Keys to the Kingdom TOUR!

[Captain_Nemo]

So I finally did the tour and I must say it was worth every penny and I HIGHLY recommend it! There is so much information and history. A lot of rumors and myths are dispelled and most will notice the level of detail is overlooked. I won't go into any back-stage detail just some tidbits of on-stage only.

I Never really noticed that Main Street starts at the turn of the century and is themed to progress through 1913 by the time your are at Casey's Corner! I always thought it was of one time period. The guide told us any seen screws used in the start of main street were flat head only as phillips head screws had not been invented yet in that era! and gas lamps give way to electric lamps by the end of the street(even though they are all electric anyway). The only building that is an exact replica of Walt's boy hood town of Marceline,MO is the Cinema.Trees are also strategically placed around the park to block any outside structures as the Contemporary etc.

The concrete used around the park is light on the right and dark on the left to guide guests around towards TL all the way to Adventure land. Tomorrow Land is designed with attractions and a lot of scenery being shown to draw guest that way as well, as Adventure Land you can not really see to much. The guide told us Walt designed it like this to draw guests around the park in this fashion.

Any raised concrete is colored red, and the trash cans are spaced at an exact distance around the park to help keep the park tidy. She said Walt watched how many steps people would take before throwing trash on the ground and used that as the marker for distance.

In the Jungle Cruise when you are attacked by the tribe the phrase "I love disco" was added by the imagineers. once she told us, I could hear it clear as day. its the part where it sounds like spears are being thrown at you.

The exit ramp tread on PotC has a yellow foot and a peg leg dot on it leading up in yellow. There is also 2 president animatronics used in the attraction as well.

The regular colored concrete that kind of looks like a river flowing through Liberty Square is to symbolize the open sewers in the street of that era. The guide also told use this is what some of the green spots on lower roofs of some of the buildings symbolizes too. She said "we'll think about it, they did not have indoor plumbing back in those days so they used pots and dumped it in the streets" :sick:

There is chess pieces hidden all over the park. HM has 2 rooks over the chimney Pawns on the roof, and I think the knight horse things as well. She said something about the imagineers really liking chess lol. Jack Skellington and Sally are hidden in the attic when the attraction was refurbed though she says they are near impossible to see. In the pet cemetery at the exit of the ride all the way in the back left is the tomb of Mr. Toad from Mr. Toads wild ride.

Also in HM the three plates on the dining room table is NOT a hidden mickey. The guide claims that CM's on the ride keep pushing the plates back together and imagineers at times will move them back to place. ??? . She said the only hidden mickey is at the end right before the hitch hiker scene you can see death in his tomb holding mickeys head. There is also no official story to HM other than it is a retierement home for ghosts.

tons more of stuff I can't really think of right now. but I did notice that we did not step foot in Tomorrow Land for some reason. Anyone else take this tour? what have you learned that you never noticed before? :mickey:

[Ms. Mode]

Thanks for the report Captain, we've been thinking about taking this tour on our next trip :mickey:

[coneygoil]

One day I'm gonna do that tour! It sounds awesome. A couple things you mentioned I had read about in the "Imagineers Guide to WDW" books. The detail put into WDW is amazing! Barely anyone has probably noticed or really cares about the extreme detail put into the parks. :magic:

[tazlikesrobots]

Sounds like a great tour! I'll need to add that to the growing must do list for WDW!
:mickey:

[Giggy]

Thanks for writing that, it was really interesting to read. :mickey:

On the subject of chess I read a similar one about Pirates of the Carribean. In the queuing area you pass two skeletons playing chess. The chess pieces were specifically placed to copy a famous game where the two players were in 'stale mate', meaning neither could move. Supposedly the two characters in the queuing area have been playing chess, got into this position and will now spend all eternity trying to figure out their next move.

As you said I think one of the imagineers was a chess enthusiast.

[Rekenna]

Hi! Glad you enjoyed the Tour, especially since you were the foot that kicked me into gear on your last Tour thread. We have our Tour booked for Mar 1. Can't wait! :mickey:

[Joannelet]

On top of the Haunted Mansion there are chess pieces. The architect was a fan of chess. The reason there is no knight chess piece on the roof of the mansion is because it is always "night" inside the Haunted Mansion.
:)

I saw you also mentioned about the hidden mickey on the table. Yes that is true...that is why sometimes you will ride it and NOT see it.
The imagineers sometimes do a walk through the ride and the place setting of those plates actually have a diagram under it as to how it should be placed. They will move it back. The cast members will eventually move it back to the hidden mickey shape after the walk through.

