Inspiration: Through Walt's Eyes

"Not a waste of time or money, but also not WDW's best backstage tour" 14 years ago by BirdsOfPreyDave

This past Sunday, we took the [B][I]Inspiration: Through Walt's Eyes[/I][/B] tour at Walt Disney World. We were originally scheduled to take the tour Monday, but had a call from someone at the Disney Institute the week before to tell us Monday's tour had been cancelled. Fortunately, our schedule allowed us to move the tour up to the day before. (They were very accommodating, and were willing to offer us a full refund or reschedule us for a different tour if the Sunday tour hadn't worked for us.)

The tour meets outside Epcot at the designated "Guided Tour Meeting Area" near the Guest Relations window. Our particular tour consisted of three groups: our party of two, another couple, and a family of four. Considering this group size, it was easy to understand why the Monday tour had been cancelled. Our tour guide indicated attendance for this tour hasn't been that great.

After meeting in front of Epcot and getting our name tags, we immediately boarded a Mears bus and headed for Hollywood Studios. The tour guide used the transit time to interact with each family on the tour (where are you from, what do you hope to get out of this tour, etc.), and then explained the basic itinerary for our three hours together. He also handed out headsets so we could hear him as we walked through noisy areas. These headsets worked well in the parks, but had issues on the bus. (I believe the bus' generator was causing interference.) So, when we were on the bus, he used the bus' intercom instead of the headsets.

After a bag search at a security checkpoint, our bus entered a backstage area of Hollywood Studios, and parked behind the Tower of Terror attraction. We exited the bus and walked into the park through a gate that brought us in by the Tower of Terror entrance. (The park was open, and it pained me to walk past Tower of Terror without going in when I saw there was only a 10 minute wait.)

We spent the next hour or so slowly walking up Sunset Blvd. Our guide had a back-story from Walt's past that explained the reason behind the name and/or theme of many of the buildings along this street. This was an extremely interesting part of the tour, and frankly, one of the few portions of the tour that stuck to the theme of inspiration through Walt's eyes.

When we reached the intersection of Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd, the guide discussed the transition from the movie era of the 30s and 40s (covered by the buildings on Sunset Blvd) into the television era of the 50s and the opening of Disneyland. Unfortunately, we didn't walk further into the part of Hollywood Studios themed around television production for this discussion, but simply stood near the wait time board at the intersection. I personally thought this was a missed opportunity.

We then walked up toward Toy Story Midway Mania, where we stopped to discuss the more recent history of the company and the Pixar films. Some interesting discussion, but I didn't see a strong link to the theme of the tour, aside from a parallel that was drawn between the forward thinking natures of both Walt Disney and John Lasseter.

I was very disappointed to have walked past One Man's Dream without going in. I would have loved to have had a guided tour through that entire attraction. I think this would have been much more in keeping with the theme of the tour than other things we did later in the tour. Another missed opportunity in my mind.

We then exited the park through a cast member gate between Toy Story Midway Mania and Journey into Narnia, where our bus was waiting. We were then off to the Magic Kingdom area.

Our next stop was a backstage area where Disney Event and Decorating Support is located. This is in a support area behind the Magic Kingdom, beyond the train and monorail roundhouse, in a warehouse adjacent to the Holiday Support Services facility. The Event and Decorating Support facility primarily supports parties and events with which Disney is involved. Some examples given to us were Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, the christening of Disney cruise ships, ESPN events, involvement with the Olympics, etc. As it was Sunday, the facility was shut down, so there was no activity to witness. We did not go into the workshops, just walked around the warehouse. It was interesting to see some of the old props, but in all honesty, a warehouse is a warehouse. I personally viewed this part of the tour as wasted time. Aside from the fact that it had nothing to do with the theme of the tour, there was nothing new in seeing this facility than things I've seen on other backstage tours. To an extent, it wasn't that different from the waiting line for the Hollywood Studios Backstage Tour attraction (except on a much larger scale). Also, because many of the events supported by the facility are external to Walt Disney World, it wasn't quite as "magical" as going through the Holiday Support Services building (on the Yuletide Magic Tour) or the Central Shops facility (on the Backstage Magic Tour). At those facilities, one sees props that are recognizable from WDW. This is not necessarily the case at Event and Decorating Support, where the only thing I recognized was one sign for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. (My opinion -- your mileage may vary.)

