KTTK

[SarahJC]

Thinking about doing the Keys ToThe Kingdom tour in September when my DBF and I go. To anyone who's been...

is it worth it?
I heard it lasts 5-6 hours?
What times do they usually start?
How long in advance do you have to book?
Is it refundable if we are not able to go?

Thank you!

 

[eyehartdisney]

It's the only tour I didn't like, but I know I'm in the minority.
1. About that, yes
2. I think it was 8? It should be on the website, though.
3. Depends on the time of year.
4. Never is.

 

[SarahJC]

It's the only tour I didn't like, but I know I'm in the minority.
1. About that, yes
2. I think it was 8? It should be on the website, though.
3. Depends on the time of year.
4. Never is.

May I ask why you didn't like it?

 

[goofy4tink]

I've done it twice now, and doing it a third time next month! Obviously, I like it, a lot!!
Yes, it lasts about 5 hrs. You do get lunch included. I believe the earliest one starts at either 8 or 8:30...followed by other times, maybe every 30 mins. I book as soon as I know I when I want to do it...there are some times during the year that they book up early.
I don't believe you will get any refund if you decide not to go. You could always wait until the day of and see if there are any openings, but you could very well be shut out if you do that.

The tour does involve a lot of walking. But, the guides provide plenty of time to sit and relax while they speak. There are plenty of bathroom breaks as well. Lunch wasn't hurried at all...actually kind of pleasant. I've had an incredible guide and one that was so-so. Really looking forward to the one next month, with my dd and her best friend from high school (both in college now).

 

[loves to dive]

We've done it once and really enjoyed it, we try to do some tour or something special every time we go, especially if we are going for a longer trip. It's nice for one of those days you don't want to hurry around and bonus you get to go to the head of the line for a number of rides.

 

[eyehartdisney]

May I ask why you didn't like it?

Because the information presented is something you can gather from reading a guide book (or just hanging out here, really, I knew 95% of it.) And because it's presented in a very condescending way. The guide asks a question, and you have to answer, if no one knows, awkward silence ensues. And if you get it right you get a sticker! I felt like the lady thought we were about 8 years old.

 

[SarahJC]

Is this the one that they take you underground around the MK? To where the characters come out of?

 

[ariane37]

4

Because the information presented is something you can gather from reading a guide book (or just hanging out here, really, I knew 95% of it.) And because it's presented in a very condescending way. The guide asks a question, and you have to answer, if no one knows, awkward silence ensues. And if you get it right you get a sticker! I felt like the lady thought we were about 8 years old.

I know experiences on this tour vary and can also depend greatly on your guide, but I just want the OP and others considering this tour to know this wasn't our experience at all last month. DH and I did the KTTK tour March 7th with Kelly. It was her 1st tour, which we didn't know until the end and would never have guessed. No stickers were given out lol and while she did ask us a few questions, it wasn't weird or uncomfortable if nobody knew the answer (mostly someone knew or people guessed). I do agree a lot of the info. can be found in books or online if you're a big Disney fan and I did know a lot of it, but there were things I didn't know, things I'd heard about but had never found, and many things DH hadn't known (partly b/c he doesn't always listen to me). Even the things I did know were interesting coming from Kelly, because she would add little details. Also even though it was her first tour she was not a new employee and I felt that seeing/hearing her enthusiasm about and love for her employer really added to the tour and reinforced my love for Disney, especially amid all the changes and negativity of the last year or so.

I also agree with what goofy4tink said about lunch; a nice relaxing break, and even though it's a lot of walking there were quite a few areas where Kelly had us sit for a few minutes while she spoke. Our tour was at 8:30 and lasted until approx. 1:15. We could have booked 8,9, and I think 9:30? I don't remember looking at later times but they may have been there. And we only booked about 2 months out, but our time was right before the spring break crowds really hit so I'm sure different times of the year you need to book earlier.
As I said above I know different people have different experiences and I have read of others who didn't like their guide or who did know a lot of the info. beforehand. Just wanted to share my experience. Enjoy if you do it!

 

[ariane37]

Is this the one that they take you underground around the MK? To where the characters come out of?

Yes you do go down to the utilidors but there's no guarantee you'll see any characters down there . We were actually "backstage" (not down in the utilidors) when the parade finished up and saw some characters/CM's as they stopped doing their parade routine which was cool.

 

[OhThePain]

While this has been our least favorite tour that we have done at WDW, we still enjoyed it. As others have said, it can vary depending on your guide. Our guide (Mathew) made the tour for us. If we had some of the other guides I have read about, I doubt we would be able to speak too highly of the tour. IMO, it's a bit of a history lesson on Walt, DL and WDW (a lot of information we kind of already knew). A few things were pointed out around the park that were nice little tidbits. We really didn't spend a whole lot of time backstage and seeing the utilidors is quite over rated (once we got down there, we were shown a video and then we went back upstairs). Again, don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it, its worth it and we are glad we did it but it doesn't quite deserve the fluff some people give it, IMO.

