BoardWalk Ballyhoo Guided Tour

[DisneyKentucky]

Who has done this tour? It's free so "is it worth it" is more of a time question.

 

[DisneyKentucky]

Guess that answered that.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Disney Resorts board. You might get some answers here.

 

[Dan Murphy]

This may be helpful.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/10249/The_Boardwalk_Ballyhoo_Guided_Tour

 

[ArthurFiggis]

I can't say anything yet, but I plan to do it in January. My understanding is that it's very new, so not a lot of folks have taken the tour yet.

 

[FredQc]

I did the tour in May 2013. Absolutely worth! I have been alerted about this tour by a nice CM who was on duty at the front desk of the Boardwalk lobby, as I was touring and looking at the ride models exhibited, after a nice dinner at Flying Fish. I didn't stay at the Boardwalk (CSR instead), so I left my hotel early two days later to arrive on time. It was about one-hour long, with a senior and enthusiast cast member. It made my day!

 

[DisneyKentucky]

I've moved this thread to the Disney Resorts board. You might get some answers here.

GRACIAS!

This may be helpful.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/10249/The_Boardwalk_Ballyhoo_Guided_Tour

Perfect!

I can't say anything yet, but I plan to do it in January. My understanding is that it's very new, so not a lot of folks have taken the tour yet.

I will do it here in about 4 weeks, I'll report back and try to take photos. Seemed cool.

I did the tour in May 2013. Absolutely worth! I have been alerted about this tour by a nice CM who was on duty at the front desk of the Boardwalk lobby, as I was touring and looking at the ride models exhibited, after a nice dinner at Flying Fish. I didn't stay at the Boardwalk (CSR instead), so I left my hotel early two days later to arrive on time. It was about one-hour long, with a senior and enthusiast cast member. It made my day!

Was it more about their stories, the resort or the reason behind the design?

 

[FredQc]

All these options!

The tour began at the Bellevue Lounge, then continued to the lobby area, the outdoor pool area, and the Boardwalk itself. Through the tour, our guide discussed about the story of the hotel, its connection with various aspects of the actual Boardwalk at Atlantic City, etc.

 

[DisneyKentucky]

All these options!

The tour began at the Bellevue Lounge, then continued to the lobby area, the outdoor pool area, and the Boardwalk itself. Through the tour, our guide discussed about the story of the hotel, its connection with various aspects of the actual Boardwalk at Atlantic City, etc.

Sounds fun and a great way to see the resort area since I've never stayed there.

 

[wiigirl]

This may be helpful.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/10249/The_Boardwalk_Ballyhoo_Guided_Tour

 

[Sandi]

GRACIAS!

Perfect!

I will do it here in about 4 weeks, I'll report back and try to take photos. Seemed cool.

Yes, please let us know how your tour went. I'm interested in doing it when we stay there in March next year. If you can post about how you registered for it and that sort of stuff, too, I would be grateful. Enjoy your trip!

 

[DisneyKentucky]

Yes, please let us know how your tour went. I'm interested in doing it when we stay there in March next year. If you can post about how you registered for it and that sort of stuff, too, I would be grateful. Enjoy your trip!

Will do.

 

[Sean1814]

I did this tour in September. We don't always stay on property, let alone at a Deluxe resort, so we wanted to soak up as much of the "boardwalk" experience as we could. So we got up for the tour and met in the Bellevue lounge. There were two or three other couples there as well as my boyfriend and I. No need to register for this, you simply show up. I think our tour guides name was Peter if I remember correctly. He was an older slightly heavy set gentleman. The tour was very interesting and went into great detail about the art, the carpeting , the installations in the lobby, the inspiration behind the decor. The tour then moves to the pool briefly, to the boardwalk and ends at the sweet shop.

