Trip Report!! ABD Disneyland Resort & Southern CA - 4/20 - 4/25/25 Updated 7/9/25

[sayhello]

Day 2: Lights, Camera, Adventure! - Touring Hollywood.

Day 2 started with breakfast at 7 to 7:45 am at Preston's, a restaurant at the Loews. Then we met up at 8am in the lobby to walk to our first activity of the day. Since the normal activity for this morning (the tour of the TCL Chinese Theatre) was canceled for our trip due to the upcoming TCM Classic Film Festival, we started with a tour of the El Capitan Theatre (which Disney owns) instead. We were also told there would be a mystery Plan B add-on afterwards.

The El Capitan Theatre is just the other side of Hollywood Blvd. We walked through the adjacent mall (stopping for a photo op on the way). Our tour was on the last day of the premiere showing of the Live Action Snow White, but the extensive decorations and exhibits were still up. Our wonderful tourguide, Kerri, led us through the decorations, the costume exhibits off the lobby, and then walked us through various areas of the bowels of the Theatre, giving us tons of info and tidbits of the history of the theatre, it's traditions, etc. It was really a fabulous tour! Photos were allowed. (I don't recall any places on this particular tour that were off limits to photographs, but I may be misremembering!

The beautiful lobby of the El Capitan Theatre:





Kerri at the door to the backstage Green Room.



Inside the Green Room. Signed by various notables who passed through the El Capitan. Yep, it's not green...





The "Mickey Lift".



Actually backstage.



We then headed out into the beautiful theatre itself!



The gorgeous Wurlitzer organ was up and on display for us! What a great photo op!



Awwwwww....



Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

We then had some photo ops back in the lobby.



After that, we headed back to the Loews (cutting through the Dolby Theatre instead of the Mall) and caught our motorcoach to continue the day's activities.



We headed off through Hollywood, with Dean giving us tour commentary of where we were driving through and what we were seeing.

We passed the old Cinerama Dome (which I thought had been torn down! I'm glad it wasn't!) It is apparently closed (since Covid) with no clear date as to when/if it will reopen. (Googling produces a list of "projected" re-opening dates that haven't as yet actually occurred.)



We saw various Walt-related places along the way.

The location of Walt and Roy's first offices in Los Feliz.



The first house (also in Los Feliz) where Walt & Roy lived when they moved to Los Angeles. Recently renovated. It's listed as a Los Angeles Historical Cultural Monument.



And then we headed up, through the Hollywood Hills, to the mystery Plan B - Griffith Park! The Observatory is unfortunately not open on Mondays, but the grounds are open, and it was a beautiful day, so we were hopeful the views would be great!



There was a bit of the ever-present haze around the horizon, but, in general, the view was spectacular!

We were given around 20 minutes to wander the grounds, and take tons of photos.









Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

The next stop was another site in Griffith Park - Walt's Barn! The barn was built on the property of his home in Holmby Hills, CA. After the house was sold, the barn was scheduled to be demolished along with the rest of the house, but was rescued and moved to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum.



We had an intro to the barn and the other things in the area by some of the Carolwood Railway volunteers. It was kind of cool, because there were almost as many volunteers there as there were of us Adventurers! So it was really easy to get info and get questions answered. We were given around 45 minutes to wander around and check out all the sites and the memorabilia, take copious photos and buy souvenirs at the stand they had there. I bought a T-shirt, a magnet and some small wooden toy train cars that say "Carolwood Pacific R.R." and "Walt's Barn".

The barn now houses several pieces of memorabilia, including several scale trains. It sits in the middle of the Live Steamers property, where members can run their scale trains around the well-decorated tracks and areas of the place that include the barn, along with a railcar that once was a part of the Disneyland railway. The railcar was apparently a little too authentic (not really comfortable or built for tons of tourists to ride around the Park like the current cars are). It's really beautiful!

Walt's Barn.



The volunteers greeted us beside the lovingly restored full-sized ex-Disneyland Railroad car.



Inside Walt's Barn - a cornucopia of memorabilia, both Walt's own stuff, and things donated by his fellow Imagineers and other scale railroad enthusiasts.









Inside the old Disneyland Railcar.



Lovingly restored.



Us, the volunteers and Walt's Barn.



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[sayhello]

After Walt's Barn, we headed out for lunch at Tam O'Shanter, a favorite dining spot for Walt and his friends and coworkers. It was a charming, old-timey "Scottish" themed restaurant with a *lot* of character and history.





Besides being a hangout for Walt & his cohorts, the Tam O'Shanter is known for it's Prime Rib, which I believe most of us ordered. Honestly, it was good but not great. I enjoyed the yummy Yorkshire Pudding way more!



