What is the best tour you have taken?

[bwvBound]

Loved our Segway tour of Epcot ... but even better was Jim Hill's walking tour of the Magic Kingdom and its secrets behind the scenes. We just happened to luck out date-wise to join up with his tour.

 

[SamSam]

Loved our Segway tour of Epcot ... but even better was Jim Hill's walking tour of the Magic Kingdom and its secrets behind the scenes. We just happened to luck out date-wise to join up with his tour.

Went to the link, but didn't find the tour info! Can you point me in the right direction? Dh and I are always interested in tours we haven't done and I've never heard of Jim Hill's tours, so would like to find out more about them.

 

[Tara]

Are these the same?

No, Keys to the Kingdom is a Magic Kingdom only tour.

Backstage Magic is a 7-hr, 3-park tour that takes you behind the scenes at a number of different attractions and includes tours of different costume/wardrobe areas, audio-animatronics workshops, parade staging/storage, and other "making the magic happen" areas.

It ends at MK and back when I took it (2000), they not only took you in the utilidors (an experience in and of itself), they took you into the computer control room. One of the best parts of the tour came as we approached the control room, in fact. The Keys tour group was standing at the door to that area and the CM was telling them about how few people are allowed in. It made for some interesting faces when our guide escorted us past them and through the door.

I think I read they don't go in the computer room anymore, but in doing a quick google search, it's hard to find updated info about the tour.

It does include lunch for the tour group - it used to be family-style service at Mama Melrose, but that might have changed too.

It is truly amazing - my husband still talks about how it changed the way he looked at Disney, and we often scheme ways that we can take it again. (harder now that we have a child, as you know)

 

[Inkmahm]

No, Keys to the Kingdom is a Magic Kingdom only tour.

Backstage Magic is a 7-hr, 3-park tour that takes you behind the scenes at a number of different attractions and includes tours of different costume/wardrobe areas, audio-animatronics workshops, parade staging/storage, and other "making the magic happen" areas.

It ends at MK and back when I took it (2000), they not only took you in the utilidors (an experience in and of itself), they took you into the computer control room. One of the best parts of the tour came as we approached the control room, in fact. The Keys tour group was standing at the door to that area and the CM was telling them about how few people are allowed in. It made for some interesting faces when our guide escorted us past them and through the door.

I think I read they don't go in the computer room anymore, but in doing a quick google search, it's hard to find updated info about the tour.

It does include lunch for the tour group - it used to be family-style service at Mama Melrose, but that might have changed too.

It is truly amazing - my husband still talks about how it changed the way he looked at Disney, and we often scheme ways that we can take it again. (harder now that we have a child, as you know)

That's the one we're signed up for next March, I just couldn't remember the name! We're really looking forward to it.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Backstage Magic was our favorite. We have actually done it 3 times. It takes all day and includes 3 of the 4 parks as well as central shops. It was different each time we did it. I haven't noticed if it's still available though, since the last time we did it was about 4 years ago.

We also really like the backstage safari at AK, and we loved both of the Segway tours with a slight preference for the one at Fort Wilderness.

If you are staying CL at AKV, definitely take the sunrise safari! Oh, and if staying anywhere at AKL or AKV, the Waynyama safari is great too! I could do that one every trip if it wasn't so costly. There is a good discount for DVC members though.

If you want a quick and easy inexpensive experience, do the "behind the seeds" tour at the Land in Epcot. We actually do that one every trip now.

 

[bwvBound]

Went to the link, but didn't find the tour info! Can you point me in the right direction? Dh and I are always interested in tours we haven't done and I've never heard of Jim Hill's tours, so would like to find out more about them.

Sorry, I don't have a direct link. We just "lucked out" a few years ago when our trip dates coincided with one of Jim's visits and tours. I think we initiated contact with him through an email link from this site (DisBoards) but I'm sure you can reach him through his own website to ask of his upcoming tour schedule. It was a fascinating talk, to be sure!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

We've done quite a few of them...

Hidden Treasures of the World Showcase Tour was a wonderful backstage tour at Epcot. It was a walking tour that took you to many of the same places as the Segway tour, but took you into more of the backstage areas of the countries. It started in Canada before the World Showcase opened, and finished in Mexico around lunch time. This is still a Disney Institute tour, but isn't offered to the general public any more. The only way to book it is to have a group large enough to book through DI. We really loved this one.

Undiscovered Future World was a similiar walking tour at Epcot, but through the Future World section of the park, instead. The interesting part of this tour was getting to see the VIP lounges that are operated for employees of the sponsoring companies in many of the pavillions. We enjoyed this one, but it didn't have quite the magic of the World Showcase tour.

The Keys to the Kingdom tour was a wonderful tour of the Magic Kingdom that included several trips backstage, rides on several attractions, and an included meal at the Columbia Harbour House. We absolutely loved this tour. It was a full day of walking, but really held our interest.

I'm a real train nut, so the Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour was a dream come true for me. I can't begin to count the number of pictures I took during these couple of hours. It was really interesting to learn the intricate workings of the WDW Railroad, and all that it takes to make those trains run. And come on, who wouldn't be thrilled to ride the train back into the roundhouse and see a section of the train no one else gets to see. If you're a train buff, this is my recommendation as a great first tour.

We enjoyed the Backstage Magic Tour last year. It takes you to Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and MGM. There was some duplication on this tour to things we'd seen in the other tours from years before, but still new stuff to see. One absolutely facinating part of this tour is the trip to the backstage areas of the American Adventure show. This tour involves getting on and off a bus, and lots of travel through WDW. To be honest, as great as it was, it was a bit tiring (physically tiring, not tiresome). The tour included lunch at Whispering Canyan Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge. We enjoyed it, but preferred the tours that were specific to one location. Tara, the computer room was not part of this tour when we did it last August.

For young kids, we had fun on the Disney's Family Magic Tour. This is basically a scavenger hunt through the Magic Kingdom with a guide. There's a treasure map through the park to find something that's been lost. I'll never forget the faces on other guests' faces as we walked through Main Street making pirate "Aargs" or Adventureland acting like wild animals. At the end, you get to meet Peter Pan and Wendy for a private photo session. I had fun with it, but wouldn't have done it unless we had some friends with elementary-aged kids staying with us in our villa last year.

This year is our first trip during Christmas, so we're excited and looking forward to taking the Yuletide Fantasy tour.

We've never done any of the Segway tours. As neat as they sound, I'm what you may call "Pooh sized," and exceed the maximum weight limit for the tour (which is 250 lbs).

 

[CarolA]

That one's Backstage Safari, I think is the name. I did that a couple years ago and I loved it also. However, I love anything related to the AK, so I'm a little biased. I look forward to doing the Wild by Design tour someday. However, last time I checked they were offered on only certain days and the Wild by Design tour hasn't been offered on a convenient day for me.

That's the one. Great tour!

As for Jim Hill... they threw him out of the park at DL once for giving those tours. So beware you might not get the entire tour. Disney frowns on paid guided tours by freelancers!

This is all I could find on the Jim Hill mess but it was a stink on lots of message boards at the time

2005 – Disney blogger and unofficial tour-giver, Jim Hill, is finally escorted out of Disneyland and asked not to return. Hill had been conducting his unofficial tours of the park for years, but in early 2005, three women who had signed up for an official Disney tour ended up in Hill’s group by mistake. They complained to Disneyland officials, and Disneyland promptly put an end to Hill’s work (he charged $25 per person).