Disney's Family Magic Tour

[gwtwfan2]

not sure if this is the right section -
but has anyone ever done the Family Magic Tour at Magic Kingdom?

We are considering it - but wanted to get some opinions

thanks

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We did it in 2005 when DS was 9. He was the eldest child in our tour group and he really didn't enjoy it that much. To this day I don't think he has EVER mentioned it again.

We have friends with older kids who LOVED the tour and had a blast, but they said everybody in their tour participated, even the adults. In our group NONE of the adults were playing along, they were just observing. We had a couple on their honeymoon and another couple celebrating their 50th anniversary - neither of those couples had kids with them. The other families with kids had much younger kids, more like the 3-6 year old range.

It depends on the age of your children, and it also partly depends on the other people who end up on your tour. I thought it was OK.

In 2006 when DS was 10 we did the Magical Milestones Tour. DS LOVED it. He is a HUGE Disney history buff so he really enjoyed that one. The minimum age on that one is 10 - younger kids would probably be bored.

 

[dawnbu40]

We did this in 2003 when DD was 12 and we had a blast! We all got into doing all the silly things and our group had a lot of fun. I have some special memories of it too both involving Peter Pan. He asked DD how old she was and when she said "12" he told she was "dangerously close to growing up"...that made my mom and I both misty. Then for the group ride on "Small World" he sat next to DD and talked non-stop like a hyperactive boy. We still talk about it everytime we ride Small World and we are all convinced he was the real PeterPan!

 

[budbeerlady]

We just did it in November. DD had a blast! It was fun to fly around the park and meet Peter Pan. We didnt do any rides in our search (well, just TTA)... not to give it all away but it was fun!

 

[Becky2005]

We had the opposite experience than jackskellingtongirl did.

We did both the Mickey's Magical Milestone Tour and the FMT.

My DD (who was 11) hated the MMMT because she found it boring! She had already done a report on Walt, was able to answer all the trivia and really has no desire to do it again. Of course, the fact that she was correct on how you can tell CHIP from DALE and the CM told her she was wrong, didn't help matters. She did find it funny at the end of the tour another CM corrected the tour guide. DD felt vindicated. My older DS also went with us and he was 8 (although it was recommended for older, he did just fine. It was a new tour then) but he has always been one of those curious sorts, so he wasn't your typical 8 year old. He always wanted to know facts, information, his favorite museum is the Field Museum (and *I* find that museum boring!).

On the other hand she LOVED the Family Magic Tour and all the kids have talked about doing that one again. It was our favorite tour. I will tell you take a backpack or something (they gave us water & somehow I ended up with the kid's bottles of water -- I was carrying 4 bottles of water so that was difficult to participate while holding all of those!) along with a camera & autograph book. DH had taken our youngest back because he was only a year old then and DH had no desire to do it. He would have been totally Grumpy there. When he took the baby back, the digital camera was in the stroller. I just lucked out that I happen to have one of the kid's disposable cameras on me.

We had a mix group of ages of the kids. I think my DD might have been the oldest though or pretty close to it.

 

[shan2885]

Sorry, I don't have any opinion yet as I'm thinking of doing this in April. I was wondering about our youngest daughter who will be 2 1/2 then. Has anyone taken a 2 year old on the tour or been on the tour with one? She is very active and independent so I'm pretty sure she'll be fine, especially with the two older kids in the group leading her on. Are strollers allowed?

Thanks!

 

[ajenkins]

No Opinion here...

 

[loveysbydesign]

We did it in '06 and our kids were 3 and 6..they loved it but then again they love naything to do with Peter Pan. Yes...strollers are allowed...you juts go through the Magic Kingdom so there's no reason not to bring a stroller if you would normally!

 

[Becky2005]

Sorry, I don't have any opinion yet as I'm thinking of doing this in April. I was wondering about our youngest daughter who will be 2 1/2 then. Has anyone taken a 2 year old on the tour or been on the tour with one? She is very active and independent so I'm pretty sure she'll be fine, especially with the two older kids in the group leading her on. Are strollers allowed?

Thanks!

Strollers are allowed. In April it might not be so bad but we did have someone with a stroller in July & it was difficult to manuver through the crowds and keep up with our tour guide.

 

[jtopp]

Did the tour when our youngest was 8. He loved it, and the 17 and 13 year old enjoyed it, but it was more age appropriate to the younger children. I don't know what they pay the tour guides, but whatever it is, it's not enough. Our tour guide, Dave from Chicago, was fabulous. Everyone on the tour participated and had a blast,including the adults. All in all, well worth the money and a lot of fun.

 

[DWFan4Life]

We also tried it and it was very fun. My kids really enjoy the moment knowing that Peter Pan is with them. My DS can't forget that experience and wants to experience it again.

 

[clori]

We did it with a 1 and 5 year old. I knew it wasn't for the 1 year old though she did participate in small parts. My 5 year old absolutely loved it. There were clues to read and the older boys thought she couldn't read at first and were very surprised to hear her read so she enjoyed that extra attention. The 3 kids (2 boys around ages 7&9 plus dd 5 took turns reading the clues). There was a 3 year old who stayed in his stroller the entire time and seemed really bored. I think his parents didn't realize what they signed up for and didn't want him out of the stroller. We saw Philarmagic with Peter Pan and dd5 set right next to him. We had to wait while the first show was finishing and we had extra time to play with Peter Pan and Wendy in a private roped off waiting area.

My sil was going to Disney a few weeks later and asked to to check it out for my nephew who was 12.5. He isn't the type of kid to get into it unless he is is with my younger kids. Since he wouldn't know the kids on his tour we thought he would feel too old to participate and wouldn't really enjoy the tour. They decided to skip the tour.

 

[laughinplace199]

We did this back in 2005, when DD was 6 & DS was 4. We loved it! DS was the youngest on the tour. The oldest kids looked to be about 11 or 12. It seemed like they all enjoyed it. We all acted silly - even the adults - when we were instructed to. The kids thought it was fun to play follow the leader and other silly stuff while walking through the MK. We went on Buzz during the tour and Mickey's Philharmagic at the end of the tour - with Peter Pan and Wendy! DS was a little scared of 3D movies at the time and ended up sitting in Wendy's lap. It was so cute. I've heard that the characters no longer ride with the group at the end of the tour though.

 

[wvdislover]

We did this in 2007, and we were the only family on the tour! It worked out well for us, since DD11 has Asperger's, and we could move at her pace (she got totally distracted at the beginning by the skywriter). The coolest thing, though, was that several hours later in the day, we saw Peter and Wendy skipping through the park, and when my girls yelled hello to them, Peter and Wendy called hello back, and called my girls by name. DH and I were totally blown away. Our DD's still talk about this. Too cool! Great tour, BTW.