MK WDW Backstage Tour and Question

[Mikey]

Hello all,

I work at a park about 12 hours to the north and have seen so much of our backstage areas, communication closets and mechanical rooms I don't think I need to see another. Yes, I have taken an entire park area offline when I unplugged the wrong cable, or that day I elbowed the power switch on the cash register controller, or maybe the day I dropped the General Manager's notebook on the stairs.... but, I digress.

I am contemplating a trip to WDW this October to attend a MK Railroad related event, and have noticed the offer of a backstage tour for the MK. I think its "Keys to the Kingdom" and offers a visit to the "tunnels" for about 4 hours. I am aware of the railroad roundhouse tour and already planned to take that one (again).

Is this tour going to show me sights that a fellow CM would find interesting or is its Stupid-Marketing-Trick to fleece me of a hundred dollars to look at a loading dock?

I appreciate your input.

Okay, now for a question....

I visited WDW/MK/AK/EPCOT last October by myself. At least five times I was in different parks speaking with CM's or passing them by when they thought they recognized me as a CM who worked over at (insert various different atttraction names). Is this real or is this one of the many techniques to interact with guests? I am very curious. Was I Stupid-Guest-Tricked?

Okay one more thing.... I have discovererd I cannot turn off the "park politeness" any more. Anyone else have the same feeling? I am always perfectly polite by habit to everyone I deal with to the point it is spooky. Gas station, restaurants, everywhere! When I visited the Florida parks, I noted that I greeted each CM with a smile, nod and "Good Morning" or "Have a good Afternoon" much as they were supposed to acknowledge me as their guest. To their credit I must acknowledge that each CM was friendly and helpful, I did not run into a single sour personality in a weeks visit.

Back to work Monday...
Thanks,
Mikey

[Ho-say]

Personally, I think the Keys to the Kingdom is a great take. It really goes into Walt's idea of WDW being a 'show' and how he envisioned the MK in such manner. The tour also goes into subtle details that you may not think of when visiting the park normally (creative utilization of sounds, background music, very subtle changes of small details as you cross into different 'lands', etc.)

Now, you do get a visit to the tunnels (aka the "utilidors") but I have to advise you that it's just a brief visit, not a tour of the tunnels per se (the entire "Keys" tour of both on-stage and backstage areas ends up being around 4-5 hours alltogether). When I took the tour (Before I was a WDW CM), we were only down in the tunnels for maybe 10-15 min. as our tour guide went over some of the finer points of the reasons for building them, how they're laid out and pointed out a couple different areas like the Zoo (where our characters get ready for their sets, shows and parades) and the cosmotology (sp?) dept that handles hair and make-up for entertainment cast, etc. (Besides, it's dark, warm and sometimes smelly down in the tunnels...I don't know why folks would want to spend any quality time in them. But I'm sure it's the allure of it being a backstage area that is so unique and well known to Disney enthusiasts that makes it so very interesting). You also usually get a tour of the backstage area where they store the parade floats and such....that can be interesting, esp. to see the floats up-close.

To sum things up, I think it's definitely worth taking. If you're interested in park operations and seeing how things "tick" and seeing the Disney way of making things tick, then the tour is definitely for you. I believe lunch is now included with the tour (it wasn't when I took it) and if you have an Annual Pass, then I believe there is also an AP discount offered as well.

Just me 2 cents. It really gave me a deeper appreciation of what it takes to create and run a Disney theme park and how to keep it running smoothly....and all those great Disney details you learn are just a great added bonus. It's even interesting to me today as I work in Resorts and not the parks (with the exception of occasionally picking up shifts in the parks during special events or for parade/audience control shifts)

Another great tour is Backstage Magic, which goes behind the scenes at Epcot, the Disney-MGM Studios and the Magic Kingdom. It's an all day tour (approx 8 hours) includes lunch at the Studios and is definitely worth taking if you have the time, interest and the money (this tour is significantly more expensive than the Keys tour).

Hope this helps!