While we started lunch, Dean took us by "family" for photos in the corner booth that is labeled as Walt's favorite spot.



We also had a really interesting talk given by Matt McKim, an Imagineer and son of Disney Legend Imagineer Sam McKim.



After lunch, we headed over to the activity which is (only temporarily, I hope) replacing the tour of Jim Henson Studios. Jim Henson Studios has sold their old buildings, and is in the process of moving to new facilities, so they are currently unavailable for tours. So instead we headed to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.



It's a really fabulous Museum, I don't want anyone to think otherwise, but there is nothing about this activity that can't be done by anyone who goes there. We were just taken there and basically set loose on our own to peruse the exhibits. We were *supposed* to do "The Oscar Experience" (which, again, anyone can do for a fee) but it was down the whole time we were there, so we did not get our moment (apparently literally) getting videod holding a real Oscar. Again, it's a fabulous museum, and I did enjoy it for what it is, but it is in no way an equivalent replacement for the visit to the Jim Henson Studios, which I really was looking forward to. Ah, well. Some other time!

We did get our photos taken by Dean with the giant Oscar statue they had in the lobby!



They had a really crazy 3-D Toy Story Zoetrope there. It spins in time to flashing lights that give you the optical illusion that the pieces on the carousel are moving. It's quite cool.



They had a special exhibit going on called "Colors in Motion" about the role of color in films. A lot of it was variously colored costumes, but it also had some history of color in moving pictures.

The "main attraction" of the Color exhibit was the Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz.



They also had an exhibit called "From the Shtetl to the Studio: The Jewish Story of Hollywood" that I found fascinating!



There were tons of costumes, exhibits on the Oscars ceremonies, etc. Again, a wonderful museum, just nothing exclusive.

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[sayhello]

After around 2 hours at the museum, we met back up, and headed out to our motorcoach to head back to the Loews. Dean said that after we got back, if you wanted to, he would be at the Ghirardelli's store (which also housed a Disney Store) next door to the El Capitan. If you joined him there between 4:45 and 5:30pm, you were able to get your choice of ice cream sundae on the Mouse.





I bought a really great T-shirt at the Disney Store there, themed to the El Capitan. (Mr & Mrs Grifdog were very helpful with my choosing of shirts!)



Oh, and here's the stuff I got at Walt's Barn.



After that, it was dinner and the evening OYO.

I ended up running some errands. I wasn't really all that hungry at that point, so while I was at the fancy-shmancy urban Target on Hollywood Blvd, I bought some stuff at the food area there, and went back to my room for a bit of a picnic. It had been a VERY full day, so I just sort of hung out and spent the evening re-packing everything since we'd be heading to Anaheim later on the next day and luggage pull was set for 7am the next morning.

Next up: Day 3: Imagineering the Magic - Walt Disney Studios, Imagineering and Disneyland Resort.

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[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I had no idea about the Jim Henson studio relocating! What a shame, it's a historic property. What will happen to it? And the big Kermit statue over the entrance?

We did this ABD about 2 years ago. Originally we had it scheduled for September because it was the lowest price but it got cancelled, I believe due to low enrollment. We were allowed to choose any other time of year to go for the same price and do we went in December. That was fabulous because that would have been much more expensive, and it was an extra treat to see Disneyland at Christmas time, which I had never seen.

Anyway, we got to see the Jim Henson studio and DH, who is a puppetry and Muppets aficionado, volunteered to participate during a demonstration with one of the puppeteers. Probably the highlight of the tour for him given his interests. So I share your interest in this part of the ABD tour coming back! Though it won't be the same outside the iconic Henson studio.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

How cool that you got a special presentation from Matt McKim. It doesn't always happen but it's nice when they can swing an extra surprise like this. Ours was meeting animator and Disney Legend Floyd Norman at Walt's Barn--we're big fans of animation, and to meet one of the animators who worked with Walt was so special. I wish we could do this trip every so often to experience the various surprises that Dean and ABD are able to put together sometimes.

Looking forward to reading how you liked the studio and imagineering parts of the tour!

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Re: Jim Henson studio relocating: just read that there are historic monument protections on the Henson studio lot, originally built by Charlie Chaplin, so I think it's not going to, say, get demolished. And the relocation is to Burbank to consolidate with Henson Creature Shop--if this later gets included in the ABD tour, we might have to do it again to see the Creature Shop!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Love the Snow White pics and cool that you had a talk at the restaurant. We didn't have anything like that. Shame about the Henson studios. I hope they bring that back, too. It was a cool part of the tour.

