Keys to the Kingdom Tour Recap!

hansel1

Member
Original Poster
My wife and I took the keys to the kingdom tour on January 26th. Our tour guide was great and the tour itself was informative. My wife loved it. I found it a little disappointing.

My expectations were to see the inner workings of a few attractions and get some history of the park itself. We were given a general Walt history along with the basic ideology of the company and how it is run.

I am posting the following to help people decide if they want to attend this tour and in hopes that someone who took one of the other tours could suggest one more appropriate to someone who wants to see how the attractions operate.

Spoilers below
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The tour's focus was more about park operations than the park itself. We discussed lightning rods and the windows on main street. We rode jungle boat while the guide talked about walt wanting real animals in it.

Backstage was literally back stage. We saw the garage the floats are stored in and the pool where the water from Splash is stored when not in operation. Parking lots! Seriously, parking lots! We also were shown the carport that the antique cars that run on main street are kept.

Lunch included!

We then rode Haunted Mansion entering through the handicap hallway. No discussion of the ride itself just the architecture of the mansion's exterior. Next we were shown a tree made out of two trees and the different concrete in the liberty area.

Lastly, we were shown a very small section of the utillidors. Very underwhelming! Instead of grand PENTAGON type hallways think smaller hospital type hallways and that's what you got.

No fantasy land, no future land, no castle. The only question i had related to the park, I forgot to ask due to boredom. (Does MK have their own fireworks plant?) So 5 1/2 hours seemed so long for the amount of information given with very little new information for anyone who has read anything about disney or watched Walt's show in Disney Hollywood Studios.
 

rstaut

Member
Thanks for sharing! I've been considering doing this tour, but have been hesitant because I was afraid I'd be bored. Now that I read this, maybe I just won't do it.
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Great recap for interested persons! Hubby and I did the KttK tour in May of '08. Our tour and ride experiences were somewhat different from yours but equally as satisfying and enjoyable. I like the re-tour-ability you get with the different perspectives and info nuggets reaped from different guides. :wave: I'd do this tour again in a heartbeat!
 

Mansion Butler

Active Member
Lastly, we were shown a very small section of the utillidors. Very underwhelming! Instead of grand PENTAGON type hallways think smaller hospital type hallways and that's what you got.
:ROFLOL:

I grew up obsessed with the idea of the tunnels. When I knew I was first going there on a College Program, I was so stoked to see them in person.

Then when we first went in the utilidor, it took me a while to even realize I was in the fabeled tunnels. It was just so unspectacular it didnt' even cross my mind for a while. :lol:

They do their job, though. But now having spent months of my life under the Magic Kingdom, I just take them for granted. Now it's hard for me to remember a time when I was fascinated by their very existence.
 

Zummi Gummi

Pioneering the Universe Within!
Keys to the Kingdom is definitely a tour for the more novice WDW fan. I feel like anyone who posts semi-regularly on this board would get very little out of it (aside from the glimpses backstage).

The tour for the real hardcore WDW fan is Backstage Magic.
 

rct247

Well-Known Member
I took the tour with my family this past December. My family and I really enjoyed it. Being a cast member and a Disney fanatic, I knew just about all the information on the tour and even saw every single one of the backstage areas before having worked previously in Main Street Operations, but I still enjoyed it. I did learn a couple of new things which was a surprise to me. I guess I also enjoyed it because my family could see and know on a daily basis, but I still highly recommend it to anyone, including a Disney fan that knows everything.
 

hansel1

Member
Original Poster
Keys to the Kingdom is definitely a tour for the more novice WDW fan. I feel like anyone who posts semi-regularly on this board would get very little out of it (aside from the glimpses backstage).

The tour for the real hardcore WDW fan is Backstage Magic.


What does the Backstage Magic tour entail? Backstage lost out to Keys when we planned our first tour. I'm interested in this one for our October trip.
 
I'm sorry to hear this. We did the KttK many years ago and it was fantastic. We went backstage at American Adventure and saw the show system in person (so cool!), went back stage at Body Wars (cool to see the rides in motion/operation), toured the utilidoors (saw the costuming area, break room, different paths to the different lands), saw the room where the parades and shows are operated (with the machines/computers you've seen on tv), ate lunch in Mama Melroses, went backstage to see the float and car areas, and dropped in on some other rides and areas back stage just to "see what its like" (a direct quote ill always remember because I thought it was odd), these areas were HM, the Living Seas, and some above ground areas of MK.

Pretty incredible experiences that I will always remember. Was hoping they kept it the same so I could take my family on it.
 

ChrisFL

Premium Member
I'm sorry to hear this. We did the KttK many years ago and it was fantastic. We went backstage at American Adventure and saw the show system in person (so cool!), went back stage at Body Wars (cool to see the rides in motion/operation), toured the utilidoors (saw the costuming area, break room, different paths to the different lands), saw the room where the parades and shows are operated (with the machines/computers you've seen on tv), ate lunch in Mama Melroses, went backstage to see the float and car areas, and dropped in on some other rides and areas back stage just to "see what its like" (a direct quote ill always remember because I thought it was odd), these areas were HM, the Living Seas, and some above ground areas of MK.

Pretty incredible experiences that I will always remember. Was hoping they kept it the same so I could take my family on it.

Were the different parks in the same tour "package" or did you go on separate tours through the parks?
 

Zummi Gummi

Pioneering the Universe Within!
I'm sorry to hear this. We did the KttK many years ago and it was fantastic. We went backstage at American Adventure and saw the show system in person (so cool!), went back stage at Body Wars (cool to see the rides in motion/operation), toured the utilidoors (saw the costuming area, break room, different paths to the different lands), saw the room where the parades and shows are operated (with the machines/computers you've seen on tv), ate lunch in Mama Melroses, went backstage to see the float and car areas, and dropped in on some other rides and areas back stage just to "see what its like" (a direct quote ill always remember because I thought it was odd), these areas were HM, the Living Seas, and some above ground areas of MK.

Pretty incredible experiences that I will always remember. Was hoping they kept it the same so I could take my family on it.

That sounds more like an earlier incarnation of Backstage Magic. Keys to the Kingdom takes place entirely in the Magic Kingdom.
 
Were the different parks in the same tour "package" or did you go on separate tours through the parks?

All part of the same package. It sounds like, according to Nick, that it was an early version of Backstage Magic. Sorry for the confusion; I've thought ever since then, that it was Keys to the Kingdom.

Whatever it was, it was incredible! Is Backstage Magic like this now?
 

Lee

Adventurer
All part of the same package. It sounds like, according to Nick, that it was an early version of Backstage Magic. Sorry for the confusion; I've thought ever since then, that it was Keys to the Kingdom.

Whatever it was, it was incredible! Is Backstage Magic like this now?

Yes.
What you described was Backstage Magic. A great, if pricey, tour.
 

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