2011 Holiday Tour. Who has booked and when?

[areweindisneyyet]

The Holiday Tour in DL is open for booking again for Christmas.

This year the tour is $68 per person. This tour must be paid at the time of booking. For those with AAA, Disney Rewards Visa, Annual Passholders and DVC Holders a 20% discount is offered making the price $54.40. Bookings can be made 30 days in advance. Dizme has dice been told that AAA discount is no longer available on the Holiday Tour.

On the tour you get some of the history of holiday traditions at DL and also from around the world. During the tour you will get priority access to both the holiday versions of It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion and to finish off preferred seating for the Holiday Parade with a special hot chocolate and gingerbread cookie. DizMe gives a fantastic description of the tour in post #109. THANKS DIZME.

LongTimeDisneyLurker has also added the commemorative pin that has been given out to tour participants in previous years AND also helped with the all important phone number: 714 781 4565. Hofmanns4 also booked through vacation planning (714-300-7526).

Some more tips:
From Hello To You
A CM stated that they can run 3 groups of 15 each for each tour.

They do NOT send you a confirmation e-mail. You can NOT pick your tickets up a day early -- ONLY on the day of the tour at the ticket booth.

They meet at the beige gazebo to the left of City Hall. You should be there 20-30 minutes early.

And from DizMe:
Tip: have your reservation/confirmation number with you and ready when you go to pick up your tickets.

Even though they may answer the phone at 7am you might not be able to book until 8.


Who is going and when? I shall try to keep a DIS roll call!


OFFICIAL ROLL CALL

14 November: Nicoli Spicoli at 3pm, DuckWife at 3pm, Vala at 3pm

15 November: Davids-Coco Booked

18 November: Stitch1010 at 3pm

19 November: azdoughboy at 3pm

28 November: ddwlms Booked for 9! Nox54

29 November: rentayenta booked

30 November: DizMe - at 3pm.

1 December: pattyduke34 at 3pm, Liat at 3pm

2 December: Hello To You at 3pm

5 December: ktkerber at 3pm, Sorcerers Apprentice at 3pm

7 December: Diznee Luver at 3pm and LisaCat waiting to book

9 December: 8timesblessed at 3pm, jemimabean at noon

11 December: LuluBelle - waiting to book

12 December: Aquadame at 12

14 December: Hofmanns4 at 3pm, Riverrunner at 3pm

17 December: Mommy2mrb and wdwmickey at 3pm and kirstie101 at 3pm! oscarkitty1 at 3pm

19 December: ColoradoMum!! at 3pm, MrsPinup at noon

22 December: areweindisneyyet at 3pm

23 December: Disneymom23 at 3pm, Julia M at 3pm

25 December: cp11 at 3pm

30 December: aidensmom31 at 3pm

31 December: JDBlair at 3pm

 

[hellotoyou]

We're hoping to make reservations .... can't wait! Thank you for the info!

 

[nicolispicoli]

We're booked! We'll be going 11/14 on the 3:00 tour, can't wait!!

 

[DizMe]

Thanks for the info! I was just looking for this. I plan to go Nov 30 but can't book until Oct 30.I'm

 

[rentayenta]

I'm planning on booking the tour for Nov 27, me and DS. The parade is going twice that day so I'm curious what the tour times will be.

Can I get the phone number?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Can I get the phone number?

I found this one on the official Disneyland tour page: (714) 781-4565.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

On the tour you get some of the history of holiday traditions at DL and also from around the world. During the tour you will get priority access to both the holiday versions of It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion and to finish off preferred seating for the Holiday Parade with a special hot chocolate and gingerbread cookie.

I remember last year's thread mentioning that you also get a special commemorative pin. Do you know if that is included in this year's tour price again? We still haven't tried the tour, but we think about it every year. I'll be reading all the info again and using it to try to convince myself to go for it this year.

 

[rentayenta]

I found this one on the official Disneyland tour page: (714) 781-4565.

 

[DizMe]

I remember last year's thread mentioning that you also get a special commemorative pin. Do you know if that is included in this year's tour price again? We still haven't tried the tour, but we think about it every year. I'll be reading all the info again and using it to try to convince myself to go for it this year.

We've gotten one every year. One year, they had to mail it to us but we did get it!

I used to kind of scoff at tours but after one time on the Holiday Tour, I was hooked!

You also get to keep the mugs. One year, we were also given one of those FP cards good for your entire party. That never happened again, though.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We've gotten one every year. One year, they had to mail it to us but we did get it!

I used to kind of scoff at tours but after one time on the Holiday Tour, I was hooked!

You also get to keep the mugs. One year, we were also given one of those FP cards good for your entire party. That never happened again, though.

Thanks. I don't scoff at them. I'm just not sure how much enjoyment our family would get out of it and because of that I always let the cost stop me. We'll see if I manage to talk myself into it this year.

 

[naebear]

Thanks. I don't scoff at them. I'm just not sure how much enjoyment our family would get out of it and because of that I always let the cost stop me. We'll see if I manage to talk myself into it this year.

I am feeling the same way! I know it would be a neat experience, but I am afraid that I would be feeling some guilt at spending $280 on cocoa mugs and a great seat for the parade....

Is it REALLY worth it??

 

[DizMe]

I am feeling the same way! I know it would be a neat experience, but I am afraid that I would be feeling some guilt at spending $280 on cocoa mugs and a great seat for the parade....

Is it REALLY worth it??

