, but the food is good. Save some money in case they let you shop in the store on campus.

I really hope you and your husband enjoy yourselves.

Thank you for all of this information! I'm not overly into the idea of Hollywood in general, but we want to do the longer tour and that portion being included is just a bonus really. It'll be neat to see since we're in the area, but I don't have high expectations. We recently did a Disney cruise with a stop in Nassau... sounds very similar to the heckling that we encountered there. :hilarious:

I'm really excited to see the studio... that's honestly the reason we're doing Adventures by Disney instead of just a normal Disneyland trip. :)

I feel bad for going WAY off topic. So sorry, @blreinsel! We’re here if you have any questions.
Lol! It's okay, I appreciate your input! :)


I am definitely looking into this tour. I don't love the price or care about Hollywood, but I'd love to see the Studio and Imagineering. Backstage at Disneyland and the Jim Henson Studio are nice bonuses.

I actually was talking to my Disney travel buddy yesterday to try and see if we might be able to make it work for this summer too!

Yes, my thoughts exactly. For a true Disney fan, I feel like seeing the Studio is a must do.


Going back on topic, I did the Adventures by Disney tour this summer, and loved it. I mainly did it to get access to WDI, Jim Henson, and WDS. The DLR stuff was extra bonus. I loved it, glad I did it but don’t need to do it again. If you want spoilers on what extra things happened for us in the park each day here it is, and realize I was there during the summer.

Arrived around 3:30, unloaded in hotel and then met to go into DL. Had dinner at French Quarter. We got one anytime FP and one for the HM which we all did together after dinner. Lastly we had a reserved section for Fantasmic

We has breakfast at Plaza Inn after getting shots in front of the castle with no one else there. We had a tour of Fantasyland with FOL access for Pan, Carousel and Matterhorn. We got to go up to Walt’s Apt, we got a SWGE reservation, a gift card for lunch/dinner ($30) and 5 anytime FPs and a reserved spot for DL Forever

Breakfast at Storytellers Cafe, Group Ride and backstage tour of RSR, group ride on TSMM and GotG, group ride on Soarin followed by a tour backstage where we got to see the ride cycle from behind the screen, 5 anytime FP, dinner at Carthay Circle, reserved section for WOC.

Breakfast at Steakhouse 55, 1 use anytime FP

I won’t spoil the Hollywood stuff, for that is the reason you should take this tour, if that doesn’t interest you get a private VIP tour or go on walk in Walt’s footsteps.

Wow, this is awesome! Thank you so much! I'm doing it for the same reasons as you did, but also appreciating the bonus stuff like backstage and Hollywood. I didn't realize that so many attractions were included as well as the multiple daily FPs, so that's an awesome bonus as well!

The Universal VIP tour was really nice, and another tour I really enjoyed. Being able to walk around WDI and Archives was really neat though and I probably enjoyed the WDS tour more, but that’s probably colored by me being a bigger Disney fan.

The tour includes 5 nights in fantastic hotels and some nice meals. The tour guides treat you like VIPs, I thought it was “worth it” to do once, if you are interested in seeing those places and can afford it I recommend it.

Exactly that. It's a great "all inclusive" feel, aside from the few meals we'll have to pay for out of pocket while we're there, but getting access to the tours is really what I'm after.

Also, you get to shop at the WDS and WDI stores too, I love my WDS and (multiple) WDI polos I now own, it’s a great thing to wear to the parks and proclaim my nerdom.

*Adds $500 to budget solely for these souvenirs.*
 

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh my gosh you guys, @blreinsel is here and "Liking" some of my posts. That means she's good natured and has a sense of humor, but she's still probably trying to figure out what the heck happened to her thread.

Everybody just act natural! 🧐

😂😂😂 Definitely! I enjoyed the banter, honestly. Just took me a few days to have time to sit down and reply. ;)
 

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just to clarify after reading everybody's comments... we are doing this because it's the only way we can gain access to the Studios and Imagineering. We had initially started planning a [much cheaper] trip to just Disneyland and DCA, but then I came across this and knew I couldn't skip it. We're not sure when we'll get back to Cali, so we want to "do it right" this time. I know that I would regret it once we got there if we didn't do this, so it is what it is.

I should mention that my husband is a WDW CM, so we do get a discount on the Adventures by Disney package. It's still a hefty price tag, but knowing we're saving something makes the large pill slightly easier to swallow. ;)
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
😂😂😂 Definitely! I enjoyed the banter, honestly. Just took me a few days to have time to sit down and reply. ;)

Phew!

And you are so gracious to put up with us and our my petty rants about WDW Tour Guides who go off script. :angelic:

With all the additional background info you've provided, it sounds like this SoCal itinerary is going to be perfect for you and your husband! Definitely budget for some of the branded souvenirs in the employee stores at WDI and the Disney Studios; that's stuff you'll never get at The Emporium or World of Disney or even a D23 Expo store.

With that said, there's the issue of time of year for this visit. Disneyland is busiest in October, December, March/April and June thru August. With any major holiday weekend throughout the year also hugely busy (MLK, Presidents, Columbus, Veterans), except for Memorial Day and Labor Day (bizarre, but true!). Slowest months are September (it will be dry and hot), first half of November (much cooler but dry), and late April thru May (perfect weather).

January and February are good too, but if it's going to rain in SoCal it's going to do it in January and February. And it can be a cold rain too, and the locals go absolutely crazy, which can be really fun to watch on the hotel room TV as the local news shows go on StormWatch!.



That said, if you have to schedule this trip during the busy times of year at least you'll have an AbD guide who will take care of you and cut out the long lines on some attractions.
 
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Touchdown

Well-Known Member
FYI-When you are in Hollywood, if the El Captain and Chinese theatres are open and showing a film, pay to see them regardless of how interested you are in the film. Being able to see shows in those historic theatres was amazing. For the cap be sure to go early as they have a great Whirltuzlur organ and organist who plays Disney tunes before the show.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
FYI-When you are in Hollywood, if the El Captain and Chinese theatres are open and showing a film, pay to see them regardless of how interested you are in the film. Being able to see shows in those historic theatres was amazing. For the cap be sure to go early as they have a great Whirltuzlur organ and organist who plays Disney tunes before the show.

Agreed. Seeing a 70 mm print of 2001 A Space Odyssey, and a double feature of Alien and Aliens (digital, sadly) at the Chinese are two high cinema high points in my life.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Agreed. Seeing a 70 mm print of 2001 A Space Odyssey, and a double feature of Alien and Aliens (digital, sadly) at the Chinese are two high cinema high points in my life.

I've always wanted to see 2001 in a big movie theater. I can only imagine how impressive some of the space station scenes must be on a huge screen!

Just stepping inside Grauman's Chinese to see the incredible interiors is a show in itself!

tcl-chinese-theatre-interior.jpg


Heck, the chandelier over the snack bar is incredible all on its own.

Lobby.jpg
 

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