Today was the day we had been anxiously awaiting for- but who am I kidding, everyday was like Christmas morning for our family! Today we were heading to Walt Disney Studios, then Disney Imagineering, then off to Disneyland at night. Yesterday was just so incredibly awesome- and today was going to be even better than that!
Now, as an Adventures by Disney veteran, LOL (this was my third)… I know that as you travel through your vacation you almost climb to a peak then then travel down hill as far as activities/exhaustion are concerned. Today is the peak of this vacation’s hill- two reasons: 1- amazing places and experiences all sugar coated with the “Disney Difference” and 2- today is filled, we have nearly 14 hours of activity today on schedule.
So, we met Lo and Michael in the hotel lobby (which was a first, we usually met on the 2nd floor) and headed to the bus from there to Walt Disney Studios after our breakfast in the hotel.
One last glimpse of the Hollywood sign- can you see it?
It wasn’t long until we were at Walt Disney Studios!
Once unloaded and on the lot, Lo and Michael pointed out a few key spots …
You can clearly see the hospital where Walt Disney passed away from lung cancer while strolling the grounds of the studios…
This was actually placed as a prop, but it was so adorable, they kept it in tact! If you actually followed those directions, you would get lost.
It is all about the details…
Here Cast Members can take a break and catch a movie to help generate some creative juices to flow! Today, they were having a staff meeting inside, I was fortunate to get a picture without a line of Cast Members our front to get in.
We were then separated into 2 groups (we were nearly 40 people, it just made the most sense as to not disturb everyone- and gave us a more personal experience as well).We started in the Animation Building, which ironically doesn’t do much animating anymore- but is still just so impressive…
Along the way we passed some pretty magical offices too!
Even the floors were magically detailed!
Their inks and paints…
Then it was a quick walk to the Archives…
We even got to hold and take pictures with one of their Oscars!
Tricia’s family had a hard time deciding who got to hold this very heavy statue!
Nice compromise…
Next it was time to check out some Disney Legends!
Next it was time for lunch. On the way we passed Walt’s (top floor on the right) and Roy’s (second floor on the left) offices.
We also passed a bench dedicated to Gary Marshall…
For lunch, we were given vouchers to redeem and it was up to us to get what we wanted- and there was quite a variety, including Walt’s favorite chili and grilled cheese!
I had to try the grilled cheese, it was too hot for me to try the chili.
After lunch, we were given time to shop in their studio store- which is basically a huge Disney Store you can find in a mall (there are store exclusives in the back), we opted to save our money for Mickey’s of Glendale during our next stop- Imagineering!
