Keys to the Kingdom Tour or Backstage Magic

[JulieWent]

My parents are thinking about trying one of the tours during their next trip down to the World in early April. I don't think they'd enjoy an all day tour like the Backstage Magic tour, but my dad really would love to go down into the utilidors. Does the Keys to the Kingdom tour go into the utilidors, too?

Thanks!
Julie

 

[MiJo]

We did the KttK Tour last April and really enjoyed it. We did go backstage to view the area behind Splash Mountain, a warehouse holding parade floats, parade staging area, offices behind and above Main Street and the utilidors. We also did Jungle Cruise, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion with input from our guide on all three. The tour includes a light lunch at the Harbour House and a special pin. You do spend a lot of time walking/standing during the several hours you are touring. We thoroughly enjoyed it and had a very interesting and informative CM as a tour guide. Also, it is really adults only since they do not allow anyone under 16 to participate.

 

[Shells9]

I've considered this for DH and myself, also. Is photography permitted? I thought I had read somewhere that the group is limited to 25. Is that accurate?

 

[kdibattista]

Hope this helps:

http://www.wdwig.com/tours.htm

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I am not sure how old your parents are, we are middle aged... my husband and I did the Keys tour.......it was great.. there was a lot of walking and standing.. but an incredible tour... walking up Main Street, finding out why Walt named those offices above the stores what they are....after employees and friends...seeing backstage and hitting the utilidors was incredible... What was truly special was that behind the scenes, we could ask questions and get the true answer, but when we were onstage, he explained he would give us the Disney answer...We also went into the Haunted Mansion, my fave, and entered from backstage and don't tell anyone.. CUT THE LINE... but with Disney's special permission.. We truly enjoyed the Keys to the Kingdom Tour and would recommend highly..

 

[MiJo]

From what we read before taking the tour, I thought there were absolutely no cameras allowed during the tour so I put ours in a locker. Our guide later explained that cameras and photography were allowed in the "public areas" of the tour but not in the backstage areas. I think the tour size is limited but I don't know how many are allowed; I think there are 2 or 3 tours scheduled for each morning at different starting times. We were also offered coffee/tea/orange juice and water before starting out from City Hall. At that time, you pick your lunch from a choice of several selections: I believe they were a salad, sandwich/chips, chicken fingers, etc. The tour was excellent especially if you are into the history of the park and learning some trivia about the parks. Our guide also answered some questions backstage that could not be answered in the public areas. She also pointed out some hidden Mickey's (including a Hidden Donald) at the Haunted Mansion; told us some interesting things about Jungle Cruise and some of the architecture, including the names of the companies on the windows above Main Street's stores, and explained why certain things are where they are (like Walt and Mickey's statue). It was well worth the money for us.

 

[becka]

DH and I took the KTTK tour back in January 2001 and we would recommend it for anyone who is interested in some 'inside' into on the MK. The tour does go down into the utilidors for perhaps 30-45 minutes and it is interesting to see the costume and makeup departments, etc.

As already mentioned you do a lot of standing and walking but the 5-6 hours goes fast and we had a very enjoyable time.

 

[Synonymous]

We did Keys in November, and it was one of themost interesting things I've done. This tour lasted about 5 hours, and I don't know if I would have been willng to spend an entire day, like on Backstage Magic. Five seemed pretty long, even though we had such a good time.

The utilidor, though, was the most boring part, as far as I was concerned. As our guide said, "if you've seen a hospital basement, you've seen the utilidor." There's nothing "Disney" about it.

For some reason, we didn't get to see the costume and makeup departments. Maybe they've changed the tour?