Tell me about the holiday tour...

[DisGirl819]

So I booked the holiday tour for me, DH and DD for our upcoming Xmas trip. I am very excited! Two of our friends are joining us too. I want to know more details about the tour if you've been on it, even in previous years. It sounds like fun!!

 

[got2travel]

We did it on Thanksgiving day and had a blast.

As we walked down Main Street we'd stop a few times and our guide would give us tidbits about Christmas/Holiday time at DL. We learned of one of the early Christmas trees catching fire in 1966 (I think?) and ever since they have put fire retardant on the trees. We stopped at the Jewish doctor's door and she explained a little of the Jewish Hanukkah traditions. We wandered through Fantasyland and past the Reindeer Round Up where we learned the history of the story of Rudulph. We made our way over to the Haunted Mansion where "2 holidays collide". We then took the train to the Toon Town Station so we could ride It's a Small World. During the ride I freaked out a little bit because we were stuck for over 10 minutes (thank goodness it was the holiday version ). I didn't want to miss the Christmas parade which was to start at 6:30 and we were still on the ride at 6:30. I forgot that the evening parade started at Main Street so we had plenty of time. After getting off the ride we had seats right in front of Small World so we could view the parade. We received a souviner (sp?) holiday mug of hot chocolate, a Mickey gingerbread man, and a tour trading pin.

I really enjoyed the tour, as did my 13yr old DS. At first he complained because he didn't want to give up park time but afterwards he said he was glad we did it.

 

[pycees312]

We did it on Thanksgiving day and had a blast.

As we walked down Main Street we'd stop a few times and our guide would give us tidbits about Christmas/Holiday time at DL. We learned of one of the early Christmas trees catching fire in 1966 (I think?) and ever since they have put fire retardant on the trees. We stopped at the Jewish doctor's door and she explained a little of the Jewish Hanukkah traditions. We wandered through Fantasyland and past the Reindeer Round Up where we learned the history of the story of Rudulph. We made our way over to the Haunted Mansion where "2 holidays collide". We then took the train to the Toon Town Station so we could ride It's a Small World. During the ride I freaked out a little bit because we were stuck for over 10 minutes (thank goodness it was the holiday version ). I didn't want to miss the Christmas parade which was to start at 6:30 and we were still on the ride at 6:30. I forgot that the evening parade started at Main Street so we had plenty of time. After getting off the ride we had seats right in front of Small World so we could view the parade. We received a souviner (sp?) holiday mug of hot chocolate, a Mickey gingerbread man, and a tour trading pin.

I really enjoyed the tour, as did my 13yr old DS. At first he complained because he didn't want to give up park time but afterwards he said he was glad we did it.

hmm i have put off doing a tour thinking the twins would not enjoy it. they just turned 13. maybe i'll give it another thought.

 

[Colfireman]

So I booked the holiday tour for me, DH and DD for our upcoming Xmas trip. I am very excited! Two of our friends are joining us too. I want to know more details about the tour if you've been on it, even in previous years. It sounds like fun!!

What day are you doing the tour? i have mine booked for Christmas eve for 1:00pm

 

[DizMe]

We took the tour the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We had a blast!! I went with my sister. You've pretty much heard the gist of it, but I will add that you are given headphones and your tour guide speaks with a microphone so you can hear him/her easily. Then in between discussions with the tour guide, you get to listen to Christmas music and sing along (if you're so inclined!). I slipped my headphones off once and discovered my sister and I were the only ones singing . You sort of forget no one else outside of your tour can hear the music!

The parade seats were awesome! We could talk to the characters in the parade and some came over to speak with us or high five members of our group.

We did the 4:15 tour so we could see everything lit up.

We were also given a pass for front-of-the-line on any ride except Toy Story for up to 6 people.

Oh, also...you can get a 20% discount with an ap or AAA card.

