ABD started the Southern California short escape this year. I haven’t seen a long, detailed report on this trip so I’m posting this trip report. While this report will be comprehensive, I’ve deliberately left out a few details so you can have some pleasant surprises if you go on this trip.
Some general observations:
Advice for others going on this trip:
Here are the pins we received:
Some general observations:
- I haven’t gone on the 6-day Backstage Magic trip but this version appears to be a subset covering the most important parts of the 6-day trip. We didn’t go to Henson or Hollywood. But it appears to provide the same behind the scenes experiences at the Disney Studios, Imagineering, and the Disneyland Resort.
- As such, this trip may offer the best “bang for the buck” of any ABD trip. It takes less time and costs less than Backstage Magic, but provides most of the exclusive experiences that I couldn’t otherwise access.
- This trip was developed as an add-on to Disney cruises leaving San Diego, but the guides said most guests were booking this as a standalone trip.
- This trip is selling well. Our group had 36 people, which the guides said was the largest group up to that point.
- I may think I’m a Disney fan, but these So Cal trips attract guests who are far more fanatical than I am. For one couple, this was the start of their three week Disney park world tour. They were going to every Disney park in the world, starting in Anaheim, then to Japan and China, then France, and ending in Orlando. There were two women from Japan who previously worked at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. I didn’t think that ABD even sold trips to people outside of N America, but somehow they booked this trip.
- We had only 4 kids on our trip.
- The weather was excellent (70’s and 80’s) but we went on Columbus Day weekend. The parks were packed over the weekend. On Sunday, we had to wait 20 minutes to pick up our breakfast order at Flo’s even though I used mobile ordering to order in advance. Fortunately ABD provides Fastpasses so the parks were enjoyable despite the crowds (more on that later).
- Our guides, Lori and Natalia, were excellent. We have yet to have a bad ABD guide and I hope that never happens. ABD spoils and pampers you, so during my next trip to Disneyland I’m going to miss the VIP treatment.
Advice for others going on this trip:
- This trip is exhausting. It requires waking up early and because Disneyland stayed upon until midnight, there is always the temptation to ride more rides. Get plenty of rest beforehand.
- Therefore, if you are coming from the East Coast, I would strongly suggest coming in at least a day early to help adjust to the time change. This trip starts in the evening and runs fairly late the first night.
- For several people in our group, this was their first trip to Disneyland. This might not be the best way to do Disneyland the first time, since there is a limited amount of on your own time and this trip focuses more on the special “behind the scenes” experiences.
- I got MaxPass every day except Friday, when we didn’t go to the parks. MaxPass was very helpful, especially for grabbing a Fastpass to the “Monsters After Dark” variation of the Guardians of the Galaxy ride.
- Some of the adults feared that seeing how some of the magic works might spoil things for the kids on this trip. But I hoped it would be inspirational, motivating them to pursue goals and dreams they might not otherwise have considered.
- Some parts of this trip don’t appear to be wheelchair accessible. For example, you have to climb a bunch of stairs to access Walt’s apartment above the fire station. You might talk to a Vacationista if this is a concern.
Here are the pins we received:
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