Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour at Disneyland

This weekend we went on another tour at Disneyland, the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour. It lasted for 4 hours (!!), included a pin with our names on them, another special Walt pin, lunch, a couple rides, and a wealth of information. It was a really great experience, even for a seasoned Disneyland visitor like me.

We were given headsets to use in order to better hear the tour guide, which was very helpful since it can get pretty loud in the park. The headsets also enabled us to listen to various audio clips of Walt talking about whatever ride or attraction or land we were currently in. For example, at the very start of the tour, we gathered in front of the flagpole, where Walt Disney gave his dedication on the opening day of Disneyland in 1955, and listened to him give that very speech.

The tour guide took us around to all the different lands in the park, stopping occasionally to give more information or play another rare piece of audio from Walt Disney. A lot of it was actually stuff I did not know, which was pretty refreshing. I'm a long-time Disney fan, and I feel like I know most of the information and trivia out there, so it's rare for me to learn something new!

The tour also included a couple rides! The first one we went on was Peter Pan's flight, because it was one of Walt's favorites. We got to go right to the front of the line! I was really excited because it's been years and years since I went on this one since the line is always ridiculously long. Later, we got to see the Enchanted Tiki Room, as well as go on a little ride on the Disneyland railroad.

After walking around for a couple hours, it was time for lunch/early dinner! We went over to Jolly Holiday Bakery and found that they had already laid out our lunches with our names of them (sort of - who are Tammy and Darren?? I hope it's us otherwise we stole their lunches). Our meal consisted of a sandwich, a drink, and dessert! The parade was going by as we were eating, so it was pretty perfect.

The tour used to include going into the lobby of Club 33, but I think since its renovation, they're no longer doing that. Another part they're leaving off now is the tour of Walt's apartment above the fire station on Main Street. I was kind of disappointed by that. 

The coolest part came at the very end - we got to tour the Dream Suite! The Dream Suite is a hotel/apartment above Pirates of the Caribbean. It was originally intended to be a place for Walt's growing family to stay in the park, but he died before construction was finished on it. It lay vacant for many years after that, and then was made into an art gallery for a while. Recently, they decided to make it into a suite as Walt intended, filled with all kinds of Disney magic, like paintings that change, a mini railroad going around a room, and so much more. They asked us not to take any pictures while there, in order to preserve the magic (keep it secret, keep it safe), but there's a bunch of pictures, and even a video walk-through, so if you really want to ruin the magic, google your heart out.

We ended up not going on any more rides after the tour was over because it was super busy that day. Unbeknownst to us, it was Star Wars Half Marathon weekend, so we saw a ton of people walking around with their medals on. I'm don't know much about running because I don't do that sort of thing, but wouldn't you be crazy tired after running a marathon, and certainly not up to doing something like walking around Disneyland for the rest of the day??

Before we left, we stopped by the Main Street Opera House, where they were featuring some Frozen concept art, and some other Disney art as well.