One Day ABD in Southern California

[jodi90]

I thought I read somewhere that ABD offered a one day trip in Southern California. I can't seem to find anything about it now. Anybody know what I'm talking about or am I going crazy?

 

[whamma]

You are not crazy. It's called the "Lights, Camera, Magic Tour". Here is a link to info about the tour from the DL website: http://disneyland.disney.go.com/special-offers/lights-camera-magic-adventures/
We did the tour in April during our first trip to DL. Since then they've changed the tour a little but from what I can see, the new itinerary would be even better than the old. My family (DH, DS 15, DD 9 and I) really enjoyed the day. It was so neat and gave us a "taste" of what a full ABD trip would be like. I highly recommend it!

 

[jodi90]

You are not crazy. It's called the "Lights, Camera, Magic Tour". Here is a link to info about the tour from the DL website: http://disneyland.disney.go.com/special-offers/lights-camera-magic-adventures/
We did the tour in April during our first trip to DL. Since then they've changed the tour a little but from what I can see, the new itinerary would be even better than the old. My family (DH, DS 15, DD 9 and I) really enjoyed the day. It was so neat and gave us a "taste" of what a full ABD trip would be like. I highly recommend it!

Thanks so much!!! I'm hoping to get it booked first thing tomorrow.

 

[owensamo]

We just did this in July - it was awesome! The only thing that could have been better would be to have more of the studio employees (animator, set designer, etc) spend some time talking to the group. We spent all afternoon at the studios, and saw the outside of a lot of buildings (and the inside of a few) but the best part was the studio manager who showed us a little bit about how they make TV magic in Studio 3.

The experience was enough of a taste of ABD to whet our appetite for more! We're looking at Aulani in 2014 and I'm considering the ABD tours there as well! And we know we want to do China, but that's a few years out. If only they had ABD add-ons for the Carribbean DCL cruises - I know they'd do the islands right!

 

[jsebsirois]

It's just been announced that Light, Camera, Magic will be offered until the end of 2013 on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday!

Can't wait to book mine for October!

 

[arthur06]

We will be at Disneyland in November. We are staying at the Villas at Grand Californian. I saw this one day trip and thought it looked pretty awesome. It is for ages 4 and up.

My youngest son turns about 2 weeks before we go. And my other son will be almost 6. Are they too young to go? I know that technically they are not, but realistically, are they?

I don't want to spend $800 on the trip, to no enjoy it or ruin other peoples trip.

Any advice?

 

[k5jm]

Here is a review of the trip. This was being done while we were doing Backstage Magic.

http://travel.usatoday.com/alliance...-Magic---Disneys-Hollywood-Adventure/820877/1

 

[jsebsirois]

Just to let you know that we called last Friday and we were able to book our tour for October 2012. We were told by the cast member that all dates until later 2013 are now out for reservation!

 

[Mommb]

My youngest son turns 4 about 2 weeks before we go. And my other son will be almost 6. Are they too young to go? I know that technically they are not, but realistically, are they?

I did Lights, Camera, Magic tour with my family in June. We all enjoyed it, but my kids are 9 and 13, so they could appreciate some of the history.

I have to say that a 4 year old and a 6 year old would probably get bored, unless they are really interested in old movies. The guides do try to keep kids interested, but kids unfamiliar with the Oscars and movies more than 10 years old are unlikely to "get" Hollywood.

The Disney Studios might be appealing to kids who are very interested in how movies and TV shows are made, but there is no guarantee of getting access to the sound stage.

I don't want to scare you off if you really want to do the tour and think your kids would appreciate it, but if you're not sure, you're probably better off finding something more small-kid-friendly. (With kids that age, I would rent a car and go to Legoland, which would cost considerably less.)

That said, I don't think we had very young kids on our tour, so there might be more that the guides can do for them. I hope someone around here has done this tour with young kids, or had young kids in the group, and will post information about how it went.