When it comes to Disney World guided tours, not many of them compare to the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. This Disney World experience takes guests on a semi private journey through the Magic Kingdom’s on stage and backstage areas while sharing facts and Disney World secrets along the way.
Now, we don’t want to reveal too much, or ruin any Disney secrets for you, so we will keep this mainly about how the tour operates, instead of what you will see. If you’d love to know the secrets of Magic Kingdom, you’ll have to take this Disney World guided tour yourself.
Beginning the Disney World Keys to the Kingdom Tour
When beginning this Disney World guided tour, you’ll need to arrive 15 minutes or more prior to the tour time. The tour begins and meets inside the Town Square Theater in the Magic Kingdom. The theater is located immediately to the right after walking through the tunnel under the train station at the entrance.
Upon alerting the staff you have arrived for the tour, they will take a moment to get you signed in as well as take your lunch order. The tour includes lunch at Pecos Bill in Frontierland.
You will also be handed a headset and listening device that your tour guide will use to talk to you so you can hear them over the park noise. We took the tour on a particularly busy day in Magic Kingdom, and when onstage, it was ideal to have the headset to hear the fun secrets and facts revealed during this Disney World guided tour.
Once organized, the tour begins just outside the theater with your tour guide. Tours are typically about ten people. The tour guide is dressed in old English style riding gear and will be carrying a riding crop to hold up as a sightline to follow through the crowds.
Main Street USA and Walt Disney World History
Once organized, the tour can begin. Our tour guide started our Disney World backstage tour not backstage. As it turns out, you have to start onstage to understand the reasons for the backstage areas.
The guide begins by explaining Walt Disney’s four keys to a great theme park and guest experience. The keys are safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency.
Safety and efficiency are obviously important for a good theme park experience and business, but Walt Disney took things a step further by adding show and courtesy.
Show has to do with creating onstage and offstage areas to keep guests immersed in the experience, and not distracted by things like fur characters without their “heads on” or watching trash be carried around the park.
Courtesy means all guests feel special and taken care of. It is beyond regular customer service, it extends to things like guest comfort, cleanliness of the park and ease of getting around.
As our Disney World backstage tour guide walked us through Main Street USA, she discussed the four keys and how they fit into different areas of the Disney World entrance. She also shared some of the secret history behind the layout and the buildings, as well as some fun facts and secrets about hidden names and more.
We then took a seat on benches in a quiet side alley of the street to hear an in depth history of Walt and Roy Disney, the history of Disney World, Disneyland and Magic Kingdom.
From Cinderella Castle to the Jungle Cruise on our Disney World Guided Tour
Our Keys to the Kingdom tour continued towards the castle, where we learned more facts and secrets. Did you know the Castle itself is exactly 189 feet tall? If they had built the castle one foot higher, they would have had to put a red safety light on the top, which would most definitely ruin the appeal.
Our next stop was the world famous Jungle Cruise ride. Our Disney World Keys to the Kingdom tour guide commandeered a Jungle Cruise boat and politely asked the driver to stop their puns.
She then explained the importance and history of the ride in Disneyland and to Walt Disney. The jungle Cruise ride holds a lot more secrets than we could have imagined. It was certainly a unique experience riding Jungle Cruise in an educational way, rather than comical.
Entering the Backstage part of our Disney World Backstage Tour
From the Jungle Cruise, we walked through the rest of Adventureland and took a short pitstop in one of the restaurants that was not open yet (It was still before lunch.) Here we learned more about Disney, specifically in regards to the revolutionary ride of Pirates of the Caribbean.
After our pirate’s talk, we had fifteen minutes to take a bathroom break and grab a snack before our Keys to the Kingdom tour entered our first backstage area.
Right in between Frontierland and Adventureland, to the side of Splash mountain we went through a wooden gate that seemingly led nowhere. This area is typically where the parade floats enter the park.