[leftcoaster]

Personally, I think the Keys to the Kingdom is a great take. It really goes into Walt's idea of WDW being a 'show' and how he envisioned the MK in such manner. The tour also goes into subtle details that you may not think of when visiting the park normally (creative utilization of sounds, background music, very subtle changes of small details as you cross into different 'lands', etc.)

Now, you do get a visit to the tunnels (aka the "utilidors") but I have to advise you that it's just a brief visit, not a tour of the tunnels per se (the entire "Keys" tour of both on-stage and backstage areas ends up being around 4-5 hours alltogether). When I took the tour (Before I was a WDW CM), we were only down in the tunnels for maybe 10-15 min. as our tour guide went over some of the finer points of the reasons for building them, how they're laid out and pointed out a couple different areas like the Zoo (where our characters get ready for their sets, shows and parades) and the cosmotology (sp?) dept that handles hair and make-up for entertainment cast, etc. (Besides, it's dark, warm and sometimes smelly down in the tunnels...I don't know why folks would want to spend any quality time in them. But I'm sure it's the allure of it being a backstage area that is so unique and well known to Disney enthusiasts that makes it so very interesting). You also usually get a tour of the backstage area where they store the parade floats and such....that can be interesting, esp. to see the floats up-close.

To sum things up, I think it's definitely worth taking. If you're interested in park operations and seeing how things "tick" and seeing the Disney way of making things tick, then the tour is definitely for you. I believe lunch is now included with the tour (it wasn't when I took it) and if you have an Annual Pass, then I believe there is also an AP discount offered as well.

Just me 2 cents. It really gave me a deeper appreciation of what it takes to create and run a Disney theme park and how to keep it running smoothly....and all those great Disney details you learn are just a great added bonus. It's even interesting to me today as I work in Resorts and not the parks (with the exception of occasionally picking up shifts in the parks during special events or for parade/audience control shifts)

Another great tour is Backstage Magic, which goes behind the scenes at Epcot, the Disney-MGM Studios and the Magic Kingdom. It's an all day tour (approx 8 hours) includes lunch at the Studios and is definitely worth taking if you have the time, interest and the money (this tour is significantly more expensive than the Keys tour).

Hope this helps!

I'm not trying to rip you or anything, but isn't Keys to the Kingdom tour only 4 hours, so there is no lunch included? I think that Keys only includes MK, and the backstage areas around MK.

The tour that is all day, does include lunch, and takes you backstage to MK, EPCOT and Disney studios (MGM), parade float storage, costuming, anamatronics (American Adventure at EPCOT), backstage at Fantasmic, shows you the parade control center, also takes you down to the Utilidors, and as you said, shows you the zoo. All day for $199.

To me, a person wanting to know the 'behind the magic,' I throughly enjoyed the tour. Our tourguide, Jim (I think - tall guy, black hair, mid-40's to early 50's) was really nice and knowledgeable. He told us his story of it taking 2 days for Disney management to decide if he would have to wear a tie or vest when he went on a business trip.

:)

[Ho-say]

I'm not trying to rip you or anything, but isn't Keys to the Kingdom tour only 4 hours, so there is no lunch included? I think that Keys only includes MK, and the backstage areas around MK.

No worries, leftcoaster :) . The "Keys" tour didn't include lunch back when I took it in 1999, but rather we were given time to go and have lunch, but we had to pay for it (we went to the Columbia Harbour House near Mansion).

Out of curiousity, I just double-checked the Cast Portal for official info on the "Keys" tour and it's 4 1/2 - 5 hours long, and costs $58.00 per person with lunch included (Theme park admission is also required.) I also asked a good friend of mine who works in MK Guest Relations and has been a "Keys" tour guide for the last couple of years and he confirmed this as well.

You are absolutely correct - the "Keys" tour only covers the Magic Kingdom and usually those backstage areas that I mentioned above. Backstage Magic is the one the encompasses MK, Epcot and Studios as we both mentioned in our posts.

