Let's Talk Backstage Tours!!!

[mrzrich]

My tour included:
Backstage at the American Adventure
Magic Kingdom Utilidors (and watching the afternoon parade)
Lunch at Wilderness Lodge
Costuming Design Centre
One of the giant Laundry facilities
Central Shops (where they build & repair just about everything needed to operate the resort)

Yes, this is the new Backstage Magic tour stops. At least until construction is complete at AK and HS (who knows if it will return to those stops but the construction is why they left)
The only thing you loose with the change is the Horticultural stop. We didn't go during an Epcot event and it was still not included then either.

That's kind of a bummer. We did all of those things a few years back, but we also did the horticultural center, and backstage at Tower of Terror, and backstage at Ak(but to be fair, there was still a Jammin' Jungle Parade when I went)

 

[Dan Murphy]

also Marceline to Main Street

I'll put in a vote for Marceline to Main Street. As a Haunted Mansion fan it was amazing. Great focus on Walt and his history with a few classic rides thrown in. Also, it wrapped up nicely around lunch time if you want to add a half day tour to your trip.

Thanks!! I'm going to check this out. Keys to the Kingdom was completely booked so maybe they will have openings to this one!!

This is an excellent tour. I've taken 12 or 13 different tours, several multiple times. All have been great, well worth the time and money spent. Marceline is a very fun and informative tour, and well priced also.

Don;t forget the discounts if applicable to you......Disney Visa, AP and DVC, all 15%.

 

[disneyfanatic60]

I did the Keys to the Kingdom tour last summer with my DD/SIL and we all loved it! Well worth the money. I read a good tip and that is to book the earliest tour possible. We were let in MK before it opened and we got to walk up and down Main Street to the castle with just a handful of people who had early ADR's. It was priceless! We could take pictures and not dodge other people. It made the whole experience that much more special! The CM also told us to sit outside and watch the rope drop and watch all the people rush in. It is so cool to see this!!! You will love this tour!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I have done three so far, my favorite is Marceline to Magic, second place is KTTKT, and third was the Undiscovered Future World at Epcot, all three were great but this is how I would rank them!

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

My 50th birthday is next month and DH & I just planned a 3-night trip to celebrate!! I've always wanted to do the KTTK tour so I just booked it! I am sooooo excited!

 

[LucyBC80]

If you haven't done any backstage tours before which one would you choose:

Yuletide's Fantasy - $99
Keys To The Kingdom - $99

We're going early December and I'm not sure which I'll pick!

 

[Lancer]

If you haven't done any backstage tours before which one would you choose:

I have not taken the Yuletide Fantasy tour, but my thoughts are the KTTK tour can be done anytime of the year. Going in December, I would take advantage of the Christmas atmosphere and decorations while you can. But definitely take the KTTK tour sometime in the future. Perhaps someone can give a review of the Yuletide Fantasy tour.

 

[Dan Murphy]

If you haven't done any backstage tours before which one would you choose:

Yuletide's Fantasy - $99
Keys To The Kingdom - $99

We're going early December and I'm not sure which I'll pick!

I've done bith and both are great. Given a choice now, I think I would do KTTK again.

 

[Rivergirl2005]

I have done three so far, my favorite is Marceline to Magic, second place is KTTKT, and third was the Undiscovered Future World at Epcot, all three were great but this is how I would rank them!

What do you do on the Marceline to Magic tour?

 

[RyanScott]

I did the Backstage Magic tour in November of 2016 and it was great! I thoroughly enjoyed it and got a heck of a lot of information off the tour. I'm more interested in the inner-workings of the parks though so it might not be for everyone.

 

[disneyAndi14]

What do you do on the Marceline to Magic tour?

You learn about Walt and his great imagination and ideas. You go,backstage in the HM and also CoP, along with a few other stops. It is wonderful tour, focusing on Walt and his Imagineers, highly recommend it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

What do you do on the Marceline to Magic tour?

http://www.****************/walt-disney-marceline-magic-kingdom-tour-review/

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Awesome! Thanks!!!

 

[Pluto80]

DestiNATIONS at Epcot is superb! Not too expensive either.

 

[sunflowerblooms]

Another vote for the Marceline to Magic tour. It's a great tour and if you plan your FPs for MK you can finish the tour and hop right on Space Mountain. We have done a bunch of tours and this one has always stood out as a favorite plus it's not crazy expensive and depending on park opening you could be in MK before it opens. And our tour guide was incredible with a clear love of Disney and Disney history. Even my non-disney fanatic family members loved this tour and we had done the Wild Africa Trek earlier in the trip - which I also highly recommend - but Marceline to Magic was a perfect combination of history and Disney magic!