As we rounded a corner, we saw a large yellow line drawn on the asphalt at a slant. On our Disney World guided tour we were told the line is known as the “backstage sightline.” This line marks the bridge between onstage and backstage.
Once you cross the line you are no longer in sight of guests and cast members may break character or perform tasks typically hidden from guests so as not to ruin the magic.
Once backstage we saw an entirely new world, including the back of what was at the time, Splash Mountain. A lot of the things we learned will definitely ruin the magic and make you never look at Disney the same, so we won’t tell any more details.
The Haunted Mansion Portion of this Disney World Guided Tour
Once back onstage, we walked through Frontierland and into Liberty Square where we took a stop next to the Mark Twain Riverboat. She invited us to take a seat facing the Haunted Mansion to learn about the building exterior, as well as every detail of the inside of the ride. Our guide explained we would be riding the ride soon and gave us some special things to look for.
On our way to the Mansion, we took a quick stop at the tree with lanterns located in Liberty Square to learn about its significance, as well as some of the architecture of the area.
Next stop on our Disney World guided tour was heading into the exit of the Haunted Mansion. We entered a door on the side and once again cut the line to ride.
Keys to the Kingdom Tour: Lunch and the Utilidors
Once off the Haunted Mansion, it was time for a lunch break. Upon our arrival at Pecos Bill, our meals (including gluten free options,) were all ready to go for us in a private room with a private toppings bar. We took the time to enjoy our lunch and chat about what we had seen so far.
This was our last break for the remainder of the tour, so we all used the restrooms before heading underground to the utilidors.
For those who don’t know, the utilidors are the first floor of Magic Kingdom. They provide walkways and driveways for cast members, equipment, trash and more to move about Magic Kingdom hidden beneath the feet of guests.
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The tour guide led us from Pecos Bill and through Fanstayland into a gift shop where we opened a Cast Member’s only door and descended into the Utilidors. The Keys to the Kingdom tour is the only Disney World Guided tour where you can tour this secret and immense area.
All we can say about the utilidors is that they were surprising, unbelievable and way larger than we could have imagined. Inside we learned more about Walt Disney himself and the construction of Magic Kingdom as well as some fun secrets about the underground pathways themselves.
Much too soon we felt, we exited the utilidors behind Main Street USA. After some quick secrets about Tinkerbelle’s nightly flight from the castle, our Disney World guided tour was over.
Disney World Keys to the Kingdom Tour Price
Before deciding whether to embark on Disney World’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour, many guests want to weight the cost against the richness of the experience. While all guided tours will take a bite out of your wallet, we felt this one was worth the extra money, given the length of the experience, the information revealed and that fact that lunch is included. Plus, you get to experience two Magic Kingdom attractions with no wait by entering through a cast-member only area.
As of the date of this posting, Disney lists the cost for the Keys to the Kingdom tour at $114 per person. When we attended the guided tour in 2018, we paid $129 per person, so this is definitely an improvement.
Always check with Disney directly on the cost of the tour, before booking.
If you’re looking to save a few dollars off of that price, check with your credit card. The Disney Visa Card, for example, offers a 15 percent discount off of any Disney World guided tour. Annual passholders and Disney Vacation Club members receive the same discount.
Another thing to be aware of is that a valid park ticket is required for you to take the tour. This means the cost of the tour needs to be added to the cost of your park ticket for budgeting reasons.
How to Book Your Disney World Keys to the Kingdom Guided Tour
To book a Keys to the Kingdom Tour, you can view availability online by going here and selecting the Keys to the Kingdom tour. This will give you the chance to find openings during your travel dates.
In the past, the only way to book the Keys to the Kingdom tour was through the Disney phone line. Now, they have opened up online booking, which can be found here.
Another way to book is the call Disney at(407) WDW-TOUR, since online bookings are not available. This is unfortunate given the length of time you can wait on hold to speak with a cast member. Some people report waiting up to 30 minutes. For us, it was closer to ten.
