We recently gave you a sneak peek at all the Holiday Fun coming to Disney World for the 2018 Season!
During the Christmas in July Media Event, we were also able to participate in a preview of Disney’s Yuletide Fantasy Tour, which will be offered once again this year on select dates in November and December. This 3.5-hour tour brings guests backstage to learn about what goes on behind the scenes to make the Holiday Season completely magical in Disney World!
The tour begins at Epcot, where a Cast Member Tour Guide greets the participants. Then, it’s off to a festively decorated bus to head over to a backstage warehouse while the Tour Guide shares stories about what Christmases were like for Walt Disney and his family.
Guests will also notice headsets in the seats on the bus — these are great for use during the walking tour so you don’t miss any details of what the Guide has to share!
Now, something to note: guests are encouraged to leave their bags and belongings on the bus. This is not simply for guest comfort — it’s also due to the fact that pictures and videos are prohibited in the backstage areas, so you needn’t bring your cameras anyway. (Guests are also given bottles of water to bring inside the warehouse… because even though it will probably be less so in the winter months, the tour space can get toasty!)
Once inside, guests have a chance to take in the sheer amount of decorations stored in the Holiday Services Warehouse. It helps you wrap your head around where they keep ALL THIS…
… and MUCH more! Though many of these will be in use during the holiday season, you can still get a great idea of the massive undertaking of decorating every corner of Disney World!
On our tour, we already spotted the “elves” hard at work (pretty much year ‘round!) preparing trees and garlands for the season.
After exploring the warehouse, it was back on the bus to get to our next stop: the Disney Events Building, where we explored the Floral Department.
During the Christmas in July preview, the department was working on arrangements for weddings and corporate events, and we were able to explore the cooler filled with fresh flowers… and we even received a little surprise (but that’s a secret!).
New to the tour this year is a final stop at Amorette’s Patisserie in Disney Springs.
Tour guests will be decorating a tour-exclusive Disney-themed Gingerbread Man, and will even receive a special gift at the end of the class that will correlate with their Disney Gingerbread! (We don’t know all the details yet, as Amorette’s would like to keep some of the information a SURPRISE for as long as they can!)
From here, guests can choose to stay and explore Disney Springs or board the bus back to Epcot. But that’s after receiving a souvenir of the day…
Again, the Yuletide Fantasy Tour is offered on select dates throughout November and December.
Interested guests may learn more and book the experience via the Disney World website.
And, don’t forget! Disney’s Holiday D-Lights Tour is another seasonal tour, and it offers both in-park and backstage experiences!
Further booking information for Holiday D-Lights can also be found via the Disney World website.
Just some extra festive fun to consider in case you’d like to see what goes into DECKING ALL THE HALLS in Walt Disney World during the Holiday Season!
Don’t Miss Out on Any Disney World Fun This Holiday Season!
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Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. We were invited by Disney to experience the Yuletide Fantasy Tour. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJHave you ever taken a Disney World backstage tour? Please let us know about your experience with a comment!
I’ve done the Dolphins in Depth tour and loved every second of it!
Three years in a row, starting the first Saturday after Thanksgiving !
Can’t Wait !!! WDW at Christmas time, my favorite time of the year.