Which Tour Do You Suggest??

[eknowlton04]

We're veteran Disney travelers and AP holders. Last time we went we did the Wanyama Safari at AKL with dinner at Jiko for my birthday - this time its for my boyfriends birthday and I'm trying to book a surprise tour/excursion. I was researching Backstage Tales type tours at AK because we enjoyed the safari so much and stumbled on the Aquatours at Epcot. Can anyone point in the direction of a good tour? It's for two adult travelers, no kids. Have you done either of these??

 

[DG25]

I loved loved loved, did I mention I loved sense of Africa tour.

 

[eknowlton04]

I loved loved loved, did I mention I loved sense of Africa tour.

Is that the one at AK or at the lodge? There's so many to try to keep track of!!!

 

[Imamom2]

We just booked Savor the Savanna evening tour at AK and Keys to the Kingdom morning tour at MK. The Epcot tours look interesting too. Both of the tours we booked had the 15% Disney visa discount

 

[Branflakes]

Keys To The Kingdom tour is outstanding! It's includes lunch too
If you've done a tour at AK, I'd consider something with a different theme. KTTK will not disappoint!

 

[DG25]

Sense of Africa, starts with breakfast at Bomas, and you meet before in the lodge. Then you go on a safari truck and go out, you feed the okapi, giraffe and red river hogs. You get up close and personal. Won't spoil and tell you anymore. It was great. They have a discount, I'm not sure which card if not both AP or DVC. 15% off. It was the best tour I ever took at WDW and I've taken almost all.

 

[dreamseeker9]

I really enjoyed Keys to the Kingdom tour! The lunch was substandard, though.

I haven't done the Wild Africa Trek in AK but hear it's amazing.

 

[Accident]

I haven't been on a bad tour. I liked backstage magic more than keys but if I did keys first I would have enjoyed it even more as those tours overlap a little bit but backstage magic goes all over property including central shops and the greenhouses..

I think lunch at keys was reasonable for the price you paid. it was just quick service meal but the tour is only $75 a person (or whatever it is these days), less if you have an AP. backstage is much more pricey and does involve a lot of bus time but for someone interested in more than just backstage around MK, I really seeing a bunch of places there really isn't any other way except to work in all those departments to see. I'm not really sure where t goes these days as part of it was costuming which is no longer behind tsmm. lunch with backstage when I did it was whispering canyon.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

We just did Keys to the Kingdom and loved it, it came with a QS lunch and we got a Disney Visa discount and were very happy with the experience. Two years ago we did the Behind the Seeds and really enjoyed it and it was very reasonably priced. DD wants to do one of the AK tours, I want to do the Behind the Steam next time and DW wants to do a VIP... I'm not sure it's in the budget though.

 

[PanamaMike]

My recent touring experience:
Keys to the Kingdom.
Marceline to the Magic Kingdom. There is some overlap between the two but they are different enough to make both worthwhile.
As mentioned, KTTK includes lunch (we ate at Tomorrowland Terrace) and is about 4 1/2 hours in total. The Marceline tour is 3 hours and does not include a meal.
Both tours include a visit to the Utilidors, but Marceline includes a visit backstage inside the Haunted Mansion.

Undiscovered FutureWorld
World Showcase: Destinations Discovered

Both were very interesting and most of the WS tour happens before that part of the park is open to guests.

Backstage Magic - the big 7 1/2 hour (and pricey) tour. Lunch was at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge and stops included the Costume Design building, Central Shops (where they build and maintain just about everything required to operate WDW and one of 4 massive laundry facilities. Certain times of the year they also visit the Horticulture area where they build the topiaries but since the Flower and Garden show is currently running, everything is out on display.

This tour also includes a visit to the MK Utilidors.

Yes, it's not cheap but it is well worth it.

The two I wouldn't recommend are the Behind the Seeds tour (unlike Grumpy Dad, I found it really didn't add much that you didn't experience riding the Living With The Land boat tour) and the Gardens of the World (which is another walk around World Showcase but this time focusing on all the wonderful flowers). Yes, you're with a member of the Horticulture dept and can ask questions about specific plants but I much preferred the Destinations Discovered tour.

 

[kpearl]

I did the Wild Africa Trek in September with my DH. We did the 1st one of the day when it wasn't too hot. I had Danielle and another girl (I can't remember her name ) and they were AMAZING! So personable, funny, and extremely knowledgeable. It was our first tour ever and it did not disappoint. If it helps we took an Uber to AK from Poly to get there pre-park opening. Cost about $5-7.

You have to not mind heights (going over all the rope bridges was a little scary because they definitely sway a bit and there are some points where you have to really stretch to get to the next plank.. but then again I'm 5'2" so it could just be short person issue ). The lunch at the pavilion was delicious. Also all the photographs you get included were incredible. They didn't miss a moment for sure.

 

[Gophers]

I heard that you get to ride a couple of rides on the kttk tour. Are these separate from the FPs you set up for the day?

 

[lomillerin]

My recent touring experience:
Keys to the Kingdom.
Marceline to the Magic Kingdom. There is some overlap between the two but they are different enough to make both worthwhile.
As mentioned, KTTK includes lunch (we ate at Tomorrowland Terrace) and is about 4 1/2 hours in total. The Marceline tour is 3 hours and does not include a meal.
Both tours include a visit to the Utilidors, but Marceline includes a visit backstage inside the Haunted Mansion."

Does the Marceline tour really visit the utilidors?

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Does the Marceline tour really visit the utilidors?

It didn't when I went a couple of years ago.

 

[WildMouser]

We did the Wild Africa Trek a few years ago. It was fantastic! The tour was great and the tour leaders had so much personality. We saw hippos and alligators and traveled over many rope bridges. Lunch was included over the savannah. On our upcoming trip we are signed up for Backstage Magic. Many, many years ago I did a behind the scenes tour of MK and it was very interesting. My son can't wait to visit the utilidors.

 

[PanamaMike]

Does the Marceline tour really visit the utilidors?

My apologies.

The Marceline tour does not include the Utilidors.
Both it and KTTK do include a ride on the Haunted Mansion, (with the Marceline tour going behind the scenes as I mentioned before).

I was getting my overlap elements confused.

 

[Shellyred8]

DH and I have done the Backstage Magic tour and the Behind the Seeds tour. We also did the Segway tour at EPCOT, but that's no longer an option.

I would recommend either of tours we did. Whichever one fits your budget.

I'm hoping to do the Magic Behind Our Steam Trains tour at some point. I've heard good things about this one too.

Enjoy whichever tour you end up with!