Keys to the Kingdom

For many of the Disney geeks out there, we've done nearly everything in the parks. We've ridden all the rides countless times, ate at most of the restaurants, and got our picture with Mickey Mouse at least twice. Not that this deters us from going back again and again. But sometimes it's fun to try something new and that's what I did on my last trip to the world. My husband and I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour and we both loved it!

The Keys to the Kingdom tour is a 4-5 walking tour in, of course, Magic Kingdom. The cost is $65/person and there's an age restriction - you have to be 16 years or older. The age requirement was a great plus for us - we don't have kids and there were several other young couples in the same boat as us who took the tour with us. It was an easy way to make friends for the day. Anyway, the tour includes a lunch at Columbia Harbor House, which isn't spectacular, but decent. The tours are given 3 times daily, 8am, 8:30am, and 9am. It was almost worth the $65 just to be able to enter the Magic Kingdom before the crowds swarmed Main Street. We got some great pictures that morning. Which brings me to my next point - no cameras are allowed on this tour. We rented a locker to stash our stuff during the tour.

Once you check in at City Hall (to your immediate left right after you walk under the train station), you are given an earpiece and name tag. The earpiece is for your tour guide's voice. It was genius - we were walking through crowded MK and could hear perfectly what our guise was saying because he was talking through our earpieces.

Anyway, our tour started promptly, and we spent a lot of time in Main Street, talking about Walt Disney and his vision for his theme parks. He was really an amazing man - the more I learned, the more I was impressed. Did you know that Disney considered his parks a "stage" and we were his audience? As you enter the Magic Kingdom, the "curtain" to his stage is the train station. Then, as you stroll (or race) through Main Street, if you were to look up, you would see the "credits" to Walt's masterpiece. In the windows of the upper stories are names: Walt's, his brother Roy, etc...

We moved from Main Street to Adventureland, where we were able to ride the Jungle Cruise - only with our tour guide as our narrator. That was a lot of fun! Then we made our way to Frontierland/Liberty Square, where we were let into the Haunted Mansion. We saw a little bit of the "servant's quarters" but not much. We rode that ride as normal - you can shut off your ghost narrator apparently!

After that was lunch at Columbia Harbor House in their upstairs room. Our lunches were laid out ahead of time for us.

Lunch break was short as we needed to cover Fantasyland next. Your guide will talk some about the hotel suite in Cinderella's Castle, but don't get too excited. You aren't allowed to see it in person. Last stop was Tomorrowland (you aren't led through Mickey's Toon Town Fair) and then your tour of the above ground park is complete.

The backstage part, the most exciting part, is why cameras aren't allowed on this tour. Your guide will take you behind Splash Mountain and you can see how the water for that ride is pumped into the attraction, Also you are able to see storage for the parade floats. We actually saw the parade leave the backstage into the park, but that was coincidence. Then you are led underground into the first floor of the MK, called the Utilidors, and can see where cast members navigate throughout the parks unseen. Seeing the Utilidors was truly worth every penny of this tour!

Overall, the Keys to the Kingdom tour was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed doing something new. We were able to see Magic Kingdom a little differently, and for us the magic of the park was just enhanced all the more. I could tell you a lot more, but that would spoil all the surprises. Go and see for yourself!