Holiday Time at The Disneyland Resort Tour---worth it???

[GeneralTso]

We will be at Disneyland/DCA December 17-20. This tour sounds interesting but I haven't seen any threads about it here. Has anyone done it?
What are your thoughts? I first read about it in the Backstage Pass Magazine that APs received this week.

There are some nice little perks, especially the reserved seating for the parade, a couple of rides, 20% discount!

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !

 

[DLtorgo]

Can't tell you if it is worth it yet since I am going on my first Holiday tour in a couple weeks but here is the Holiday tour thread. If you look in a few pages when people start going there are some ideas of what to expect. People seem to love the tour!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2575310

 

[GeneralTso]

Thank you so much for that!
Still kind of hard to find what the actual content of the tour is but from what I gather, it's a walkaround the park. No going underground or the in-depth type that they do at WDW.

I'm going to try to book for a time to get seating for a nighttime parade. It sounds very nice.

 

[MattsPrincess]

I have a review and some pics in the trip report linked in my signature from just last week.

In our opinion, it was totally worth it. The perks are nice, especially the parade seating like you mentioned. We also really enjoyed getting the cookie and cocoa, it was a wonderful (and filling) snack, as well as the pin.

The tour does not do any "behind the scenes" type of things. You meet up at the tour area, then start walking down Main ST. Your guide talks about different holiday traditions, and gives some facts about DLR's Christmas, such as how many lights are on the castle and how many ornaments are on the tree. In between the guide talking, you listen to carols through your headsets, which is pretty nifty. It sounds like something minor but was really very cool and added a lot. You walk from land to land and learn about the customs, etc that would be associated with that area. During the rides on HMH and IASW, you can take your audio stuff off and just enjoy the ride, then you all meet back up at the exit. You also ride on the train, from NoS to Toon Town. That's when you go over to Clara Belle's to get your snack, then you go over to your seating and get your pin as well.

It was very nice, and though I had been worried we would walk away from it feeling we had wasted too much "park time" that wasn't the case at all. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we plan to take a different tour next time, just because we had so much fun on this one!

 

[Ariel224]

Think of it this way....if you have any interest at all in seeing the Holiday Parade, you can either spend 2-3 hours camped out on a cold sidewalk saving a spot, or you can do the tour and spend those same 2 hours learning fun DL/holiday facts, walking straight to the front of the line on IASWH and HMH, sampling holiday fudge, and then being ushered to real chairs for a front row parade seat right in front of IASW with hot chocolate and gingerbread in hand.

The day we did the tour (11/13) was a pretty crowded day in the parks. It was, by far, the best use of park time we had that day.

With the AP discount, you will pay $51+change for the tour. Break the price down a little, and it starts to seem like a really great deal....You get an exclusive collector's pin (probably $7-8 value). Hot chocolate in the holiday mugs was being sold for about $6, if I remember correctly. Gingerbread cookie...$4? So for the remaining $33 you get the tour, front of the line access for 2 extremely popular rides (one of which does not offer Fastpass), samples of holiday fudge, and the best parade seating imaginable. Definitely worth it and definitely fun and interesting!!

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Two words: Book it



We did the Holiday Tour on Friday and LOVEDDDD it!! Our family is me, DH, 10yo and 6yo daughters. We all loved it. We enjoyed our tour guide and being able to wear the headsets to hear what she was saying. Going around the park and stopping to hear what she had to say about different Christmas things was fun and interesting. The park was packed and it was pretty nice to be able to walk as a group with her leading the way and "seeing the waters part" so to speak as we'd go along. After HM we took the train over to Toon Town which was fun since we weren't going to ride it on this trip.

Being able to walk to those reserved seats and sit down to watch the IASW lights come on and then watch the parade up close and personal was worth every single penny we spent for this tour. Seriously. It was relaxing and a REAL TREAT to take a break from those crowds. It was a space all our own and, quite honestly, we felt like VIPs the whole time.

I'd recommend this Tour in a heartbeat!! Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

[Canyon girl]

I wrote a blog about the Holiday tour, if you want to check it out. It is on the Mouse for Less site.

http://www.themouseforless.com/blog_guest/2010/11/have-time-take-the-disneyland-holiday-tour/

Happy Holidays!

 

[Funball]

..also reminder to you Op and other trip planners, I have Christmas maps, they are the DCA and DLR park maps with the Christmas holiday covers. They are super cute too!!

Just pm me if you’d like one! Also if you want to see the covers, I have a photo of them already up in my map thread, please see the map link in my signature! Thanx!