Backstage Magic Tour

[ZehnJahren]

Just wondering if anyone's been on this and could tell me:

1) How long does it really run?
2) Did you feel it was worth the money and time?
3) Did you get to ride any rides?
4) How and when was the break for lunch? What time did you start the tour?

... and anything else you want to divulge. Thinking about doing this one as I'm interested in such a sweeping tour of all four parks.

 

[chskover]

I believe it was 7 hours long. We did not ride any rides, but did see a lot of back stage things. It started right at the beginning of the day at Epcot. Lunch was at Whispering Canyon and was good. I am glad we did it, but like Keys to the Kingdom tour and would do that again.

 

[foobar]

Was the least favorite tour we've done. If you are only doing one tour, its a good taste at each park, but quite expensive for what you actually get.


The tour at Epcot was neat (AA projection area).

Hollywood Studios was a quick stop behind Tower of Terror (a maintenance area), and a 20 minute talk about how the ride works.

The Animal Kingdom bit was drawn out, and a watered down repeat of the Backstage Safari tour (minus the Elephant and Hippo pens). Just basically a walk-around at the vet services (behind the glass at Planet Watch).

The walk-around at the "tree farm" was a horrid waste of time. If you've ever been to a garden center - you've seen something more exciting already.

The Central Shops was a neat visit, but there wasn't much going on.

Magic Kingdom was a FAST and watered down version of the backstage bit of the Keys to the Kingdom tour, and a watch of the parade - good spot though. Backstage bit was just a walk in the parking lot behind main street, and a stop in the utilidors.

If you're interested in a specific park, I'd suggest finding a tour at that park rather than the backstage magic tour. I highly recommend Keys to the Kingdom tour.



To answer your questions:

1) We finished at about 4pm - they dropped us off in the Epcot parking lot.
2) see above.
3) No rides.
4) Lunch was about 1pm. Lunch was ok, platter service at Whispering Canyon. I think we started at 8am-ish.

 

[ZoZo]

I just took the tour three weeks ago. It sounds like it's been changed a little since Foobar took the trip. We got to do the following:

Epcot: Behind-the-scenes at the American Adventure film. It wasn't very interesting to me, and hard to see in the dark (they use a flashlight!).

DHS: Tower of Terror. Saw a ride vehicle and they explained how the ride worked. Interesting.

AK: Tour through the building where they house the parade floats. Very interesting. (We did not see the vet areas or other things from the Backstage Magic tour, like Foobar did.)

MK: Mostly utilidors. Interesting! But I had seen them on the Keys to the Kingdom tour, so this was a bit of a repeat.

Costume Shop/DHS: I found this fascinating!

Horticulture: We took a quick, 10-minute swing through the horticulture area (stayed on the bus) and saw some of the topiaries thy were making for the Flower and Garden Festival,, which started the following week.

Central Shops: Where they make everything from ride vehicles to animatronic elephants. Interesting.

Lunch was very good; family-style food at Whispering Canyon Cafe. The tour started at 9:00 am and ended at 4:00 pm.

I have been on a few WDW tours and thought Backstage Magic was fun, but my least favorite of the three. It seemed very long, and was very expensive (over $200 pp even with our discount). I liked Keys to the Kingdom and Backstage Safari tours more.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I've taken this tour twice, along with many other tours, some of those also multiple times. I found it extremely interesting and captivating throughout.

Discount available...AAA (sometimes), DVC and AP (15%), Disney Visa (20%).

 

[Meriweather]

We love it and have been on it twice..........and will do it again

 

[ZehnJahren]

Thanks for all the information, all. I have an AP, so I get a bit of a discount. How do they move you around, by bus? How many people are on each tour usually?

 

[Dan Murphy]

I think the maximum is 20. And yes, you have your own bus, kind of like a limo bus.

http://www.windycitylimos.com/assets/1/14/GalleryMainDimensionId/23pax_mini_EXT2.jpg

 

[orion2185]

How does booking this/or other tours work?

Do you pay full amount of tour up front -at time of booking?

Can you pay with multiple Disney gift cards?

Thanks

 

[Chimaera]

We booked this tour today for April 4th, 20% discount with Disney Visa. We've done KTTK and Wild Africa Safari so looking forward to seeing a bit of the other parks especially behind the scenes at ToT. How does the family style lunch work for people with special dietary requirements?

 

[MKay]

Pretty much the same as ZoZo.
As for the dietary issues, they ask for this info right at the start and provide as needed at lunch.
Have not been on other tours but will try Keys To The Kingdom before I would do this one again. Could have been priced at $150 with the one of the same guides and it would be fairly priced. At $250, I feel the tour guides should have been more professional/polished and the "big build up surprise" after lunch felt like it should have been more than the pin (which I already knew we were to receive). I think a ride on at least one attraction (either one they talk about or in each park) would have made it a better quality for the price, too.
The bus ride was nice...strange to be on a MEARS bus though...this was not one of their known-to-be-busier weeks and there wasn't a Disney bus available?
It also seemed like the info shared was pretty much info you could read and I kept thinking "did I know that already?" or "I always thought it was...something different".
Not trying to knock the whole experience...I am seeing that maybe I was more disappointed than I realized. Maybe others who have loved it have had different experiences/guides.