behind the scene tours at DL?

[disneyfreak75]

I see that there are tours at WDW. Is there anything like this at DL??

 

[dbanzai]

I believe the only tour is the decades tour, which will take you on a ride from each decade (unless it's during a parade or the fireworks, then you get priority seating for the show). It's not behind the scenes, but it's fun and you may learn a thing or two about DL.

 

[hlbtimes2]

A walk in Walts foot steps is probably the closest they currently offer to a behind the sceens. They take you in to the lobby of club 33, a special visit to the tiki room, and lots of other little bits and peices. It also includes lunch.

 

[disneycrazycatlady]

We just did Walk in Walt's footsteps tour on July 14. It was great- Its about 2 1/2 hours and for DL firsttimers who are WDW fanatics- it was the perfect tour.

 

[deekaypee]

We just got back from DLR and went on the A Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour; it doesn't include a whole lot of backstage stuff, but you do learn interesting things about the connections between Walt's life/interest and Disneyland's designs. (A lot of this information can be found in the Disney biography by Bob Thomas.)

There might be two tour times available (at least there were two during our visit, July & peak season): one in the morning (I believe it's 9.00 a.m.) and one at 2.30 p.m. The lasts 3 1/2 hours and ends with lunch or dinner, respectively, with seating at The Disney Gallery. (I believe they are the same menu: a small choice of sandwiches and drinks, follwed by strawberry cheesecake, Walt's favorite dessert, but nothing memorable; there is one vegetarian option, a very delicious salad.)

We took the afternoon tour--yeah, during the heat wave. That said, our guide Nathan did an excellent job keeping us in the shade or air conditioning most of the time. There were only four of us in that group, so we were able to ask lots of questions. Interestingly, we were all very knowledgeable about Disney and really had a variety of questions for Nathan; he was able to answer them all and was the best guide I'd ever had. But because we were so chatty we didn't get to experience everything on the planned tour's itinerary, but Nathan's ability to answer our questions and follow our interests more than made up for it.

Among the highights of the tour are a look at Club 33's lobby, a visit to the Tiki Room to learn about Audio-Animatronics, and a look at how the Disney Gallery was designed to be an apartment/private entertainment venue for Walt. We also rode the Disneyland railroad, but more for transportation.

As I said, this tour does not offer much in the way of backstage touring. Also, A Walk in the Walt's Footsteps does not offer priority seating for shows or fastpasses to attractions. Finally, it is a walking tour and we spent most of our time on our feet, so be prepared for that. One of the participants was in a wheelchair and was able to see everything (she was ambulatory, though, so I'm not sure what would be the experience of someone else using a wheelchair).

If you're a Disney buff looking to experience something new, I recommend the tour. We'll probably do another one the next time we visit.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I booked the 50th anniversary tour for when we're there in August. It sounded alright. I can't remember what's in it but there was an earlier thread that described exactly what it entailed.