Holiday Time at Disneyland, the Guided Tour

For the first time, I was able to participate in one of Disneyland's best traditions, a Guided Tour. The Guided Tours are awesome! They are a bit on the pricey side, which can deter most people, however, now that I've participated in one, I can officially say that they are worth it. You purchase tickets, and meet for your guided tour at the Guided Tour kiosk just next to Disneyland City Hall. Behind the kiosk is an area to gather before you begin your tour. I found the above Christmas tree tucked away. We took the Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour. It started at 12:10, and ended with the parade, which started at 3:00. It was an amazing experience. 

I didn't do much homework before we signed up for the tour, so I really didn't know what to expect. For one thing, I definitely didn't expect any park-hopping, but we jumped from Disneyland's Main Street right over to California Adventure. We learned a great deal about the decorations in California Adventure. My favorite bit of information at this point, was probably that the train that sits at the bottom of DCA's Buena Vista Street Tree is modeled after the train Walt Disney took from Missouri out to California. When will I learn to stop assuming Disney doesn't control every detail? In our brief visit to California Adventure, our tour stopped by Trolley Treats Candy for a delicious sample. The above is a marshmallow that was dipped in caramel, chocolate, and sprinkles with a hint of mint. Seriously yummy.

I knew about the Menorah in one of the windows on Main Street, but I had no idea there was a Mezuzah at Disneyland. One of the things I learned on the tour. They touched upon all the major holidays, not just Christmas.

For future reference, the Guided Tours are all led by Cast Members using little microphones that transmit into "radios" you wear around your neck. You can bring your own headphones to avoid using community ones. While you travel through the parks, you get a lot of stares from park-goers. And, if you pay attention, you can hear people complaining that you get to skip the lines or wondering what makes you so special that you have a tour guide.

Another great part of the Guided Tour experience is traveling with your group to the front of the lines. On the Holiday Time at Disneyland tour, you get to ride the three rides with holiday makeovers. We started with the Jingle Cruise, then went to The Haunted Mansion - Nightmare Before Christmas, and ended with It's a Small World Holidays. Skipping the lines was quite fun!

At the end of the tour, they sat us down in special seats so we could watch A Christmas Fantasy, the holiday parade. We had a really good view once the Small World line cleared out. Plus, getting actual seats for the parade was quite lovely. And, as an added treat, we were given hot cocoa in the Holiday Tumblers, and chocolate dipped gingerbread cookies, which, in true Disney fashion, were wearing Mickey ears, and delicious, of course!

While in our seats for the parade, they also gave us our Holiday Time in Disneyland 2014 pin-trading pin. It's a great pin that comes on a card with Walt in front of his own Christmas tree. All in all, I had a great time, learned a lot of stuff I hadn't known, and walked away with some great souvenirs.

I'm so glad I finally had the chance to take one of these awesome tours, and I can't wait to do another one! Now that Holiday Time is over, I'll look into some of the other tours!

With our awesome CM, Cassie!