 

[goofygal531]

Another vote for the Marceline to Magic tour. It's a great tour and if you plan your FPs for MK you can finish the tour and hop right on Space Mountain. We have done a bunch of tours and this one has always stood out as a favorite plus it's not crazy expensive and depending on park opening you could be in MK before it opens. And our tour guide was incredible with a clear love of Disney and Disney history. Even my non-disney fanatic family members loved this tour and we had done the Wild Africa Trek earlier in the trip - which I also highly recommend - but Marceline to Magic was a perfect combination of history and Disney magic!

We're taking this tour in August. Did they provided bottled water? I'd like to leave the big bag that day and travel light ;-)

 

[nerak]

I will admit, I did not read the entire thread so I apologize for repeating what people have already said, if that's the case!!

I've done Keys to the Kingdom, Marceline, and UnDIScovered Future World tours.

KTTK was wonderful. If you read a lot on these boards and other sites, you will probably already know 70% of the stuff they tell you but it is still entertaining and informative. I have no complaints about it!

Marceline was also great. Again, some info I already knew. It's a shorter version of KKTK but, at least in my experience, different rides and a much smaller group which was nice. We went backstage in Haunted Mansion which was super cool and we went on Carousel of Progress which I LOVED because the tour guide spoke to us during the ride and pointed out little things that I never would have known on my own. We might have done another ride to be honest, I cannot remember.

The Epcot tour was ok. I really wanted to do the World Showcase tour but wasn't ready to commit a full day to it. We went on Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and, well, to be honest I forget what else. It was interesting and informative but I wasn't blown away by any of it. We did go backstage to the casting areas which was neat. It was also on a cold day in February and I was getting over a cold so it could have been my mood as well. I went during Flower and Garden Festival so it was a bonus for me to be able to go into the park early and take some pictures before there were a ton of people around.

There was water (and pins) provided on all three of these tours.

 

[Sammi & Mittz]

I will admit, I did not read the entire thread so I apologize for repeating what people have already said, if that's the case!!

I've done Keys to the Kingdom, Marceline, and UnDIScovered Future World tours.

KTTK was wonderful. If you read a lot on these boards and other sites, you will probably already know 70% of the stuff they tell you but it is still entertaining and informative. I have no complaints about it!

I agree with the 'knowing about in advance' for the KTTK tour. I had done so much research on it in advance, that I personally found the tour to be a bit lacklustre. It actually felt like a bit of a letdown. If you want to enjoy information given in the KTTK tour, don't do what I did! Aside from that, I enjoyed it.

 

[MouseMama11]

I LOVE all these replies!! Bc we were so late booking, we didn't end up doing any tours since the ones we wanted to do were completely booked, except for Easter Sunday. But we had an Easter Brunch ADR and my girls were looking forward to the Egg-Stravaganza at Epcot. SOOOOO my mom and I took 1 day to actually DO the Flower and Garden Festival!! I'm so glad we did! She has been to it, but this was my first time. We watched a seminar, ate a ton of food, drank some amazing cocktails and different beers, bought some souvenirs. It was so much fun. I'm so glad there is this thread though bc next year, I will be looking back at it to book a tour for sure! (and book it waaaay ahead of time!) Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this thread. I very much appreciate it!!!

 

[bryanb]

My tour included:
Backstage at the American Adventure
Magic Kingdom Utilidors (and watching the afternoon parade)
Lunch at Wilderness Lodge
Costuming Design Centre
One of the giant Laundry facilities
Central Shops (where they build & repair just about everything needed to operate the resort)

Yes, this is the new Backstage Magic tour stops. At least until construction is complete at AK and HS (who knows if it will return to those stops but the construction is why they left)
The only thing you loose with the change is the Horticultural stop. We didn't go during an Epcot event and it was still not included then either.

Oooo... thanks for the heads up on this. I was going to book this tour for my June trip on one day when I will be solo. Do you think it's still worth doing? My family/friends will probably not want to pay this kind of money so going when I'm solo is ideal. Or maybe I should wait until after construction ends at AK and HS (would be cool to see some behind-the-scenes in the new lands). It's probably a once-in-a-lifetime or once-in-many-years kind of experience, so I want to do this when it's most worth it.