Will Backstage Magic blow it for little kids?

[global_mom]

We are still considering this trip (also considering Spirit of America) and I have gotten some great advice in this forum but I still have a million questions!

Another thread mentioned that the DL tours are not available to the general public. The ABD tours seem to include areas, such as Walt's apartment, that are not accessible during regular or VIP DL tours.

My question is: will the tours show too much magic to our young children? We dont want them to see 20 Mickey Mouse costumes in wardrobe (they think that there is only one Mickey), dont want them to see Snow White drinking a diet coke and chatting on her cell phone, etc., etc., etc. In other words we dont want them to know that there is no Santa Claus.

The children are 11, 9, and 6. We aren't worried about the 11 yo as he understand how things works and is dying to know more about Walt's life as a business person and creative genius. There are a couple of tours in WDW that do not allow children under 16 and one of the public tours at DL is not recommended for children.

Thoughts?

 

[dingoballs]

We are still considering this trip (also considering Spirit of America) and I have gotten some great advice in this forum but I still have a million questions!

Another thread mentioned that the DL tours are not available to the general public. The ABD tours seem to include areas, such as Walt's apartment, that are not accessible during regular or VIP DL tours.

My question is: will the tours show too much magic to our young children? We dont want them to see 20 Mickey Mouse costumes in wardrobe (they think that there is only one Mickey), dont want them to see Snow White drinking a diet coke and chatting on her cell phone, etc., etc., etc. In other words we dont want them to know that there is no Santa Claus.

The children are 11, 9, and 6. We aren't worried about the 11 yo as he understand how things works and is dying to know more about Walt's life as a business person and creative genius. There are a couple of tours in WDW that do not allow children under 16 and one of the public tours at DL is not recommended for children.

Thoughts?

Your concerns are quite valid. I would not want to expose the 9 & 6 year olds to the "backstage" realities of DL. We took the WDW backstage tour and you do see characters with their "heads" removed because the CM was taking a break. I don't think you'd want your kids to see that. Perhaps you should do the Spirit of America first and wait until your kids are older before taking the backstage tour?

 

[global_mom]

Your concerns are quite valid. I would not want to expose the 9 & 6 year olds to the "backstage" realities of DL. We took the WDW backstage tour and you do see characters with their "heads" removed because the CM was taking a break. I don't think you'd want your kids to see that. Perhaps you should do the Spirit of America first and wait until your kids are older before taking the backstage tour?

I was afraid that this might be the case. Sounds like we should do DL on our own and then try Spirit of America in May. That tour (SofA) sounds really awesome to our kids even though the older 2 have been to DC and done all the sights including Mt. Vernon. However, we are fortunate that they are such history buffs and they would enjoy repeating a few sights.

Thanks for you help!

 

[dingoballs]

I was afraid that this might be the case. Sounds like we should do DL on our own and then try Spirit of America in May. That tour (SofA) sounds really awesome to our kids even though the older 2 have been to DC and done all the sights including Mt. Vernon. However, we are fortunate that they are such history buffs and they would enjoy repeating a few sights.

Thanks for you help!

You're quite welcome! We took the Spirit of America tour last month and it was awesome! I think your kids will really enjoy it even though they've been to DC and Mt. Vernon. The lunch at Mt. Vernon Inn with Martha Washington was really entertaining, and so was dinner at City Tavern in Philadelphia with Ben Franklin. These ABD tours are absolutely wonderful!

 

[global_mom]

You're quite welcome! We took the Spirit of America tour last month and it was awesome! I think your kids will really enjoy it even though they've been to DC and Mt. Vernon. The lunch at Mt. Vernon Inn with Martha Washington was really entertaining, and so was dinner at City Tavern in Philadelphia with Ben Franklin. These ABD tours are absolutely wonderful!

Any chance that you have a SofA trip report in the works? I am dying to hear details!!

 

[dingoballs]

Any chance that you have a SofA trip report in the works? I am dying to hear details!!

Stephanie (aka StephT5) is working on a trip report with photos. She & her kids were on the same tour as us, so instead of both of us writing one, she will post the report... I'm dying to read it too!

 

[global_mom]

Stephanie (aka StephT5) is working on a trip report with photos. She & her kids were on the same tour as us, so instead of both of us writing one, she will post the report... I'm dying to read it too!

Great! I will be on the lookout for it....

 

[isyt]

I wanted to let you guys know that I had emailed Disney about the Backsatge tour "spoiling" the magic for kids. This was their response:

Hello Isabel,

I have verified with the Adventures by Disney trip developers
that there is nothing on this backstage tour that will ruin any
illusions or spoil any secrets. It is a lot of looking at how rides
work, floats are created, etc... It has been approved for Junior
Adventurers of all ages.

Just as a FYI, I didn't think Disney would spoil the magic (or hoping).

Thanks

 

[global_mom]

I wanted to let you guys know that I had emailed Disney about the Backsatge tour "spoiling" the magic for kids. This was their response:

Hello Isabel,

I have verified with the Adventures by Disney trip developers
that there is nothing on this backstage tour that will ruin any
illusions or spoil any secrets. It is a lot of looking at how rides
work, floats are created, etc... It has been approved for Junior
Adventurers of all ages.

Just as a FYI, I didn't think Disney would spoil the magic (or hoping).

Thanks

Great to hear this, I am glad that you checked! We are still interested in this tour but may have to wait until 2009. I wonder if the backstage tours will be of great interest to younger kids or if they will be bored? I only worry about my 6yo, the others are older.

 

[isyt]

I know my kids would love it! They are 6, 8 and 10. Last year we did DL and did the tours that the kids were allowed and they loved it! I am hoping for one of these trips next summer!!

 

[Mulan82]

so,im new to this part of the DIS.. i normally stay on the top part of the board. anyways.

you aren't allowed to go into the costuming dept where the characters costumes are.

the BSM tour that you take when you are at WDW just shows you costuming.. for shows and such. i mean, you see some princess dresses, but nothingmajor... wait. i did see a daisy duck costume that needed to be spruced up but other than that we weren't allowed to see anything with character costumes. but these days, what little girl or boy knows who daisy duck is? its nemooo! nemoooooo!


i took this tour last week and it was totally worth every single dollar that i spent on it.

i don't know if this is the same tour that you are talking about but the BSM tour i took just made me appreciate WDW all that more. if you are an adult, you will come out with a new appreciation for all the entertainers. thinking about walt during the tour actually made me get sad that he didn't get to visually see his dream. i mean, he saw his dream in his mind.. but not in actuality. for little kids, a tour like this would just make them think that disney is really cool.