Tours, which have you done and would recommend?

[mickeyway]

I am planning to give my family a gift of a tour / event for Christmas. We have done a few like the wild africa trek, the behind the seeds tour, and the keys to the kingdom tour. We are looking for another one and want to know which are worth the $$$? Which are not. We like outdoor adventure, animals, behind the scenes things. Any recommendations or ones to steer clear of?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

It’s at a resort rather than a park, but we really enjoyed the Wanyama Safari at AKL. Two thumbs up from us.

 

[Live4travel]

We also loved the Wanyama Safari and we were the only two people that had booked it so it ended up being a private tour. We did the Wilderness Backtrail Adventure (Segway tour) at Fort Wilderness which was fun and, again, we were the only two that had booked that day! We also thought the Circle of Flavors event at Animal Kingdom was worth the money and fun but it was only offered on certain Wednesdays.

 

[kylenne]

Behind the Seeds is dirt cheap (no pun intended) even without the AP discount, but really, really fun. You kind of have to be a nerd for gardening and agriculture but it's really interesting and informative. I did the last tour of the day back in August on my solo trip and it was just me and a couple, our guide was grad student working in the lab and she was really sweet and knew her stuff. And we got cucumbers to snack on! (I still dream about how good they were.) One thing I like about this tour too is that it's not very long and fits pretty easily into a touring day, unlike a lot of the other tours.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Keys to the Kingdom if everyone old enough was fantastic! Oops saw you did that one sorry

 

[olecow]

My wife and I did the Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom and loved it.

 

[Yensid67]

I can't say enough great things about Up Close with Rhinos. $40 per person and all the money goes to Rhino conservation. Unfortunately, it's a very popular (and small) tour, so getting tickets this close to Christmas might be impossible.

 

[cobright]

I am planning to give my family a gift of a tour / event for Christmas. We have done a few like the wild africa trek, the behind the seeds tour, and the keys to the kingdom tour. We are looking for another one and want to know which are worth the $$$? Which are not. We like outdoor adventure, animals, behind the scenes things. Any recommendations or ones to steer clear of?

I took the steam train tour a few years back and it was great. I mean, leaving aside getting up at 6:00 AM. The tour was great. It ends in the train station well before the park opens, which offers a great view of Mainstreet USA. And you get a very special edition trading pin.

 

[CarolynFH]

I took the steam train tour a few years back and it was great. I mean, leaving aside getting up at 6:00 AM. The tour was great. It ends in the train station well before the park opens, which offers a great view of Mainstreet USA. And you get a very special edition trading pin.

We too took the steam train tour, but it was quite a few years ago, before the train stopped running due to Tron construction. However, other than not being able to ride the train around the park, if they're still offering this tour it was very interesting. We saw the roundhouse and also learned a little bit about actually running the train - it's a lot more complicated than I thought! Now I can't see the water tower at the Fantasyland station without remembering that tour!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We have done Backstage Magic and Savor the Savannah tour several times.

Both are expensive, but for us well worth it!

I am not sure if they even offer this anymore, but the Star Wars tour, was just ok. DH is a huge Star Wars fan and he thought is was just ok. I thought it was not worth it.

 

[Tomh]

We have done both the magic behind the seeds tour, and the steam train tour. We enjoyed both, though I did like the steam train tour a bit more. I honestly enjoyed the steam train tour enough that I will probably do it again one day.

 

[Ross Kratter]

I did Backstage Magic a couple of months ago. It was worth every penny - the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour.

 

[TarotFox]

Marceline to Magic Kingdom is worth it for the Haunted Mansion alone, but it's sort of a short KttK, so maybe Backstage Magic instead.

 

[NJ Goofy]

We did Savor the Savanna and really enjoyed it. The cast members were great, they were informative while making the tour fun too.

 

[holden]

We’ve done the Ultimate Day of Thrills and a VIP tour. Both were worth it.

 

[mickeyway]

We did Savor the Savanna and really enjoyed it. The cast members were great, they were informative while making the tour fun too.

I think we would really like this but it may be too much money for this years budget.

 

[mickeyway]

We also loved the Wanyama Safari and we were the only two people that had booked it so it ended up being a private tour. We did the Wilderness Backtrail Adventure (Segway tour) at Fort Wilderness which was fun and, again, we were the only two that had booked that day! We also thought the Circle of Flavors event at Animal Kingdom was worth the money and fun but it was only offered on certain Wednesdays.

I cant find the Wanyama Safari tour. Is it still available or possibly a new name?

 

[igrsod]

We have done Backstage Magic and Savor the Savannah tour several times.

Both are expensive, but for us well worth it!

I am not sure if they even offer this anymore, but the Star Wars tour, was just ok. DH is a huge Star Wars fan and he thought is was just ok. I thought it was not worth it.

Doing the Savor the Savannah tour in January. Can't wait.

 

[tlmadden73]

I did the train tour. Very informative (if you are fan of trains or a fan of Walt's personal history with trains). But I wouldn't do it until the train is running fully again. Not sure how they do it now since the tour included a ride around in the train.

The issue I had with it .. it goes until 10:00-10:30 pm which really cuts into the best time to be at Magic Kingdom. The last hour or so was just sitting in the train station getting a flip chart history lesson on Walt Disney and his railroad he had in his backyard. .. Informative, but with the hustle and bustle going on of the park opening, I'd rather just have been done earlier. The rest of the family sorta had to wait around until we were done.

Getting into the park with 0 crowds on main street is VERY nice. and getting your own personal ride on the train (it was fully open when I took the tour last November) is nice too.

 

[Live4travel]

I cant find the Wanyama Safari tour. Is it still available or possibly a new name?

It is listed under culinary events, not tours, as it includes dinner at Jiko. You can also put it in the search feature on the Disney website.