Keys to the Kingdom

[The Rolands]

Has anyone taken the Keys to the Kingdom tour recently? If so, what did you like? What did you not like? Is it worth the money? I understand lunch is included. Thanks!

 

[DisneyHardin]

We took it just about a year ago. Our tour guide was named Robert and he was fantastic. You could really tell he LOVED all things Disney. Lunch at Columbia Harbor House is included. You place your order when you check in for the tour and then the food is waiting when your group arrives at the restaurant. I think it was totally worth the money. DH and I had a great time. It does last about 5 hours and the day we took it, it was VERY hot outside, so I was totally worn out by the time it was over.

 

[glammadiva]

I did the tour in August and loved it! It was worth it and you get a discount if you use Disney Visa. Yes, lunch is included. Lunch is at the Columbia House and you place your order when you check in for you tour. You also get a bottle of water at check-in. I think your experience will vary based on your guide. I learned so much and now have a fascination with all park windows! I am so glad I did the tour!

 

[Twigs]

I learned so much and now have a fascination with all park windows!

Me Too!!

Went on the tour a few years ago and loved it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Great tour, have taken it several times. Don't forget the discounts...DVC, AP, AAA (sometimes) (15%), Disney Visa (20%).

 

[winboo213]

Is it just your family or how many per group?
Can you start any time of day?

 

[5DisneyNuts]

We have always wanted to do this. I tried to book one for the Monday before Thanksgiving a few weeks ago and all times were booked. I will keep checking back. Anyone ever get lucky with a cancellation?

 

[DisneyNutMary]

My DH and I just did the tour in August. Rae was our guide, and she was awesome!
There were about 20 in our group, we were the first group of the day. Rae did a great job of keeping us all together, and
Finding shady spots to sit while she gave us info, and pointed out overlooked details.
Lunch was great, it was nice sitting with fellow tourers and getting to know them, and the food was good.

If I can say there was anything I didn't like, it was that we had no place to get coffee before the tour started. We rushed out, to not miss the MK bus, and didn't get coffee before leaving OKW. sadly, there is no place to coffee up quickly before the park opens at MK. Other than that, the tour was wonderful, informative, and time flew while we were on it.

 

[TJDisneymama]

Did this last month. I believe the max is something like 21-22 people per group. The tours start at 8:30, 9:00 and 9:30.

 

[CarrieR]

If I can say there was anything I didn't like, it was that we had no place to get coffee before the tour started. We rushed out, to not miss the MK bus, and didn't get coffee before leaving OKW. sadly, there is no place to coffee up quickly before the park opens at MK. Other than that, the tour was wonderful, informative, and time flew while we were on it.

We did the tour in July 2011 and were offered coffee and bottled water in town hall before the tour began. I wonder if you missed it, or this has changed?

We loved, loved, LOVED it. Highly recommended.

 

[tony609]

We just did it Monday. We were offered water prior to tour start. Lunch at Columbia harbor house was ok- nothing special. The tour guide we had was Maureen or Mo as we called her. She was an entertaining guide, good about keeping us in shadey spots. I have been a Disney nut for years I was a bit disappointed as I didn't learn enough about things I already knew. I knew the windows on Main Street stood for things, she only told us about Roy's window....more detail would have been nice. She spent a lot of time on the 4 Disney keys.... A lot of time.

I knew from my own research most everything we we were told. It was still fun. But I wouldn't do it again.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

We did the tour in July 2011 and were offered coffee and bottled water in town hall before the tour began. I wonder if you missed it, or this has changed? We loved, loved, LOVED it. Highly recommended.

Just water was offered. We were more than willing to buy coffee somewhere to feed our caffeine addiction, it just never occurred to me that the bakery would not be open. If I had any clue, we would have run over to the Contemporary for a cup before we were let in the park.
Tour was great though, it made me forget my lack of caffeine

 

[JACKNAG]

Did the tour in August, We were let in before park opening which was cool. Listened to the welcome show. Had enough time to run up the street an grab something at Main st bakery and get back. The whole tour was great as everyone said. I enjoyed the back stage aspects , Parade ware houses behind Frontier land and of course the UTILIDORS. They were the finale. we spent aleast a 1/2 hour down there and it was all I hoped for. I have been wanting to go for years. You will love it.

 

[katt789]

We took it a mere four days ago!!

I would honestly take it again. It was fantastic. You start off learning a lot about how the park came to be, Walt, Roy, etc, when you're on Main Street, and you learn a lot about how a few of the attractions came to be, and the neat little hidden things about them.

My personal favorite part was getting to see backstage areas, obviously. You will see where they house the parade floats, and possibly see the parade performers rehearsing depending on the time of your tour [from what I've heard, we didn't see it]

Lunch is from Columbia Harbour house, you order it at the beg of the day and then it's waiting for you when you arrive.

We rode another attraction and then circled around to see the Utilidors, which was another great experience to get to see.

I think it was well worth the money, I mean, it's cheaper than a day ticket to the park, right? A ton of information that's totally awesome and cool to learn, combined with lunch, backstage stuff, it's definitely worth it! And the magic doesn't get spoiled too much either! I loved it!

 

[chemnerd09]

Well from everyone's reviews, it sounds like I picked a good tour. My mom and I are Disney nuts like most people here and we've never done Keys to the Kingdom. I was able to secure a reservation for the two of us and can't wait to give it a go. Its been awhile since we've eaten at Columbia Harbor house so it looks good all around. Our tour is in December so hopefully weather won't be an issue.

 

[gabbyb]

When you do the Keys to the Kingdom tour, do you get to go on any rides during the tour?

 

[LisaBi]

When you do the Keys to the Kingdom tour, do you get to go on any rides during the tour?

When I did it several years ago we rode HM and jungle cruise.

 

[Evelyne]

When you do the Keys to the Kingdom tour, do you get to go on any rides during the tour?

We did it 2 weeks ago, we rode HM. Our guide was Lisa, she was very nice, she did spended lot of time on the 4 keys...CHH lunch was OK, it was our 1st time there, I don't think we would go back though. Last year we did the Backstage Magic Tour, so a lot of information, about MK was similar. With the KTTK we did spended more time in the utility and we had a lot of information regarding the Castle suite. I am very happy we did it but not sure we will do it again.

1990 to 1992 Off site
1994 and 1995 Off site
1998 and 1999 Off site
2000 to 2003 All star Sports
2004 to 2011 Pop Century
2012 The World was great again (Pop Century) without the kids for the 1st time
2013 March Disneymoon with the kids
2013 September 2th adult trip, kind of another Disneymoon

 

[DisneyAllyC]

I really want to do it

 

[DrChuck23]

We did it 2 weeks ago, we rode HM. Our guide was Lisa, she was very nice, she did spended lot of time on the 4 keys...CHH lunch was OK, it was our 1st time there, I don't think we would go back though. Last year we did the Backstage Magic Tour, so a lot of information, about MK was similar. With the KTTK we did spended more time in the utility and we had a lot of information regarding the Castle suite. I am very happy we did it but not sure we will do it again. =QUOTE]

Looks like the Back Stage Magic Tour is over 3x the cost. I realize it goes to multiple sites (and gas costs money) but it would have to be super-magical for $250. Was it really worth the premium price?