Keys to the kingdom tour?

[kvand423]

Hi Guys! I'm thinking about doing the keys to the kingdom tour during my trip,, should I do it? Has anybody done it before? Any tips/ advice about it? Thanks!!!

 

[PlutoFan10]

We did this tour on our last trip and really enjoyed it. It was long and we had about enough by end. The last thing we did was walk through the Utilidoors. Learned a lot from our guide!

 

[kvand423]

Wow! Sounds great! Do you remember how many people were on your tour? Was it difficult at times to hear your tour guide?

 

[georgina]

I have one booked in May. There are several reviews on Trip Advisor (can I say that here?) and most really enjoyed it. Several mentioned headsets were provided to hear the guide and the group size seems to be about 20 or less.

 

[china mom]

My husband and I did it about 10 years ago. Our baby sitter fell through so we had to take separate tours so that one could take care of the baby (who is now 11). My guide was amazing and I had a great time. I learned so much and would love to do the tour again. My husband had a great time as well but his experience was not quite as wonderful as mine (but that could be just his perspective). I think I recall the group being somewhere between 15-20 people. Most of the time, I could hear the guide well but there were a few times when it was a little challenging.

I recommended the tour to a friend and she did it in January. She is absolutely glowing about it.

BTW, we all did the half day MK tour. I think the four worlds tour would be a lot and I would be exhausted.

 

[Itinkso]

Wow! Sounds great! Do you remember how many people were on your tour? Was it difficult at times to hear your tour guide?

There were about 15 people in our group. We really enjoyed the tour and had booked it so DD could get an idea of what WDW is like behind the scenes before she applied for the College Program.

Make sure to ask for discounted tickets using a Disney Visa or AAA (I think) when you book.

 

[ZoZo]

Everyone gets their own headset so it's very easy to hear the guide. It's a really fun tour! I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and loved learning some special "secrets" about my favorite park.

FYI, I just took the all-day "Backstage Magic" tour last week. It goes to all four major parks and also some other behind-the-scenes areas. It was a good tour, too, but I have to say, I actually preferred Keys to the Kingdom! I think you'll have a great time.

 

[littlekidagain]

I did it a few years ago. I thought it was great and I would do it again. You learn a lot of little details you would have not known. I will say you tour guide can make a difference. I don't remember his name but he kept us laughing the whole time.

 

[abner1776]

My DW and I did it in Feb 2013 and we had a great time. As PP says, you get a wireless headset so you can hear your guide without any issues. A great deal depends on your tour guide as ours was great. I think we had 12 people on our tour.

The tour is long so be prepared for a full 5 hour tour. Lunch is included which is a welcome break. There are not a lot of places to sit so be prepared and there is a lot of standing and listening so be prepared for that too.

I would recommend the early morning tour before the park opens for a couple of reasons. You get to walk around Main St all by yourself including going up as far as the Castle...all by yourself..with sun rising over tomorrow land...all by yourself...no noise...peaceful. Then, you get to stand on the sidewalk as they count down the opening and watch the hoards of people rushing down Main St...it is a sight to behold.

 

[kvand423]

Wow thanks guys! It sounds terrific I'm definitely excited about it now! I appreciate all your information on this tour.. I think I wanna do the early morning tour, how cool would that be to be the first ones in the park!

 

[snorkelyn]

DH and I have Keys to the Kingdom tour booked on May 3. I can't wait!!

 

[iheartbuffy]

I did this in Jan and I loved it, one of the best days of my vacation. We had a great tour guide and I plan to do it again next year. Like others said lots of walking and standing. We went on 3 rides (well, jungle cruise, haunted mansion, and tiki room). We had some really cool unexpected moments happen.

Also like another person said, being able to walk around the park with next to no one around was worth it alone (and I know you can do that with adrs too). I ended up having almost an hour to walk around before it started.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have taken this tour several times, always excellent. In addition to the Disney Visa (20%) and AAA (15%) mentioned above, there also are discounts for AP or DVC, both 15%.

 

[pontikes67]

Fun tour, it was my father's day gift this past June from my kiddos. They stayed home and swam and I geeked out on KttK!

Headsets, reasonable pace, weather should be nice, 10 - 15 people, you'll ride a couple of rides with some CM insight in to those rides, you'll go back stage and see where floats are maintained and may see a CM or two and the Utiilidor...it's nothing crazy, but the concept of it, the planning that went in to that first park and all the effort they made to make it perfect, that makes that big hallway a really cool big hallway.

Well worth the money and time.

 

[iheartbuffy]

Fun tour, it was my father's day gift this past June from my kiddos. They stayed home and swam and I geeked out on KttK!

Headsets, reasonable pace, weather should be nice, 10 - 15 people, you'll ride a couple of rides with some CM insight in to those rides, you'll go back stage and see where floats are maintained and may see a CM or two and the Utiilidor...it's nothing crazy, but the concept of it, the planning that went in to that first park and all the effort they made to make it perfect, that makes that big hallway a really cool big hallway.

Well worth the money and time.

The day I went in Jan it was sooo cold, but it didn't make the tour any less imo

 

[msmileyface]

Definitely do this tour, and yes, schedule it for early morning. Enjoy your half hour on Main Street before the tour. I loved watching the rope drop from the inside and seeing the crowd pour in! This tour is not only fun and interesting, but it's a great value. You also get a nice lunch. Can't recommend it enough.

You'll even get to ride a few rides. I believe all of the tours go on Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise- we also went on Pirates of the Caribbean. I think 2 rides is standard, and our guide just jams an extra one in there.

 

[kvand423]

Awesome!! It all sounds great! Now I'm even more excited!!

 

[minuet]

How long do you get for lunch and can you choose from the full menu at CHH?

I'm a super slow eater because of medical reasons so this may influence if my DH and I do this tour or Marceline.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[charmed59]

We did this in Feb, and it truely depends on your guide. Ours was pretty terrible.

We spent the first 90 minutes on mainstreet, in corners with views of nothing to be out of the way of other guests, while he talked for 20 or 30 minutes a stop. It was a lot of standing, and very little walking.

The rest he spent in adventure land, that's right, we never made it to Fantasy land or Tomorrow land.

He focused on the philosophy of Disney, which we already were quite familiar with, and spent very little time explaining how they achieved the magic. Many of his "facts" were wrong. (We were with a long time CM, that was shaking his head thhe whole time)

By the time we reached lunch, our food was cold. Take this into account when picking your lunch choices....

Our tour ran about 40 minutes long. Other members of our party were waiting around for us to finish. If you have a fast pass, assume you won't be done for 5 hours.

 

[twardw]

We went last year and at the end of the tour each person received a key-shaped pin. We wore them the rest of the trip and many CMs noticed them and were very jealous.