Southern California (& Disneyland): Backstage Magic Meets Thread

[AquaDame]

We had a stop in Walt's apartment on our trip last week also. They seemed surprised we split into only two groups but we fit fine up there.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

I just returned from the ABD Backstage Magic Tour. It was a fantastic tour, but I was a bit disappointed in not getting to see or do certain "surprise" things which I had seen discussed on this board. While I'm not doing a full trip review, I thought it might be useful to share some information to help folks manage their expectations better. I had read a lot of reviews and trip reports prior to going on this adventure, including many which had spoilers that described additional things which were not included on the official itinerary. As a result, I was somewhat disappointed that so many special surprises have been cut from the itinerary. I thought I would share some of the things which I had heard that you do or see on the trip which we did not get to do so that others might not be disappointed. I'm not including the many surprise things we DID get to do and see, since those may be spoilers for some folks.

Spoiler: Spoiler Info Inside!

******SPOILER ALERT--DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THESE SPOILERS*****

--There were no evening activities after the Welcome Dinner (no Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum or anything).
--We didn't visit Walt's train barn or ride the train at Carolwood.
--We didn't see Lucky the Dinosaur at Imagineering.
--We didn't ride (or even see) the Lilly Belle at Disneyland (apparently, they've removed any references to trains from the trip's narrative).
--We didn't get snacks at either of the parades or during the fireworks.
--The reserved parade and fireworks viewing area in Disneyland was very off center (near the Tomorrowland entrance), so you really couldn't see the Castle or Main Street USA projections for the fireworks.
--We didn't visit the Dream Suite (I'm not sure if this is related to the current renovations going on inside Pirates or not, but The Blue Bayou was open for business).
--We didn't see, visit, or discuss Club 33. Apparently, since the renovation, even the guides can't go inside.
--We didn't watch World of Color, as it was down for maintenance as a part of the Paradise to Pixar Pier conversion.
--We didn't watch Fantasmic, as it was not running the nights we were there.

 

[SingingMom]

I just returned from the ABD Backstage Magic Tour. It was a fantastic tour, but I was a bit disappointed in not getting to see or do certain "surprise" things which I had seen discussed on this board. While I'm not doing a full trip review, I thought it might be useful to share some information to help folks manage their expectations better. I had read a lot of reviews and trip reports prior to going on this adventure, including many which had spoilers that described additional things which were not included on the official itinerary. As a result, I was somewhat disappointed that so many special surprises have been cut from the itinerary. I thought I would share some of the things which I had heard that you do or see on the trip which we did not get to do so that others might not be disappointed. I'm not including the many surprise things we DID get to do and see, since those may be spoilers for some folks.

******SPOILER ALERT--DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THESE SPOILERS*****

--There were no evening activities after the Welcome Dinner (no Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum or anything).
--We didn't visit Walt's train barn or ride the train at Carolwood.
--We didn't see Lucky the Dinosaur at Imagineering.
--We didn't ride (or even see) the Lilly Belle at Disneyland (apparently, they've removed any references to trains from the trip's narrative).
--We didn't get snacks at either of the parades or during the fireworks.
--The reserved parade and fireworks viewing area in Disneyland was very off center (near the Tomorrowland entrance), so you really couldn't see the Castle or Main Street USA projections for the fireworks.
--We didn't visit the Dream Suite (I'm not sure if this is related to the current renovations going on inside Pirates or not, but The Blue Bayou was open for business).
--We didn't see, visit, or discuss Club 33. Apparently, since the renovation, even the guides can't go inside.

We did this tour in February and none of the things you listed were included on our trip. I wasn't expecting any of them! Did you ride the carousel at Griffin Park? They mentioned they didn't do the train anymore.

 

[Chirple]

I just returned from the ABD Backstage Magic Tour. It was a fantastic tour, but I was a bit disappointed in not getting to see or do certain "surprise" things which I had seen discussed on this board. While I'm not doing a full trip review, I thought it might be useful to share some information to help folks manage their expectations better. I had read a lot of reviews and trip reports prior to going on this adventure, including many which had spoilers that described additional things which were not included on the official itinerary. As a result, I was somewhat disappointed that so many special surprises have been cut from the itinerary. I thought I would share some of the things which I had heard that you do or see on the trip which we did not get to do so that others might not be disappointed. I'm not including the many surprise things we DID get to do and see, since those may be spoilers for some folks.