We went on a day when the park opened at 9. We did the first tour of the day that left at 8:30 (we were halfway down MSUSA in a little side ally for the "Running of the Tourists" as our guide put it). There was also a tour that left at 9 and 9:30. As others have said, lunch is included and is a nice 7th inning stretch since by the time we had lunch we were past the half way point of the tour. Our tour was about 4.5 hours but we hung around and talked with our guide some more.

 

[Nicole N.]

great question and thanks for the info everyone!!!

 

[Minniekins]

We loved this tour and definitely plan to do it again! And, our guide was really lovely. Very enthusiastic and happy to share the info, not condescending in any way at all. It was actually very nice listening to her talk, and though the info may be available in books, it was nice to have the personal touch of someone who Really loved being a guide and wanting to share the info. Plus, though the info may be available elsewhere in books, we hadn't found it all yet, lol, and we loved hearing it. Nice to have it there being offered to us and not having to go searching for it. I don't remember any stickers, either. I definitely recommend the KTTK tour! It was about 5 hours long, with lunch about half way thru. It was at CHH and was very good. They took our orders ahead of time and it was ready when we got there, hot and yummy!

We had booked the Marceline to Magic tour last trip, but since HM is supposed to be part of it, and it was closed for refurb, we wanted to do it another time. I had no problem canceling and got a quick refund, and I didn't even have to give the reason I wanted to cancel. I cancelled a few days before our scheduled tour, I think we had til 24 hrs before the tour to cancel.

 

[BudgieMama]

Very helpful all! We're thinking of doing it on our next trip, and I was planning on asking! Thanks OP for asking, and PPs for your answers!

 

[Robert Bunch]

It's nice for one of those days you don't want to hurry around and bonus you get to go to the head of the line for a number of rides.

 

[goofy4tink]

Because the information presented is something you can gather from reading a guide book (or just hanging out here, really, I knew 95% of it.) And because it's presented in a very condescending way. The guide asks a question, and you have to answer, if no one knows, awkward silence ensues. And if you get it right you get a sticker! I felt like the lady thought we were about 8 years old.

Wow, that's really too bad! I've had terrific guides, not condescending at all! And no stickers!!! I did, however, have one guide that felt the need to continually inject his life story into the narrative. I really didn't care what he was doing when WDW was built!!! He wasn't there helping, so no relevance at all!!!

Is this the one that they take you underground around the MK? To where the characters come out of?

We saw some backstage characters, but they were in the outside area, behind Frontierland. Really didn't see any in the utilidors area.

 

[Farps]

We can't wait to take this tour, and even if we know a lot of the information that they are going over I feel that it will be a good way to slow down and take it all in ( which isn't always easy to do). And any history on Walt Disney is a Plus

 

[ariane37]

It's nice for one of those days you don't want to hurry around and bonus you get to go to the head of the line for a number of rides.

We rode JC and HM, and I've read reports of people riding POTC in place of JC. You're right about doing it on a day you don't want to hurry as I wouldn't have wanted to be worrying during the tour about being on time for something later in the day. Since we knew the approx. time the tour would be over we scheduled MK FP's for afterwards. Kids weren't with us on that trip yay so no biggie if we didn't make/use them. Also nice about having an early tour - 8:30- we were done 1:15 and still had the whole day/night ahead of us yet felt we'd gotten so much accomplished!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I did this tour ten years ago and again a couple weeks ago. Loved it! I know a lot about Disney (I think? haha) and still found it super informative. It definitely does differ from tour guide to tour guide, which I think can be really positive actually. For example, our tour guide ten years ago was able to tell us a lot about the characters and how certain characters are cast, because he was also characters in addition to being a guide. Our tour guide this time worked in Hollywood Studios in addition to being a guide, so she was able to give us a lot of info on HS. Our tour was at 9 and ran 5 hours. The tours were starting at 8:30, 9:00, and 9:30 when I went.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Great info! Thanks everyone!

 

[The Great Zo]

Also planning to do my first-ever KTTK tour later this year. Got a few questions:

1) Is there any way to add the tour to MDE? The CM I booked with on the phone wasn't completely clear about that, but I did take down a confirmation number.
2) I booked a 9:00 tour on a day when the park opens at 9:00. I know about getting there ahead of time and getting let in early, but here's the dilemma. I have a family member who wants to see the welcome show. I know we have to be at the Chamber of Commerce building to check in at least 15 minutes early -- before the welcome show starts. It's so close to the entryway that I wonder if it's possible to check in well in advance and then watch the show, then head back to start the tour right at 9:00. To answer the obvious follow-up, the 9:30 tour was not available on our date.
3) Where in the park does the tour let out?

Thanks!