DIS Exclusive Backstage Magic 7/29 - 8/3/18

Sandy,

Any tips or tricks you can share for first timers? I can't wait for July!

Ive done 12 of these trips.

My tips....

These are busy days. Don't over plan. There may be things planned that you don't even know about yet. :)

Parades, Fireworks and World of Color are covered. Don't worry about them.

You will have "on your own" time and you will receive fast passes.

Your park hoper ticket is good for four days (inc day of arrival, Magic Kingdom Day, Cali Adventure Day and the final / farewell breakfast day). The ticket can not be changed, upgraded, traded, given away, sold or extended. In other words....they can't be changed.

Park days start early and mornings and late evenings (even in summer) can be cool. Plan accordingly....otherwise you have to run back to the hotel or buy something. Who knows...maybe that's your plan.....

In the past, ABD has provided each guest with a $20 voucher for lunch on your own on Magic kingdom day. You can spend the whole $20 or a portion of the voucher.. If you spend a portion, the rest is lost. John and I use one voucher on MK day and pay the additional cost over the $20.00. This gives us the second voucher to use on California Adventure day, when lunch is OYO and insures that we use all of the $20 allotted for each voucher.

Mickey's of Glendale can be amazing. Budget more than you think you will spend. You can buy things here you can't buy elsewhere. Some of the stuff is the same across other stores. Here is where you will find the Imagineering stuff.

There is also a store at the Studio. We find it hit or miss, but have found some really cool stuff. It's the only place you can but Studio employee merch.

Your Guides will have answers to questions you don't even know you have. They are invaluable.

Thats it for now.

if I think of more I'll post them.
 
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Sandy,

Any tips or tricks you can share for first timers? I can't wait for July!

Kevin covered a lot of territory! I do have a couple of other things to consider:

First, if possible, get plenty of rest before you arrive. These tours can be extremely tiring (a lot of walking) if you participate in all of the activities. Combine the walking with the early wake-up calls, and I was on fumes by the last day. I'm reasonably active (swim 3,000 yards, five times a week), and I was surprised at how exhausted I was.

On a similar note, make sure shoes you bring along are broken in. As mentioned, there's a lot of walking.

Also, since our tour is in the middle of the summer, I'd recommend bringing sunscreen with you, or purchasing it at the CVS on Hollywood Boulevard (a short walk on the same side of the street as Hollywood & Highland). I know it gets hot just about everywhere in the summer, but the sun is extremely strong in Southern California. (I grew up in San Diego, and I have the skin cancer scars to prove it!) Likewise, wear a brimmed hat to keep the sun off of your face.

If you have any specific questions, please let me know!
 
Just to add to what @DisneyKevin and @Miss SD have said, try to get to SoCal a day early and rest up. Especially those coming from the east coast to cope with jet lag. Don't go into Sunday evening (the Welcome Reception) tired. You'll be up late that night and getting up early the next morning. Which then repeats for the rest of the days.
 
Please help me welcome Bruce, Cara, Catelyn and Liam to our Adventure!
Hi Everyone. We have been to a few of the podcast events, but this is our first ABD and we can't wait. I'm going with my wife Cara, daughter Catelyn (14), and son Liam (12). My daughter was wondering if there were any other kids on the trip.

We plan to fly in a few days early. We will be coming from Boston.

Bruce
 


Kevin covered a lot of territory! I do have a couple of other things to consider:

First, if possible, get plenty of rest before you arrive. These tours can be extremely tiring (a lot of walking) if you participate in all of the activities. Combine the walking with the early wake-up calls, and I was on fumes by the last day. I'm reasonably active (swim 3,000 yards, five times a week), and I was surprised at how exhausted I was.

On a similar note, make sure shoes you bring along are broken in. As mentioned, there's a lot of walking.

Also, since our tour is in the middle of the summer, I'd recommend bringing sunscreen with you, or purchasing it at the CVS on Hollywood Boulevard (a short walk on the same side of the street as Hollywood & Highland). I know it gets hot just about everywhere in the summer, but the sun is extremely strong in Southern California. (I grew up in San Diego, and I have the skin cancer scars to prove it!) Likewise, wear a brimmed hat to keep the sun off of your face.

If you have any specific questions, please let me know!

Just to add to what @DisneyKevin and @Miss SD have said, try to get to SoCal a day early and rest up. Especially those coming from the east coast to cope with jet lag. Don't go into Sunday evening (the Welcome Reception) tired. You'll be up late that night and getting up early the next morning. Which then repeats for the rest of the days.

