Have You Taken a Backstage Disney Tour?
Walt Disney World: What are the highlights of the Disney BackStage tours and are they worth the time and effort? What might you want to see changed?
From John Beck
Posted December 18, 2004 at 12:42 PM
Has anyone else taken any of the Disney backstage tours? I have taken both the "Keys to the Kingdom" and most recently the "Backstage Magic" tours. Both tours I found informative and enlightening and would do both again if given the opportunity. What was the highlight of the tours for you and what would you change?
For me the highlight of the "Keys" tour would have been the visit to the utilidors. On the "BackStage" tour -- backstage at The American Adventure and a visit to Central Services. Disappointed in not going on the Jungle Cruise on "Keys" (the line had become too long) and really didn't find the floral department all that interesting on "BackStage".
The tours themselves change from time to time and I've heard that the tour guides can make all the difference also -- Mark (from MK Guest Services) and Nancy (from The Disney Institute) were excellent.
If you go to mouseplanet.com on of the writers from the site posted a trip report from a backstage yuletide tour and he said it was very good.
I havent went on one of these tours yet, but hope to do so once the kids getter bigger.
From Tim S
Posted December 29, 2004 at 8:09 PM
I took the backstage magic tour, i believe about 2 years ago now. It was absolutley first rate. First off, we started the morning by boarding one of the "classic" cruise line busses, which was stocked with sandwitches and drinks, spent the entire day learning about the workings of the park, viewing some of the main street electrical parade. And my most memorable joke took place in the utilidors, which are simply incredible. We were standing in the hallway, below a big 15"-18" tube and our guide stopped us and said "ok everybody quiet, listen" and we heard something flow through the tubes and our guide then explained that the tube system above us was actually used to transport money from stores and kiosks throught the park to a central "Collection room". afterwards he explained that it was the trash collection system that whisked trash to a collection room at (i believe) 35 mph. the tour was incredible, and was finished with what seemed like a neverending 6 course dinner at mama rosettas (i think thats correct?) complete with little old italian women serving up the food. Only at disney... incredible!
My husband and 11-year-old daughter just did the Seas Aqua Tour at Epcot. It is a several hour long tour behind the scenes at the Living Seas aquarium that culminates in a swim in the big fish tank. My husband was initally skeptical about doing this...it was $100 a piece and took about 2 1/2 hours away from park touring. But they both LOVED it! They saw how the park feeds/cares for the fish, got a tee shirt and photo, and swam with the fish! They wore scuba gear that had a float in the suit so they couldn't go beneath the surface of the water (think: snorkeling with scuba gear). They highly recommend it to everyone!!!
I took the "Magic behind the Steam Trains" tour at WDW's Magic Kingdom. We got to here the history of the WDWRR locomotives and see how they are maintained and stuff. It was very interesting.
I want to take the Keys to the Kingdom tour while at WDW in June. However, I can't find a way to make a reservation. There doesn't seem to be a way online to do this, and I tried calling the tour number, and was on hold for over an hour and finally gave up. Can someone please advise?
From E Stein
Posted August 4, 2005 at 10:05 AM
No, I've never taken a tour but I've always wanted to. I've looked online a lot for details about Backstage Disney or stories from cast members. There's a good one from Rob Bloom at http://www.robbloom.com/creative/disney.htm
It sheds some light on what goes on behind the scenes!
I had taken the Backstage Magic tour about two years ago and I enjoyed it a lot. It was 7 hours long, but never felt like it was taking forever, the time just flew. I would reccomend it for anyone who is interested in finding out more about what is behind the magic.
I took the Keys to the Kingdom and loved seeing the Utilidors; Surprise, surprise :-)
I want the 'keys of the kingdom' to be available to my son who is 12. OK, you can't have little kids disrupting the tour, but come on, 12??? I can personally vouch for his good behaviour. Why do they only accept ages 16 and over??
Because yo go backstage to areas the law prohibits those 16 and under from entering.
*Make that under 16 lol
I just got back from Disney World. This was my 22nd visit, but this time was the first in 30 years without kids. My wife and I took the Backstage Magic tour (my second time) and it was still great. But it was different that my first time (12 years ago). It would take a page or two to describe the tour. I would highly recommend it to anyone, but only after they see the parks as a tourist first. It does take 7+ hours. George Brungot
Taken the Backstage Magic Tour. You get to see alot of the backstage of EPCOT. At first it is very shocking to see the backstage since its all just a facade in the front, but very very interesting. My tour guide was one of the best CM that I have ever met. Now we got to eat the Whispering Canyon Cafe which is one of the better places to eat, but sometimes its at Mama Melrose which I can't stand. Its also 7 hours so at about hour 5, you start feeling it. I would highly recommend it!
This past September my husband and I did the Dolphin's in Depth tour at Epcot. We loved it!!! We got a tour of the living seas facilities and went into areas that are naturally off limits. Then at the end of the tour we got into the water with the Dolphins and had pictures made. We learned a lot about and even didn't mind the cold water so much. We also got special t-shirts at the end. I highly recommend this tour. One thing about the tour that amazed me is just how huge the living seas is. When you are standing on the reef with the dolphins and looking out at it, it can be a little unnerving. Especially when the trainers are joking about startling the dolphins and holding on while they take you far into the aquarium
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