Which day of week for Walk In Walt's tour?

[AliciaS]

For a family of two adults, and kids ages 7, 11, and 14, which day of the week would you suggest the noon Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour?

We will be in the parks Tuesday, December 4 - Saturday, December 8.

I was thinking early-ish in the trip so we can enjoy any new knowledge, but would the first day be too soon to put a stop to random fun for a tour?

Thanks!

 

[Jimsig]

DD (9yo) and myself, did 4 days in the park. We spent Sunday night, then Tue to Thur in the parks, we did DL on Sun, Tue , and Thur and DCA on Wed. We did the tour on Thur our last day as it worked best for us.


I don't think there is really a wrong time to do it but to me if you have never been before I would not do it the first day, especially with kids that age. Have you been to DL before? There will be the excitement of being there and the "random fun' as you say that first day. If a first timer and I had to do it the first day I would probably pick the second tour of the day as to do some of the attractions before the tour.

The tour was great and my 9yo loved it. They will give you listening devices with a speaker/over the ear piece so you can hear the Plaid with out being right next to them. If you have your own ear phones you can bring them and plug them into the listening device.

Have a blast

 

[AliciaS]

Hey Jimsig! Thanks for the reply

While we have been to WDW numerous times (usually every-other-year), the last time we were at DL was 8 years ago when I was pregnant with the princess.

I guess I'm leaning toward Wednesday or Thursday at noon. Is there a reason to pick one or the other? Can anyone predict the weather a month out?!

 

[Jimsig]

We have done WDW numerous time as well and this was our first at DL. But we know it won't be our last time there.


We picked the 930a tour. I figured it was better to do the tour and have the rest of the day at the Park instead of breaking up the day as it was our last day at the park. But that was me. I can see why people would want to break up the day and do some of the park, then the tour, and then park again. Don't forget with the tour they feed you at the end. So if you do the first tour it's lunch time and the second tour feeds you later in the afternoon, I think around 330-4p (maybe someone who has done the Noon tour will chime in with the exact time). So that might be something to take into consideration.

 

[lalasmama]

I did my first WiWF tour in January, on day 1 of a 4 day trip, in the noon time slot. I wouldn't schedule it like that again, for a few reasons...

First, it was my first day, and the gates opened at 10am, so I grabbed a small breakfast (like a banana) from the hotel and went to rope drop.... I got to the parks, got my MaxPass, rode 2 attractions, walked around a little, then it was nearly time to check in for the tour. I checked in a little early (like 11:15), then hopped on the train for the whole circuit, and made it back around 11:45. I felt like I was just spending a lot of time watching clocks, when I would typically be letting the "Disney winds" lead me on my first day.

Also, the tour started at 12:00 pm, and we were off and walking at a rather quick clip. Remember the note about the banana I had for breakfast? Well, that 12:00 pm tour has "lunch" somewhere near the 4:00 pm hour, which had me bordering on hangry at the 2:00 pm potty break.

There wasn't anything to make your trip any "better" per se--it's not like they give you touring tips or such. Yes, it's neat to see Walt's apartment, and hear about the Royal Suite, and the petrified tree, and some other tidbits, and hear some things in Walt's own words, but it's not likely to significantly enhance the rest of your trip, at least in my opinion.

As an aside, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the tour for kids. On our tour group, we had an 8yo and 12yo. The family was a group of frequent Disney vacationers who clearly loved Disney, and knew their general Disney factoids and such. However, as interested as the kids were, they were easily distracted, and didn't care much about the stories with the tour. I just kept thinking that their parents paid $85+ per person (assuming an AP/Visa discount) for their kids to be wandering around while the adults were listening. My 14yo daughter is pretty into Disney--both the men behind the Land, and the men behind the company--and even she would have had a hard time with it. It could easily be dependent on the tour guide as well; ours was most interested in chatting up the 20-something couple in the group, and not really connecting with anyone else, which left me, and a few others, feeling like we were missing something. That may color my feelings on if my daughter could have handled it!

 

[AliciaS]

Thank you so much, Lalasmama! We would definitely need a nice brunch beforehand. As for the kids, I want to take the tour. Ha. They have to come! As homeschoolers, they are used to tours and tour guides talking. They love Colonial Williamsburg, listen, and ask questions. Maybe you did get a guide who wasn't the best with the kids. Hmmm....You've made me think, though. I'll ask them and see if they are super excited or meh.

 

[LizzyS]

We are going to do this tour on the second (and last) day of our trip coming up in February. For us, we'd like to make sure we get in the attractions that are must-dos for us on day one and then can enjoy a slower-paced second day with the tour (I realize there's lots of walking on the tour) included.

In saying that, I'd say I know more than the average person about Walt Disney and Disneyland's history, so having the background info. up front is not something that's important to me as I'm likely going to hear a fair bit of repeat information.

 

[lalasmama]

Thank you so much, Lalasmama! We would definitely need a nice brunch beforehand. As for the kids, I want to take the tour. Ha. They have to come! As homeschoolers, they are used to tours and tour guides talking. They love Colonial Williamsburg, listen, and ask questions. Maybe you did get a guide who wasn't the best with the kids. Hmmm....You've made me think, though. I'll ask them and see if they are super excited or meh.

Does the other adult in your party want to go? My hubs was meh about it, so he offered to have some one-on-one time with the kiddo/s so I could do the tour. I ended up doing it on a solo trip instead.