Has anyone doen the Backstage Magic Tour recently?

[WANNABE@WDW]

I really liked the Keys to the Kingdom Tour and was thinking about doing the Backstage Magic Tour on our next trip. Is it worth taking a day out of regular touring? Any recent reviews would be greatly appreciated.

 

[miste76]

I was in the exact same position a few weeks ago. I had taken TKKT two years ago and wanted to do BM this year. It was great! The MK portion wasn't quite at the same level as TKKT but the rest of the parks/outside the parks was great. The x-mas warehouse and the florist area was really great... and going behind the scenes at the American pavillion was very interesting. I would definately recommend it!
Please don't forget your ID though... there were two women on our tour that did forget it and they had to go back to their room to get it. They missed the first 90 minutes of the tour... I know I would have been disappointed if I missed any of the tour.
I would definately recommend the BM tour!
Have a great time!!!

 

[WANNABE@WDW]

Thanks for the quick reply. What types of things do you do on the tour? The description is very vague. I would like some of my family members to go too, but I have to be able to sell them on the tour. Where do you eat on the tour?

 

[NotTooGoofy]

It's been a year and a half since I did the BM tour so it may have changed since then. But back then we ate lunch at Mama Melroses where I was introduced to their wonderful chocolate mousse.

Primarily we went behind the scenes at EPCOT, MK, and MGM. Some highlights - we saw where cast members pick up their costumes, saw how a motion simulator worked (it was either Star Tours or Body Wars), toured a portion of the Utilidor complex under MK, and went to a manufacturing facility where cast members were building or refurbishing ride cars.

We ended the tour where the 3PM MK parade finishes and saw how they prepare the floats for each parade. The tour is well worth it and there are much more detailed trip reports on it. Here is a link to some detailed trip reports - http://allearsnet.com/btp/tours.htm#bsm .

Good luck!

 

[WANNABE@WDW]

Thanks for all the info! I guess I'll start plugging the tour to some of my other family members to see if they want to come along.

 

[staylor]

Oh, the lunch was soo good! A friend warned me to eat a light breakfast and be hungry for lunch. Great advice! My mom and I enjoyed the entire tour. My DH wants to go on this tour next time he's at WDW, so I get to go again.

 

[miste76]

The tour is getting ready to change again... very very soon according to our tour guide. This is what was different this year as compared to nottoogoofy's tour:
No chocolate mousse for me, maybe because I ate too much of the other food that was soo soo soo good. We didn't see the motion simulators - no bodywars or starwars. We did go behind the scenes for the show of the American pavillion to see how they get all the different characters up on stage, how the characters work, what goes into keeping the characters looking so real and how the computers work. We did see the manufacturing facility and the Utilidors... but we also went to where the WDW flowers are put together (backstage florist) and to where the x-mas decorations are kept and worked on 365 days a year. We also watched the 3pm parade at MK but did not go behind the scenes to see the floats... this part is no longer allowed. At MGM we went to the costu me department where the costumes are actually made... we learned how they are entered into the computer and we actually saw many of the costumes that we have seen throughout the parks. At epcot we went through where the CM's pick up their costumes and learned how laundry worked and also saw the locker area that all CM's of Epcot use. Overall... it was a great experience... and I probably left some things out!!!