I really liked the tour and found it genuinely interesting. However it was our check-out day and we were on a tight schedule. The tour was billed as taking 45 minutes, but in reality it took a little over 90 minutes on this day. I think a huge reason for this was that before explaining everything our guide would ask us if we knew the story and take a long pause waiting for someone to answer. Naturally none of us knew the stories& that's why we were taking the tour. It really hindered the pace of the tour. It's nice that the guide interacted with us in this way, but this interaction could have been cut by 50%. If not.. at least don't leave such long awkward pauses when it's clear no one knows the answer. Then before we could leave the tour, which concluded with a tiny sample of ice cream, we were given surveys which we all HAD to complete. They were mandatory. My boyfriend and I were quickly filling it out and quietly discussing our responses. The guide must have over heard us say that it was longer than advertised. He asked us point blank, in a very kind way, if we thought the tour was too long. My boyfriend and I looked at each other waiting for the other one to talk and then both started to admit that it was a great tour but twice as long as advertised and we needed to check out and had other plans for the day. At this point our guide's attitude changed, he became very defensive. He told us the tour was usually conducted by college kids and if we had gotten one of them we wouldn't have learned &. then he listed all the parts of the tour we would have missed out on. We assured him again that we had really enjoyed the tour but that it just needs to be advertised as the correct amount of time for appropriate planning of our day. Anyone on this board can appreciate the importance of planning at Disney I'm sure.

Given that there was a good 40 year age difference between us and our guide, I started to feel terrible, as if I were an ungrateful spoiled millennial who had no idea a good thing when it was right in front of him. Always in a rush. What's wrong with us kids today anyway? LOL. Now once the tour was finished our guide was a greeter in the lobby welcoming new guests and answering questions etc. Because of this I would run into him SEVERAL more times. Heading down to the pool for a last minute sun bathe, Checking out, bringing our luggage to Magic Express, getting a taxi to DTD, Returning from DTD, Returning from the a quick last stop on the boardwalk. At one point in the afternoon I offered him a polite smile and hello, he said.. "You're still here?" clearly upset that we had seemed in such a rush and were not yet at the airpot, but in fact we did have other plans for the morning. Before boarding the bus back to the Earport.. I said to him, despite how completely rude he had been - in a last ditch effort to show appreciation and make him feel better, "Thank you so much for the tour this morning, we really did enjoy it," to which he replied&& "Alright" and turned his back to me. I was so sad& I had never meant to hurt his feelings. He kept the tour 45 minutes longer than advertised, he asked for our honest feedback and then he was incredibly rude. Needless to say& it wasn't my favorite interaction with a cast member.

Having vented that all out& I WOULD recommend this tour. It WAS very interesting and it WAS very informative. Our guide was clearly well informed and knowledgeable about the history of the resort. Just go on a day that you are not pressed for time, and if 45 minutes becomes 90 & it won't bother you. We just, as always, were trying to fit every ounce of magic we could into our last day at the resort.

 

[Sandi]

I did this tour in September. We don't always stay on property, let alone at a Deluxe resort, so we wanted to soak up as much of the "boardwalk" experience as we could. So we got up for the tour and met in the Bellevue lounge. There were two or three other couples there as well as my boyfriend and I. No need to register for this, you simply show up. I think our tour guides name was Peter if I remember correctly. He was an older slightly heavy set gentleman. The tour was very interesting and went into great detail about the art, the carpeting , the installations in the lobby, the inspiration behind the decor. The tour then moves to the pool briefly, to the boardwalk and ends at the sweet shop.

