During our recent trip to Disney World, my hubby and I decided to splurge on a Keys to the Kingdom Tour at Magic Kingdom. This 4.5 hour walking tour takes you behind the scenes at the Magic Kingdom, including the famous utilidors – the first level of the Magic Kingdom, long thought to be a tunnel. It was a great experience for Disney lovers like us and there is so much to share that I will be writing several blogs about it.
We were scheduled for the 9:00 a.m. tour so we had to check in at 8:45.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Patrick in Guest Services (a very nice young man) and we were given a special guest tour pass as well as a cast member pin. I took this picture in the mirror in the bathroom..they really weren’t written backwards.
Patrick then asked us to look at the Columbia Harbour House menu to decide on our lunch selections which would be waiting for us later. Then he offered us coffee and bottled water for the tour.
A few minutes before 9:00 our tour guide, Rae, greeted the ten of us who were awaiting the tour. She handed each of us a device for the hearing-impaired so we could wear it in our ears, enabling us to hear her above the crowds. I liked Rae right away — I could tell she was a Disney girl.
Rae is vertically-challenged so she carried a jockey’s whip with a Mickey at the top in order to be seen when the crowds got heavy. This made me laugh because part of her costume is a jockey cap and she carried the whip. Hilarious!
It was evident right away how much she enjoys her job. She is so knowledgeable and just a pleasure to listen to and visit with. She has a great personality and a passion for Walt and all things Disney. She told us of backstage secrets, which I will not reveal, and she told us of the history of certain attractions. As part of the tour we received a narrated ride on Walt’s favorite ride, The Jungle Cruise.
We were also supposed to ride the Haunted Mansion but they were having “technical difficulties” so the ride was closed. In place of that, we received a special voucher to enter any attraction as a fastpass. We used this after the tour for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – one of our favorites.
During lunch time, we were directed to a special area at Columbia Harbour House where our lunches were waiting for us. Patrick told us to find our name at the tables and, wouldn’t you know it, we were lucky enough to be at the table with Rae. After we started eating and talking, Patrick told us to be sure to notice our special surprise inside our placeholder. It was an exclusive, gold Keys to the Kingdom pin and I was so excited I cannot even begin to tell you.
I would like to take this opportunity to send out a great big THANK YOU TO RAE for making our tour such a fun and interesting experience. We enjoyed it very much. There will be more blogs to come about this very enjoyable and informative tour. Until then, if you haven’t taken this tour, think about booking it for your next trip. Oh, and be sure to ask for Rae!
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This makes me want to take a tour even more! Something I should have done pre-baby.. for the foreseeable future, I’ll be a the parks with a baby, so I’m going to have to wait a while to tour!