On my recent solo trip, I got to take the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour! Here’s a review of that experience to help you decide if it’s worth it.
Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour
Given how much I enjoyed Walt’s Main Street Story Tour last year, I decided to book the new Disneyland 70th Anniversary Guided Tour for this trip. Unlike last time though, I booked this tour in advance. In fact, I booked it 60 days out when I booked my dining reservations as I was sure that I wanted to do it. Unlike the other tour, it’s 2 hours (versus 90 minutes) and slightly cheaper ($120 vs $160).
The Walking Tour
At the start of the tour, everyone is given an ear piece, a lanyard, and a pin with your name on it to wear. The ear piece helps you hear the tour guide better and they play some old clips of Disneyland promotional things from 70 years ago. The walking tour is basically a walk around the park with a brief look at each land and facts about opening day attractions in each land. We rode the Disneyland Railroad from Tomorrowland to New Orleans Square. Then, we rode the Main Twain Riverboat. Both rides opened with the park.
We also received a Lightning Lane Entry for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. I rode this right after the tour since the tour ends outside Toontown.
Each of us also received a special pin. You can see the keepsake pin in the 3rd image in my Instagram post. I like that it features the Mark Twain since we rode it on the tour. I also liked the nod to Autopia since I met Bob Gurr while in California on this trip!
I will admit, the tour itself is kind of dry. We didn’t really do much that you couldn’t do on your own. It wasn’t special access to a hidden area of the park or anything. In fact, I’m not sure I learned many new facts on the tour. So, I wouldn’t book this tour solely for the tour itself…
Paint the Night Viewing
The real reason I wanted to book this tour was that it came with reserved viewing of the new Paint the Night parade! I didn’t feel like dealing with people squishing me since I was by myself. So, a reserved area to view the parade from with less people sounded great to me! Plus, they gave us some popcorn to munch on while we waited for the parade! It was so nice to be able to spread out while viewing the parade. Plus, it made for a great way to end the day at the park.
Is the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour worth it?
A two hour tour probably isn’t ideal for a first time visitor. $120 isn’t exactly cheap either. While I really enjoyed the reserved viewing for the parade, I think it’s harder to recommend this tour for most folks. While I don’t regret taking the tour, I just think it’s harder to justify this one. It’s interesting to be guided around the park and to hear stories about its opening. However, the vast majority of the information shared is already online. This is mostly for people are interested in the park history but just starting to learn about it. It’s also great for people wanting a reserved space for the parade. Everyone else probably won’t find it worth the time and money.
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