"free time" during Backstage Magic

[scrapbookjulie]

Hi! We are doing the backstage magic trip in August. I have never been to Hollywood/Disney Land, and I had a couple questions for those who have taken this trip...

1) On the afternoons that there is "free time," should I have some activities in mind? Or do the guides usually offer suggestions for that time?

2) In the parks, should I be planning ahead what rides we'd like to go on during our "free time"? Or is that kind of Disney World super-planning not necessary in Disney Land?

3) Does anyone have suggestions for fun activities in Hollywood the day the tour starts? We will be arriving the night before, so we will have all day free until dinner. I would love to go to the wax museum, but is that pretty much always offered as a "surprise" activity after dinner that first night?

Thanks for any help!

 

[OKW Lover]

We've done BSM several times now. I'd go a bit easy on activities because the trip itself is pretty full with some early mornings and late evenings.

1. During the afternoon free time the guides will offer several suggestions. In the Hollywood area a lot of folks like to shop and see the sights along Hollywood Blvd. A trip to the Farmers Market is also fun. At DL, most people just go to the parks on their free time.
2. By all means think about the attractions you want to hit during your free time. You'll be given some special fast passes by your guides that make getting on the most popular ones much easier. In general though, outside a couple really popular attractions, a lot of advance planning isn't necessary at DL/DCA.
3. See #1 for suggestions. Yes, the wax museum is normally a feature of that first night. To make it even more interesting, be sure to drink several glasses of wine at the welcome dinner you'll think the wax figures are alive.

IIRC, there's a thread in this part of the DIS with restaurant suggestions for meals on your own.

Enjoy your Adventure!!!

 

[scrapbookjulie]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Just a head's up, that there are only a handful of attractions in each park that are on fastpass, unlike at WDW.

Disneyland Park:
HyperSpace Mountain
BuzzLight Lightyear's Astro Blasters
Star Tours
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Splash Mountain
Indiana Jones
Roger Rabbit (ToonTown)
Haunted Mansion

California Adventure:
Frozen: Live at the Hyperion
Tower of Terror (May not be operational as it is switching to Guardians of the Galaxy and will be down until late spring/early summer)
Radiator Springs Racers (not available on the free fastpasses handed out by ABD)
California Screamin'
Goofy's Sky School
Soarin'
Grizzly River Run

Matterhorn Mountain at Disneyland is NOT a fastpass attraction and Radiator Springs Racers, while it is a fastpass attraction it is not included in the fastpasses that are handed out as special fastpasses by the ABD guides. You will receive a single free fastpass to ride this attraction but you will not be able to ride it as part of your 5 free fastpasses for the day as this attraction is super popular.

On our trip, most people opted to do the "optional" activities on our California Adventure day whereas we were the only ones to actually head off into the park ourselves and hit the attractions.

We also arrived the day before the tour started and we opted to not the standard tourist thing of checking out Hollywood Boulevard but then I basically live in a working movie studio. I can't walk down the street most days without seeing movie trucks somewhere (they filmed Suicide Squad just down from my office). We opted to do what the locals do and we hiked Runyon Canyon which is only a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

 

[hilarys]

On your free time days at the Parks, definitely try to use up the Fast Passes to hit attractions. I would focus on items that are different from WDW (Pirates, Thunder Mountain) and not available at WDW. Make a list of those ahead of time, use your fast passes and watch wait times for the non-FP attractions. Depending on the park hours when you are there and your stamina, you will also usually have some additional free time after the evening activities.

On the Hollywood Day, since you are flying in the day before you could definitely do a half day plus at Universal if you get there when it opens. Otherwise tons of other things to do - Santa Monica, Westwood/Beverly Hills, beach in Malibu. Farmer's Market, the Grove, etc. I hate the area around the hotel so I would try to go see somewhere else. I got more than enough of that area during the ABD days.

 

[scrapbookjulie]

Thanks for the good tips!

On our trip, most people opted to do the "optional" activities on our California Adventure day whereas we were the only ones to actually head off into the park ourselves and hit the attractions.

I'm surprised most people don't stay in the park. Can I ask for an example of an "optional" activity on this day? Or is that a surprise thing that's not supposed to be shared?

 

[hilarys]

Thanks for the good tips!