Thanks for the tips! We plan on arriving a night early since we are coming from the East Coast. Also, we were planning on staying a few extra nights before returning home. I have only been to DL once and to be honest it wasn't a great experience as inspectors were there and they shut so many rides down for very silly reasons. The whole thing made the news cycle a few years back...needless to say, I look forward to a proper DL trip!
 
Hello, everyone! Jim and Lea here!

We’ve been visiting the US Disney parks and enjoying Disney productions for a long time, so this opportunity to step a little further behind the scenes is an exciting opportunity for us. Jim has been to Imagineering and the Studio previously, but this will Lea’s first time seeing both.

This will be our first ABD experience so we’re really looking forward to all that “Backstage Magic” has to offer and sharing this adventure with all of you!
 


I'm considering staying an extra night.
just wondering about transportation back to LAX? I'm guessing the area hotels offer transportation, is it free or at a cost? how much does it cost?
I'm used to ME at WDW not so much with DL.
any feedback will be much appreciated.
 
Hi Folks,

I have sent an email to each of you letting you know that there are no more post nights available at the Grand Californian through ABD.

If you book an independent post Adventure stay at a Disney hotel. ABD will arrange departure transfers.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Kevin
 
Hi Folks,

I have sent an email to each of you letting you know that there are no more post nights available at the Grand Californian through ABD.

If you book an independent post Adventure stay at a Disney hotel. ABD will arrange departure transfers.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Kevin
thanks for the update Kevin.
Would I need to book my post adventure stay at one of the 2 remaining on site hotels or are good neighbor hotels included for ABD to arrange departure transfers?
Just want to make sure before I start my research. Thinking I'd like to try for Disneyland Hotel though.
 
Please disregard this post.

It was supposed to be for the December Adventure.

Sorry
 
I'm considering staying an extra night.
just wondering about transportation back to LAX? I'm guessing the area hotels offer transportation, is it free or at a cost? how much does it cost?
I'm used to ME at WDW not so much with DL.
any feedback will be much appreciated.
I always drive instead of fly, but I think if you book another night through ABD, they will provide the transfers to LAX. (We added another night on our Germany ABD a few years ago, and the transfers were included in the cost of the room.) If you're booking on your own, the Disneyland Resort Express can take you to LAX from the GCH for $30/pp, according to their website. BTW, the service isn't limited to Disney-owned hotels; it looks like most of the Anaheim hotels are covered.
 
I always drive instead of fly, but I think if you book another night through ABD, they will provide the transfers to LAX. (We added another night on our Germany ABD a few years ago, and the transfers were included in the cost of the room.) If you're booking on your own, the Disneyland Resort Express can take you to LAX from the GCH for $30/pp, according to their website. BTW, the service isn't limited to Disney-owned hotels; it looks like most of the Anaheim hotels are covered.
thanks, that's just what I was wondering.
 
Edit - this was in reply to adventure is out there’s question about flight out the last day...I need to improve my Disboard posting skills!

I've never been on the trip before, but for me the answer is "as late as possible" so I can tour the park for at least part of the day with the ticket that's included. So far that looks like 3:30pm for me since I'm flying back to the East cost. I figure I can spend ~3 hours in the park that morning before heading to the airport.
 
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Hello fellow backstage Magic gang. This is Denise (and my husband Dennis) we are very excited to be taking this trip and are looking forward to meeting all of you. We are huge Disney fans (annual pass holders wdw). We have watched many of the past dis podcasts of this trip and it looks like the perfect trip for a Disney fan. We are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary on August 4th so we descided this was a great time to take this trip. We are arriving 2 days early to enjoy the parks. If anyone else is arriving early and would like to meet up with us let us know.
 
This is Denise (and my husband Dennis)
I'm not on this trip but caught your names and just had to ask, were you always big Disney fans? Were you active on Compuserve many years ago?
 
Edit - this was in reply to adventure is out there’s question about flight out the last day...I need to improve my Disboard posting skills!

I've never been on the trip before, but for me the answer is "as late as possible" so I can tour the park for at least part of the day with the ticket that's included. So far that looks like 3:30pm for me since I'm flying back to the East cost. I figure I can spend ~3 hours in the park that morning before heading to the airport.
 
Hi :) Absolutely figured, the later the better. I think we’re going to take the late flight back to the east coast so we can have more time to explore DL
 

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