Walk In Walt’s Footsteps Questions

[jerzeystar09]

Does anyone have any experience with this tour? I’m curious as to how long it is and if it would be worth it for us to do it. We will be in the parks for 3-4 days as part of our honeymoon and was thinking about splurging but we’ve never been to Disneyland before and are curious as to whether this would take time away that we could be doing other things.

 

[dieumeye]

I've done the Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps tour and really liked it. I'm a regular visitor, interested in Disney history, and wanted to see Walt's apartment. This made the cost and 2-3 hours spent on the tour worth it to me.

The tour includes history of the park along with audio clips from Walt, lunch, and walk on to some attractions (Lincoln, Alice, Railroad, Tiki Room are often in the mix, but not all of them every time necessarily). That's all good stuff, but the main attraction is visiting Walt's apartment. You get to spend 20-30 minutes in there in a small group which felt like plenty of time to me. You don't get to take any photos, but CMs will take your photo with your phone.

One quick way to measure your interest is: would you pay for this if the only thing you got to do was visit Walt's apartment? If the answer is yes, then this is definitely for you. If the answer is no, then I'd think about it before signing up.

Also, the walking portion of this tour was around 2 miles.

 

[Pamela M]

I did the tour last year and thought it was worth it. But I think it all depends on you. If it's your first time at DL and you only have 3 days I think I would skip it - I think the tour is 3-4 hours. You'll want those extra hours to see the 2 parks. if you have 4 days I would say you could squeeze it in. Usually the tour includes 3 rides: Alice, train( not a full trip), & Mr Lincoln. When I went it also included Walt's apartment but I've heard it can also be the dream suit. Of course all of that is subject to change depending on if rides are down. Do also get a special pin & Lunch. Lunch was ok but it came with the Matterhorn macaroon! As a big Disneyalnd fan - I didn't really learn anything new but the delivery of the info was great!

 

[lalasmama]

I enjoyed it, but probably wouldn't do it on my first trip or honeymoon unless someone is a huge Walt Disney or Disneyland-specific fan. There's lots of fast walking, lots of listening, and only sporadic moments of interacting with others.

We preferred nice(ish) restaurants and seatings on our honeymoon at DL, so we did Blue Bayou waterside, and Carthay Circle's WOC dining package.

 

[LizzyS]

The tour is 3-4 hours and a fair bit of walking is involved. I agree that if your main goal is to see Walt's apartment and you really, really want to, do it. I've read a fair bit about Walt and didn't learn much new information on the tour, but I was really doing it to get into the apartment. No one has reported doing the Dream Suite anytime recently, also, though they did do it instead for some period of time when the apartment was having some sort of work done.

I would have preferred to do the noon tour, personally, but it was only offered at 9am the day I did it and I had been meaning to do it forever, so I went for it and don't regret a thing.

 

[gogirlgo]

I lean toward saving it for another time. I really wanted to do the tour for my 50th bday this past January, and even though I've been to DLR at least 50 times in my life (and I still go every year), I just couldn't make myself book the time to take the tour. There's just so many other wonderful, special things to do. And for you, if you've never been, it may be too big a block of time to lose. That said, they do sometimes have walk-up reservations available, so perhaps if you're feeling like you really want to do it while you're there, you could ask. Congrats!!

 

[TarotFox]

Gonna voice the other side then -- my fiance and I had two and a half days in the park last year on our first ever trip and did opt to take it. No regrets, we loved it and had a good time touring the park and learning things and loved looking at Walt's apartment. Even with only 2 and a half days I don't really feel like we gave up anything in the park to do this, either. We saw and did just about everything we had wanted to do and went on just about all the major rides.

 

[nikerbokers]

I just did the tour a couple weeks ago on my solo trip. I've been to DL 35+ times but I absolutely loved the experience. The tour began promptly at 11:30 and I was done at 3pm. Craig was our guide and he was fantastic. During the tour, we went on Alice, the Disneyland Railroad, and inside the Tiki Room. Lunch included, which I finished at 3. I did it on the day I arrived. I flew in, checked in at the Grand Cal, left my bags at bell services, went to DL, did the tour, got my text right when I finished that my room was ready, and that was that. I fully recommend this tour! I think if you are at DL for 3-4 days, 3 hours isn't a huge deal. I wouldn't take the early tour though as the park is best and least crowded in the mornings.

 

[avalon451]

We did in in Sept. 2016. It was okay, but I wouldn't do it again. This was during the time that they showed you the Dream Suite rather than Walt's apartment.
I was disappointed by a couple of things: the information was mostly stuff I knew already; the guide, while quite nice, must have been new because her spiel was pretty stiff and stilted-- some things that were clearly supposed to be funny were delivered in such a way that they fell flat. Also, I kind of feel like if they're going to put you on rides with front-of-the-line privileges, they should at least do it on a ride where that's a treat. We did only 2: Alice and It's a small world. I was thinking, Really? Iasw? I'm not a fan of that ride (and I know I'm not alone, here) and the tune makes me crazy, what a waste of time. I'd have been madder if it was Lincoln or the Railroad. Peter Pan, now that would be worth it!
Seeing the Dream Suite was the best part. Like I said, the whole thing was okay, but I wouldn't do it again. Not really worth it in my book.

