keys to the kingdom help

[parrothed26]

hi, i was wondering if anyone has taken the keys to the kingdom tour and what exactly it entails? what will be seen/done etc. thanks:mickey:

[Mollywobbles]

I've been on the tour twice and it's great. You meet your group and tour guide just outside the Main Street Train Station. There's a little breezeway on the left side (between two of the buildings). When you first arrive you let the host now what you want for lunch (the tour group eats at the Columbia Harbour House). You also get a cool nametag to wear. When the tour begins you are introduced to your tour guide. These people are very knowledgable when it comes to WDW/Disney info. They attempt to answer questions as best they can. On one of the tours we wore headphones to better hear the guide (they were testing the system out), but on the other tour we didn't have them. You shouldn't have a hard time hearing your guide as long as the group is not too large. The guide takes you to many areas of the park, including about two backstage areas. On my tours I've got to see the area where the floats are stored as well as parts of the ultidors. Beware though. You may see things that might ruin some of the magic for you. The tour guide even tells you not to share any information with others so as to not spoil the magic for them. You learn a lot of information about the park and the rides. Your group even rides on a couple of rides (without having to wait in line for the most part). About half way through the tour the group stops for lunch. Overall the tour last about 5-6 hours. A lot of walking is envolved, but you do get to stop for bathroom breaks.

I highly recommend this tour. You'll never visit the MK and look at it the same way again.

[mulderxcoltrane]

We did this tour a few years ago and it is definitely worth it! It seems like 5-6 hours is a long time, but like the previous poster said, you go all over the park and even ride a couple rides. We learned a lot of really cool stuff that we wouldn't have known without the tour and the backstage part is pretty neat to see!

[DDuck66]

We did the KTTK Tour in 2005 and we loved it. You will learn so much about the MK!! It is a long WALKING tour so your feet will be hurting by the time you finish. You even get to see how they dispose of the trash. Well worth the extra cost!!!

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I know many people who have taken it.
2) I know two people who guide it.
3) I have yet to take the tour.

4) Actually, I have no interest in this tour.
5) I don't need to know all the backstage "stuff".
6) It would ruin the magic for me.
7) I could have gotten backstage at MK without the tour.
8) And still didn't go.
9) I would recommend ANY of the other tours, however, especially at Epcot.

NOTE: I have been fully backstage at the other three parks (MGM-Epcot-AK), and enjoyed some of their aspects. Although most are mundane "work" areas. However, MK holds a lot of nostalgia for me, and I do to want that diminished. That's my personal opinion, as others do like to see backstage things.

[Taja]

We took the KTTK tour in October, 2006, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

However, as TheRustyScupper noted, if you really enjoy the magic and don't particularly want to know how it's created, it could spoil it for you.

Try to arrive at City Hall about 15 minutes before you scheduled time. You'll meet your tour guide and group and place your lunch order (Columbia Harbour House). When the group is assembled, headsets will be distributed and tested (mine was a little funky--needed a new battery!).

You'll travel behind the scenes, as well as view some venues from the guest perspective--with a little more information. As a previous poster noted, there is a brief foray into a utilidor, as well as the parade staging area and some other backstage areas.

Your tour guide will remind you not to discuss "backstage" information while "on stage."

As I said, we thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a logitics and nuts & bolts person, always wanting to know how things are done. :)

[tomorrowschild]

We loved the tour, and will take it again in the future. But, I agree with the above posters- it is not for everyone. If you don't want the magic ruined skip it. We have been to Disney World many, many, many times and felt that it was time to know some of the secrets.

[BugeyedMuggy]

This tour is not just a behind the scenes. You learn many things out in the open that you just overlook. We took the tour in Sept.. It was 5 hours with a lunch break in the middle. You get a special pin which is pretty cool if your a collector. I would recommend this to anyone who has interest in why the imagineers did some of the things they did when they made WDW. You do infront of & behind the scenes tour and also underground or what really is the 1ST floor.

[Ian]

We did KTTK twice and enjoyed it.

To be honest, if you're a big Disney dweeb and you know most of the history of MK, you may find yourself a bit bored for a good part of the tour. As someone mentioned above, very little of it actually takes place backstage. Most of it is out and about in the Magic Kingdom where they share trivia with you, moderate "insider information", go on some rides, point out special details, etc.

For someone who has been a lot and is already familiar with that stuff, there's not much to it. The real gem of the tour is going backstage. We got to get up-close-and-personal with the floats for Spectromagic, which was neat. And then, of course, you get to go down in the Utilidors.

This was kinda cool, but to be honest a bit of a letdown. I mean the truth is it's pretty much just like a really big office building down there. Lots of doors, people working at unidentifiable tasks, storage areas, etc.

If it was me, I'd forego KTTK and go all out and do the Backstage Magic Tour. This was much better and you got to do a whole lot of really neat stuff, like go backstage at American Adventure and see how the show works, tour Central Shops where they make a lot of the magic, go through the Holiday Services building and check out the warehouse where they store all the holiday decorations, tour the costume shop where they create a lot of the costumes worn on property ... and a whole lot more!

Backstage Magic is a much bigger committment, though, both in terms of money and in time. It's an entire day and probably 3-4 times as expensive as KTTK.

But worth it, IMO!