 

[sayhello]

I had no idea about the Jim Henson studio relocating! What a shame, it's a historic property. What will happen to it? And the big Kermit statue over the entrance?

We did this ABD about 2 years ago. Originally we had it scheduled for September because it was the lowest price but it got cancelled, I believe due to low enrollment. We were allowed to choose any other time of year to go for the same price and do we went in December. That was fabulous because that would have been much more expensive, and it was an extra treat to see Disneyland at Christmas time, which I had never seen.

Anyway, we got to see the Jim Henson studio and DH, who is a puppetry and Muppets aficionado, volunteered to participate during a demonstration with one of the puppeteers. Probably the highlight of the tour for him given his interests. So I share your interest in this part of the ABD tour coming back! Though it won't be the same outside the iconic Henson studio.

Yes, I've read many trip reports about this ABD, and the visit to Jim Henson Studios always seemed to be a highlight. I'm sad to have missed that, but what can you do?

How cool that you got a special presentation from Matt McKim. It doesn't always happen but it's nice when they can swing an extra surprise like this. Ours was meeting animator and Disney Legend Floyd Norman at Walt's Barn--we're big fans of animation, and to meet one of the animators who worked with Walt was so special. I wish we could do this trip every so often to experience the various surprises that Dean and ABD are able to put together sometimes.

Looking forward to reading how you liked the studio and imagineering parts of the tour!

I know that ABD always tries to throw in extra special things like that when they can, based on who's available. The variability of this particular itinerary is both a bug and a feature!

Re: Jim Henson studio relocating: just read that there are historic monument protections on the Henson studio lot, originally built by Charlie Chaplin, so I think it's not going to, say, get demolished. And the relocation is to Burbank to consolidate with Henson Creature Shop--if this later gets included in the ABD tour, we might have to do it again to see the Creature Shop!

Apparently "musician John Mayer (who has long held an office on the lot) and filmmaker MCG" bought the studio in December of 2024 and plan on refurbishing it, but leaving it as a kooky, nostalgic studio. I haven't read any timelines for when this new studio is meant to open there. And yes, any future visits to the new, combined Jim Henson Studios would not quite be the same as they used to be.

Love the Snow White pics and cool that you had a talk at the restaurant. We didn't have anything like that. Shame about the Henson studios. I hope they bring that back, too. It was a cool part of the tour.

I do hope they bring it back. It's all still going to be in the same-ish area (Burbank) so I can't see why they wouldn't unless Jim Henson Studios had some sort of objection!

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[Eastridge]

Great to see ABD and the Adventure Guide providing special experiences, particularly meeting an Imagineer. It’s not Disney’s fault that Henson is unavailable but that is a big missing piece. I still wish they would do something to make the Academy Museum visit more special, such as providing a local guide who could point out things, rather than just letting you wander on your own.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

make the Academy Museum visit more special, such as providing a local guide who could point out things, rather than just letting you wander on your own.

Yes, I think that's the way to go!

 

[sayhello]

Great to see ABD and the Adventure Guide providing special experiences, particularly meeting an Imagineer. It’s not Disney’s fault that Henson is unavailable but that is a big missing piece. I still wish they would do something to make the Academy Museum visit more special, such as providing a local guide who could point out things, rather than just letting you wander on your own.

Yes, I think that's the way to go!

I totally agree with both of you. I actually said this a while back when the substitution was announced. But it didn't happen. I think it would have made a BIG difference.

Sayhello

 

[Kit Jackson]

Great to see ABD and the Adventure Guide providing special experiences, particularly meeting an Imagineer. It’s not Disney’s fault that Henson is unavailable but that is a big missing piece. I still wish they would do something to make the Academy Museum visit more special, such as providing a local guide who could point out things, rather than just letting you wander on your own.

To me, this is an ABD that is supposed to be all about fun behind the scenes things you can't do on your own as an ordinary person. I'm sure there is a Disney collection and the building has some kind of event/education space. What ABD should do is book a private space and arrange to have a curator or someone from a related departed show some of the Disney items in the collection that are not currently on display.

 

[sayhello]

Day 3: Imagineering the Magic - Walt Disney Studios, Imagineering and Disneyland Resort.

Today was our real Backstage day, as we would be exploring Walt Disney Studios and Disney Imagineering, places not just anyone can get into! Luggage pull was at 7am, and we were to meet up in the lobby at 8:15 am *with* our lanyards, which were to be our IDs for this part of the tour.

We started the day at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.



We met up with our wonderful "local" tour guide, Julia, who gave us our tour "orientation" and explained the history and significance of what we were seeing both in Walt's life and in the history of the Disney Corporation.



