Backstage Magic Tour 4/22 - 4/27 - 1ST POST UPDATED 4/15

[jacksparrowfan]

you're on the 4/22 too?

the CM you spoke to is just clueless said to say. which i've run across with multiple times when talking them. initially i chalked it up to the tour just being so new they don't really know, but sometimes i have to wonder. especially since these are CMs working out of the Anaheim area.

they've made it well known you can upgrade to a 4th day through your guide (the day of check-in is thursday incidentally, not tuesday) for $20.

you can see one example here: http://adventuresforum.disney.go.com/questions.aspx?sort=&page=&qid=5609&pid=1&cid=38

believe me.. if there's a question to be asked, i've asked it

Yes, I will be there with my husband. Very interesting as to the answers all seem to be receiving. I figure I will hit them up when we see them on Tuesday to make sure of what we need to do to upgrade to a 4-day. Thought I'd start the questioning early. We will have to share the info when we get there as to what we find out.

Did they happen to tell you if our tour will have the 40 people maximum? I guess the first two tours before the 4/22 start date did not happen? I didn't want to be the guinea pig, but that's ok. We will be the starting group of a very exciting tour.

I have to say another thing they messed up on for me. We are from No CA so I made my own airline reservations. We are flying in to LAX but out of Orange Co. I just can't see driving an hour to LAX when Orange Co is so close and where we go through many times. When I asked if we could do that, I was told yes. And they would take us there. I even asked the person to ask their Supervisor before I made the reservations and it was a definite yes. When I called to give our airline info, I was told they would not take us to Orange Co. I couldn't believe it. Now, I keep seeing that we can fly out of Orange Co in our paperwork. It gets exhausting to try and get info we need. I will definitely add it to my evaluation. But, I have been on many tours Disneyland and WDW. Never disappointed. (Well, the Halloween tour...not so much!)

I second the thank you on getting info for us! It's appreciated.

 

[bradk]

they won't really give a number as to how much it's filled or what happened with the ill-fated tours before (i was initially scheduled to be on the 4/8 tour and yes it was canceled and 4/22 is supposed to the first actually taking place). all they'll say is it's between 10 and 40 people. and we have 7 of them on here that we know of.

i can see where your question about travel gets confusing. no matter how you get to LA, transportation to disneyland/anaheim/orange county is covered. but as far as the airport goes, they only cover to LAX. i'm assuming you're leaving out of SNA. i'm leaving out of LGB myself, but i'm also staying a day longer anyway, not through them (i'd rather pay $110 for a night at the PPI over another night at the GCH for 3x as much).

at least that's how i understand it.

i couldn't get a clear answer on how the travel back to the airport would be taking place. i initially assumed it would be using the Disneyland Express buses through Gray Line, which does also go to SNA I believe.

 

[bradk]

so i called with my daily 'what's with the fastpass?' question and i think this is the 2nd time i heard this answer (although it could be the same CM for all i know), but i like it, so i'm going to believe it.

she believes it'll be basically a credential that you just flash at the fastpass line. no going to FP machines at all. pretty much what universal does. but will CMs know what it means?

from what i've read repeatedly on the ABD forum site, it's good for 2 days (although they've apparently refused my question asking for specifics on what it is)

incidentally, i've made a minor breakthrough with the blogging using blogger.com and integrating it directly into my site. i've confirmed i can post updates via email. supposedly i'll be able to use my cell phone to post pictures too, but i gotta find my phone and charge it to find out also just working on the aesthetics.

 

[Phil1019]

Yes, I will be there with my husband. Very interesting as to the answers all seem to be receiving. I figure I will hit them up when we see them on Tuesday to make sure of what we need to do to upgrade to a 4-day. Thought I'd start the questioning early. We will have to share the info when we get there as to what we find out.

Did they happen to tell you if our tour will have the 40 people maximum? I guess the first two tours before the 4/22 start date did not happen? I didn't want to be the guinea pig, but that's ok. We will be the starting group of a very exciting tour.

I have to say another thing they messed up on for me. We are from No CA so I made my own airline reservations. We are flying in to LAX but out of Orange Co. I just can't see driving an hour to LAX when Orange Co is so close and where we go through many times. When I asked if we could do that, I was told yes. And they would take us there. I even asked the person to ask their Supervisor before I made the reservations and it was a definite yes. When I called to give our airline info, I was told they would not take us to Orange Co. I couldn't believe it. Now, I keep seeing that we can fly out of Orange Co in our paperwork. It gets exhausting to try and get info we need. I will definitely add it to my evaluation. But, I have been on many tours Disneyland and WDW. Never disappointed. (Well, the Halloween tour...not so much!)

I second the thank you on getting info for us! It's appreciated.

Hi, I am going on the Backstage Magic Tour also on April 22nd. I called this week because I was nervous about seeing other tours cancelled. I was told that this tour is fully booked!! Yeah!

 

[inkkognito]

If that's the case with the FP, I sure hope all the good rides at DL/DCA have FP lines!

 

[bradk]

off the top of my head, the only one at DCA that's very popular and doesn't have a FP is Monsters, Inc.

it's a bit worse at DL with Nemo and Peter Pan.

when i get home, i'll cover the FP bases on here. anything to keep my mind off the lack of itinerary

so our DIS group is up to 8+ which is good. not happy about a full ABD group but with about 25% represented on the DIS already, it makes sense.

 

[inkkognito]

I suspect it got filled because of the other cancelled dates...goodness only knows how many choices people from cancelled trips were given to choose from.