I don't know. I never have taken my family--I always go with my sister and/or my adult dd, so I'm only buying one ticket. Definitely worth it for 1 or 2, maybe questionable for 4 or more. I paid $300 for the trick-or-treat party for my family of 5 and am still debating whether or not I'd do it again. Once, yes it was worth it. Again? Doubtful. Then again, I'm kind of cheap when it comes to that kind of thing. I'll pay a lot for the hotel but don't want to spend tons on food, souvenirs or tickets

 

[MattsPrincess]

DH was very reluctant to do this when we went last November. He didn't like the cost and assumed he would be bored.

It was his favorite part of the trip, and he begged me to book the Halloween tour for our upcoming trip this year. It's the thing he's looking forward to the most.

I'd say it's beyond worth it. Walking down Main ST with Christmas songs in your headphones is pretty cool. The cocoa and cookie are very good. The seats for the parade were awesome, I got amazing pictures. We got onto Haunted Mansion, Small World, and the train with no wait. We sang carols. We learned cool stuff. (but not in the boring, "man, i didn't come to Disney to LEARN!" kind of way) The pin is really cool and from what I understand the design of it changes every year. I would do this tour again in a heartbeat, and because we had such a wonderful time I have very high hopes for Halloween.

ETA- I have a full review of this tour in the TR that's linked in my signature line

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I am feeling the same way! I know it would be a neat experience, but I am afraid that I would be feeling some guilt at spending $280 on cocoa mugs and a great seat for the parade....

Is it REALLY worth it??

We loved it (my 2 youngest were still free when we did it). I'd say if you are going during a really busy time (Thanksgiving week or during Christmas break) it's definitely worth it for the sole purpose of not waiting in line for the rides and staking out a spot for the parade. I had been warned my kids may get bored by others on the boards (they were 8 and 4) but they put us with another family with kids and the guide really included the kids in the tour (added a stop to see Santa's reindeer). They also really accommodated us having a stroller. and got us extra treats for the little ones to share since they technically weren't "on the tour".

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

DH was very reluctant to do this when we went last November. He didn't like the cost and assumed he would be bored.

It was his favorite part of the trip, and he begged me to book the Halloween tour for our upcoming trip this year. It's the thing he's looking forward to the most.

I'd say it's beyond worth it. Walking down Main ST with Christmas songs in your headphones is pretty cool. The cocoa and cookie are very good. The seats for the parade were awesome, I got amazing pictures. We got onto Haunted Mansion, Small World, and the train with no wait. We sang carols. We learned cool stuff. (but not in the boring, "man, i didn't come to Disney to LEARN!" kind of way) The pin is really cool and from what I understand the design of it changes every year. I would do this tour again in a heartbeat, and because we had such a wonderful time I have very high hopes for Halloween.

ETA- I have a full review of this tour in the TR that's linked in my signature line

Thanks. I just read your tour review. You make the tour sound so enjoyable and worth it.

We loved it (my 2 youngest were still free when we did it). I'd say if you are going during a really busy time (Thanksgiving week or during Christmas break) it's definitely worth it for the sole purpose of not waiting in line for the rides and staking out a spot for the parade. I had been warned my kids may get bored by others on the boards (they were 8 and 4) but they put us with another family with kids and the guide really included the kids in the tour (added a stop to see Santa's reindeer). They also really accommodated us having a stroller. and got us extra treats for the little ones to share since they technically weren't "on the tour".

We only can go at busy times. Even so, we usually see the parade and ride IASWH and HMH multiple times and buy some gingerbread cookies and cocoa. I don't know what it is though...every time I read these threads and comments on the Disboards, these tours seem so exciting and start to sound monetarily worth it. We are people who generally stay offsite and don't spend a lot on "extras", so this is a real struggle for me... Thanks for all the input.

 

[cloudconnected1039]

I have a pretty trivial question regarding the tour I was thinking about booking one for DBF and I, and I was wondering if it was possible to request hot tea or something instead of hot cocoa?? I really despise hot cocoa, and if I can't switch it out that's fine, I'll just give it to DBF, but it would be great if I could have my own hot concoction!!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I have a pretty trivial question regarding the tour I was thinking about booking one for DBF and I, and I was wondering if it was possible to request hot tea or something instead of hot cocoa?? I really despise hot cocoa, and if I can't switch it out that's fine, I'll just give it to DBF, but it would be great if I could have my own hot concoction!!

You can always ask when you check into the tour office. That's when they let the place in ToonTown (at least that's where we got ours) how many cocoas and gingerbread men to set out. They requested an extra cocoa and cookie for us since our little ones weren't technically on the tour.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

I have updated the initial post.

Keep those bookings coming.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Does anyone know if you can use your Disney Visa points (yes, I have the rewards card already and can transfer points to it) to pay for tour tickets? TIA.

ETA: Called and got an answer to my own question. Yes. Figured the answer would be yes, but it's nice to make sure. Since I have some points saved up, maybe this will push me over the edge with the decision.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

We loved it (my 2 youngest were still free when we did it). I'd say if you are going during a really busy time (Thanksgiving week or during Christmas break) it's definitely worth it for the sole purpose of not waiting in line for the rides and staking out a spot for the parade. I had been warned my kids may get bored by others on the boards (they were 8 and 4) but they put us with another family with kids and the guide really included the kids in the tour (added a stop to see Santa's reindeer). They also really accommodated us having a stroller. and got us extra treats for the little ones to share since they technically weren't "on the tour".

I have been debating whether or not to make a reservation for the tour. At what age are kids free? You mentioned your kids were 8 and 4. Were they both free? My kids are young (2 and under). I'm assuming they would be free considering they are free to get into the park. You said that they technically weren't on the tour - Were they able to wear headsets? Is there enough space for them to watch the parade?