Taking your experience to the next level: Disney Park Tours

So you've been to the park dozens, maybe hundreds of times. You can describe the scenes from the Haunted Mansion down to the finite details. You pose for every on-ride-photo. Sometimes, you put a blindfold on and see how far you can get in the park with just your memory as navigation. You're running out of things to do.

A tour guide enlightens her audience on
"Disney's Keys to the Kingdom tour

What's next? Time to book a tour with the plaid patterned Disney tour guides. What tour is best for you? Depends on how much time you want to spend. For beginners, there's the "Welcome to Disneyland Tour." It's 2.5 hours and goes through the two parks and Downtown Disney. 

But you know that stuff. You could probably give the tour yourself. You actually did that one time, and you really convinced those people you were the real thing. Good job with the plaid skirt, by the way, that was authentic. So now what?

I personally haven't done it yet, but for the pros, there's the Backstage Magic tour.  You get to see the behind the scenes operations at all four the Walt Disney World parks. At 6-8 hours and $250 a person, it's for the truly dedicated.

If that's not for you, there's around 20 other tours available to you at the Walt Disney World resort, each with their own specific focus.

The classic tour guide look

I have a confession: I've only been on one tour. I'm 19, I've only had so much time. This coming Spring/Summer when I will be participating in the Disney College Program at The World, I hope to get as many of them under my belt as possible.

The one I have taken was the "Walk In Walt's Footsteps" tour. We got to see up close a flower from the Tiki room, took a peak of Club 33's lobby, were enlightened about half-basketball court in the Matterhorn and overall had a great time. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and exciting. If this tour was an indicator of the caliber of quality the other tours exhibit, I hope to experience every one of them.

Have you been on a Disney Parks tour? Which tours do you hope to go on?

Disneyland, the Cliché

A few months ago, I signed up on Google to get daily "Disneyland" and "Walt Disney World" news updates. I figured it'd be an easy way to keep up with the daily happenings of the two resorts. In a way it was, but it revealed quite a bit more than just current Disney parks info.


Walt giving his opening day speech at Disneyland
It turns out publications across the country have a love affair with comparing things to Disneyland. "It's the adult version of Disneyland" or "It's the Disneyland of [fill in the blank]" blah blah blah.

I guess people just aren't that creative when it comes to comparisons. Instead of getting a daily e-mail about Disneyland, I get one about cliches. I've learned a lot more about how journalists and bloggers across the country all use one comparison when they want to get it across that whatever they're talking about is some entertainment mecca, or more specialized and fun than everything else out there.  Just like if the Winkelvoss's had invented Faceboook, they'd have invented Facebook, if "it" was the "Disneyland" of its whatever, it'd be Disneyland.

It's not just that it's overused, it's misused. Disneyland, according to Walt's vision, is for everyone. That's why the park has events ranging from "Bat Day" where people who dress in what is labeled the goth style congregate at the park to the MLB All Star Parade down Main Street U.S.A. There is no demographic that any of the parks target specifically.

Disneyland is the Disneyland of Disneyland.