From there, we re-boarded the bus and drove to the Magic Kingdom service area near Space Mountain. After passing through another checkpoint where our bags were checked, we pulled into the employee lot behind Main Street USA and Tomorrowland.

We first walked down into the Utilidors. We didn't enter any of the specific service areas, but simply made a quick circle of tunnels, stopping at some photos to have discussions. The only connection to Inspiration: Through Walt's Eyes was a story from Walt's Disneyland experience, where he saw a cast member in a costume from Frontierland walking through Tomorrowland. This was the inspiration for having the utilidors built for WDW. Frankly, I think the utilidors being a part of this tour is simply a marketing ploy to try to entice more people to want to take the tour. (If you really want to see the utilidors and other backstage cast areas, I personally recommend the Keys to the Kingdom or Backstage Magic tours. These tours, which we've done on previous visits, provided much more detailed exploration of these areas.)

After exiting the utilidors, we re-entered Main Street USA, and walked up into the waiting area of the Main Street Train Station. While sitting there, the tour guide shared stories from Walt's childhood and early career that related to his love of trains. While some of these stories were repetitive of those shared during Disney's Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour, they were still an enjoyable element of this tour. (After all, there are only so many Walt Disney stories to go around. It's not terrible that some of them are told on multiple tours.) One critique to this portion of the tour is that it was all conducted on the second floor. On our way out of the building, the guide quickly pointed to displays on the first floor that were applicable to some of the stories he told. While I'll admit to enjoying the respite on the benches after walking around the utilidors, at least portions of this discussion might have been better held on the first floor near the visuals. (We later returned to the Magic Kingdom on our own after the tour, and spent some time looking at these first floor train station displays in more detail.)

From the train station, the tour guide walked us up Main Street USA, where the he pointed out key names on the second-floor windows. He had stories and background for each window he discussed, and did a good job of tying it all into the theme. We turned and again went backstage through a door between the Plaza Restaurant and the Tomorrowland Noodle Terrace. Our bus was waiting for us, which we re-boarded for the ride back to Epcot.

During the ride back to Epcot, the guide entertained questions and answers, collected the listening devices, and gave each participant a pin.

In all, we found this to be an enjoyable three hours. However, I think this tour has a bit of an identity crisis. I strongly suggest the Disney Institute redesign some elements of the tour, and re-evaluate if some of the itinerary is really in keeping with the theme. Not every Walt Disney World tour needs to incorporate a visit to the utilidors. Event and Decorating Support was also a real stretch for the theme of this tour. It added little to the experience -- especially on a Sunday when the facility is essentially closed and there's no activity to see. There are so many other areas with a direct Walt Disney connection that would seem a more appropriate use of the time devoted to these aspects of the tour. Please consider adding a walkthrough of One Man's Dream to the tour. Walt Disney had a real vision for EPCOT, however, Epcot the park wasn't even part of the tour. I would have enjoyed hearing about how "the Florida project" transformed from Walt's original EPCOT concept of a living and working city into the the Walt Disney World resort we all know and love, now. Speaking of Epcot, aside from the fact that there's a formal tour meeting area in front of this park, I didn't understand why this was the starting and ending point for the tour. Unless Epcot is somehow added as one of the parks on the tour, the transit time to and from this park should be eliminated, as it only takes away from the three hours available for the tour itself.

Having experienced many of the tours offered at Walt Disney World, I cannot recommend this one as someone's first tour. Tours such as Keys to the Kingdom or Backstage Magic, while more costly and time consuming, are a much better starting point. For those with a few tours under your belt, I'll let my trip report speak for itself. I understand I was very critical in my report. I must say, though, that I don't regret taking the tour and don't feel like we wasted our time or money. I just wasn't "wowed" by this tour as I have been with many others.

Our past tour experiences include:

Disney's Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Backstage Magic Tour
Disney's Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour
Disney's Family Magic Tour
Yuletide Fantasy Tour
Behind the Seeds at Epcot Tour
The UnDISCOVERed Future World Tour
Hidden Treasures of World Showcase Tour