 

[ballarinamom]

We took the tour the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We had a blast!! I went with my sister. You've pretty much heard the gist of it, but I will add that you are given headphones and your tour guide speaks with a microphone so you can hear him/her easily. Then in between discussions with the tour guide, you get to listen to Christmas music and sing along (if you're so inclined!). I slipped my headphones off once and discovered my sister and I were the only ones singing . You sort of forget no one else outside of your tour can hear the music!

The parade seats were awesome! We could talk to the characters in the parade and some came over to speak with us or high five members of our group.

We did the 4:15 tour so we could see everything lit up.

We were also given a pass for front-of-the-line on any ride except Toy Story for up to 6 people.

Oh, also...you can get a 20% discount with an ap or AAA card.

You also save 20% with the Disney Visa. But the funny thing is, we don't have one. We have a Chase Visa (who underwrites the Disney card). The CM who took our ressies said they both start with the same number so she gave me a discount!
Had so much fun doing the tour with Dizme! I would so recommend the 4L15 tour over the 1:15 tour because the lights are on. Plus the preferred seats for the early parade are at the train platform which is far away. We were within reach of the characters as the Genie alsmost crashed into DD and Dizme's Sis!!!!

 

[DisGirl819]

What day are you doing the tour? i have mine booked for Christmas eve for 1:00pm

We're going on the 23rd at 4:15!!

 

[stampinshauna]

We did the tour in 2006. It is a good thing that they refurbished Small World. Here is what I wrote about it in my trip report...

The rain was a bit of a drizzle as we waited to start the tour. There were 14 people total in our tour group, and the tour was led by Brandon. Just before we started the tour, he informed us that due to the weather, we may not get to see the parade and that we could get a refund if we wanted to. Nobody seemed to care and we all went on the tour. We started down Main Street where we made a couple stops while Brandon told us about different Christmas traditions. He also had us sing Christmas Carols every once in a while as we went to the next stop. This attracted some attention from people in the park, and most of our tour buddies were shy and the singing didn't go over very well. We went up near Santa's Reindeer Roundup and then to Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was crowded, so luckily we were able to go in the fastpass line. Brandon told us that the Gingerbread House on the Dining Table in the Mansion was all edible (except for the snakes). He also told us to watch for Oogie Boogie playing the cymbals as it was a tribute to cymbal playing monkeys that first opened with the Haunted Mansion. He also said that at the end of the attic scene if you looked behind the train on the left, you could see a monkey bride with a beating heart. I didn't see it that time, but I did the next time I rode. Haunted Mansion Holiday made a lot more sense to me this trip as I just saw the movie. It was up for our January trip but I had no idea what Nightmare Before Christmas was about then. We boarded the train and took it to Toontown Station where we got off and boarded Small World Holiday. Every 15 minutes they do these cool projections on the facade, and they were fun to watch. All 15 of us (who were all adults) boarded one boat and set off on our happy cruise. Just inside the show building our boat got stuck. We were all laughing because it's not everyday that you get stuck on It's a Small World because you have a boat packed with adults. Some friendly CM's came after a few minutes and pulled 4 out of the boat. The rest of us sailed on and we loved seeing how this attraction changes for the holidays. Afterwards, we got our gingerbread cookie and hot chocolate in a souvenir mug. Since it was still raining, the hot chocolate was wonderful and helped warm us up. I was still wearing my Teva's because they are the most comfortable for me to wear in the parks, but my feet were wet and getting cold. We then went to the preferred seating area for the parade and waited to find out how much of the parade we'd actually get to see due to the rain. We were given a collectible pin for going on the tour and then saw a condensed form of the parade. I heard the skating snowflakes were neat, but they didn't participate due to the weather. We did see the main floats with characters on them, but that was it. Overall the tour was fun as it was something we'd never done before.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Bummer ~ the only day we could do the later tour is 12/10, there's only 1 spot left for that time. We're doing the 1:15 tour (the only time offered next Mon. & Tues.) next Tues. I don't want to be up on the platform for the parade.

 

[princessLoLo'smom]

How much is the tour per person with AAA or Disney Visa? Is it boring for kids?