On our recent trip to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California, my wife and I went on the Celebrating Disney100 guided tour.
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Earlier this summer, while planning for our trip, we decided to book an afternoon tour which was scheduled for 1pm. At 1230 or a little after, we headed to the guided tours check in stand, which is located within the town square area just inside the train tunnel, between City Hall and the train tracks.
Upon check in, we were given name pins and an audio device that would allow us to hear the tour guide as we walked through the parks. Then we had a seat in the shade while waiting for the tour to begin.
A few minutes before 1, our tour guide met up with everyone who would be going on the tour, handed out the earpieces for the audio device and briefed us on the adventure ahead.
Since this was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company, our tour focused on the history of important events through the decades in the life of Walt as well as the company.
The tour officially started at the City Hall and Main Street USA and the tie in to Walt’s early days living in the small town of Marceline, Missouri. After that, we walked over to the Disney California Adventure theme park – no park hopper needed as we entered through a special gate – where we learned about Walt’s own California Adventure, which included his 1920’s train trip to Los Angeles that resulted in the creation of The Walt Disney Company.
The tour moved on to the 30’s and the importance of the Carthay Theater in The Walt Disney Company history and the premiere of the Snow White movie in 1937.
After that, we were able to take an indoor break where we would get a crack at drawing a Disney character at the Animation Academy. We even got backstage access along with front row seats and a chance to interact with the artist.
During the tour, we got to draw Simba from the Lion King! I didn’t get a video of this drawing, but here’s a sped up version of drawing Pluto!
After Animation Academy, we were able to take a personal break and grab a snack before heading back to the main Disneyland park. In front of the fire station, we learned about Walt’s desire to build a family friendly theme park.
As well as the work necessary to maintain, reimagine and keep up with the times to ensure the parks continue to be up to date.
At the conclusion of the 2 hour tour, we gathered near the partners statue and got our picture taken in front of the castle by a photo pass photographer. These pictures were included with the tour, so we could download them without a package or Genie+.
We also received this cool Disney100 Mickey Castle pin, perfect for the Pin Trading collection, as well as a frosted brownie with a Mickey edible image.
Everyone that went on the Celebrating Disney100 tour that day also got a reserved parade viewing spot on the train station side of the town square where we had a great view of the parade as it came down Main Street, but even better view once it got closer as we had the train station in the background as the parade went by.
Have you ever gone on a tour at Disneyland? What has been your favorite so far? Comment below to let us know!
If you’re ready to start exploring a Walt Disney World or Disneyland family vacation, I recommend checking out Undercover Tourist for your ticket options. I’ve already used them twice, once at Disneyland and once at Disney World and will plan to continue comparing their prices with other sites, however I usually come back to UT because they have the best deals and their instructions make it easy to add your tickets to the Disney apps.
The 360 of Disney 