On our most recent trip to Disney World we went on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. As we have been long time frequenters of Walt Disney World, we are always looking for new ways to explore! Last year we started off our journey with Disney’s tours by doing their Behind the Seeds Tour at Epcot. Which you can read about here.
Today I wanted to share the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, and if we thought it was worth it. I hope you find this information valuable and enjoy!
The Keys to the Kingdom tour is a ~5-hour walking tour of the history of the Magic Kingdom, and some Disney history as a whole. This tour is “on-stage” (where guests typically see) as well as backstage – areas where only Cast Members typically see. KTTK only allows attendees 16+ as it does “ruin the magic” to a certain extent. They will check your government I.D. to verify this! Tickets range from $129-$149 before discounts and tax. A valid theme park admission is also required.
Each day they offer a few starting times – typically every 30-minutes between 8am-9:30am. We decided to do the 9am start time so we could grab some Starbucks before our tour. The group meets 15-minutes before start time at Town Hall where you will pick up your name tag, receive audio supplies (you have supplies provided to ensure you can hear the tour guide), order your lunch, and they also offered us water bottles which was very nice. Tour groups are a good size – not too big and not too small – I believe there was fourteen of us on our tour. And of course, there is no photography or videography allowed on the tour (unless told otherwise while on-stage).
Lunch is included with the price of the ticket and from what I’ve heard it normally takes place at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe (which offers mainly Tex-Mex food) or Columbia Harbor House (which has some seafood as well as some traditional theme park food). Our lunch was at Columbia Harbor House. While the whole menu wasn’t available for our selection there is a good variety of options. A soft drink is also served with lunch, which is bottled. They surprised us when we got there with specialty cupcakes for dessert.
There are numerous tour guides who may give your tour. We were lucky to get a woman named Darlene. She was able to offer us a perspective I think no other tour guide could. Her father was an Imagineer hand-picked by Walt Disney himself! She shared with us her personal stories knowing Walt as a young girl, as well as sharing other stories you traditionally hear on the tour. I have to assume each tour guide puts their own touch to the tour. I am sure no tour is the same twice. While I don’t want to give anything away, I will say being a big Disney nerd there were some things I did know and others I was surprised by. That being said I felt like there was a good variety of knowledge shared!
Our tour guide even got us on to two rides without having to wait; The Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise. This was definitely icing on the cake! By far my favorite part of the tour was going down to the Utilidor – what many of us refer to as the “tunnels” under Magic Kingdom. Specifically, our tour guide took us into the costuming department – where they sew and maintain the character costumes. It was truly an amazing sight to see!
While the tour is 5 hours, it doesn’t feel that long and ends up going quickly. Especially since you get a break for lunch in the middle. I believe lunch was about 30-minutes and I’d say we took bathroom breaks about once per hour. I was the youngest one on our tour, and the amount of bathroom breaks seemed to be perfect for everyone. Including myself and my small blatter.
My biggest tips would be to be sure to dress for the weather – and have layers. Our tour was on a cooler day, which it was nice to not be sweating. But at some times we were freezing in the shade. If you’re going when it’s hot I’d suggest bringing extra water and of course reapplying sunscreen as needed.
Like all things at Disney, I am sure they can made ADA accommodations as needed. However, I would be mindful if you have a hard time standing/walking for long periods of time. We had individuals in our group who didn’t use mobility devices but struggled with keeping up with the group and therefore slowed us down as a whole. So I would just be mindful of that and perhaps consider doing a different tour offering.
Overall, I’d highly recommend this if you are a big Disney nerd who frequents WDW often. We had a great time, and while I wouldn’t do this tour a second time (at least any time soon) I am so glad we did it! My parents, Grant, and I all went and had a fantastic time.
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Let me know if you have gone on this tour yourself – or are considering going on it. Keys to the Kingdom is a great way to spend a park day for more seasoned Disney-goers. Every Disney adult should do it at least once in their life!
Cheers!
xoxo
Jayme
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