Undiscovered Future World Tour

[Pioneer Hall]

I was thinking of taking the future world tour when I get back to WDW next year, and was wondering if anyone has taken it recently and can tell me what it is like. I was reading reviews on www.wdwig.com but the latest review is from 2002 and I would like to hear if anything has changed since then. Now that Space is open and there are new projects going on, how is it affecting the tour.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Cosmo]

My wife and I took this tour in early 2003 (January). We loved it. Our tour guide was great (sorry, can't remember his name...mark i think). We learned tons about epcot and got to see quite a few behind the scenes areas including castmember lounges/lockers, the backside of many of the attractions and a bunch of corporate lounges. Having been to epcot many times starting when i was a kid, i loved seeing the old Imageworks, though it was sad to see it in such disrepair. Our tour group was really small (5 of us) so we were all able to ask questions and interact alot. We also got to have one on one chats with many of the cast members from around the globe. Lastly, we were able to see the preparations for illuminations and learn quite a bit about those boats and rockets and such.

We really liked it and even though its been only a little while, we want to do it again.

Just so you know that i'm not blowing sunshine...we also took the keys to the kingdom tour about that same time and i gotta tell you we were incredibly DISappointed!:hurl:
Undiscovered Future World was well worth it in our opinion.

 

[DMC-12]

Originally posted by Cosmo
Just so you know that i'm not blowing sunshine...we also took the keys to the kingdom tour about that same time and i gotta tell you we were incredibly DISappointed!:hurl:
Undiscovered Future World was well worth it in our opinion.

Wow... that is a shame about the Keys tour.. I have heard that a LOT recently though... since after Sept 11, the tour has really took a dive

DisneyInsider,
I took the tour in March of this year, but I dont know if they have added M:S or whatnot.

 

[aim]

I have been wondering about this tour also. It seems like it would be neat.

 

[Cosmo]

I think i'm in the unique position of having taken the keys to the kingdom tour both pre (5/97) and post 9/11. There were many different aspects of the tours that were not all related to heightened security.

Certainly, during the '97 tour we saw alot more of the utilidors, but what really made the difference was that in '97 we took the tour with only 3 or 4 other couples. Our tourguide was very knowlegdable and very nice. We asked tons of questions and could always hear the answers. Our guide kept us on track.

The '03 tour was terrible. We were in a group of 20-25 (ever tried to get through MK with a group that size???). We couldn't hear our guide no matter how many times we asked her to speak up. She just didn't have the voice, neither did many of the party when they asked questions. Also, she just didn't seem to know too much. She said things that directly contradicted stuff the guide told us in 97 (trivial things, not big disney secrets or anything). I think i knew more just casually talking to cast members over the years, or reading stuff on the net or in books and certainly from the 97 tour.

The thing that ticked me off most was she spent what seemed like 2 HOURS talking about orlando...not disney..orlando. And where she was from and how her parents wanted her to go to college but she's taking time off, etc..etc...ad nauseum! TALK ABOUT DISNEY!!!

Yes, the tour didn't go into the detail of the utilidors like the previous one did...but by the time we even went down there, we were ready for it to be over...

I think it will be a long long time, if ever that i do the Keys tour again.

 

[Figment1986]

Im considdering asking my mom to pay for me to do the futureworld one..

(Im 16, and short of 17 by the time i go there)


I hope it will be fun for me...

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour last month and I have to say that it was great. We had a terrific guide (Matthew) and had small group (2 other couples). I thought it was a very informative and interesting tour, even if you don't get to see that much of the Utilidors anymore (our guide threw something else in because we didn't get to see the whole utilidor).

 

[mickhyperion]

I took the Undiscovered Future World Tour in July 2002 and I thought it was very disappointing at the time. I'm pretty sure Mark was our tour guide then as well, but he had only been doing it for a short time and you could really tell. He knew his stuff because he had been a longtime CM, but was new to the tour and seemed rather awkward. He resorted to reading scripted material from note cards on a couple occasions. We did see quite a few behind-the-scenes areas which helped to make it worthwhile. I'm glad to hear that Mark has since excelled and is now giving great tours.

In retrospect, though, and in all fairness to Mark, my disappointment with the tour was more with Future World itself than the tour. It was my very first visit to Epcot and after looking forward to seeing Future World more than any other part of WDW, I was very disappointed. I had built it up too much since hearing about it as a kid before it opened in 1982, but had obviously taken way too long to make my first pilgrimage to this Disney mecca, as I had perceived it to be. I've been back since and have gotten past my initial disappointment and appreciate Future World a lot more now. I'm looking forward to seeing it rejuvenated.

Also on that trip, I took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour with a veteran CM named Paul (who other CM's refer to as Tall Paul). That tour was excellent and very informative. Paul really exuded the qualities you would expect from a seasoned CM and expert tour guide. Another CM was secretly in our midst the whole day in the guise of a regular Guest for the purpose of learning from Paul. Paul told us a personal/park related story at the very end that successfully made everyone of us cry, starting with him, which I thought was a real testimony to his ability to hold our attention and interest right up until the last.

 

[General Grizz]

Tall Paul!!

What a great guy! :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

I had him on the tour...one of the best Cast Members I've ever met! He semi-cried in ours...he tried not to!

But what a great story, no?

I'm still trying to get ahold of him. . . he's pretty much seasonal as far as I know.