I have always wanted to take one of the tours offered by Disney. On my last trip, I experienced the Keys to the Kingdom Tour! This 5-hour walking tour through Magic Kingdom takes you “backstage*” to learn more about the wonder and magic of Disney.
The Tour
The day begins with check in at Town Square Theater (next to Tony’s Town Square Restaurant). Once you check in, you are given a name tag, listening device (which our tour guide dubbed as “one size fits none”), and a bottle of water. This was nice because even though I toured in October, it was still REALLY hot. At check in you also pre-select your lunch which for us was at Pecos Bills Tall Tale Inn & Cafe.
My tour guide for the day was Jana and she was fabulous! We spent a lot of time on Main Street U.S.A. We then traveled through Adventureland where we rode Jungle Cruise on our own private riverboat. In Frontierland we were able to go “backstage” for the first time. After lunch, which was pre-set in a private room at Pecos Bills, we toured Liberty Square and rode Haunted Mansion.
When we made it to Fantasyland, we experienced the pièce de résistance – the Utilldor. The Utilidor (or Utility Corridor) is the underground tunnel that services Magic Kingdom Park. We couldn’t take pictures and I don’t want to say too much but for any Disney Nerds out there, this is something you have to see for yourself. Personally, seeing the Utilidor and its utilization gave me an even greater appreciation for the seamless operation of Walt Disney World Resort.
I loved this tour and taking it made me want to take every tour that Disney offers. Like everything Disney, it is done nearly perfectly. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone – from the casual Disney fan, to the AP, DVC, visits-10-times-a-year Disney fan, and everyone in between. I knew that attention-to-detail was top notch at Walt Disney World and this tour taught me so many cool things that made that even more evident.
Cost: $99 (15% discount for AP, DVC, & Disney Chase Visa cardholders)
Some Fun Facts I Learned:
- At Christmas, Cinderella Castle is decorated with 300,000 twinkling lights.
- When Cinderella Castle was built, any building over 190 feet was required to have a light on the top per FAA regulations. Because of this, the castle is 189 feet tall.
- The Jungle Cruise uses 2 million gallons of water to operate whereas Splash Mountain uses 1 million gallons of water to operate
* Walt Disney loved the theater and utilized many of its terms when developing his theme parks. As such, employees are called Cast Members, their uniforms are their Costumes, and the places where guests can’t see are referred to as Backstage.
