Yuletide Fantasy Tour Info

[Travel Guru]

I just booked ours for Dec 10th !!KathiCALL 407-939-8687 for reservationsYuletide Fantasy Tour Review by Bob Varley 12/07Tour times 9AM (No tours on Sundays or Christmas Day) FOR 2008 9 AM ONLYTour requirements: Ages 16 and up with Photo ID Price: $69.00 per person plus tax. Discounts available are 15% for AAA, AP, DVC, and 20% for Disney Visa Card holders Tour Starting Location: Epcot at the Guest Relations window outside the main entrance to park on the right.The tour is approximately 3 1/2 hours long and gives you a behind the scenes look at how Disney creates all of the magic happening at Walt Disney World this holiday season.Your tour includes Epcot’s World Showcase, Disney's Hollywood Studios Streets of America, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, backstage at Holiday Services and a walk up Main Street at the Magic Kingdom.We’re always looking for DIS Unplugged podcast segment ideas. Thanks to a suggestion by ‘Mommyceratops’ I was sent on the Yuletide Fantasy tour.The tour gets you up-close and personal in seeing how Walt Disney World is decorated for the holidays. Not only will the guides get you into the holiday spirit, you’ll learn how some holiday traditions began. First, there are occasions when I use an ECV. If you do the same or need a wheelchair, you should discuss your needs when booking this tour and they’ll let you know what your options are. Personally, I found it best to leave the ECV behind for the day and walk with the rest of the group. You should also know that a deluxe motor coach was used to transport us from one location to the next, which meant being able to climb a few steps to get to my seat. Again, let them know what your limitations are and they’ll do their best to accommodate you if possible. Now onto the tour. After getting on the bus, our first stop was the backstage area of Germany in the World Showcase. Our group of 20 was split into two groups of ten. We were each given headsets which allowed the tour guides to communicate without the need of us crowding close by to hear what was being said. This is a nice touch as it gives you a little freedom to check things out as you walk around.As we toured Germany we were told of that country’s holiday tradition, the ‘Christmas Pickle.’ You can find many websites out there that talk about this. Here is just one of the more popular tales about how it began: A very old Christmas Eve tradition in Germany was to hide a pickle deep in the branches of the Christmas tree. The parents hid the pickle while the children slept. On Christmas morning, the child who found it received an extra gift from St. Nikolas. During the tour we passed through the gift shop in Germany where there’s a big display of glass pickle ornaments for sale. If you want to start this tradition, you may want to pick one up on your next visit to Epcot. (It sure beats hiding a real pickle in your tree.) After visiting Germany, we stopped at the Italy, United States and Japan pavilions. At each country we were told fun facts about the countries and their holiday customs and traditions. Here are just a few of them: There are 7 different colors of Poinsettias available and 90,000 of these Christmas flowers are used at WDW during the holidays. The color chosen in the USA pavilion is called Freedom Red.Italy’s traditions are more religion based while Germany is more celebratory. (Think St. Nikolas.) Once back on the bus we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Our tour guide discussed how Hollywood has influenced some of our holiday traditions over the years and the movies that have become part of the season’s “must see’s.” At Disney's Hollywood Studios, we headed to the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Here are some facts regarding this very popular Disney display:90 % is original lighting from the Osborne family’s personal displaysThere are 5 million lights used and it takes 10 weeks to get it set upIf you ever spotted the purple cat and wondered why its part of a Christmas display, here’s how this began. When the Osborne lights were shipped to Disney World, the cat, which they used for Halloween, accidentally got mixed in with everything else. Now you’ll find the purple cat in a different spot each year. Next we got on the bus and went to one of my favorite hotels for the holidays, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Our guides explained how the Victorian theme of the hotel influences the holiday décor. One of the highlights at the Grand Floridian is the life size, 12 foot tall Gingerbread House in the lobby. Each year a new design is used and it takes 840 hours to complete it. This year there are two chimneys which send out puffs of gingerbread scented smoke at timed intervals. If you go, see if you can find the 19 hidden Mickey’s that have been added to this year’s house.A nice surprise waiting for us on the bus were roasted chestnuts and pieces of gingerbread. Speaking of which, bring a bottle of water or something to drink as nothing is provided. Also eat something before the tour. After a couple of hours, you’ll thank me. Also take a bathroom break before the tour begins. (There’s a 10 minute rest stop in Disney's Hollywood Studios.)