My First Birthday Extravaganza!

I just came back from yet another satisfying Walt Disney World weekend getaway. This time, I had the pleasure in partaking in the Keys to the Kingdom tour, which was everything I had hoped it would be. I'll give you guys some insight, just bear with me, (this is my first trip report.)
I arrived in Orlando last Saturday (the eighth), it was really stormy, I mean it was raining all day. That night I was looking for reservations for dinner at the parks, and I actually found an opening at Via Napoli (I've always wanted to try their "authenic Napoleon Pizza" ever since my parents came back from Italy. I wanted them to compare the two.) The next morning was just gorgeous. It was the the high seventies, and not a cloud in the sky. My tour started at 9:00, but they told us to be a few minutes early,so we left at around 7:30 to get a head start, and by golly, it was worth it! We got to go into the park early, so I took a few shots of me and my dad in Main Street practically by ourselves:

After my little photo shoot of Main Street, I went back to the Chamber of Commerce to meet with the rest of my tour group. Then I met my tour guide, Claire, who was just the sweetest old thing. She was funny, and very knowledgeable about the Walt Disney Company. I learned so much on the tour, from the Main Street Windows, to the best water fountain in the park! More details, and pics on the way!

 

[farrellbarrel]

I love your pictures so far!

 

[LizC]

Great pictures! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[Allie_Marie]

I can't wait to continue your TR!

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Great start! Look forward to updates

 

[real mad hatter]

Awesome pics..

 

[disney1077]

Beautiful pictures! Looking forward to the rest of your trip report!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I'm in too!

 

[Marc Gil]

WARNING SOME SPOLIERS ABOUT KEYS TO THE KINGDOM!
Hi There! Continuing where I left off; the tour was very entertaining. Our tour guide Claire took us to many of the backstage areas in the Magic Kingdom. We saw where they kept the MSEP floats and the afternoon parade floats. We even saw the Splash Mountain water reservoir, and lord that was a sight to see! We also took a private Jungle Cruise tour. Claire was excellent on pin-pointing different facts about many of the props and scenes on the Jungle Cruise. Here's one I thought was interesting, though many must know this by now: Did you know one of the natives in the attack scene on the left screams "I love disco". True Fact, heard it with my own ears! Claire also opened my eyes to all the lightning rods there are in the park. In fact many of the cast members who stopped by to say hi to Claire always asked if she was going nuts about the lightning rods. The entire day I was looking out for the rods! We ate a quite lunch at the Columbia Harbour House. We even had our own private area roped off for tour members only. I took some pictures before we ate lunch: BACKSTAGE PROHIBITED!

Yeah sorry, no backstage photos. We were told that backstage photography and video recording were strictly prohibited. Anyway, after we finished our lunch (I had the fried shrimp, which was okay), we headed to the Haunted Mansion. Claire pointed out even more facts that I didn't know like chess pieces being part of the Haunted Mansion architecture. If you didn't know look at a photo of the mansion. We even got to go into the servants quarters entrance, which is always a treat! After Haunted Mansion we headed back to Main Street and into the Emporium so we could go into the Utildoors (what I was looking forward to). Here's a photo of the castle while crossing through ivory bridge:

By this time of the day, it was getting really muggy, so it was a great relief to find out that the utilidoors had air-conditioning. Once we went backstage, it was not what I expected it to be. I expected a grand lavish and gigantic tunnel, but no. It was a very narrow industrial-looking passageway (sorry if I ruined your expectations, I did alert you for a spoiler). The utilidoors actually circle the entire park, but we only walked a little bit. Claire took us around the Main Street cast member break room, the pin refill station, and a lot of other interesting spots. We even heard the trash in the pipes above us traveling up the chute. The tour was almost over, and Claire was showing us some photos of Walt Disney and Roy Disney and explaining the huge construction project that took place to build the Magic Kingdom, which I thought was quite impressive! Anyway, after we exited the utilidoors and headed back to where we started, Claire finally noticed my Happy Birthday button, and encouraged everyone to sing me happy birthday. It was an awkward moment for me, but I thought it was sweet. She gave me a big hug too. Let me say that this was a very enjoyable tour and I would consider going on another tour in the near future. If you are a Disney fan, I say go for it! It's very enjoyable, and you won't regret it. Now it's time for me to close off, but my Birthday bash didn't end just yet. My trip report continues soon. Ta Ta for now!

 

[Englebabies]

Count me in