[Joannelet]

I took this tour after being a cast member. There were somethings that they said though that I knew weren't exactly true as I'm not sure why they said some of the things that they did. I'm assuming its because there are some secrets that can't be told or they want you think one way....not sure.
it was a good tour and my hubby was happy to at least be in the utilidor although they don't actually "show" you it. Its definitely much more than just that! :) The tour was a good time. It was definitely informative.
I definitely never knew about mr toads gravestone there!! THanks for that tidbit!!!

[kemps@wdw]

Thanks for the positive feedback! Can't wait to do this tour in Oct.:mickey:

[Captain_Nemo]

yea the stale mate scene can been scene in the RIGHT entrance to PotC.

[pixiesmimi]

You must have had a different guide than we did because she gave you different information than we had. But we got a lot of good info too. You are right about not going into tomorrow land. But that was okay with me because there was plenty of walking as it was. Our guide answered a lot of questions people had and went into detail on some of this. I felt like we spent a lot of time in the tunnels and didn't get to see a lot of it but at least we got to go down there. I was hoping to see some characters. :D I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would do it again.

[mouseketeer mom]

Our guide taught us how the imagineers "tickle your senses" to transition you from one land to another. They do this with scenery and sound. For example, in Frontierland, the shooting gallery is placed where it is so you here the sounds of the guns as you walk into Liberty Square, instead of Frontierland music, then suddenly Libery Square music. Agreed about the Utilidors, it was neat to be down there, but you really didn't see anything. It was a very staged hallway that they took us in, specifically for the tour. I also loved seeing the behind area of Splash Mountain. That was cool.

[debandbub]

Can I tell you I did my best not to read your post, because we are going to do this for the first time in October- but I couldn't look away!:blush: Now I am even more excited to do this. Thanks for the info! Glad you enjoyed it. :mickey:

[DisneyKim22]

I've actually been on this tour twice and loved every minute of it both times. I think they change it up a little now and then as we saw a few different things between the two tours. On the first one we went into the area where the parade performers practice and behind the scenes of Fantasmic. The second time, we didn't see those, but we did get to go through the warehouse where the holiday decorations are stored and spruced up for the following year. I wouldn't hesitate to go a third time in a couple years.

[pixiesmimi]

I've actually been on this tour twice and loved every minute of it both times. I think they change it up a little now and then as we saw a few different things between the two tours. On the first one we went into the area where the parade performers practice and behind the scenes of Fantasmic. The second time, we didn't see those, but we did get to go through the warehouse where the holiday decorations are stored and spruced up for the following year. I wouldn't hesitate to go a third time in a couple years.

Behind the scenes of Fantasmic? Fantasmic is in HS.

[Giggy]

Our guide taught us how the imagineers "tickle your senses" to transition you from one land to another. They do this with scenery and sound. For example, in Frontierland, the shooting gallery is placed where it is so you here the sounds of the guns as you walk into Liberty Square, instead of Frontierland music, then suddenly Libery Square music.

It is very clever how they do the transitions between lands, if you're not paying attention you may not even notice!

I haven't done this tour but in a book I have it mentions how not only does the music slowly transition but so does scenery. For example if you walk from Liberty Square to Fantasyland and then look back towards Liberty Square the buildings that you previously saw as part of Liberty Square's colonial theming will now fit in with Fantasyland's Tudor theming.

There is one exception to the transition music and that is between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Listen hard to the music when walking here and you'll notice.... that there isn't any! Imagineers could not think of a convincing transition between the two musical themes, as a result this is (to my knowledge) the one area of the park without background music.

[mickclub1955]

Behind the scenes of Fantasmic? Fantasmic is in HS.

Sounds like the Backstage Magic Tour not the Keys to the Kingdom Tour.

[fielin]

Sounds like the Backstage Magic Tour not the Keys to the Kingdom Tour.

... or it was meant to be read "Philarmagic".

[azcavalier]

It looks like my DW and I are going to WDW for a week in early May. Since we won't have any of our kids with us, we were thinking of taking this tour. How long is it, and how much does it cost? What time in the morning does it start?

