Trip Report: “Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure” Day 4 – San Francisco and Summit Skywalker Ranch

We’ve now become acquainted with Prihnukagigur, the Icelandic Air Boeing 752-200 aircraft that serves as our magic carpet for Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure. Day 4 of the itinerary from Adventures by Disney began with a 6:00 am buffet breakfast at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. Having pre-tagged our bags, we were able to leave them in the room and not worry about them until we arrived at the airport.

After a coach ride to Ontario, we were reunited with our bags and checked in for our flight. We went through a TSA screening and were unable to use TSA pre-check, but the airport was quiet, and it went quickly. At the gate, we got our first view of the plane.

Our Adventure Team (L-R: Front Row – Dean, Loz, Julie, Troy – Back Row – Michael, Patricio) donned Mickey Mouse aviation hats during our short wait in the terminal.

While boarding, each group was offered a photo in front of the plane. This aircraft has previously been used for National Geographic Expeditions and has been rethemed to Adventures by Disney for this itinerary.

All of the seats are international business class-style with plenty of key room. We were greeted by some surprise amenities, including Adventures by Disney mouse ears created just for this trip, a baseball cap, and a reprinting of the August 1963 issue of National Geographic, which featured a profile on Disneyland and the first published photo of Walt Disney’s apartment, which we toured the day prior. Becky Cline revealed that this reprinting was created for National Geographic employees when they became part of The Walt Disney Company.

Sparking champagne and fresh squeezed orange juice started the flight off right, paired with a chocolate-covered strawberry and macaron.

Our quick flight to Oakland was smooth and relaxing. Upon landing, we were surprised to find that our coaches were waiting for us on the tarmac!

Crossing the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, our first stop was The Walt Disney Family Museum in the historic Presidio. The museum is typically closed on Wednesdays, so it was open just for our group today. We began with a light lunch made of sandwiches, salads, and desserts in the lobby.

Since we weren’t allowed to take photos inside Walt Disney’s apartment at Disneyland, it was nice to see a recreation of the apartment window, complete with original furniture from it.

The museum’s lobby is also full of various awards Walt Disney received. Fitting for our arrival was his key to the city of San Francisco.

Guests could take a guided group tour or explore the museum at their own pace. The galleries feature many personal artifacts of Walt Disney’s, including his travel toiletry bag and United Airlines luggage tags. Fun fact: Walt Disney was a member of United Airlines’ 100,000 Mile Club, impressive considering his company had several private planes.

Around 3:00, we boarded the coaches for a short 5-minute drive to Lucasfilm, also located within the Presidio. In their theater, executive vice president and manager Lynwen Brennan gave an overview of what we’d be seeing today, including Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). The screen was used to offer a sizzle reel of what ILM does, a recap of Star Wars Celebration Europe, and a trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). After the presentation, we were divided into smaller groups for our tours. Our guide gifted each of us with a pin left over from Star Wars Celebration Anaheim. We received Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bo-Katan Kryze.

We first walked the Lucasfilm hallways, which contain glass cases of props, costumes, and puppets used in film and TV projects, including a Grogu puppet from The Mandalorian.

The Lucasfilm campus recently underwent a renovation. One of the biggest changes is more floor space for Lucasfilm Animation, which is busier than ever before with series like Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Visions, and Young Jedi Adventures. We didn’t get to go beyond this Ahsoka Tano wall, but it was exciting to think about what’s being created behind it.

Time was tight, but we were given 10 precious minutes to shop in the company store, which features many exclusive items. Our guide highlighted a new collection of ILM hats and shirts, as well as some items from the new Indiana Jones movie created just for Lucasfilm, like the Marshall College sweatshirt.

We got a taste of ILM’s wizardry earlier in the trip when we were taken to the volumetric soundstage at The Walt Disney Studios. Expanding on that, we were brought to the motion capture stage for a live demonstration of how quickly a performance can be filmed. The technician holding the motion capture “camera” queued the scene, which was set on the Mos Eisley ship hangar from The Mandalorian. On command, someone at the controls had the Razor Crest land, and the plank descended. That’s when the performer walked down a ramp, and we saw on the screens as Din Djarin realistically mimicked his movements in real-time.

Following our tour of Lucasfilm, we were given our exclusive pin of the day, the iconic Yoda Fountain at the entrance to Lucasfilm’s campus. The Yoda on the pin is 3D and the fountain has glitter speckles.

Back on the bus, we began our hour-long drive to Summit Skywalker Ranch, our home for the next 2 nights. This is an unprecedented event, with an overnight stay typically reserved as a creative retreat for filmmakers who are collaborating on a project. Interior photographs are strictly forbidden, and exterior photographs are only allowed if a person is present in the shot. However, the official Summit Skywalker Ranch website does contain photographs of the interior and exterior of the campus for those curious about what it looks like. The hallways are filled with George Lucas’ personal collection of international movie posters from the golden age of Hollywood, including some classic Walt Disney shorts. The collection extends into the spacious guest rooms.

Dinner was an elegant affair, with gourmet dishes paired with wines from George Lucas’ three labels: Skywalker Vineyards (grown at Skywalker Ranch), Château Margüi from France, and Il Convento del Viandante del Cielo from Italy. The food was excellent, but the company was even better. It may only be day 4, but travelers on this Adventures by Disney trip are becoming fast friends.

After dinner options included recreation in the John Williams Games Room, or experiencing the film that changed moviemaking as we know it, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, on the big screen in the David Lean Theater. We checked out the games room and also perused some of the hallway art, but are passing on the screening in favor of catching up on sleep. With so many early starts and late nights, this visit to Summit Skywalker Ranch is a much-needed moment of zen ahead of more whirlwind theme park days.

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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