 

[Rey Del Suicide]

I’ve always wondered, how much are these tours?

 

[Karin1984]

I think it is a great thing to do on a first visit, and with 4 days I do think you have the time to still get a lot/most/everything you probably want to do done. When you walk through the park afterwards, you will think about the information you got on the tour and it makes the park more interesting.

Yes, you have to love Disney history. I did the tour on my first visit in 2014 and visited the Dream suite which was more interesting to me (I think) than Walt's appartment, due to all the hidden little imagineering features. Even when you know the stories being told already, it is different when you stand there where it happened. I found it worth it, I was on a 4.5 day trip, I believe.

 

[abnihon]

I’m considering it for our upcoming trip where we have 5 parks days. My son seems interested in seeing Walt’s apt.
My concern is his attention span.. he’s 6 and I didn’t realize the tour was so long with so much walking.
We may need to save it until he’s older.
Does anyone know the cost?
Can’t seem to find it on the website.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Tour information here: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/disneyland/walk-in-walts-disneyland-footsteps/. There is a number to call to ask about pricing and discounts.

 

[Barnabus Collins]

I really want to do this tour. I think it would be really cool to see inside Walt's apartment, that would be the highlight to me.

 

[Hyphen677]

My husband and I took the tour a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. I think it was $115 for each of us. Our guide, Tara, was phenomenal. If you love the history of Disneyland and hanging out with a group of people who feel the same way, then it's worth it.

 

[Winnowill]

I've done it twice - once all by myself, and, the following year, with my DH and DD8. Both times was the Dream Suite rather than Walt's Apartment. I enjoyed it and definitely thought it was worth doing (hence doing it twice). The first time, our attractions were Alice and Pirates (was supposed to be HM, but it went down). The second time was Alice and I don't remember what the second one was.

Important note - your included meal happens AFTER the tour. So, if you're doing the noon tour, eat something beforehand or you'll be ravenous by the time it's over.

 

[JessicaRabbit13]

We did the tour in October on our first visit. We had 5 days at Disneyland and this tour only took 3 hours out of our day. If was really interesting hearing about the history of Walt & the park and seeing the apartment. It was a really special experience. The guide was really lovely. We had our own little area for lunch where we also got a special pin. I would do it again in a heart beat. If you are a big Disney fan then its worth it.

 

[cinnaminny]

I've always wanted to do this. I think its going to have to wait though. We have five day this summer but I think its just going to take too much time away from us because it will be so busy. We have a big family trip in about four years, I think my husband and I will sneak away and do this alone. It will be romantical.

 

[lalasmama]

I’m considering it for our upcoming trip where we have 5 parks days. My son seems interested in seeing Walt’s apt.
My concern is his attention span.. he’s 6 and I didn’t realize the tour was so long with so much walking.
We may need to save it until he’s older.
Does anyone know the cost?
Can’t seem to find it on the website.

I might wait to take a six year old. My general reasoning:

It's several miles (3 or 3.5 if I remember correctly) at a pretty quick pace.

The information presented is completely family safe, however, not told in a "kid friendly" way (that is, it's not necessarily peppy or vocally animated).

Our tour didn't have a lot of on-the-go "why" question time, so there may be a moment for a question or two, but not enough to satisfy the questions my 6yo grandsons would come up with!

There's a lot of time spent just imagining Walt being at any place, while listening to a recorded narration.

There's no guarantee of specific rides.

Our tour had a 9yo and 14yo who both claimed to be huge Walt Disney fans, and they were begging to be done with the tour by the water break... Which affected the rest of the tour as they whined their way through the next 90 minutes. It's Disneyland, and kids get over stimulated, I get it. But I'm still a bit salty about it, obviously, and it has made me second-guess what age I would bring a child on a tour that's pretty adult-activity focussed.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I might wait to take a six year old. My general reasoning:

It's several miles (3 or 3.5 if I remember correctly) at a pretty quick pace.

The information presented is completely family safe, however, not told in a "kid friendly" way (that is, it's not necessarily peppy or vocally animated).

Our tour didn't have a lot of on-the-go "why" question time, so there may be a moment for a question or two, but not enough to satisfy the questions my 6yo grandsons would come up with!

There's a lot of time spent just imagining Walt being at any place, while listening to a recorded narration.

There's no guarantee of specific rides.

Our tour had a 9yo and 14yo who both claimed to be huge Walt Disney fans, and they were begging to be done with the tour by the water break... Which affected the rest of the tour as they whined their way through the next 90 minutes. It's Disneyland, and kids get over stimulated, I get it. But I'm still a bit salty about it, obviously, and it has made me second-guess what age I would bring a child on a tour that's pretty adult-activity focussed.

I agree with this. We've been on tours with young kids who were well behaved and really interested in the subject matter. And we've been on tours with young and older kids/teens who were bored stiff and complained/whined throughout the tour, disrupting it for everyone else. On one tour, a family finally had to split up as one parent took the complaining pre-teens out for rides so the mom could stay on the tour. That's 3 wasted tour spots and a lot of frustrated tour guests and one frustrated tour guide. These tours are expensive, and no one wants to listen to whining and moaning for several hours. The guides don't want the disruption, either. At 6, our kids would have been mentally interested, but physically not ready for this tour. They both really enjoyed the tour at age 9.