Backstage Magic: Episode IV, Walt's World

Welcome to Part IV of the best (And as of today, only!) Backstage Magic trip report.

Let's get down to it, shall we?

Friday

After meeting very early in the lobby, we headed over to Disneyland, where we walked through the gates and went down Mainstreet U.S.A. Oh, did I mention that the park was closed and we were the only guests there? Well, we were the only guests there. We had pictures taken in front of the castle before we headed over to the Plaza Inn for breakfast. There we were welcomed and shown to our private dining area where Walt ate. Breakfast was served as a buffet and had a wide variety of choices, all which were delicious.

By the time we finished breakfast, the park was open and swingin', so we made our way to the Indiana Jones Adventure, where we were met at the entrance and taken backstage. Once backstage, we were taken to the maintenance bay where two cast members who worked in the bay were waiting for us... With one of the ride vehicles right next to them. They then explained the mechanics of the ride as well as the vehicle, and then ran a test which let us see how the car worked. After that, they called me up because someone told them I wanted ti be an Imagineer, and they let me control the motion base of the car. The experience was incredible, and after that they let everybody have a turn if they wanted one.

After we finished messing with the motion base and lesarning what it takes to run an attraction on the scale of The Indiana Jones Adventure, they put us on the ride and boy is that back row fun. It really is. After we regrouped outside the temple we headed over to the Big Thunder Ranch where we had the ranch to ourselves for about 20 minutes. It was so cool to meet the CMs working there and to see how much they care for the animals. The animals were pretty cool too.

Now comes the moment you've all been waiting for... backstage at Disneyland!!!! We started our tour right outside of It's a Small World and walked over to the roundhouse where two of the CMs there brought out one of the steam trains, showed us how it worked, and answered all of our questions.

After the roundhouse we walked over to where they launch all of the fireworks. There to meet us was the manager of the Pyrotechnics, and he explained to us all about the air-launch system they use, how long it takes them to set it up, and they even brought fireworks shells for us to look at and touch. They then proceeded to run a test of the air-launch system, something they do every day.

After that, we headed over to the storage facility they use to store the Christmas parade floats. They had one waiting for us, and they turned it on, and explained how the parades were run, how many people operate a float, and some other cool stuff about parades.

Finally we headed to the Pope House and horse barn where got to see where Owen Pope's family lived in Disneyland and where to horses were. They then gave us some refreshments in the backyard of the house.

We then left the Pope House and magically (through a tunnel) came back on stage at Frontierland. We then made our way to Cafe Orleans where we had a delectable lunch outside. (The weather was magnificent.) We also had a surprise visitor that came to eat with us. It was a pirate. He entertained us all throughout the meal and after we were all done he took us through the exit of Pirates of the Caribbean and straight to the loading dock. The ride was great (I mean it is Pirates.) and after we finished we were taken back over to Mainstreet U.S.A. for the final part of the tour.

Once we were in front of the Fire Station, we once again broke up into our 2 groups. Team Mickey first went to Walt's apartment where were met by a CM who toured us around and explained the history of his home-away-from-home.

After some pictures taken by the Guides we were on our way to the Mainstreet Station where we boarded the Lilly Belle (where Team Minnie was) for a tour around the tracks. Once seated, (Very comfortably, if I might add.) we were given a history of the train car and learned a little about Walt's family. We also learned about both the Grand Canyon and the Prehistoric dioramas.

Once we got off of the train we met up with Team Minnie and were given two pins. One for the day, and one commemorating our visit to Walt's Apartment. After recieving the pins, we received our FastPasses and off we went into the park. My day in the park was amazing, especially because I had never been to the Disneyland Resort before in my life, and being there with people my age made the trip that much better.

I hope you've enjoyed the review thus far, and I'm sorry it took me so long to put today up. Be on the lookout for Parts V and VI of this extravagant saga!

Until then,
Max