I really liked the tour and found it genuinely interesting. However it was our check-out day and we were on a tight schedule. The tour was billed as taking 45 minutes, but in reality it took a little over 90 minutes on this day. I think a huge reason for this was that before explaining everything our guide would ask us if we knew the story and take a long pause waiting for someone to answer. Naturally none of us knew the stories& that's why we were taking the tour. It really hindered the pace of the tour. It's nice that the guide interacted with us in this way, but this interaction could have been cut by 50%. If not.. at least don't leave such long awkward pauses when it's clear no one knows the answer. Then before we could leave the tour, which concluded with a tiny sample of ice cream, we were given surveys which we all HAD to complete. They were mandatory. My boyfriend and I were quickly filling it out and quietly discussing our responses. The guide must have over heard us say that it was longer than advertised. He asked us point blank, in a very kind way, if we thought the tour was too long. My boyfriend and I looked at each other waiting for the other one to talk and then both started to admit that it was a great tour but twice as long as advertised and we needed to check out and had other plans for the day. At this point our guide's attitude changed, he became very defensive. He told us the tour was usually conducted by college kids and if we had gotten one of them we wouldn't have learned &. then he listed all the parts of the tour we would have missed out on. We assured him again that we had really enjoyed the tour but that it just needs to be advertised as the correct amount of time for appropriate planning of our day. Anyone on this board can appreciate the importance of planning at Disney I'm sure.

Given that there was a good 40 year age difference between us and our guide, I started to feel terrible, as if I were an ungrateful spoiled millennial who had no idea a good thing when it was right in front of him. Always in a rush. What's wrong with us kids today anyway? LOL. Now once the tour was finished our guide was a greeter in the lobby welcoming new guests and answering questions etc. Because of this I would run into him SEVERAL more times. Heading down to the pool for a last minute sun bathe, Checking out, bringing our luggage to Magic Express, getting a taxi to DTD, Returning from DTD, Returning from the a quick last stop on the boardwalk. At one point in the afternoon I offered him a polite smile and hello, he said.. "You're still here?" clearly upset that we had seemed in such a rush and were not yet at the airpot, but in fact we did have other plans for the morning. Before boarding the bus back to the Earport.. I said to him, despite how completely rude he had been - in a last ditch effort to show appreciation and make him feel better, "Thank you so much for the tour this morning, we really did enjoy it," to which he replied&& "Alright" and turned his back to me. I was so sad& I had never meant to hurt his feelings. He kept the tour 45 minutes longer than advertised, he asked for our honest feedback and then he was incredibly rude. Needless to say& it wasn't my favorite interaction with a cast member.

Having vented that all out& I WOULD recommend this tour. It WAS very interesting and it WAS very informative. Our guide was clearly well informed and knowledgeable about the history of the resort. Just go on a day that you are not pressed for time, and if 45 minutes becomes 90 & it won't bother you. We just, as always, were trying to fit every ounce of magic we could into our last day at the resort.

Not that I'm excusing the CM's rudeness, but I think I might have been a little peeved, too, were I in his shoes. You say that you needed the tour to be 45 minutes because you were in a rush and checking out that day. When I first read that I thought that you needed to get your transportation to the airport shortly after the tour. Then you sun bathe, go to DTD, etc. and run into this CM who stole 45 minutes of your day to give you and the other tour group members what I'm sure he thought was a thorough, personalized tour. I understand your frustration with things taking too long for your taste, but I guess I would have relaxed a little and try to enjoy it. It seems like the things you were doing later in the day had some wiggle room. I'm guessing I'm a good 25 to 30 years older than you, so maybe it is a generational thing. I respect and understand your opinion. If I get this CM when I do the tour in March, I will pretend he is my dad and just go with the flow.

 

[DisneyKentucky]

Not that I'm excusing the CM's rudeness, but I think I might have been a little peeved, too, were I in his shoes. You say that you needed the tour to be 45 minutes because you were in a rush and checking out that day. When I first read that I thought that you needed to get your transportation to the airport shortly after the tour. Then you sun bathe, go to DTD, etc. and run into this CM who stole 45 minutes of your day to give you and the other tour group members what I'm sure he thought was a thorough, personalized tour. I understand your frustration with things taking too long for your taste, but I guess I would have relaxed a little and try to enjoy it. It seems like the things you were doing later in the day had some wiggle room. I'm guessing I'm a good 25 to 30 years older than you, so maybe it is a generational thing. I respect and understand your opinion. If I get this CM when I do the tour in March, I will pretend he is my dad and just go with the flow.

To be fair, if you advertise a tour to be a set time..... you should try to keep with the schedule. It's courtesy to make sure people are able to stay on their schedules.