******SPOILER ALERT--DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THESE SPOILERS*****

--There were no evening activities after the Welcome Dinner (no Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum or anything).
--We didn't visit Walt's train barn or ride the train at Carolwood.
--We didn't see Lucky the Dinosaur at Imagineering.
--We didn't ride (or even see) the Lilly Belle at Disneyland (apparently, they've removed any references to trains from the trip's narrative).
--We didn't get snacks at either of the parades or during the fireworks.
--The reserved parade and fireworks viewing area in Disneyland was very off center (near the Tomorrowland entrance), so you really couldn't see the Castle or Main Street USA projections for the fireworks.
--We didn't visit the Dream Suite (I'm not sure if this is related to the current renovations going on inside Pirates or not, but The Blue Bayou was open for business).
--We didn't see, visit, or discuss Club 33. Apparently, since the renovation, even the guides can't go inside.

Thanks for your feedback. We aren't doing this trip until next year. It's easy to get psyched up for certain things when you see a consistent pattern, even if they are outside of the norm.

When I did a trip report for our 2016 AZ/UT ABD, I added a disclaimer that there would be spoilers and events that I had not seen in other reports while adding for anyone reading to accept the itinerary "as is" and anything else is a bonus. We like the itinerary for the Backstage Magic ABD and will be happy if we get what they have outlined (or a reasonable substitution if something goes awry).

 

[NashSmartGuy]

We did this tour in February and none of the things you listed were included on our trip. I wasn't expecting any of them! Did you ride the carousel at Griffin Park? They mentioned they didn't do the train anymore.

I didn't want to mention anything that we did that wasn't included on the official itinerary.

 

[hilarys]

We did the trip in 2016 and we did 4.5 of the 8 things on your list, but it sounds like maybe you did some things that we did not. I think this is a trip that is very subject to change because of the fact that it is in parks and at the studios/imagineering which are places of business. They need to be able to change things up on the fly. There seem to be some "surprises" that are pretty common features and others that switch around. Your advice is good that people take the trip reports with a grain of salt to manage expectations. Each trip is bound to be slightly different for this itinerary.

I am glad that you overall had a great experience - this trip is so different from the other ABD's but definitely has a special place in my family's heart even though we are frequent DL visitors.

 

[minnie4ever]

I am interested in the 5 night Disneyland and Southern California ABD trip with my husband and daughter, who will be 11. I am a WDW fanatic, but this will be my first trip to Disneyland. Not knowing when I might get to go back, I am going to want to do "everything" there is to do in both parks while I'm there. With this itinerary (two mornings in the parks with the group, two afternoons on your own, and two evenings on your own), is it possible to experience every attraction? If not, will one more day of park hopping be enough to finish everything off? Also, does this trip include a visit to Walt's apartment? It is mentioned specifically in the trip at a glance for the short escape, but not for this one. Thanks in advance!

I was there for a full week last July with Bro, his wife and 17 yr old son....We were there morning till night except for 1 day we did pool and Downtown Disney and still missed a few things. I am going solo on the ABD 5 day October 2019 and plan on another couple of days at the parks, especially since Pixar Pier and SWGE will be open by then

 

[minnie4ever]

I am interested in the 5 night Disneyland and Southern California ABD trip with my husband and daughter, who will be 11. I am a WDW fanatic, but this will be my first trip to Disneyland. Not knowing when I might get to go back, I am going to want to do "everything" there is to do in both parks while I'm there. With this itinerary (two mornings in the parks with the group, two afternoons on your own, and two evenings on your own), is it possible to experience every attraction? If not, will one more day of park hopping be enough to finish everything off? Also, does this trip include a visit to Walt's apartment? It is mentioned specifically in the trip at a glance for the short escape, but not for this one. Thanks in advance!

I will just happy to be in Walt's Disney...So I expect nothing, hope for lots of cool stuff and look forward to going it alone for a few days without anyone else wanting to ride Space Mt 25 times in a row!! LOL!!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Just booked our first ABD and it's the July 14th, 2019 Backstage Magic! We'll be celebrating our anniversary on the trip and while we hope that Star Wars will be open by then (and we can get some VIP access!) we will be perfectly happy with just a magical first ABD at the Happiest Place on Earth, even without Star Wars.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers for non-itinerary experiences, so thanks for the warnings on your previous posts! There's also a handy 'spoilers' tool you can use to completely hide the spoiler text unless someone clicks on it. In the toolbar just to the left of the camera icon is the insert icon, click that and choose spoilers! It looks like this:

Spoiler: Spoiler test

Now you can't see what I'm talking about until you click on it.

