Keys to the Kingdom Tour Questions

[tjlamphere]

1. How long in advance can I book? Staying offsite....AP Holder....Disney Visa Card Holder.

2. Lunch at Columbia Harbor House? What food items do you get to select???

Looking to do this in March, so want a bit more info....thanks to anyone that did this recently.

And was it worth the $$$$ ?????

 

[supersnoop]

2. I don’t think lunch is at CHH anymore. Pretty sure that changed a year ago.

 

[msk]

We did it in the Fall of 2016. Our lunch was in Tomorrowland not Columbia House. I think the food is brought in to the Tomorrowland Terrace. I don't remember the exact selections, but they were good. It is so worth the money if you are a Disney addict.

 

[William Ades]

15% Discount for AP and/or Visa Card. Can book whenever you want, up to and including day of if there is availability. Lunch is at the Tomorrowland Terrace. You'll get to ride Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion (Walk on). They are very strict about cameras and cell phones. I'd say if the cost isn't something that concerns you, go for it. I can't really tell anyone what the worth of something is, its all relative (to each their own). I'm glad we did it, I wouldn't do it again. Most of the stuff you will "learn" can be found on the internet. Seeing the underground stuff in person is pretty cool though. Form what I have heard, the CM that guides you can make all of the difference. Ours was okay, but I have nothing to compare him to.

 

[DisneyHardin]

You can book at 180 days before the date of the tour (they don’t do 180+10 for tours)

 

[dcassetta]

The tour page lists all the currently scheduled dates. You do have to call to see if you specific date is available. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/events-tours/magic-kingdom/keys-to-the-kingdom-tour/

I do not know if Claire is still doing Keys, but she is terrific. My favorite part was while were in the utilidors, we passed by an enormous board full of pins from the last 15 or 20 years. I could have spent a long time just looking at that!

 

[Imamom2]

We did it in September and it was very cool. $85 pp with Visa discount. Lunch was Tomorrowland and the food was OK - burgers, salads, hot dog. You order lunch before tour and it's waiting for you at your table. Our guide was very good and the backstage/underground part of the tour was very cool. If you are a real Disney fan it's fun. We also did Savor the Savannah at AK and that was amazing! Really fun private safari and the dinner was delicious.

 

[chs27]

The food was on par with BK fast food. I expected more behind the scenes. Most of the tour is admiring the names on the windows on Main Street. After the tour, you'll know who everyone was. The last 30 minutes are in the utilodors.

I seem to be the only one who was left underwhelmed. My husband and I did this tour with our 16 yr. old. I always see glowing reviews. We were so excited to do this and then disappointed when we did.

 

[WedWayPilot]

I did the tour last week. Lunch was at Tomorrowland terrace and they offered chicken tenders, veggie burger, chef salad or corn dog nuggets with a soda. It was average theme park food.

The tour was really interesting and I would recommend it.

 

[ashmac8]

The food was on par with BK fast food. I expected more behind the scenes. Most of the tour is admiring the names on the windows on Main Street. After the tour, you'll know who everyone was. The last 30 minutes are in the utilodors.

I seem to be the only one who was left underwhelmed. My husband and I did this tour with our 16 yr. old. I always see glowing reviews. We were so excited to do this and then disappointed when we did.

I thought the food was average theme park food. It was at tomorrowland terrace which we had eaten at previously. By the time we got to that point in the tour we were starving and would have eaten just about anything

I have to agree with your review. I am glad we did the tour but I wasn't blown away. Afterwards we both agreed it was a one and done. Some of it was interesting but it was a ton of walking/standing around and we both felt like we wished we had spent the time doing our normal touring. We were SO excited leading up to the tour. We had never considered it before because our son isn't old enough so we jumped at the chance on an adults only trip. But like you, we were underwhelmed.

 

[wfjny]

The food was on par with BK fast food. I expected more behind the scenes. Most of the tour is admiring the names on the windows on Main Street. After the tour, you'll know who everyone was. The last 30 minutes are in the utilodors.

I seem to be the only one who was left underwhelmed. My husband and I did this tour with our 16 yr. old. I always see glowing reviews. We were so excited to do this and then disappointed when we did.

My wife and I did the tour, and it was probably four or five years ago.
I do believe alot depends on your guide. It also sounds like they may have changed it a bit.
If I am remembering correctly, yes, we started walking down Main Street, and learning about names and companies.
We went "Behind the Wall" by the Crystal Palace, to see the parking lot, and realize just how close main street and the Jungle Cruise are.
We basically walked the park, Guide took the controls on the Jungle Cruise, told us a bunch of facts.
We saw the parade float storage behind Splash Mountain. Also pointed out how bland back stage is.
Interesting facts about Liberty Square. Then Haunted Mansion, and lunch at CHH (Again, several years ago)
The Utilidors was the last stop along the tour.

Many (if not all) the facts can be seen on the internet. Same can be said of Google Earth. But we had a good group, who asked alot of appropriate questions at the appropriate times. But again, I believe in the end your experience depends alot on the guide and the group.

 

[JARNJ3]

I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Will be going for my 4th one this year.

I will say that I preferred Columbia Harbor House to Tomorrowland Terrace - especially since it was July, and I like an air conditioning break every now & then!

The previous tours only took us down one utilidor - this past one went down several, including under Cinderella Castle.

 

[RedK]

I did it this past week - lunch was at Tortuga tavern - cheeseburger, southwestern chicken salad, tacos, etc.

I enjoyed the tour but I'm iffy on whether it was worth the cost. It was cool to see the parade staging ground and the utilidors, but it was more of a history lesson than a tour showing how MK operates. The historical pictures in the utilidors were cool, and so was seeing what's under the princess'es skirts when they walk in parades (segways controlled by their wands). But I guess I thought I'd see and learn a lot more than I actually did.

 

[Princess Mulan]

The food was on par with BK fast food. I expected more behind the scenes. Most of the tour is admiring the names on the windows on Main Street. After the tour, you'll know who everyone was. The last 30 minutes are in the utilodors.

I seem to be the only one who was left underwhelmed. My husband and I did this tour with our 16 yr. old. I always see glowing reviews. We were so excited to do this and then disappointed when we did.

You aren’t the only one left underwhelmed by KTTK. Apparently the guide makes a huge difference, and ours was undergoing a life crisis of whether she wanted to continue working at WDW and living far away from her family. Our tour went way over the time limit as she discussed her family dynamics and her growing disillusionment with WDW.

Beyond serving as psychotherapists, we also were disappointed by the lunch at Tomorrowland Terrace. Seeing the utilidors was interesting, but most of the tour featured information we already knew. It was a lot of standing while listening to the guide, which we found more exhausting than theme park touring on our own.

 

[ABZDisneyFan]

We did the tour in November last year.
As people have already said a lot depends on your guide, we had a lady called Rey who had worked at Disney for over 20 years, she was fantastic.
Lunch was at Tomorrow Land Terrace & we rode the Jungle Cruise & Haunted Mansion.
The utilidors were the highlight of the tour for us.
Worth every penny.