The one disappointment (and very minor at that) that I had when taking the longer Backstage Magic tour, was that we didn't get to go backstage at Fantasmic! -- apparently at the time when I took the tour (Jan. 2003), they were playing around with the schedule of when they test the pyro for F! and unforutnately it conflicted with the time of our tour and when we'd be at the Studios....and for obvious safety reasons we were not allowed to tour the area. Not sure if this has changed or not...

[Ho-say]

Out of curiousity, I just double-checked the Cast Portal for official info on the "Keys" tour and it's 4 1/2 - 5 hours long, and costs $58.00 per person with lunch included (Theme park admission is also required.) I also asked a good friend of mine who works in MK Guest Relations and has been a "Keys" tour guide for the last couple of years and he confirmed this as well.

And what I failed to say was that nowadays lunch is included, not only in the time of the tour but also in the price of the tour.(you don't have to pay anything additional for it outside of what you've already paid for the tour itself). I believe they still do the lunch at Columbia Harbour House but take your lunch order ahead of time so you can head right into a reserved seating area at a designated time.

Hope this helps anyone thinking of taking either one of the tours we mentioned :)

[Zazu]

I am contemplating a trip to WDW this October to attend a MK Railroad related event, and have noticed the offer of a backstage tour for the MK. I think its "Keys to the Kingdom" and offers a visit to the "tunnels" for about 4 hours. I am aware of the railroad roundhouse tour and already planned to take that one (again).

You might want to delay booking the "Behind the Magic of Our Steam Trains" tour. I'm working on a special tour for the CPHS Unmeeting -- without civilians. :D:

Is this tour going to show me sights that a fellow CM would find interesting or is its Stupid-Marketing-Trick to fleece me of a hundred dollars to look at a loading dock?

As others have described, there are two backstage tours to consider. There's a fair amount of overlap between the two, so I'd suggest you choose either "Keys to the Kingdom" or "Backstage Magic" based on the time and money you want to spend, and how terribly interested you are in seeing backstage areas beyond the MK. Note that both are presented by tour guides who don't necessarily know much beyond the script, and that the script is badly out of date and thus includes some untruths.

But if you work for a theme park, you're likely used to that.

I visited WDW/MK/AK/EPCOT last October by myself.

Please -- WDW *includes* MK/AK/Epcot. It's not a different place. Referring to WDW as if it were another park, or as if MK=WDW, is the Mark of the Stupid Guest! Try to avoid it if you can.

At least five times I was in different parks speaking with CM's or passing them by when they thought they recognized me as a CM who worked over at (insert various different atttraction names). Is this real or is this one of the many techniques to interact with guests?

Not a standard ploy here]Okay one more thing.... I have discovererd I cannot turn off the "park politeness" any more. Anyone else have the same feeling?[/quote]I understand from former CMs that it takes about four years before you can point with just one finger again.

[Mikey]

You might want to delay booking the "Behind the Magic of Our Steam Trains" tour. I'm working on a special tour for the CPHS Unmeeting -- without civilians.

I have attended the last two CPHS un-meeting tours and they were outstanding. It is the main reason I am headed to Florida this year. Well, aside to get away from work. Also going to visit a friend and former co-worker who now works on Main St.

Please -- WDW *includes* MK/AK/Epcot. It's not a different place.

I used the inclusive term WDW to indicate visiting the transportation system, hotels and restaurants.

Not a standard ploy here; you must really look like somebody, or else they were all trying to pick you up.

Two women and three men in one day thought they recognized me as a CM.

I wish I had thought of that at the time, one was rather hot!!

I understand from former CMs that it takes about four years before you can point with just one finger again.

We can point with one finger, except of course, using one specific finger to point.

Stupid CM trick contribution I saw: One CM was asked where several attractions were. He pointed at arms length then swung around in the direction of the second attraction, slapping a passer-by guest silly. No first aid needed.

Many thanks to Ho-say LeftCoaster and Zazu for the opinions. I have two weeks time off reserved in October and hope to be headed down thataway.

Take care all.
Mikey