Favorite Tour

back stage magic, if you can afford it, it's 7 hours long with lunch at wilderness lodge does all four parks. Undiscovered futureworld at epcot is a good one too, but for starters the best is Keys to the kingdom at magic kingdom

Personally, I'm looking forward to doing the Wanyama Safari at some point in the near future, but that's yet to come. So far, I've taken 3 tours (well, 4 if you count "Behind the Seeds): Keys to the Kingdom, Undiscovered Future World and Gardens of the World.

The first two have a similar structure - a tour of a theme park with a knowledgeable guide that takes you backstage for some portion of the tour. Both are all about the theme park - the history, the people, the trivia and the design elements that most people miss entirely. Both were definitely worthwhile.

Gardens of the World was somewhat different. This is a seasonal tour and we chose it because one our party (a first-timer) was a master gardener. It was fascinating, even though I'm not a gardener by any stretch. Our guide was one of the horticulturists at WDW - a third generation Disney horticulturist, to boot. We literally walked around World Showcase for 3 hours before it opened listening to him talk about how Disney paints with plants, manages pests (including gators) and uses the vegetation to help trick us into believing the forced perspective of the buildings. We did go backstage in Canada, and saw some of the ways that trickery occurs. His stories about how they move trees around were pretty amazing.

It was definitely a unique and educational experience.

Steve

Thanks for the great information!!

We loved the Gardens of the a world tour. It is only during the Flower and Garden festival. We did the Keys to the Kingdom tour in November and we did not enjoy it as much as we thought we would.

I will be there during the flower and garden festival. Do you remember how much is cost?

It's $85 per person. You can get all the info on the WDW site. Under the Things to Do tab, there's an option for events and tours. You'll find the info there.

Steve

Beware, though.

It is "a 3-hour tour". :mickey:

Steve

Fangorn;2501157 wrote: It's $85 per person. You can get all the info on the WDW site. Under the Things to Do tab, there's an option for events and tours. You'll find the info there.

Steve

Also if you are a Disney VISA card holder you can get a discount. That tour was wonderful. They explained everything about the gardens and displays and even told us how the topiaries are made. We loved it!

Fangorn;2500918 wrote: Personally, I'm looking forward to doing the Wanyama Safari at some point in the near future, but that's yet to come.

The Wanyama Safari Tour is awesome! My favorite tours have been any of the ones in Animal Kingdom. That's because AK is my favorite theme park. It seems that if you pick any tour from your favorite park, you can't go wrong. I also enjoyed the Wanyama Safari because I love animals.

Simba's Mom;2501246 wrote: The Wanyama Safari Tour is awesome! My favorite tours have been any of the ones in Animal Kingdom. That's because AK is my favorite theme park. It seems that if you pick any tour from your favorite park, you can't go wrong. I also enjoyed the Wanyama Safari because I love animals.

What is teh Wanyama Safari tour?..also how much did it cost?

Fangorn;2501159 wrote: Beware, though.

It is "a 3-hour tour". :mickey:

Steve

LOL! I'm old enough to know what you are talking about - and now I'm singing the darn song, but I wonder how many young heads that went right over? ;)

mom2morgan;2501404 wrote: ... but I wonder how many young heads that went right over? ;)

Alas, true. But that's their loss, Little Buddy :thumbsup:

Steve

FenwayGirl;2501366 wrote: What is teh Wanyama Safari tour?..also how much did it cost?

The Wanyama Safari tour is a tour of the Savannahs of Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kidani. It also includes a three course dinner at Jiko, and at least when I did it, each course was accompanied by a glass of wine. The tour is on a jeep-type vehicle, about 1 1/2 hours long. It costs about $200 per person.

I vote for Backstage Magic. Did it a few years back, and it was worth every penny. Yeah, it's a bit pricey, but it includes lunch and - you're on VACATION! Keys to the Kingdom is a great one too, and a lot less expensive.

As for the "three hour tour", if your guide isn't named Gilligan, I think you're OK.