Trip Report: “Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure” Day 2 – Walt Disney Studios Tour

While the Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure started at Walt Disney’s original theme park, today we reversed his old commute. Rising before the sun, a breakfast buffet helped Guests rise and shine before boarding one of three coaches to Burbank. Follow along with this Day 2 trip report from this inaugural Adventures by Disney itinerary.

By 6:30 am, we were off to The Walt Disney Studios. With L.A.’s notorious traffic, we had Oswald’s luck on our side and arrived in just over an hour. Along the way, one of our Adventure Guides, Dean, pointed out a few sights, such as the tunnel to Toontown from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the building that doubles as the titular location of ABC’s General Hospital.

We pulled onto to Disney lot through the gate Walt Disney used most often, the Buena Vista gate. Our day began with shopping in the Studio Store and Employee Center, with package pickup made available after the tour.

The 75 adventurers were split into smaller groups for tours. Ours began with Stages B and C, which specialize in audio recording and foley. Dawn escorted our group into a recording stage where Oscar-nominated sound mixer Doc Kane gave as an overview of ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement). There’s nothing automatic about re-recording dialogue that wasn’t captured clearly on set. Guests were encouraged to step up to the mic to lend their voices to Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Doc also pointed out a railing that was installed and named the “Kyle Bar” after Kylo Ren, custom built for Adam Driver’s most rage-fueled ADR takes on the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Next, we went to the original Animation Building, where features from Pinocchio in 1940 through The Black Cauldron in 1985 were drawn. Most of the building is now production offices, but we headed up to office 3H, aka Walt Disney’s original office. In 2015, The Walt Disney Archives painstakingly restored it to how it looked when Disney Legend Dave Smith first archived it.

Being that we’re about to embark on a private jet trip around the world, Walt Disney’s models of his own private planes really stuck out. All three were present: a Beechcraft Queen Air (1963–1965), Beechcraft King Air (1965–1967), and the most famous, the Grumman Gulfstream I, that began flying Walt Disney back and forth to New York during the 1964 New York World’s Fair and would go on to be used for scouting missions for what was then called “Project X,” later “The Florida Project,” and now known as Walt Disney World (the full restored plane is now on display at the Palm Springs Air Museum).

A corkboard in the office also showed a few photos from the interior of the historic “Mickey Mouse Plane.”

Upon exiting Walt Disney’s office, we were given a pin with the old Walt Disney Productions logo with a border commemorating this “Official VIP Studio Tour” (Note: This is not the Adventures by Disney pin of the day).

We next went to the Frank G. Wells building, home to The Walt Disney Archives. Our Adventure Host, Becky Cline, was waiting for us with an assortment of artifacts laid out on a table, in addition to one’s on display in glass cases. Among them was the 4-page document that officially formed what is now The Walt Disney Company on October 16th, 1923, signed by Walt Disney. The storyboard script for Steamboat Willie, the first Disneyland ticket printed, and some of the earliest Mickey Mouse merchandise were also displayed.

A time-honored tradition of a visit to The Walt Disney Archives is the chance to hold a real Academy Award, won for the True-Life Adventure film White Wilderness. But one of the framed pieces of artwork caught my eye for its poignancy on our future travels. It’s an ad for the Winnie the Pooh Exhibition that the archives curated for Japan, which will be our next Disney Resort. The experience was sponsored by Mitsukoshi, a Japanese department store that may sound familiar to EPCOT fans, where our trip will end.

We didn’t leave The Walt Disney Archives empty-handed. Becky Cline passed out gift bags containing a notepad (complete with Walt Disney’s approval on whatever you write), a pencil, and a button that commemorates the visit. We also received a very special pin that is considered the first piece of Disney100 merchandise. It was created for the D23 Expo as a giveaway to attendees of the Disney Legends Ceremony. There were enough leftovers for everyone on our tour to receive one.

Next, we entered the original Ink & Paint building, most of which is now home to Searchlight Pictures. Inside, the team walked us through the traditional process of inking and painting a cel. Using Tinker Bell as an example. We observed each step of the traditional ink and paint process.

 including having her wings airbrushed using stencils. While these are created and reproduced to be sold as art, in the film Peter Pan, new stencils had to be created for every frame of Tinker Bell so that her wings appeared translucent.

The traditional inking process was discontinued on 101 Dalmatians when the Xerox process was implemented to transfer the animator’s drawings onto celluloid. Each Xerox machine required three rooms to transfer, trimming down a process that took hours per frame into just a few minutes. Only one of the machines is still in the building, and it still works! We were shown how an image is captured, transferred to a plate, and then pressed onto a cel before being cured and sent to be painted. Like the hand-inked Tinker Bell, the Xerox process is still in use on select art created by the department for sale.

Like a scene from the She-Hulk finale, we returned to the Frank G. Wells building to tour the second and third floors, home to Marvel Studios. Yes, the reception office was used in the series.

The three Iron Man suits on display aren’t screen-used but were instead created for a Disneyland installation and moved to the office when the parks were done with them. Although quite a few costumes and props were located throughout the studio’s offices.