[Patricia]

On the first one we went into the area where the parade performers practice and behind the scenes of Fantasmic. The second time, we didn't see those, but we did get to go through the warehouse where the holiday decorations are stored and spruced up for the following year. I wouldn't hesitate to go a third time in a couple years.

Fantasmic practice is or was part of the Backstage Magic Tour.

In that tour we had extensive time in the MK utilidors with costuming, hair, makeup and time in the parade control areas as well as time backstage with the parade stage manager as the parade started. Very cool tour but we were sworn to secrecy. I can't talk about it.
:secret:

[Patricia]

Keys to the Kingdom tour: 16 years and up.

$65.00 and MK admission, lunch is included and it lasts 4.5 to 5 hours.

There are three daily tours 8:30, 9:00 and 9:30.

[pixiesmimi]

We took the 8:30 tour and got there about 8:00. You have to go over to the side to be let in early before rope drop. We had lunch at the Columbia Harbor House. I think we were done about 1:30 and had plenty of time to enjoy the park after that. It is a lot of walking but wheel chairs or scooters are allowed also. Well worth the money.

[Kairi_7378]

We did the tour in Oct. 2007. I think that some of the experience depends on the guide as well as the people on your tour. The people on our tour weren't really "into" Disney, most of them were just killing time because they'd "already done everything" :confused: I was also a little disappointed because most of the "secrets" were ones that I read in the Imagineers' Guides.

It's a fair amount of walking but if you are a park commando like us, it didn't seem to be any more than what we'd usually do.

It was really cool to walk around with the headsets and see some of the backstage areas. Our guide was also very good at accommodating the 4 tour group members in ECV's. None of them had ever used one so they had a little bit of a learning curve but it wasn't a big deal at all.

[MarkC]

Just curious but how much of this walking is outside? We are going to be there in the middle of July and would love to do this. However, we really don't want to be forced to walk outside a lot if its so hot we can't enjoy it. Any thoughts from anyone who's taken the tour? Thanks.

[Kairi_7378]

In 2007, we walked up Main Street and spent some time there. We then walked to Adventureland, spent some time talking about the architecture there, and then went on the Jungle Cruise. We got a special boat for that, and waited in a special area so we didn't have to stand in the line for a long time. Then we walked over towards Frontierland and saw some of the places where they store parade floats. We then walked towards Liberty Square, rode the HM, and then ate at the Columbia Harbor House. We then spent some time looking at the architecture of Liberty Square and went into the tunnels. We ended the tour over near Main Street. This whole thing took about 5 hours, including time on the rides and lunch. The only times we were inside were for the HM, lunch, and the tunnels. That should give you an idea of the time spent outside. One thing that is nice is that it is in the AM so it is before it gets super hot. They also provide a bottle of water to all participants.

[pixiesmimi]

Just curious but how much of this walking is outside? We are going to be there in the middle of July and would love to do this. However, we really don't want to be forced to walk outside a lot if its so hot we can't enjoy it. Any thoughts from anyone who's taken the tour? Thanks.

We went in August last year. You are outside a lot but they try to stay in the shade as much as possible and, of course, you are down in the tunnels for a while. Some of our members did get overheated but we just took a rest and water break when this happened. It got a little hot in the building where they were working on Floats. I didn't think we really got any hotter than just making our normal rounds of the park except we step into airconditioning once in a while. And, as said, if you take the early tour, you are through before the hottest part of the day.

[HoosierDisneyFan]

My expirence with this Tour was not as favorable as others. I think the whole thing depends on your tour guide. I think we had a "rookie". Maybe my expectations were to high. I would try it again and hope for a better tour guide.

[Just-Keep-Swimming]

Are there any books you can buy about this? i would love the tour itself but i would rather just spend my time enjoying the parks themselves...:mickey: i would love to be able to take something home about the "keys" to disney however!!!:thumbsup:

[Captain_Nemo]

we had a guide named "Tracy" from Snow something, CO. can't remember, but she has been with the company for over 15 years and had alot of info/facts/secrets. If ya happen to get her, it should be a good expeirence °o°

[Eponine]

How far in advance can this be booked?

[olivegirl]

Thanks for your review of the tour, it is definitely something my family and I would love to do.:mickey:

[pixiesmimi]

How far in advance can this be booked?

I think 30 or 60 days.