Our first of many photo ops!



Our first visit was to the Animation Building.





Julia discussed all the various animated movies that were made in this building, and walked us along the long hallway decked with various artifacts from those movies.











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[hardcorestitch]

We then had some photo ops back in the lobby.

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After that, we headed back to the Loews (cutting through the Dolby Theatre instead of the Mall) and caught our motorcoach to continue the day's activities.

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We headed off through Hollywood, with Dean giving us tour commentary of where we were driving through and what we were seeing.

We passed the old Cinerama Dome (which I thought had been torn down! I'm glad it wasn't!) It is apparently closed (since Covid) with no clear date as to when/if it will reopen. (Googling produces a list of "projected" re-opening dates that haven't as yet actually occurred.)

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We saw various Walt-related places along the way.

The location of Walt and Roy's first offices in Los Feliz.

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The first house (also in Los Feliz) where Walt & Roy lived when they moved to Los Angeles. Recently renovated. It's listed as a Los Angeles Historical Cultural Monument.

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And then we headed up, through the Hollywood Hills, to the mystery Plan B - Griffith Park! The Observatory is unfortunately not open on Mondays, but the grounds are open, and it was a beautiful day, so we were hopeful the views would be great!

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There was a bit of the ever-present haze around the horizon, but, in general, the view was spectacular!

We were given around 20 minutes to wander the grounds, and take tons of photos.

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Continued in next post.

ArcLight and Pacific Theatres tanked financially due to COVID… it will never open again as it went out of business.

 

[sayhello]

Down in the bowels of the building.



On the side of a Little Free Library on the grounds.









We walked along and between several of the buildings while Julia explained to us the historical and current uses of a lot of the buildings.







Our next destination was... The Disney Archives!!



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[sayhello]

We were split up into 2 groups. One group went into the Archive room with a bunch of exhibits and the rest of us wandered the area outside the room looking at the old animation machines and tons of historic photos of them in use.







Eventually, we switched places, and were allowed into the Archives. There were all sorts of items from the Studios and from Walt's history, and we were allowed to have our photo taken with an actual Oscar. I don't know if everyone does that here, or if it was to make up for not getting to hold the one at Jim Henson Studios. But it was very cool. (That thing was *heavy*!!)













Next, we headed over to the Team Disney Building and the Legends Plaza.



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[sayhello]

Our last stop at the Studios was the Studio Store!! We had a little under an hour and a half to shop till we dropped and also head over to the Commissary where we had a voucher to get lunch.

I purchased a couple of T-shirts, a Walt Disney Studios coaster and pen, a pin and an exclusive Studios Director Mickey plush.





After lunch, our next stop was - Imagineering!! The grounds that Imagineering is on used to be an airport, so there are a few interesting artifacts of that, like a long street that used to be the runway and the old terminal building.



The main Imagineering building is a cool Mid-Century Modern building. We were met outside by our tour guide Ric, and that was the end of any photos allowed!







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[sayhello]

Imagineering was absolutely wonderful!! Everything from a sound demo in an amazingly set up sound studio to models of various area of Galaxy's edge to concept paintings to masks to sculptures and just everything in between. SO fascinating!! Rob has been an Imagineer for ages, although I don't remember exactly how long. He was an excellent tour guide and a total font of knowledge!

This was the only photo op inside of Imagineering, which Dean took. These are the original marble statues. They were not fairing well outside in Snow White's Grotto, so those were replaced with fiberglass replicas, and the originals now live at Imagineering.



Once we had finished our wonderful tour, our next stop was - more shopping! At Mickey's of Glendale on the Imagineering grounds.

Dean took the next 3 photos on the ground of Imagineering.



We were given some time to explore and shop, although I honestly didn't find the selection there as good as I'd hoped. I bought a Disneyland 70th Birthday T-shirt and pin, a polo shirt and another pen.





And then - we were off to -- Disneyland!!



Traffic was not great, but I've seen it worse! One of the couples on the trip were locals, and actually lived pretty close to the freeway, and we practically drove past their house on our way to Disneyland! It took us a little under an hour to get there.

When we arrived at the Grand Californian, we were given our keys, and headed up to our rooms with instructions to meet up at Storyteller's Cafe for dinner at 5:30 (about 2 hours later). We would be heading to Disneyland straight from dinner.

This was my first time staying at the Grand Californian. I normally stay at one of the independent hotels that surround Disneyland. Most of them are actually closer to the Parks' front gates than the on-property hotels.

It's a beautiful hotel, and I *did* really enjoy staying there! Although my room was a *SERIOUS* hike from the lobby!!











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