You can’t just walk up to the gate at 500 South Buena Vista Street and buy a ticket. Honestly, that’s the first thing most people get wrong about the Walt Disney Studios Burbank tour. If you show up at the Hyperion Bungalow expecting a ticket booth, the security guards—who are very polite but very firm—will send you packing.
This isn't Disneyland. It’s a working corporate headquarters and production facility.
Most people think the only way to see the place where Mary Poppins was filmed or where Walt’s actual office sits is by dropping five figures on a private Adventures by Disney Southern California itinerary. That's a myth. Or at least, it’s only half-true. While the studio doesn't offer a daily "public" tour like Warner Bros. or Universal, there are specific, legitimate side doors for the average fan. You just have to know which club to join.
How the Walt Disney Studios Burbank tour actually works
The gatekeeper is the Official Disney Fan Club, better known as D23. This is the primary way for a regular human being to get past the Mickey Mouse-shaped power poles on Riverside Drive. Throughout the year, D23 hosts "Official District" tours. They aren't cheap, usually hovering around $100 to $150 per person, and they sell out in about four seconds.
I’m serious.
You need to be signed into your account with your credit card info already saved if you want a shot. These tours are intimate. We’re talking maybe 20 people total. You meet at the Zorro Parking Structure, get a lanyard, and then you’re walking the same paths where Walt used to wander while obsessing over the animatronics for the 1964 World's Fair.
There is another way, though it’s even more niche. If you are a Gold Member of D23, they sometimes hold shopping events at the Studio Store and Employee Center. While this isn’t a formal guided tour, it gets you on the lot. You can see the exterior of the Team Disney Burbank building—the one with the giant Seven Dwarfs acting as caryatids holding up the roof. It’s one thing to see it in pictures; it’s another to stand under a 19-foot-tall Grumpy.
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The ghost of Walt in the Animation Building
The highlight of any Walt Disney Studios Burbank tour is undeniably the third floor of the Animation Building. This is Suite 3H. It was Walt Disney’s formal and working office suite. When he died in 1966, the office was famously photographed by Dave Smith (the founder of the Disney Archives) and then eventually packed away.
In 2015, they put it back.
It’s not a recreation with "period-accurate" furniture. It is his stuff. The books on the shelves, the awards, the miniatures he loved to collect. Even the piano. Famed songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman used to sit at that piano and play "Feed the Birds" for Walt on Friday afternoons. Standing in that room feels heavy. Not in a creepy way, but in a "this is where the 20th century was shaped" kind of way.
The detail is staggering. You’ll notice things like his ash trays—Walt was a heavy smoker, a habit that eventually took his life—which have been kept as part of the historical record despite the company’s modern anti-smoking stance. It’s an authentic, unvarnished look at the man.
Legends Plaza and the handprints
Most tours eventually dump you out into Legends Plaza. This is the outdoor area between the Team Disney building and the Frank G. Wells building. If you’ve been to the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, you get the vibe.
Except here, it’s all Disney.
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You’ll find bronze plaques with the handprints and signatures of Disney Legends. Everyone from Imagineering titan Joe Rohde to the voices of Mickey and Minnie. It’s also home to the "Partners" statue (the one of Walt and Mickey) and the "Sharing the Magic" statue (Roy O. Disney and Minnie Mouse).
The architecture here is very "PoMo"—Post-Modern. Michael Graves designed the Team Disney building, and it’s a masterclass in corporate whimsy. Look at the frieze. The Dwarfs are there because Snow White paid for the studio. Literally. The profits from that one movie allowed Walt to move from the cramped Hyperion studio to this sprawling Burbank lot in 1940.
The Archives: Where the "stuff" lives
The Walt Disney Archives is also tucked away on the lot. On a standard D23 tour, you usually get to peek inside. They often have a rotating display in the lobby. One month it might be costumes from Cruella, the next it could be original props from the 1950s Davey Crockett series.
Wait until you see the original multiplane camera.
It’s a massive piece of machinery that allowed animators to create a sense of depth by filming through layers of glass. It looks more like an industrial printing press than an artist's tool. Seeing it in person makes you realize how much "math" went into "magic."
Surviving the Burbank heat
Burbank is a valley. It gets hot. Like, "melting your Mickey ears" hot. Most of the Walt Disney Studios Burbank tour involves walking outdoors between buildings. There isn't a lot of shade in the middle of the lot.
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Wear comfortable shoes. This isn't the place for your high-fashion influencers' boots. You’ll be walking on asphalt and concrete for two-plus hours. Also, the security screening is similar to the airport. Don’t bring big bags or anything that looks remotely like a weapon. They will check your ID, and it must match the name on your reservation exactly. No exceptions.
Is it worth the hassle?
Honestly, if you’re just a casual fan who likes Frozen, this might be a bit dry for you. There are no rides. There are no characters roaming around for photos. It is an office park where people are trying to work. You’ll see people in business casual carrying laptops and looking stressed about deadlines.
But for the history nerd? It’s the Holy Grail.
Standing on Mickey Avenue and Dopey Drive (yes, those are the actual street signs) provides a connection to the history of film that you can't get at a theme park. You are standing where Fantasia was animated. You are walking the same halls where the Imagineers dreamt up Pirates of the Caribbean.
Actionable steps for booking your visit
If you want to make this happen, stop waiting for a general ticket release. It won't happen. Follow these steps:
- Sign up for D23: Even the free "General" membership gets you emails, but the paid "Gold" membership is usually required for the best tour access.
- Monitor the Events Page: Check the D23 "Events" tab weekly. Tours are usually announced a month or two in advance.
- Set a Timer: When tickets go on sale, they usually go at 10:00 AM PT. Be on the site at 9:59 AM.
- Check the Studio Store: Occasionally, the Disney Studio Store in Burbank (which is open to the public, unlike the lot) will have info on small-scale community events.
- Consider the Museum: If you can’t get into the Burbank lot, go to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. It’s not the studio, but it holds many of the same artifacts and is much easier to enter.
- Look into Tours from Third Parties: Sometimes, D23 partners with organizations like the Los Angeles Conservancy for special architectural tours. These are rare but happen.
The studio remains one of the last "closed" lots in Hollywood. Unlike Paramount or Sony, which have robust, daily tour programs, Disney keeps its gates shut to maintain the working environment for its animators and executives. That exclusivity is exactly what makes getting inside so special.