Nemo's not FP? Ugh!!

 

[jacksparrowfan]

I suspect it got filled because of the other cancelled dates...goodness only knows how many choices people from cancelled trips were given to choose from.

Nemo's not FP? Ugh!!

No, no fastpass for Nemo. They say it's because of the number of people they can put on a sub and the total an hour, etc. People would be waiting in line forever and only those with a fastpass could get on. Sometimes, some of the subs are down. I would hope that we will receive a pass to ride anything and not just the ones with the fastpass machines. (dreaming???)

 

[bradk]

yes, dreaming. at least as far as anyone seems to know. i've brought up nemo multiple times. i'm still waiting to hear about upgrading to a 5 day (evidently the ABD specialist for the tour doesn't know and needs to talk to disneyland), but I think you're up to your own devices for nemo. hopefully the intinerary will make it more clear. i'd rather not have my first experience with it be at 10:30 at night.

doesn't seem to be any hope of the ABD tour backdooring onto it either. which is just as well. not only would it be excessively unfair to others, but it'd take half an hour or so out of the tour anyway.

but hey, indy, indy, indy, indy.

 

[Politzania]

Talked to our TA yesterday about an hour after she talked to the AbD rep - all the arrangements are made, but it doesn't look as if we'll get our packets until about 14 days before the trip! :grump:

We're supposed to meet the AbD rep at noon on the 22nd in Terminal 7 (I think) for pickup -- anyone else arriving around that time?

Just a reminder that if you have a Disney Visa, there's a character meet & greet at Seasons of the Vine in Disney's California Adventure® Park (Golden State District). Begins when the park opens and runs for 90 minutes – includes one complimentary 5x7 group photo - 6 people max. There are also shopping & dining discounts.

 

[bradk]

seasons of the vine is closed/closing. the meet & greet will probably have been relocated by the trip.

did your initial documents go to you or your TA? i never heard 2 weeks for the itinerary. i've repeatedly been told it'd be mailed about 30 days out.

 

[inkkognito]

Hee hee hee...I think we're all getting impatient! I know I check in here every day to see if there is more info. or if anyone else has gotten their stuff yet. We're flying in on United and getting in around 10:30 a.m. We leave FL at 7:40 a.m...YAWN! (That will mean getting up and out to MCO at an ungodly hour.)

I think we're going to upgrade our tickets so we can visit the parks for the last day, since our return flight home is way late...it's pretty much an overnighter. $20 doesn't seem bad, although I sure wish we could milk that "special fastpass" for the extra day, too. Since we're the first-ever ABD group, I forsee lots of, "What's that? No, you can't go in the fastpass line!" responses. We got that a lot when we first bought our Universal Premier Passes, which offer front of the line after 4 p.m. every day, but by now they're used to 'em. Took a while tho'...we took to carrying the AP brochure with us as proof. Maybe I'll bring a copy of the ABD materials touting the special FP to show the CMs!

 

[bradk]

good idea. i remember having balcony seating for F! in 2006 and i would have CMs refuse me access to the disney gallery because it was closed. i had to argue to get up there to check-in.

i'd prefer the ability to use the FP machines with no regards to times, like they've done with the media on the 50th anniversary so it's just a normal FP as any CM is concerned, but the badge type pass is nice too assuming it's not more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Politzania]

seasons of the vine is closed/closing. the meet & greet will probably have been relocated by the trip.

did your initial documents go to you or your TA? i never heard 2 weeks for the itinerary. i've repeatedly been told it'd be mailed about 30 days out.

Ah - didn't know that about Seasons of the Vine; wonder if they'll move the meet & greet back to Ariel's Grotto?

Our initial packet went to our TA, so I would assume the final docos will go to her first; maybe I/she misunderstood the AbD rep regarding the 2 weeks ahead of time.

 

[bradk]

i hope that's the case. unless your TA is a brick and mortar place that you go, you can probably count on another week between the TA receiving it and you getting it. so i'm hoping that 2 week number was taking all that into account and was actually more conservative than necessary.

needless to say i'm sure whoever gets their packet first will be more than happy to share with the rest of the class.

 

[Phil1019]

Hi, I am arriving at 12:10pm on the 22nd. I was told by ABD that this tour is fully booked.

 

[jacksparrowfan]

Hi Everyone! I wanted to let you know we just received a package in the mail. Keep reading if you would like to know...





It's a big flat envelope, and within, is a flat Adventures by Disney box. There are two luggage spotter handles and some documentation. The documentation is our flight information, a countdown to the backstage magic and a nice booklet of information. I now need to go and read it.

 

[bradk]

did it come by regular mail? does it have a detailed itinerary? and where do you live?

 

[jacksparrowfan]

did it come by regular mail? does it have a detailed itinerary? and where do you live?

It was delivered "UPS next day air saver". It was shipped from Orlando, FL. We live in Northern CA. It has the same detail as we see on their website. Maybe we will receive our detailed itineraries in our room each night? Might make it more of a surprise. There is also a card that talks about expecting an additional surprise prior to our departure. I love this!!! I'm ready to go now!

 

[bradk]

well good and bad news i guess... i really want that itinerary though... i think they're buying time.

i didn't have a UPS notice when I got home but I checked with the store downstairs that sometimes gets stuff for me and they told me the UPS guy did come by with it but that he said he'd bring it back tomorrow (!?) morning.

so we'll see. thanks for the heads up