Keys to the Kingdom Tour

Today we receive the keys to the kingdom. Brenda signed us up for the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, a backstage look at Disney World. We get to enter the park an hour before other guests, this is cool, just knowing we are inside the park before anyone else, never mind the fact that for that hour we sat and waited for the tour to start.

We start the tour at Main Street Theater where we are greeted with friendly faces and a tour packet that included a listening device for the tour. Our tour guide, Seth, explained the four keys of the kingdom; safety, courteous, showmanship and efficiency. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed while we were on the tour, event though we were standing on Main Street with no secrets to reveal. Seth explained that on the while on the tour the phrase onstage referred to being in the park and backstage referred to being behind park areas.

The tour began with a stroll down Main Street, Seth explained that credits to various people contributing to Walt Disney’s vision for the park are displayed in the windows of the buildings lining Main Street. We stroll along listening to the tour when we approach the center of Magic Kingdom, at this intersection we parade to Frontierland where we go backstage. Yes we go behind the barriers that say "Cast Members Only". Once backstage we discover that we are in the parade float area and are able to get a peek of some of the parade floats that are stored.

Our tour continued with a private ride on the Jungle Cruise, where more stories and trivia facts are revealed. We ar then marched to the Haunted Mansion where we enter a back entrance, usually reserved for cast members, and magically we appear in the short line waiting to ride while we are fed background information and stories.

It’s now lunch time, and we are all hungry. Lunch is being provided (included in the tour) at the Harbor House, which we pre-ordered at time of tour start. A private section of Harbor House was reserved for the tour as we took our time to soak up the cool air and rest our feet.

After lunch we travel back to Main Street, stopping at the Crystal Palace where we go backstage again, this time into the underground tunnel! Unfortunately pictures were not allowed but I can say that Main Street from the backstage perspective really isn’t that big, but the perception onstage really makes it seem bigger, nice job Disney. The underground area (more than just a tunnel) is where the behind the scenes magic happens. The area has vast holding areas for supplies as well as the usual human resource stuff you would expect. It also has signs pointing cast members to the different areas of the park so when they go onstage they’re in the right location. As we were in the tunnels we did not see any characters but we were able to see other cast members coming and going.

We finished up the tour we were free for the day, it was a lot of walking and we just needed to rest and hydrate. It’s nice without the kids but it’s also sad to not have them here enjoying the fun. We took this time to leisurely explore the park and hop a few rides. When dinner time came, we to Skippers Canteen, a new place Disney is trying, it’s a table service restaurant that does not take reservations, walk-in only. The food was delicious, “chicken tastes like chicken because it is” was the tasty meal I had. Located outside the Jungle Cruise ride, the Skippers Canteen’s wait staff had the same corny jokes as their Jungle Cruise sister.

 Not having the kids with us allowed us the time to slow down and explore and discover. Tortuga restaurant, for instance, looks like a nice spot for food with kids, it’s a sit down quick service with plenty of seating. We also learn about the Pirates Adventures for the kids in Adventureland. Brenda booked us for the Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party, a dessert buffet served from Tomorrowland Terrace. This is by far the best way to watch the fireworks, the location lends a clear view to the show and the dessert buffet and being able sit in air-conditioned comfort is the best way to watch the fireworks.

The extra magic hours allowed us to wait for normal crowd to exit the park then sneak off for a self-indulgent trip to Space Mountain together, rare event only available without kids.