Today, we are talking about another backstage tour, this one in the Magic Kingdom.  You may have heard of the Keys to the Kingdom tour before, it is one of the most well known tours offered.  Even so, I had a lot of questions about this tour before embarking down Main Street U.S.A.  Questions like, will this spoil the magic? What backstage areas are included? What’s for lunch? And is it worth the extra money?  Well, today we will answer all of those questions and more.  First, let’s get started with our…

Know before you go essential facts:

• The tour is located in the Magic Kingdom


• Participants must be 16 years of age or older and have a valid photo ID


• The fright factor is 0 out of 5


• The tour is 5 hours long


• Lunch is included


• The tour usually has four offerings per day, starting at 8:00 am, 8:30 am, 9:00 am, and 9:30 am


• Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour is $99 per person, plus tax.


• Reservations can be made by calling (407) WDW-TOUR

Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour is your ticket to unlocking the secrets of the Magic Kingdom.  This is your chance to learn about the inner workings of rides like The Jungle Cruise, to go behind closed doors in The Haunted Mansion, and to even step backstage and see Main Street U.S.A. from two unique perspectives.  More than that though, this is a history lesson in what makes this magical place so successful.  As you will learn on the tour, the keys to the kingdom are much more than a backstage pass, they are a way of life at Walt Disney World.

As we go along today, I will introduce you to the main components of the tour, as well as the four “keys” Disney uses to ensure the best possible guest experience.  What I won’t do though, is spoil all of the secrets.  Actually, I couldn’t do that if I wanted to!  Your tour guide will spend most of the 5 hours you have together telling story after story after story.   There is no way I could share all of the wonderful insights you will hear on the tour in our 20 minute podcast.  Still, I want to pass along a couple of nuggets so you will know what you can expect to learn on this tour.  With that said, let’s start at the beginning!

As we mentioned in our know before you go facts, this tour is only offered early in the morning.  You can choose between 3-4 times, usually beginning at 8:00 am, and then leaving every 30 minutes thereafter.  We chose 8:30 am as our starting time, on a day that the park opened at 9:00 am.  At the time this worked wonderfully, as we were able to get into the park before rope drop.  That procedure has since changed, and I will talk about that more in just a minute.

Once you are in the park you will take the short walk over to the Town Square Theater, the first building on the right after passing under the Walt Disney World Railroad.  Inside, you can check in and receive your name badge.  We were among the first to arrive and it was fun to see all 17 name badges laid out.  Each tour will average about 15 guests.  This is a much larger number than you will find on Wild Africa Trek, but the group is still small enough to allow you to ask all the questions you’d like.  Along with the name badge, you will receive an ear piece with transmitter.  This makes it much easier to hear your tour guide once things get underway.  With a group this size it may not seem necessary to have the ear piece, but once the park is open and you are surrounded by crowds of guests, these listening devices come in very handy.

If you arrive a little early you will have a few minutes to take pictures outside of the theater.  We went over and grabbed some great shots of the bench with Roy and Minnie at the start of Main Street.  You may also want to use this time to rest up for a few minutes.  You will be on your feet for a good portion of the 5 hour tour, so sitting inside the theater as you wait isn’t a bad idea.

Once the entire group is present, your tour guide will introduce themselves and make sure everyone has their ear piece working properly.  From there, he or she will go over some basic rules of the tour.  This includes the use of cameras, recording devices, cell phones, you get the idea.  According to the website the official statement on these devices is, “No cameras, video equipment or cellphones may be used throughout the duration of the tour. Photography is strictly prohibited.”  Our tour guide clarified this policy by explaining we were welcome to take pictures or video any front of house areas.  In other words, if you can see it with your normal park admission, you can record it.  However, once you step backstage, you better not even have your cell phone visible!  There are no pictures, video, or recording allowed behind the scenes.  I had my Go Pro camera recording during most of our front of house time.  Be sure to come by our You Tube channel to see a short video on our experience, at least the part I can show you!

This policy on recording illustrates two of the four keys to the kingdom, courtesy and show.  We will talk more about both as we go along, but I wanted to point out how the two balance against each other in this example.  Disney wants to be as courteous as possible to their guests.  They understand that you want to take videos and pictures while on a tour for which you paid money.  So, they allow you to do so with anything included in the show.  However, they don’t want to spoil that key of show for others, so they don’t allow you to take pictures of something that will ruin the illusion.

Moving right along, we come to one of my favorite moments on the tour.  After the rules, regulations, and introductions, our group walked over to the middle of the plaza where Main Street U.S.A. begins.  It was almost 9:00 am, park opening time when we walked over.  Our tour guide, Darcy, began to share some of the interesting history of how the Magic Kingdom began, including stories about Walt and his brother Roy.  During this time we could hear the welcome show come to a conclusion behind us and turned to see the crowd of early birds being escorted into the park.  I will never forget the look of confusion and befuddlement on several people as they were so excited, thinking they were the first to step foot in the park that day.  Only, as they looked over at us they discovered another group was already there, enjoying the park ahead of them!  It was funny, because I knew I would have felt exactly the same way.  This used to be one of the great perks of the Keys to the Kingdom Tour.  You could enter the park ahead of time and feel as though you were the only one there for a few minutes.  I loved that about the tour!

Well, due to another key to the kingdom, that procedure has changed.  Key #3 is efficiency.  With more and more people realizing the benefit of arriving early for rope drop, the area between the ticket gate and the train station was becoming increasingly crowded.  In early 2017 Disney decided to open up part of the park early.  Now, if the park opens at 9:00 am, you may be let in as early as 8:00 am.  You won’t have access to the entire park, but you can take advantage of everything from the train station all the way down to Cinderella’s Castle.  For you coffee drinkers, that does include getting your morning cup of Starbuck’s on Main Street.  The welcome show now takes place on the castle forecourt stage, followed by rope drop to each land off the central hub.  The new procedure allows for greater efficiency of crowd distribution, which ultimately makes for a safer opening of the park.  The one downside, you won’t have the same VIP feeling we did when enjoying our 8:30 am tour.

Did you notice I mentioned safety just a second ago?  Well, that is key #4!  Safety, efficiency, courtesy, and show are the 4 Keys to the Kingdom.  As you can already see, the four work hand in hand to deliver an unforgettable experience.  As the Keys to the Kingdom Tour continues, you learn a great deal about the show.  If you are like me, you have probably raced down Main Street on your way to your favorite ride, or spent most of your time inside the shops at the end of the day.  What you miss when doing this are the incredible details atop each building.  Next time you are in the park, find some time to  slowly walk this street and look up at the windows.  You will find the names of Disney greats like: Blaine Gibson, Mary Blair, Roger Broggie, Lee Cockerell, Yale Gracey, and many more.  You may have heard that these windows are a tribute to those heading up different departments which worked together to bring the Magic Kingdom to life.  What I discovered on the tour, is that these are also like the opening credits to an old movie.  As you enter the Magic Kingdom, you are given the list of names that helped create the show you are about to enjoy.  This idea actually begins before you get to the windows.  As you walk under