Talk to me about TOURS!

[ZehnJahren]

I'm debating between the Keys to the Kingdom tour and the Backstage Magic tours on our fall trip (in October).

I'll get an AP discount. This would be for my mom and me; I am considering paying for these as a surprise for my mom as I think she would enjoy either. I know there's a big dollar discrepancy between the two.

Have you been to either of these? Any recommendations? I've personally taken one tour, the Segway Epcot tour that is no longer offered, and I LOVED it! Is there another tour you'd suggest over one of these?

We've been to WDW over 20 times collectively, so we are cool with losing some park time.

Please, let me know what you think!

 

[CarrieR]

I've taken and loved KTTK. Backstage Magic is on my "to do" wish list... one of the few remaining things to check off!

It's a hard one, but if you've never done KTTK, I would start there. It's a great "base" of history & insight to build other tours on.

Regardless of which you pick, there is not a wrong answer - I believe both are awesome!

 

[CanadianPaco]

I didn't vote because I haven't done a WDW tour but am interested in what others have to say...

 

[LucyBC80]

I voted for Keys To The Kingdom for two reasons: it's the one I'm doing next trip and because Backstage Magic sounds too tiresome! Six hours running around the parks? No way I could do that. There is a reason I don't do hoppers, I just can't be bothered running all over the place.

 

[CJHussey924]

We did the Backstage Magic this past September. It was two adults and it was a loooong day. There was a lot of wasted time as there is a huge busy filled to the max with people. The group is split into two and each guide takes a half.

We essentially got the inside scoop for one attraction in each park. Lunch was a lot of time wasted I think and was at Wispering Canyon. The day was ended at Magic Kingdom, we saw a parade and this park had the most history.

The tour was fun, however I wouldn't do it again knowing how much time we wasted waiting for our large group to shuffle along to the next spot. We are taking the KTTK tour in about three weeks. I can post back when we get home how I thought it was in comparison to Backstage Magic.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have taken both tours, multiple times, always different.

Both are excellent, well worth the time and money spent. If you have a Disney Visa, 5% better than an AP.

The two tours are different mostly in that one is focused on one park, about 4-5 hours, the other on four parks, 7-8 hours. Backstage does give you some of the KTTK aspects, such as the utilidors, something many folks are interested in.

If you have the time and money, Backstage is great. But, you can't go wrong with Keys either. Enjoy whichever is your choice.

 

[disney debi]

Did the keys to the kingdom tour and really enjoyed it. Also did the wild Africa trek and that was great as well.

 

[Best Aunt]

To some extent, I think it depends on your tour guide.

Our Keys to the Kingdom tour was mostly about Disney history. I thought it was boring. The utilidor part should have been the highpoint. But instead, we stood in one place while the tour guide talked about the pictures on the wall.

Our Backstage Magic tour was more about how attractions work. It was not a huge group when I did it, and it did not feel like a lot of wasted time waiting for everybody in the group to move along. Of the two, I liked this one better.

I liked the Backstage Safari and Wildlife by Design. But a lot of the Wildlife by Design is devoted to telling you the made-up backstory of the attractions. That didn't interest me much. Wildlife by Design does not go backstage.

I personally like to get "backstage." I'm interested in how the parks work and how the attractions work. You need to think about what interests you, and then pick the tour which has the right focus.

 

[wiigirl]

Did the keys to the kingdom tour and really enjoyed it. Also did the wild Africa trek and that was great as well.

Us too!

 

[Micca]

Based on our experience of two tours, Disney does great tours. We've done KTTK and From Marceline to the MK and they were both thoroughly enjoyable. I've seen very few negative remarks about any Disney tour here on the boards.

 

[tinkfan160]

We did the Keys to the Kingdom tour this past summer and it was well worth the wait for me to be over 16 to do it. I would highly recommend it to anymore considering doing it. As far as Backstage Magic, I haven't done it, but it is on my Disney wish list!