Backstage Tours Regret?

[WEDWDW]

Has anyone ever taken one of the backstage tours and regretted it?I have thought about taking KTTK,but am afraid seeing so much of the backstage would take away some of the wonder of MK.I saw a picture of the back side of Splash Mountain once and it took away a little bit of my enjoyment by having seen the mechanical side of the mountain.Has anyone lost some of the wonder by taking a backstage tour?Thanks.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by WEDWDW
Has anyone ever taken one of the backstage tours and regretted it?I have thought about taking KTTK,but am afraid seeing so much of the backstage would take away some of the wonder of MK.I saw a picture of the back side of Splash Mountain once and it took away a little bit of my enjoyment by having seen the mechanical side of the mountain.Has anyone lost some of the wonder by taking a backstage tour?Thanks.

My husband's answer to this is YES! I enjoyed all of the detail but I am the type that enjoys finding out the behind the scenes information.

We did the KTTK years back and the Hidden Gardens tour at EC and my husband still has not gotten over finding out some of the stuff that "looks real" but is not.

 

[skuttle]

We did KTTK a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I don't find it ruined the magic for me at all. We did some things backstage, but we also were told some things about onstage which were really interesting and made us appreciate all the little details in MK. DH and I hope to do more tours in the future as we really enjoyed KTTK.

 

[JCTigger]

WEDWDW[/]-I saw a picture of the back side of Splash Mountain once and it took away a little bit of my enjoyment by having seen the mechanical side of the mountain.

I dont think that seeing a picture of the back side of splash is really that bad because almost all the rides are just facades most of the rides are just in warehouses shaped to look like things... i know most guests never really go back there if ever.... but our break room was right next to splash (i worked at BTM) seeing it isnt as bad as smelling it.... you have no idea how nasty is it....

the same thing goes for guests who take the tour and go into the utilidors... they only take you into the nice parts its nasty down there because of the dumpsters and stuff....

if you are on the steam train and when you are on the back side of fantasyland if you look through the woods you can see backstage... cast member parking, security, you are actually on a bridge because the MK is the second floor of the park
~Jill

 

[GOOFYFREEK]

DW AND DM AND ME all loved the KTTK tour. It was wonderfu, enjoyed every second of it. Whats fun is poppin in and out from underground and taking you a couple of seconds to get your bearings and realize where you are. Then it even fun going back later and finding where you came in and out.


Doug

 

[Luv2Roam]

Our least favorite was Hidden Treasures of WS. But we did not regret taking it.

 

[Goofydiane]

Originally posted by WEDWDW
Has anyone ever taken one of the backstage tours and regretted it?

I did the Backstage Magic tour last year because I wanted to figure out how American Adventure works. I'm one of those people who, while enjoying the attraction, I'm also trying to figure out the "How'd they do that?".

I've always tried to figure out how American Adventure works because of the size of the attraction - and Backstage Magic shows you how it works. That made my tour!

Depending on your guide, you also get some really great information about Walt and his vision for the parks.

I will say that you can definately tell that Disney spends the majority of the money on the side of the buildings that we see.

Take the tour and enjoy it!

diane

 

[tjkraz]

I'm fascinated by that "behind the scenes" stuff, and we really enjoyed KttK.

With that said, if you're already questioning the impact on your psyche, I'd avoid the tours. Based upon the concerns posted, I think you know exactly what you'd be getting into. On our tour, we saw things like:

- Normally morose Haunted Mansion CMs yukking it up in the break room.

- The back of Splash Mountain, including the trash reclamation facility right there (and boy did it stink).

- Utilidors - although that was nothing special. It was kinda disturbing to see that the Utilidor maps used rides that have been closed for 10 years as points-of-reference.

- Some spare parts for the Jungle Cruise, including half of a hippo, which is all that really exists under the water.

- A group of about a dozen CMs preparing for a show, 5 or 6 of which were half-dressed characters. This was probably the most un-Disney thing we saw...not only because of the costumes but also the general attitude. These CMs were "off stage" and you could clearly tell that they were just a group of 20-somethings who weren't overjoyed about the prospect of wearing fur in 90+ degree heat. We saw them "on stage" a few minutes later, and they were just as chipper as any other CM you would exepct to meet interacting with guests. But our encounter really drove home the fact that even the CM attitudes represent...manufactured 'magic.'

 

[Leota]

I think you know if you're the kind of person the behind the scenes workings will enhance or detract from your enjoyment of the Parks - I love the "How'd they do that?" so does my DH & DS. So for my upcoming birthday in the World, we are doing KTTK. I have several books on the Imagineering side of WDW which I really enjoy. DH is in the Fabrication business, so he loves that aspect & DS always wanted to be an Imagineer - We are the types who would find the experience an enhancement.

There are some, tho, who don't enjoy that. I think if seeing a picture of the backside of SplM detracted from your enjoyment of the attraction, then the tour probably isn't for you....

 

[JCTigger]

i can remember when we first stepped backstage on our first day at the magic kingdom.... we were in fantasyland and our trainer opened the gate and up against the building was a dumpster with donald ducks head on top and "donald" was leaning up against the dumpster smokin a cig.... that to me was really shocking cause this was my first impression as a cast member and you slowly got use to it until one day you just didnt care who was doing what...
not only are they coded by out dated rides but they are also color coded so you cant get lost but trust me it happens i once ended up in tommorrowland because i took a wrong turn over by liberty square i worked in frontierland
~Jill

 

[erinch]

we did the steam train one as a surprise for my train-loving DH. Well, he was having a bad morning parting his 1950's barber hair, and we were running really late, and I kept saying we have to get there by whatever time it was. he had no idea why, and everyone was hollering at everyone else as we made it into the parking lot just in the nick of time.

DD and I did early entry in fantasyland, and DS and DH did the trains. DS was about 13, and thought it was a little boring, but DH loved it once he got over the shame attack for being such a total jerk.

 

[nmudisneyfan]

I did the KTTK with my parents and younger sister a few years ago for my dad's birthday. It was the first part of his present, although it was hard for my sister and I to keep him from wandering off to ride Buzz Lightyear, while my mom checked us in. He kept whinning and complaining that we were being mean and it was his birthday and why couldn't he do what he wanted. We all enjoyed the KTTK and found it very interesting and informative. Our guide was excellent and a lot of fun. It didn't ruin the magic of disney for us at all and actually enjoyed learning some of the little secrets that not everyone knows about. I guess you could say it enhanced the magic for us a bit more. Oh and yes, my dad did get to ride Buzz Lightyear after we were done with our tour.