Keys to the kingdom tour?

[Minniekins]

We did this in Feb, and it truely depends on your guide. Ours was pretty terrible.

We spent the first 90 minutes on mainstreet, in corners with views of nothing to be out of the way of other guests, while he talked for 20 or 30 minutes a stop. It was a lot of standing, and very little walking.

The rest he spent in adventure land, that's right, we never made it to Fantasy land or Tomorrow land.

He focused on the philosophy of Disney, which we already were quite familiar with, and spent very little time explaining how they achieved the magic. Many of his "facts" were wrong. (We were with a long time CM, that was shaking his head thhe whole time)

By the time we reached lunch, our food was cold. Take this into account when picking your lunch choices....

Our tour ran about 40 minutes long. Other members of our party were waiting around for us to finish. If you have a fast pass, assume you won't be done for 5 hours.

Hmmm, interesting. We did this tour a couple years ago. We loved the tour and our tour guide, she shared lots of interesting info. Some things we already knew, lots of things we didn't, even though we've been going to Wdw for years. And I appreciated that we had some talks in out of the way areas instead of in the middle of other guests or crowds. The food was great, nice and hot and very good. I don't think New Fantasyland was quite open yet. But I don't recall that Fantasyland or Tomorrowland were supposed to be part of the tour. So we didn't miss it, it wasn't supposed to be included in the tour. There's no way we could have fit in any touring or time there and still finished in the allotted five hours. Maybe they are included in a longer tour, but not Kttk. But, I would agree that the tour guide could make or break a tour!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hmmm, interesting. We did this tour a couple years ago. We loved the tour and our tour guide, she shared lots of interesting info. Some things we already knew, lots of things we didn't, even though we've been going to Wdw for years. And I appreciated that we had some talks in out of the way areas instead of in the middle of other guests or crowds. The food was great, nice and hot and very good. I don't think New Fantasyland was quite open yet. But I don't recall that Fantasyland or Tomorrowland were supposed to be part of the tour. So we didn't miss it, it wasn't supposed to be included in the tour. There's no way we could have fit in any touring or time there and still finished in the allotted five hours. Maybe they are included in a longer tour, but not Kttk. But, I would agree that the tour guide could make or break a tour!

My similar experiences on multiple tours.

 

[Missyrose]

We did this in Feb, and it truely depends on your guide. Ours was pretty terrible. We spent the first 90 minutes on mainstreet, in corners with views of nothing to be out of the way of other guests, while he talked for 20 or 30 minutes a stop. It was a lot of standing, and very little walking. The rest he spent in adventure land, that's right, we never made it to Fantasy land or Tomorrow land. He focused on the philosophy of Disney, which we already were quite familiar with, and spent very little time explaining how they achieved the magic. Many of his "facts" were wrong. (We were with a long time CM, that was shaking his head thhe whole time) By the time we reached lunch, our food was cold. Take this into account when picking your lunch choices.... Our tour ran about 40 minutes long. Other members of our party were waiting around for us to finish. If you have a fast pass, assume you won't be done for 5 hours.

The tour isn't supposed to go to Tomorrowland or Fantasyland and much of the tour is spent standing, nothing unusual for your tour there.

 

[richmo]

We did this tour in November and it was awesome. Our tour guide (Jessica) was great. Show up a little early and, depending upon park hours, you can wander Main St. pretty much to yourself and watch rope drop from the other side. When you get there, you pick out your lunch from the Columbia Harbour House menu (I think its the full menu, not sure) and they give you a sling pack containing the radio receiver and earpiece. You can adjust the volume and you hear the tour guide very clearly. Very nice system. Our tour didn't run over at all...it was 5 hours that went very quickly. Afterwards we rode Haunted Mansion a couple more times just to try to find some of the things pointed out on the tour.

 

[Axel]

Wow thanks guys! It sounds terrific I'm definitely excited about it now! I appreciate all your information on this tour.. I think I wanna do the early morning tour, how cool would that be to be the first ones in the park!

I can tell you exactly how cool that experience is because I've done it. When we did KttK, we had the first tour of the morning. I've got photos (that I can't access right now) of people waiting to get in, of me with the horse-drawn trolley and the antique car that go up Main Street as well as an absolutely phenomenal family (and a solo) shot in front of the Castle/Hub with nobody else in the photo.

Our KttK tour was amazing. I knew about 3/4 of the information our tour guide shared with us, but I still had a great time. Seeing the utilidors was the highlight of the trip for me because I had always wanted to see them. Now I can tell all of my friends that I've been in the tunnels under the MK and they all get super jealous. We also got to go backstage to the area they keep the parade floats.

We rode PotC and HM with our tour guide and got some pretty neat information about each. Lunch at CHH was off the full menu and we did not feel rushed at all while eating. I even got to ring the "dinner" bell at the door! (Let's not talk about how that might be my dream Disney job...) The tour does not cover Fantasyland or Tomorrowland, but does an excellent job covering Main Street, Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square.

 

[PinkBudgie]

We are signed up for the tour this June. What sort of information do they give? We are new to WDW but not new to Walt Disney or Disneyland history. We know nothing about WDW so it would be interesting to hear about how WDW is run. Do they discuss this?