A corridor of comics is there as a resource for the creatives working on future projects, with some props scattered throughout behind protective glass. As a special treat, we were shown a table of comics that are about to be purged and given the opportunity to take one home.

The restrooms on the two Marvel Studios floors are in-universe.

Floor 3 is where Marvel’s streaming series are planned, so the hallways were full of costumes and props from Disney+ originals like WandaVision, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel. 

For fun and relaxation, Marvel Studios employees can take a break in the game room.

Busts of creatures from Werewolf by Night decorate this corner of the office.

Another Disneyland artifact awaited us as we approached another elevator bank to head back to the lobby, the Miss Minutes photo op from Loki.

A free comic wasn’t the only parting gift from Marvel Studios. We also received this limited-edition logo pin. Click here for more photos from our tour of Marvel Studios.

We had worked up quite an appetite, so it was finally time for lunch in the Rotunda, an exclusive dining location for Disney executives and VIPs at the top of the Team Disney building.

The group was split into four groups for the remaining activities. First, we crossed the street to Walt Disney Animation Studios, where most of Disney’s animated films were made since 1995.

The main entrance hallways are themed to the studio’s 100th anniversary with a timeline of milestones on both sides.

The lobby is home to a gallery of awards the studio has won.

Our first stop was a screening room where, as a special surprise, directors Trent Correy and Dan Abrahams screened Once Upon a Studio, a special short that celebrates the studio’s 100th anniversary. This tour was the second outside audience to see the short, which premiered at Annecy and features characters from every Disney animated film from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through Wish. After the screening, Trent and Dan played a feature about Disney Legend Burny Mattinson, to whom the shirt is dedicated. While the short was previously announced to screen in theaters before Wish, the directors mentioned that Disney is currently evaluating how the short will be released.

Before leaving the animation studio, we were shown a few areas of the first two floors, including the coffee bar named The Caffeine Patch after a gag in Meet the Robinsons. That area on the second floor also has a neon homage to the old Hyperion Studio and a standee celebrating the studio’s 100th anniversary. Click here to see more images from the studio’s display for their upcoming film, Wish.

Heading back to the studio lot, we next got to tour a few soundstages. Stage 1 is also called “The Infinity Stage,” where we were treated to an Industrial Light & Magic display of LED volumetric set technology, made famous by The Mandalorian but now readily used on other films and shows like How I Met Your Father and The Santa Clauses. No photos were allowed inside.

Stage 5, once home to Home Improvement, most recently held sets from grown-ish. It’s currently vacant, so we were allowed to take photos inside. It will best be used as one of the soundstages for ABC’s Station 19, which was previously filmed on another lot. However, work to move everything over has been temporarily paused due to the WGA strike. Some of the move was completed when the strike began in Stage 2, which is home to the titular fire station. We got to walk through the set, which sits on a reinforced floor to ensure that it can sustain a real fire truck being parked in the garage set. Because these sets use a closed ceiling, work is being done to equip each room with air conditioning connections as well as their own real fire alarms. It’s a smart choice as we were shown some fire damage on the walls of the soundstage, which were the result of a construction mishap during production on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Our tour of the Disney Studio lot wrapped with collecting purchased packages and boarding our coach back to the Disneyland Resort. Dean put on Peter Pan for our 90-minute drive back to Anaheim, a film that was animated at the studio we just toured and also inspired an attraction at Disneyland, Peter Pan’s Flight. We had an hour to relax before it was time to head into Disney California Adventure for dinner inside the Disney Theater (during the day, it’s home to Disney Junior Dance Party!).

Greeted by wines and cocktails, an open bar was set up along with a buffet-style dinner. I chose barbeque chicken, beet salad, succotash, broccolini, cheesy potatoes, and cornbread with apple butter.

We were surprised by a very special guest, Disneyland Resort President Ken Potruck, who says he has “the best job in the world.” He joked that when Bob Iger steps down as CEO, he wants Ken’s current gig. He shared an anecdote about the reopening of the theme parks in 2021 and how he and Cast Members lined Main Street, U.S.A. to thank Guests for returning, but found that the Guests were full of more gratitude for having the magic back. And Ken revealed the official pin of the day!

Having spent most of the day at The Walt Disney Studios, it was fitting that the pin we received showcased Oswald the Lucky Rabbit coming home to Burbank (the original Oswald shorts were animated at the Hyperion Studio).

As a kiss goodnight, we were escorted to Paradise Gardens Park for a dessert party and viewing of World of Color – ONE. With comfortable chairs at tables facing the pier, we snacked on tasty sweets while enjoying themed beverages.

Now that we’re sufficiently tuckered out, it’s time for bed before another early morning. Tomorrow we’re enjoying a VIP tour of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Until next time, see ya real soon!

Disney fans will soon be able to travel the globe from the comfort of their homes with Disney Around the World from Ravensburger. We brought along an early review copy of the game and look forward to playing it during downtime on this adventure.

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