We did the tour on Monday, Dec. 5. Our group had 35 people with two tour guides, so we were broken into 2 smaller groups. The tour was scheduled to begin at 9:30 with checkin at Guest Services outside Epcot by 9:15 and we were required to show a photo ID when our names were checked on the list. Everyone was accounted for by 9:00, so our tour actually began at 9:05.
Name tags were given out and told to be prominently displayed at all times. Park admission is not required for this tour so the name tag is what allows you inside the parks. We went through bag check, then walked over to the locker rental building where we went backstage to board our bus. It was one of the
Disney Cruise Line buses with nice cushioned seats.
We were driven over to World Showcase where we disembarked near Morocco. We walked part of the way around WS and, at each pavilion, were told about holiday customs in Morocco, Japan, Germany, and the USA. I learned a lot of new facts which were very interesting and helped me to better understand how holidays are observed by some of these countries.
Back onboard the bus, we headed to MGM and were let off near the Backlot Tour area. The tour guide told bits of MGM trivia as we walked over to the Streets of America where we were told all about how the Osborn Lights came to be at Disney World. Facts about how many lights there are, how long it takes to put them up, how they test for burned out lights, etc. were given. We found out there are 40 hidden Mickeys and 2 hidden Minnies throughout the display. I saw some new ones I had missed when we viewed the lights a couple of days earlier...one I really liked was 3 balls in a basketball goal forming a hidden Mickey.
After the opportunity for everyone to take a "biological break", we got back on the bus to go to Magic Kingdom. When arrived at the back gate, a security guard came aboard and checked our bags again. We were all cleared and they waved us on through. We got off in an area backstage near Tony's and walked over to Mainstreet. Our guide was supposed to tell us about the big Christmas tree near the castle that was to be moved in a couple of days back near the flagpole. Oops, the tree was missing! Apparently, they decided to move it earlier than planned, so it was somewhere in six sections waiting to be put up again. We still were told about how the tree is assembled, disassembled, etc., just without a visual aid. We were then taken down the little side street where the music studio is located and learned a lot about how they decorated windows in the stores in keeping with a Victorian theme. The guide related other Disney trivia about parts of Mainstreet, too. As we went backstage again headed to the bus, we saw props that had been used in filming the parade that weekend and the guide gave some insight as to what goes into preparing for that.
Next, we drove to the Grand Floridian and were given about 10-15 minutes to see the decorations in the lobby. They are beautiful! The giant gingerbread house has 25 hidden Mickeys...my family and I found 15 and were still looking when we were called to go back to the bus.
We then drove over to Holiday Services, which is a huge warehouse for making, repairing, and storing decorations. This building used to be the processing plant when Disney made their own ground beef onsite. After that was outsourced, this huge building was sitting empty and they came up with the idea to use it for holiday decoration central. Upon entering, we were given safety goggles to wear in certain areas.
There were Christmas decorations of all kinds everywhere you looked, stacked several shelves high. The guide explained how concepts are developed for decorating themes in the parks and the resorts and how items were bought and made to carry out the themes. We went through the workshop area which was deserted because this is the time of year the workers have to take their vacation. There was quite a lot of information given at this stop and it was very interesting to find out some of what it takes to decorate Disney World for Christmas.
Back to the bus once more to return to Epcot. We arrived about 12:25 pm and, upon departing, were given a very nice limited edition pin of Tinkerbell with a big red holiday ornament with Yuletide Fantasy Tour printed at the bottom. We all enjoyed the tour very much. I would have to go back to my notes to find the cost but I did get a
AAA discount when I booked. I think it was 15-20% off.
