Disney Family Magic Tour- Review

[GinnyBear's_mom]

My family and I participated in the Family Magic Tour on Oct 3rd. My family includes, DH, myself, DD (6), DD (3) and DS (3 months). This is a long review of the Family Magic Tour so if you do not want to know what happens please don’t read any further!

I decided to write this review because A) the only reviews I have seen are several years old and B) the reviews aren’t very specific. We are going back to WDW next year and I would love to take my nephews on this tour but they both have special needs so based upon what limited information I read about the tour, I wasn’t sure what to expect. So we decided to go on the tour during this trip with our daughters to see if my nephews could handle it next year.

Disclaimer- The tour changes the scenario and clues every once in a while!
We stopped by the Chamber of Commerce at 9:40 to check in and pick up our very large Peter Pan name tags. We were told we could come back and meet outside at 10. Since we had a little time, we stopped for a picture with Sleeping Beauty who was meeting nearby and took a few pictures.
Our tour met at 10am outside of the Chamber of Commerce and each person was offered a full-size bottle of cold water to take along on the tour. Not including our 3 month old, there were 7 children and 10 adults and the children ranged in age from 3 to about 9 years old. Three families had strollers with them. The tour was roughly two hours of constant walking and if your child cannot handle that, save your sanity and bring your stroller!

Our tour guide Meghan had us go around and say our names, favorite ride and favorite characters. She then told a long (and in my opinion, slightly convoluted) story about a party that was held the night before. After explaining the ins and outs of the party, Meghan said that during the party Dopey (not Sneezy) sneezed on Grumpy’s invitation to the party and Grumpy became very angry. He then took a few items from characters at the party and hid them around the Magic Kingdom. It was our job to find the items so they could be brought back to their rightful owners.

We went into the Chamber of Commerce and the children participated in a game where they had to line up and take turns tossing a bean bag onto a
board.

The board was a modified tic-tac-toe bean bag game. When the children tossed the bean bag onto the board they revealed part of a clue.

After the first clue was read aloud, all of the children looked absolutely bewildered. None of the children knew that the word “Harmony” meant we should go to the Barbershop. Some had never heard of the word barbershop and many had not seen the movie Bolt. Our guide was able to help the kids figure out the clues after a few minutes and we were on our way to Harmony Barbershop.

The kids wanted to stay up at the front of the group with the tour guide and the parents trailed behind with the exception of 2 children. It was at this point I was glad DD (6) was wearing a bright colored shirt so she could easily be seen through the crowds. We made our 3 year old stay in the stroller when we travelled from location to location. When we travelled on sidewalks or narrow walkways we were often 15 or 20 feet behind the children and the tour guide and I did not trust our 3 year old to keep up with the bigger kids at the front of the group. Also, as the tour wore on, DD (3) stayed in the stroller even through the clues. Another child was a little shy and she preferred to stay in the stroller for most of the tour, but our tour guide did make sure to include the children who stayed in the strollers. When the tour guide needed to get everyone nearby or sometimes to get a count, she would say, “Mouseketeers, Mouseketeers, give me your ears” and we would have to make Mickey ears by cupping our hands on our heads.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Our next stop was the little alley way by Crystal Arts where the payphones are. The children had to look for the badge that Carl gave Russell in the movie Up. No one (not even the adults) could remember the badge that was given- a grape soda bottlecap pin! The clue involved the word “payphone” and again, the kids were clueless. At this stop the children also had to put a puzzle together.

After reading the clue, we learned we needed to find Rapunzel’s frying pan in Liberty Square (which was hidden in this tiny building).

Our next clue involved the movie Ratatouille, which none of the children were familiar with, so the tour guide broke down the clue and helped everyone with the answers. This clue took the longest for the children to figure out. We were then led to Adventureland and the big statues outside of the Jungle Cruise. We had to find Ratatouille’s spoon.

Our next clue involved some fun from Peter Pan, who left a handwritten note outside of Liberty Tree Tavern. The children looked all through the flowers and plants to find it. Peter’s handwriting on the note was difficult to read so the tour guide helped out with that.

In Peter’s note we were told to go and find Tigger and Pooh and look for Lightning McQueen’s checkered flag. The kids searched all over the outside of the Winnie the Pooh ride and looked for the flag but couldn’t find it. The guide suggested that the flag might be located in the ride, so we all went through the fastpass line and got on the ride. We were told to meet in the store. When the children went back outside, the flag had mysteriously appeared!

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Next we had to look for a set of keys (I was too far behind when they started reading the clue, so I didn’t get to hear whose keys they were) and the clue led us to Sir Mickey’s where there was a set of large keys hidden near the registers. We were then on our way to look for the Cheshire Cat. Right before we reached the Cheshire Cat Café, Peter Pan popped out and surprised the group. He welcomed us into a little alcove and the children were told to look for Captain Hook’s hook. Peter and the tour guide talked with the children for a few minutes about the clues, then Peter took pictures with the children.

We were then given some time for a short break (about 5 minutes) and met up outside the restroom area by the Cheshire Cat Café. There was a small bag found in the area when we met Peter Pan and as we walked through Tomorrowland our tour guide put us in a line and we played a game of follow the leader. The first person in line put their hand in the bag and pulled out a token that said ‘zombie’ or ‘puppy’, etc. and we all had to walk in a line through Tomorrowland and act out what the token said. After about 10 seconds, the leader of the line would go to the end and the next person would pull out a token. All adults and children had the chance to be the leader and pull the token out of the bag. All of the CMs nearby also played along and did the same actions as we did. We certainly got a lot of strange looks! All of the adults in the group were good sports about it. We walked through Tomorrowland Terrace and over to the Candy Store where the children had to look for Lilo’s doll Scrump. DD (6) was the only one who knew what the doll looked like (thanks to playing Tsum Tsum every day). The tour guide gave a great description of the doll- button eyes and French fry hair. She repeated that several times (she must be used to kids not knowing who Scrump is) and also told everyone that we couldn’t stop to buy or eat anything.

Once we had Scrump we were told to take all of the items to the big cheese himself and we walked through the fastpass line to meet Mickey. He unfortunately was not in a talkative mood that day! We took group photos of all of the kids, then individual shots. The photopass photographer gave us 1 card and the adults took a picture of the number so we could add it to our accounts.

We traveled through the gift shop and when we got outside the tour guide thanked us and threw lots of Mickey confetti in the air.

My daughters absolutely loved it, although it was way too much walking for my newly turned three year old. Even a few of the older children said they needed a break here and there. We walked through every land in the Magic Kingdom in a 2 hour period which is a lot of walking for anybody, especially children.

I would plan on having a long break after taking the Family Magic Tour. It lasted from 10am-12pm and my kids were exhausted afterwards!

 

[MelissaMartinez]

Thank you for this great post!

 

[beesly]

Thank you for sharing your review! I have been considering adding this to our trip but, like you, couldn't find any recent and detailed info. This sounds like something my DD (6) would really enjoy!

 

[jtopp]

We took this tour 10 years ago, and our children still have fond memories of it. All I can say is, whatever they pay the tour guides, it isn't enough. Our guide (Dave from Chicago) made sure every child participated, and had a great time. Also, since it is a child oriented tour, he was still able to engage the adults with tasks and trivia that made it fun for the adults also. Whenever we are blessed with grandchildren, I can't wait to take them on this tour. It was that awesome!!!!