 

[dvczerfs]

I have done the tour three times in the last six years!

well worth the money!!!!


best tour guide............ A KNEE BULL!!!!


anyone who has never taken the tour, learn what the "four keys" are.......
some tour guides may be impressed!!

anyone recall what the four keys are??????

 

[dvczerfs]

We are signed up for the tour this June. What sort of information do they give? We are new to WDW but not new to Walt Disney or Disneyland history. We know nothing about WDW so it would be interesting to hear about how WDW is run. Do they discuss this?

with out spoiling it for anyone, there is a lot of history. why things are the way they are, who was behind them. they will show you things are not what you think they are. as another poster said, you will go behind the scenes in a few areas, very cool and also under some things.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency

 

[RnbwSktles]

I did the tour in Jan with my DH. While I did find it mostly interesting and loved the backstage peaks, I really think the tour could have been condensed. As a PP mentioned, I had enough by the end. I kept looking around at the lines getting longer and wishing I could be doing other things.

I already knew a good amount of what was discussed, and sometimes I think the guide just spent too long talking about something.

 

[dvczerfs]

Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency

 

[bookgirl]

I just did it last week. I had Maureen (call me MO) she was great. I had seen her name mentioned in other reviews and was thrilled to get her. She usually doesn't do the first tour, which is the one I choose (it was very warm in some places even in the morning) so it was lucky that she was our guide. Very funny and said outright that she always told stories even the one's she wasn't supposed too. She was great and some of the stories she told on herself were great and lots of info, lots of bloopers, lots of little know facts.

It was a lot of walking. (I am plus size but I do pretty good walking as long as it's not speed intense or lots of climbing) There were two older folks who just flat out were wearing down at the end (one had knee problems and was in pain), but Mo was great and said right at the beginning that anytime we stopped to find someplace to lean or sit, and to let her know if she was going too fast. I am 47 and was probably among the youngest 4 or so on the tour so it was actually not too bad for me. (this was however the first trip where I blistered on my feet bad enough to have to do some after care and hit the first aid station. The tour was the very first thing I did).

It was a hike and the tunnel parts of the tour involve slopes and stairs.

Lunch was leisurely so plenty of time. You get a select menu but I needed wheat free and while not listed on the menu they knew right away what I could eat and got me GF chicken.

I loved this tour (glad I picked it over the longer 4 park tour) and plan on doing at least one other on my next trip.

 

[mthrelkeld]

This Tour Was great! Our tour guide Rae, was a walking disney encyclopedia and she was very funny. We rode the haunted mansion and jungle cruise and even got to see the backstage entrance to hm. I don't know if you can request tour guides but if you can request her. She has been with Disney almost 20 years and knows anything and everything. We also got to see the move it shake it street party go out on parade! It was super neat. But over all the utilidor was the best!! The best time to go in my opinion is the 8:30 tour, no crowds and not hot yet.

 

[melissapi]

So it's not real clear here or on Disney's website but do you need a park pass to do the tour or can you just purchase a ticket to do the tour?

 

[richmo]

So it's not real clear here or on Disney's website but do you need a park pass to do the tour or can you just purchase a ticket to do the tour?

You need park admission in addition to your tour pass.

 

[melissapi]

"You need park admission in addition to your tour pass."

Thank you This is very helpful!

 

[Crystal824]

We did the tour about 5 years ago. We loved it and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Walt Disney and WDW. I would love to do the KTTK tour again or another tour except that we now have kids, which makes it harder because most tours don't allow kids. I found the tour to be informative and while I knew some of the information provided, I didn't know everything. Our group was probably 12 people, including DH and me.

The tour isn't supposed to go into Tomorrowland or Fantasyland. It includes Mainstreet, Parade Float area (which is essentially backstage Mainstreet), Frontierland, Adventureland, Liberty Square, and into the Utilidors.

 

[Karl66]

My wife and I did this tour last year. It was fun and informative. Group size is around 15 and each person wears a headset so that you are able to hear the tour guide even if you fall a little behind. The price of the tour also includes lunch at Columbia Harbor House which was nice. We arrived at the restaurant and were taken upstairs where our food was waiting for us on the table. We sat with a very nice couple and had some great conversation with new friends. One of the best perks was being allowed in the park before opening. We spent 30 minutes strolling down Main Street with almost no one there. As others have said, we rode Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion and went back stage to see the parade float storage area and the back side of Splash Mountain. Getting down into the utilidors has always been a dream of mine and I was finally able to do so on this tour. What a great experience we had and I would definitely do it again. If you have the chance, don't miss this one. Also, each person gets a special pin to commemorate their experience which I assume is only available on the KTTK tour.

 

[Karl66]

The tour isn't supposed to go to Tomorrowland or Fantasyland and much of the tour is spent standing, nothing unusual for your tour there.

I concur. The tour did not go to Fantasyland or Tomorrowland nor was it supposed to. So the OP did not miss out on anything they were supposed to see.

 

[mike the canuck]

I am taking the 8:30am tour in July. I'm staying at CSR. What time should I arrive at the MK? Will there be buses running early enough to arrive in time for the tour?
Thanks