Keys To The Kingdom-A Magic Kingdom Tour
Magic Kingdom is our favorite park, and we spend most of our time there. We have been once or twice a year for the past several years and feel like we are pretty “in the know”, obsessed, and are all about all things Magic Kingdom. This trip, we wanted to do something extra special and found a tour on the app called Keys To The Kingdom. It is a 5 hour walking tour that allows you to uncover hidden secrets about the attractions and the park itself. The tour is $114 per person, includes lunch, and most importantly allows access to the underground tunnels know as the “Utilidor”.
Now, I want to be super honest in my thoughts on this tour. We loved it. If you are truly obsessed with all things Disney, and Disney history, and Disney trivia, this is a tour for you. If you want spoilers and some of the trivia and photos of where you come in and out of the secret tunnels read on. If not, this is not the tour (or the post) for you. We like knowing how things work behind the scenes and don’t mind dusting off the “pixie dust”. If you want to keep the magic and surprise, this one is not for you. It’s sort of like a magician revealing some of their secrets.
Ok, if you are still reading I am going to share the details of the tour. We booked 60 days in advance through the My Disney Experience app. There are three times per day you can book (8:00 am, 8:30 am, and 9:00 am). It is an adults only tour (16 or older). You check in for the tour and begin at the Town Square Theater. We got on the 9:00 am tour and to be honest, I was super stressed about getting there on time. We stayed at a Disney resort and got early park entry (meaning we could be in the park at 8:30) but between getting on a bus, (first bus from resort was at 7:45) lines and getting through security, lines and getting through the front gates where you scan your passes, and all that, I can’t imagine getting one of the earlier times!
Once we checked in, we showed our ID’s and got our name tag pins (which we got to keep) and our headsets. Then we got to pre select our lunch so that it would be ready for us!! We had never eaten at Pecos Bills so we were excited for the dining experience.
After lunch was arranged, we waited for everyone else to check in (there were 20 people total) and for the guide to gather us all together so we could begin. Our guides name was Darlene and she had a super special connection to Walt. Her father and her grandfather were both imagineers and moved from Anaheim to Orlando to help make Walt Disney World a reality. She was absolutely incredible and was not just a guide but a storyteller. She shared some personal experiences she had with Walt growing up throughout the tour.
We were not allowed to take photos on the tour. I snapped a quick one before we left the Town Square Theater, one of the lunch setup, one right after we ate, and one while we rode Haunted Mansion. Every other photo was taken either before the tour started, or after it ended. This was hard for me because I love photos and documenting the moment! So if you love to take photos, this may be a deal breaker for you.
We started the tour in the theater and then proceeded under the train station looking down Main Street. Darlene shared the five “Keys” to Disneys success: Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency, and Inclusion. She also shared a lot about Walt’s dreams for Orlando and how it all came to be, the challenges, and how Roy stepped up to the plate. She shared the tricks they imagineers used to make the castle look super tall, the meanings behind the names in the windows, and how they use Show to transition “land to land”. We then went into Adventureland and we got to ride Jungle Cruise. She got us our own boat and instead of the skipper talking, she talked about the history of the ride and some tricks the imagineers used for the animals and how they created the magic of the ride. Afterwards, she took us to our first backstage area.
Just before the Pirates ride, we entered a backstage area and went down a long walkway to several large warehouses. The warehouses stored all the parade floats and materials (active and seasons past). We got to see some getting prepped for upcoming seasons and some getting pulled out for the parade that started in a few hours. We got to see the trailer where they monitored weather, the fairy godmothers practicing on their mobile transporters, and the dressing room and busses for the princesses. It was also where a gigantic trash compactor was (it did not smell). Darlene told us every trash can has a sensor in it to tell the cast members if it needs attention. Once it gets changed, the trash goes into this tube and into the tunnel systems and can travel up to 35 mph to the compactors!!
As we were walking back to continue the tour (we went back out the same door we came in by Pirates) we could hear cannon fire from inside the ride and knew exactly where we would be if we were inside the ride. That was super cool!!
Once we were back into the main portion of the park we moved on to lunch as it was 11:30 and we were given 30 minutes to eat. Everything was laid out nicely for us with place cards (which had a surprise inside that we got to take home). We were in a private roped off area inside the restaurant.
After lunch, we walked through Frontierland and Darlene shared more about the park’s construction and secret meanings behind things. We worked our way over to her favorite (and my favorite) ride, The Haunted Mansion. She shared so many great fun facts and secrets about the mansion and even after watching “Behind the Attraction” on Disney+, there were several things she shared that we didn’t know!! After we admired the Mansion from the outside, she got us inside and we got to skip the line!
After the Mansion, we wandered through Fantasyland and into the best and most coveted part of the tour: the underground tunnels!!! We entered by the Friars Nook restaurant.
We traveled down four flights of steps (and up only two). Each staircase was themed (the one down was Pooh because it was by the Pooh ride) and we got to explore majestic tunnels. They are huge. They are air conditioned. Vehicles fit. Cafeterias are down there for the teams. They play music but not Disney music because they don’t have to be Disney down there. It was incredible. We saw a wardrobe department. We saw a gym. We saw lockers, warehouses (of stock for the stores or food for the restaurants), and all kinds of cast members coming and going. We walked under the castle, the Starbucks, the Emporium, and all around the Main Street area. We came out in the shop area right behind the Confectionery Shop.
This is where our tour concluded and we said our goodbyes. Darlene did a wonderful job and left us with some memories and trivia I will cherish. I hope this gives some guidance on if this is the right tour for you. After a day like today, it’s so incredible to think about what Walt said “it all started with a mouse”.
