Our last day started early as we met in The Manhattan Club lobby and walked to Ellen's Stardust Diner, where we would have our entertaining breakfast. Food was tasty, with offerings such as steak and eggs, but the real draw here is the entertainment.
The diner takes the singing waiter idea up a notch, and your servers perform throughout your meal, not missing a note while pouring coffee or delivering piled high plates. If you're a fan of the TV show Glee, this concept will look familiar to you, as several characters in the show worked in a diner styled after Ellen's. Performers not only sing while working the floor, but they also walk along a runway of sorts located on the sibacks of the booths.
Properly prepared for our Broadway day we then headed to the New Amsterdam Theatre for a history filled tour of this magnificent icon.
We were then taken backstage into the prop room. This fairly small space is loaded with set miniatures, props and costumes from all of the Disney Theatrical Productions Broadway shows. We were then allowed to try on the costumes and props (be careful, those Lion King masks cost $8,000!).
Now that we were fully primed to perform we set off to an authentic Broadway rehearsal hall where we tried our hands (and feet) at performing a skit and then learning a dance routine that we would see later performed as it should be. We were troopers, but none of us were invited to join the cast of Aladdin.
Our afternoon was for us to explore and dine on our own, with instructions of when to meet up for our farewell evening.
Allowed in as VIPS (naturally) well before the theatre opened for the evening, we were escorted to a reception area that had a nice assortment of cheese, crackers and fruit laid out for us to enjoy.
I was just starting to wonder if I should have had dinner when I noticed the open bar. Never mind, I didn't really need dinner. But then, here came servers bearing plates of delicacies such as sliders, mini dogs, spring rolls and so much more (cheesecake!). They made their rounds until we all had eaten as much as we possibly could, then we traded in our wineglasses for alcohol sippy cups and were escorted to our perfect center orchestra seats.
The show was magnificent, loaded with familiar aspects as well as entirely new scenes. Cast perfectly, Aladdin deserves all the accolades it is receiving. After the show several cast members came out and talked to us, allowing us to ask as many questions as we liked.
Our trusty bus delivered us safely back to the hotel one more time, and we said our goodbyes to our fellow adventurers.
In true Disney style, our guides greeted us in the morning to make sure we were safely on our way home, giving us one more surprise and farewell hug.
Adventures By Disney is not a run of the mill tour experience. The extra touches, access and quality of all experiences and the care in planning and ensuring the comfort of all guests cannot be overstated. My first choice for a tour group will always be Adventures By Disney. Try it if you can!
The diner takes the singing waiter idea up a notch, and your servers perform throughout your meal, not missing a note while pouring coffee or delivering piled high plates. If you're a fan of the TV show Glee, this concept will look familiar to you, as several characters in the show worked in a diner styled after Ellen's. Performers not only sing while working the floor, but they also walk along a runway of sorts located on the sibacks of the booths.
Properly prepared for our Broadway day we then headed to the New Amsterdam Theatre for a history filled tour of this magnificent icon.
We were then taken backstage into the prop room. This fairly small space is loaded with set miniatures, props and costumes from all of the Disney Theatrical Productions Broadway shows. We were then allowed to try on the costumes and props (be careful, those Lion King masks cost $8,000!).
Our afternoon was for us to explore and dine on our own, with instructions of when to meet up for our farewell evening.
Allowed in as VIPS (naturally) well before the theatre opened for the evening, we were escorted to a reception area that had a nice assortment of cheese, crackers and fruit laid out for us to enjoy.
In true Disney style, our guides greeted us in the morning to make sure we were safely on our way home, giving us one more surprise and farewell hug.
Adventures By Disney is not a run of the mill tour experience. The extra touches, access and quality of all experiences and the care in planning and ensuring the comfort of all guests cannot be overstated. My first choice for a tour group will always be Adventures By Disney. Try it if you can!
