Backstage Magic With Children?

[DannyDisneyFreak]

We have never been to DL and are planning on going in 2 or 3 years. My kids who are now 5 and 10 years old would be 7 or 8 and 13 or 14 (omg I just realized she will be a teenager!!! my baby) well what I'm wondering is if the backstage magic trip would be good with kids? Would they enjoy the trip? Would it be worth the cost? Do they has specific kid activities? Would there be an advantage to doing our first time trip to DL with ABD? Do they do anything with the kids a give the adults a break? Should we go to DL with the kids first and then do an adults only ABD? If we went without the kids would there be lots of other kids. I would love to hear anyone's experiences with kids on ABD and especially on the Backstage Magic trip. Thanks!!!

 

[DisneyKevin]

ABD does a great job with kids.

They have special activities designed for them.

That being said...there is a lot of "backstage" stuff.

You spend two days in Hollywood with a tour of the Chinese Theater, a trip to Henson Studios ad lunch at Walt's favorite restaurant (Tam O'Shanter) among other things.

On the day you transfer to DL, you stop at Imagineering and the Disney Studios.

There is more free time to enjoy the parks on day 4 and 5 but the Adventure tour is mostly backstage.

I would tell you that you would have to make the decision based on your kids.

I have hosted kids that loved it, but they were interested in seeing how things work and learning the history of Disneyland and Walt.

If your kids would be interested...i think they would love it.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

ABD does a great job with kids. They have special activities designed for them. That being said...there is a lot of "backstage" stuff. You spend two days in Hollywood with a tour of the Chinese Theater, a trip to Henson Studios ad lunch at Walt's favorite restaurant (Tam O'Shanter) among other things. On the day you transfer to DL, you stop at Imagineering and the Disney Studios. There is more free time to enjoy the parks on day 4 and 5 but the Adventure tour is mostly backstage. I would tell you that you would have to make the decision based on your kids. I have hosted kids that loved it, but they were interested in seeing how things work and learning the history of Disneyland and Walt. If your kids would be interested...i think they would love it.

I'm pretty sure my daughter now 10 would be interested but idk if my son will be in 2 years, obviously now at age 5 would be too young but at age 7 or 8 who knows???

 

[MinnieGarden]

DH and I took our then 9 year old son on this adventure two years ago. I hadn't been to DL since 1979, and DH had only been to DCA in 2000 ish.

We spent a lot of time with DS talking to him about the history of Disneyland and Walt Disney. We found age appropriate books - "Who Was Walt Disney" and "Who Was Jim Henson" come to mind - for him to read so that he could learn a bit about the history. As we got closer to the trip, DS made his own "bucket list" for the trip so that he knew what he really wanted to see more of. Some things from his list included the Archives, Club 33 to see the hidden microphones, riding Walt's train at Griffith Park, and Mickey's of Glendale. We also found a couple of kid-friendly books about Hollywood and he made a list of stars he wanted to visit on the Walk of Fame - Kermit the Frog, Mickey Mouse, to name a few.

DS had an amazing time and still talks about the trip. That being said, it's not the trip for every kid that age. It just so happened, the more "adult" items on the trip - Imagineering, the Archives - just happened to be right up his alley. Some of the backstage items at Disneyland also happened to be things he was very interested in.

Our adventure had 2 kids, DS and another boy about his age. They had different interests, so the guides did more to help answer questions which was a huge help to us.

 

[2003Eeyore]

Hi- today is the last day of our BSM ABD my DD is 10 1/2. She is basically an only child, a really good girl and mature for her age. This has been a great trip and she has had a great time but I wish I had waited until she was older. The first two days she really only wanted to know when we were getting to the park. The other days there were several different times she would have rather have just been riding rides. Don't get me wrong she found somethings interesting but she just really wanted to ride the rides.

The trip was great, the guides were Awesome, I have no complaints just wish I had waited a couple of years to spend this much money for this trip so she would have appreciated it more or got more out of it.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Hi- today is the last day of our BSM ABD my DD is 10 1/2. She is basically an only child, a really good girl and mature for her age. This has been a great trip and she has had a great time but I wish I had waited until she was older. The first two days she really only wanted to know when we were getting to the park. The other days there were several different times she would have rather have just been riding rides. Don't get me wrong she found somethings interesting but she just really wanted to ride the rides.

The trip was great, the guides were Awesome, I have no complaints just wish I had waited a couple of years to spend this much money for this trip so she would have appreciated it more or got more out of it.

We were on the same trip as 2003Eeyore (waving!!!) and I think it was very unusual in that we had 21 by my count of 41 kids/teens/young adults. I think our youngest was 8 or so and most seemed to be in the teen/late teen age group. From what I understand from one of the guides this was the most kids ever on a BSM trip. I'm planning to do a mini-TR with my general impressions of the Adventure, which we really enjoyed, but I think the trip is more geared to adults or older kids (particularly the first two days). There isn't a junior adventure night in the itinerary, so the kids don't really have a chance to bond early like they do in other adventures. It did happen in our group, but it was the last night, which was kind of a bummer. This isn't to say that some younger kids won't enjoy the trip--but the first two days of the itinerary have quite a bit of touring that might not be as engaging to most kids.

 

[chirurgeon]

I agree that it depends on the child. Just did my second BSM. My roomie had been on my first on with her then 9 year old son. He refers to that trip as "Alicia's Boring Disney Trip." I was the same trip as MinnieGarden's (Hi, Christy) so 2 boys the same age, totally different experiences.