There are some benefits of booking over the phone, mainly it gives you the benefit of asking questions and receiving first hand answers and instructions for the tour.
Once on the phone, a friendly cast member will check availability on your requested date and then take the names and ages of the people attending the tour with you. The cast member will also go over all of the terms and conditions of the tour as well as the cancellation party.
Be sure to have a credit card ready when booking, as they will also ask to take payment. Last, the cast member will give you information on where you will meet your tour guide as well as other pertinent details, so be sure to have pen and paper at the ready or your phone if you’re quick at entering notes.
Following the call, you should receive a confirmation email with some details, but it’s best to take your own notes if you want to have the information at hand.
Keep in mind that advanced reservations are necessary for this tour. There is no walk-up accommodations, so be sure to call and make your booking as soon as you know you are available to take the tour.
What You Need to Know Before You Take the Keys to the Kingdom Tour
First off, this tour does require a lot of walking and standing. The tour is five hours long, and while it does include two stops, one for snacks, and one for lunch, seating is not always available. Depending on the crowd level and the time of day, standing may be required. So, if you have mobility issues or can’t go up and down stairs, you’re probably going to want to sit this tour out.
It’s also important to understand that no one under the age of 16 is permitted on the tour. While the age limit might seem high, this is a premium experience, so Disney wants to do what they can to ensure that guests have a postive experience. Given the shorter attention spans of younger children, the length of this tour would really be stretching the “be still and be quiet” capabilities of many children.
You must check in for your Disney World guided tour at least 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour, so be sure to give yourself plenty of travel time. Remember, you pay at the time your reservation is made, and if you do not show up for your reservation, you will be unable to receive a refund.
Lunch is included in the tour price and was served at Pecos Bill’s. However, past locations have also included Columbia Harbor House, so this could change for your tour, depending upon crowd levels and the number of people in your tour.
Absolutely no cameras, phones or video equipment is allowed in any of the backstage areas. If you are caught using them you will be unable to complete the tour and no refund will be given.
The tour does include riding two of the Magic Kingdom rides. And regular theme park admission is required to attend the tour.
What Others Have to Say
By now, you’ve probably noticed we loved the Keys to the Kingdom tour. But, lets get some more opinions from Trip Advisor. Out of the 203 current reviews, 172 rated the tour at 5 stars, with no reviews rating it lower than 3 stars.
Jill G. recently did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour and left this glowing review that also included some helpful insight on scheduling: “My mom and I went to Disney World to catch the last of the 50th celebration. We have visited several times throughout my life so we were looking for different activities to do that we wouldn’t want to do when we come with kids.
‘This tour was fabulous! Our tour guide Alex was amazing and knew so much history of Disney and the parks. I don’t want to ruin the surprises of the tour but just know it’s more than just walking around. We took the earliest tour of the day so we even got to be backstage before Adventureland opened to guests. It rained pretty hard at one point and Alex did his best to keep us dry when he could.
‘Doing the earliest tour of the day was stressful to get there on time. Our tour was at 8 and they said to meet in the town square by 7:45. The park opened to resort guests at 8:30 so Main Street opened at 7:45. The bus line at our resort was super long so we took an Uber to the TTC and then had to take the ferry was the monorail wasn’t working yet. Luckily we hit the opening gates just as they opened another turnstile so we made it to the check in center around 7:50. I probably would book one of the later times if possible if the park doesn’t open until 9 the day you are going. Some other reviews were disappointed but I would highly recommend this tour!”
Another enthusiastic reviewer had this to say: “We had an 9am tour with Michael and had a blast. I feel like he was passionate about it and wasn’t reading a script. All the little details were cool to know and to see behind the scenes was cool too, it was funny watching people watching our group go behind the scenes and wondering where we were going lol! We had a nice lunch at Peco Bills included, I love Mexican so that was a bonus. I’d recommend everyone doing this!”
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