I'm surprised most people don't stay in the park. Can I ask for an example of an "optional" activity on this day? Or is that a surprise thing that's not supposed to be shared?

We did not have any optional activities on Disneyland day. We did have one on California Adventure Day - you can read my trip report which is just a few posts down for a discussion of what we did. My report has spoilers, but I don't want to post them here.

 

[OKW Lover]

For those posting spoilers here or in other threads, did you know that the DIS has a special feature for just this kind of thing? If you look at the tool bar right above the field you are typing in, towards the right side is an icon that looks vaguely like a page with writing (its between the film and camera icons). If you click on that icon

Spoiler: This is what happens

you can then enter the spoiler text and people will have to click on it

to see what you wrote. This lets them decide for themselves.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Thanks for the good tips!



I'm surprised most people don't stay in the park. Can I ask for an example of an "optional" activity on this day? Or is that a surprise thing that's not supposed to be shared?

I don't really consider these spoilers since my trip was at the start of 2015 and neither of these "attractions/shows" are there anymore.

During our trip, the optional activities for California Adventure were to see the Frozen Sing-A-Long and Aladdin Live on Stage at the Hyperion. That was going to be in the afternoon. Well, for us, we had been to WDW so many times since Frozen had basically taken over those parks, you couldn't pay us to go to the Frozen Sing-A-Long and we had just seen the Broadway version of Aladdin in it's pre-Broadway run in Toronto (where we're from) like 6 weeks before our Backstage Magic trip that we didn't see the point in seeing it in the park. Plus, we came all the way to California to actually spend time riding the attractions. Plus while we were there, they were getting ready for the 60th anniversary and so many of the things we wanted to see and do, were shut down or being refurbished for the 60th (Matterhorn, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Soarin', World of Color) that I was not going to waste my afternoon sitting in theatres, I was going to get on the ONE attraction I had come all the way across the country to ride that was still operational since I wasn't going to get to see World of Color and that was California Screamin. The guides didn't actually believe me when I told them I was going to ride California Screamin' when they asked us what our plans were for the afternoon as we were the only 2 that opted not to partake of the optional activities. Since we weren't joining the others, the guides were nice enough to give us a bonus free fastpass to Radiator Springs Racers so we did that, we did Toy Story Mania, Goofy's Sky School, Tower of Terror twice and California Screamin twice in a row (got off, walked around and got right back on thanks to fastpass). Oh and this was with my 65 year old mother btw.

 

[White Rose]

We went to the tar pits, which was only a cab/uber ride away, then went to the tower of terror.. erm I mean the Roosevelt hotel, which the deco is part of the inspiration for the tower of terror....the Roosevelt is walking distance from the ABD hotel....it was a nice half day....and you can spend quite some time at the tar pits and museum..was easy!

 

[GSLand]

Not a whole day activity - but DH and I walked to the In ' Out burger. It was a treat for this east coaster.

Our arrival was delayed because of snow and if we had arrived earlier I wanted to go to the Griffith Observatory.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

Some thoughts about fun things in the Hollywood area: The area around the Hollywood hotel is sort of dirty and touristy. Try to get away, if you arrive early and have free time. Universal Studios is a great place to spend a day, especially if you book their VIP tour. Also, Warner Brothers Studios has an amazing VIP tour. If you arrive on a Thursday or Friday, you might be able to catch the taping of a TV show. I watched "Big Bang Theory" tape once, which was tons of fun. It does fill up an entire evening, though. Go to Beverly Hills and shop and eat at The Ivy for some celeb spotting opportunities. The Griffith Observatory is a nice quick visit with pretty views, and it's been shown on tons of TV/films.

 

[Miss SD]

Although Hollywood is a little gritty, we enjoy exploring the area. We've stumbled upon one of Charlie Chaplin's homes and sought out the Alto Nido apartments where Joe from "Sunset Boulevard" lived. And it's fun to have a drink/meal at the Roosevelt Hotel. Yamashiro (on the hill above the Magic Castle) is a beautiful building with an interesting history and a fabulous view of the city. It's a great place for drinks. (I wouldn't recommend it for dinner anymore. That said, I hope it's still open!)

Others have given you great ideas, but I wanted to chime in with places within walking distance of the hotel.