Did "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" Tour today

[asunutgirl]

We did the 9:30am tour this morning. Have an AP and been to DLR too many times to count but this was our first ever tour. Really enjoyed it. There is a lot of walking and there is a lot of historical information about Walt and the construction of Disneyland. My 2 teens enjoyed it (17 and 13) but I wouldn't recommended it for young children as I think they would find it boring.

Made the reservations exactly 30 days out. We've tried to do this tour with a week to 10 days notice and it has always been full. With the 60th anniversary, I am sure that trend will continue. The park was very very busy today.

We rode Haunted Mansion (saw the hatbox ghost!) and the train. We were supposed to ride Alice but it was down when we were there. That resulted in them giving us a single use fast pass that we used for Matterhorn after the tour was done.

The tour piece was just under 3 hours. Then we had lunch at Jolly Holiday. (You preorder lunch and it is prepared and waiting for you.) After lunch, we toured the Dream Suite. I know that DD13 really wanted to see Walt's apartment but the Dream Suite was amazing. Lots of cool surprises in there that I won't share because I think it would spoil some of the magic if you knew ahead of time. We finished about 1:30pm.

A note about the listening device. I didn't know this but you can use your own headphones or ear buds. I wish I had known about this because the earpiece they give you was bugging me a bit.

This was a great thing to do when the park was super busy because the lines didn't bother us. But it isn't something you'd want to do if your goal was to get in as many attractions as possible.

Happy to answer questions if anyone has them.

 

[swooshbear]

Yes, the best advice is to bring your own headphones for the tour, the ear buds they give you were not very good. Too bad they aren't doing Walt's apartment anymore, but I would love to check out the Dream Suite. Do you still get a pin at the end of tour?

 

[PatMcDuck]

When I did it, you could barely hear the guide. I mean at times, could not hear her at all. I would like to see that Dream Suite, too. We did see Walt's apartment, best part of the tour. We rode Peter Pan, the RR, then Lincoln.

 

[asunutgirl]

Yes, you still get a pin at the end of the tour.

As for the ear piece, I could hear fine. I just would have preferred ear buds as my ears are small and the ear piece didn't feel very secure. Didn't really impact the tour, though.

 

[Disneyland4TmB]

I've wanted to experience that tour for so long!!! Do you get to enter Club 33? I think I remember my sister saying they did on her tour. Not into the eating area but to the hostess desk?

 

[Gisele]

I've wanted to experience that tour for so long!!! Do you get to enter Club 33? I think I remember my sister saying they did on her tour. Not into the eating area but to the hostess desk?

There is no entry into C33. Can't have member's experiences become tread upon by the common masses. Lmao

 

[MadeToLove]

I've wanted to experience that tour for so long!!! Do you get to enter Club 33? I think I remember my sister saying they did on her tour. Not into the eating area but to the hostess desk?

When they renovated and expanded Club 33 last year, they changed the entry point and repurposed the old lobby where the tour used to go. So there is no longer a tie to Walt to take the tour to visit.

 

[Gisele]

When they renovated and expanded Club 33 last year, they changed the entry point and repurposed the old lobby where the tour used to go. So there is no longer a tie to Walt to take the tour to visit.

It's my understanding that originally Walt's apartment was going to be where the new C33 is located. Hence there is a very strong association.

 

[MadeToLove]

It's my understanding that originally Walt's apartment was going to be where the new C33 is located. Hence there is a very strong association.

Actually, Walt's "new" apartment was going to be where the Dream Suite is now located, which is why they've made that the alternative location for his old apartment over the firehouse, which isn't ADA accessible. When the tour used to visit Club 33, they couldn't go past the lobby with the old elevator Walt used, but that is all gone now, so there's no need to visit Club 33 anymore.

 

[Gisele]

Actually, Walt's "new" apartment was going to be where the Dream Suite is now located, which is why they've made that the alternative location for his old apartment over the firehouse, which isn't ADA accessible. When the tour used to visit Club 33, they couldn't go past the lobby with the old elevator Walt used, but that is all gone now, so there's no need to visit Club 33 anymore.

All I know is what a CM told me during the time the Court of Angels was being taken over by C33.

 

[MadeToLove]

All I know is what a CM told me during the time the Court of Angels was being taken over by C33.

They have all the original design plans and sketches by Dorothea Redmond in the Dream Suite so you can see how it would have looked as Walt & Roy's apartment (very similar, and the dimensions of the rooms are all the same), and the railings on the DS balcony have the brother's initials. I suspect the CM was confused (which isn't a surprise).

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I just wish that we could be guaranteed to see walts apartment. my only hope now is have the money set aside, and ask each day 1st if they have tours available and 2 if they are seeing walts apartment today. I have hear its on rotation.

 

[Nonsuch]

...When the tour used to visit Club 33, they couldn't go past the lobby with the old elevator Walt used, but that is all gone now, so there's no need to visit Club 33 anymore.

All I know is what a CM told me during the time the Court of Angels was being taken over by C33.

The new Club33 entrance in the Court of Angels would make a nice addition to the tour:

 

[Gisele]

The new Club33 entrance in the Court of Angels would make a nice addition to the tour:
View attachment 100816

I agree. It most likely will not happen though.

 

[asunutgirl]

No tour of the Club 33 lobby. I suspect one of the reasons they took it off the tour is that Walt did not have anything to do with the new lobby.

I wouldn't take the tour off of my list because of the Dream Suite. It is amazing and there is a lot of history inside. And some very cool Disney magical touches that are worth seeing. I'm actually glad we saw the suite vs. the apartment.

 

[LizzyS]

I don't know if I want to do this tour if they don't include Walt's apartment. The Dream Suite would be cool, but the apartment is the main reason I wanted to shell out the money, if I'm being honest.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

same here Lizzys

 

[Gisele]

Hm....maybe I can work at Disneyland as a mousekeeper and visit Walt's apartment that way. I have a duster somewhere. Added bonus getting paid to spend time in the famous apartment.

 

[starry_solo]

How does the pin look like?

 

[Disneyland4TmB]

There is no entry into C33. Can't have member's experiences become tread upon by the common masses. Lmao

Bummer haven't been there since they changed the entrance.