Anyway back to the ABD- we've been to DL twice now but both times off site and a very commando-type trip so I'm very much looking forward to staying onsite and getting the VIP experience with the guides.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

Just booked our first ABD and it's the July 14th, 2019 Backstage Magic! We'll be celebrating our anniversary on the trip and while we hope that Star Wars will be open by then (and we can get some VIP access!) we will be perfectly happy with just a magical first ABD at the Happiest Place on Earth, even without Star Wars.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers for non-itinerary experiences, so thanks for the warnings on your previous posts! There's also a handy 'spoilers' tool you can use to completely hide the spoiler text unless someone clicks on it. In the toolbar just to the left of the camera icon is the insert icon, click that and choose spoilers! It looks like this:

Spoiler: Spoiler test

Now you can't see what I'm talking about until you click on it.

Anyway back to the ABD- we've been to DL twice now but both times off site and a very commando-type trip so I'm very much looking forward to staying onsite and getting the VIP experience with the guides.

Thanks for that info! I knew there was this option, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it. I've edited my post to add the magic button.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Thanks for that info! I knew there was this option, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it. I've edited my post to add the magic button.

Yes, it's so handy! Especially on other boards with spoilers about movies and such. The caps lock is usually enough of a warning but sometimes my eyes can't help themselves and they stray into forbidden territory

 

[dlforever]

Hi everyone! I’m on the Backstage Magic tour the week of June 24th and my daughter and I are really excited! I heard that we will be given several fastpasses. Does anyone know if we can also add maxpass to the park tickets provided on this trip?

 

[AquaDame]

Hi everyone! I’m on the Backstage Magic tour the week of June 24th and my daughter and I are really excited! I heard that we will be given several fastpasses. Does anyone know if we can also add maxpass to the park tickets provided on this trip?

You can, but they recommend you don't. They give you enough "anytime" FP and a couple for specific rides at specific times too that it is a bit pointless to pay for MP except for that last morning if you go back into the parks after the farewell breakfast.

 

[kkbutterfly]

I booked my first abd for November 2019. I know it's a long time away but I can't help but start getting excited already!

 

[NashSmartGuy]

I was disappointed that they didn't give us MaxPass, but then we really didn't need them. You get enough FastPasses from them in addition to the rides they just walk you onto during the tour that you really don't need MaxPass. You can still pull paper FastPasses, too. It would have been nice, but would have been a waste of money to buy.

 

[AquaDame]

I was disappointed that they didn't give us MaxPass, but then we really didn't need them. You get enough FastPasses from them in addition to the rides they just walk you onto during the tour that you really don't need MaxPass. You can still pull paper FastPasses, too. It would have been nice, but would have been a waste of money to buy.

Totally agree. We even ended up wasting our last one if you can believe it..! It may not be as much of an issue now that the pixar pier area is opening though. With that down, it not being useable on GotG and Toy Story down for so long (we were on the same trip you were) we just didn't have many places in DCA to use them. Plus there isn't THAT much time in between the group actives if you choose to do them all too.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Weird that they stopped doing so many of the things in your spoiler tab. We did almost all of them a number of years ago on our abd. Maybe they are trying to change things up a little and do new things? I know a lot of people go on this trip more than once.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

Weird that they stopped doing so many of the things in your spoiler tab. We did almost all of them a number of years ago on our abd. Maybe they are trying to change things up a little and do new things? I know a lot of people go on this trip more than once.

Well, I don't think they added anything to replace those things we didn't do. Pretty much everything we saw and did was what was listed on the itinerary with a few bonus things thrown in which are commonly discussed on these boards.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Well, I don't think they added anything to replace those things we didn't do. Pretty much everything we saw and did was what was listed on the itinerary with a few bonus things thrown in which are commonly discussed on these boards.

Hmm. That is disappointing then. some of those had been done for years. I had thought about doing it again, but I may try to do the DIS version to change it up.

 

[ParadiseFoundVaca]

Anyone doing august 27- September 1st? Of this year?

EDIT: Darn, sorry wrong year...