[jwdj4lfe]

I hope you all enjoyed my first day's trip report. Now as promised here's day 2, which was saturday may 10th.
There I was, sitting out on the balcony in my pj's watching the animals (Giraffes and Gazelle) eating their morning snack. It was 6 o'clock AM, and everyone in my room was sound asleep. And they would stay that way until the 6:45 wake up call that was suppose to be for me and my mom. It was only me and my mom going on the tour, my dad and 2 brothers planned on swimming at the hotel in the morning and visting DTD in the afternoon. The day's excitment had woken me up extra early, probably the earliest time I'd ever woken up on a staurday before! lol. I just couldn't wait for my day to start, I was so hyped up about the Keys tour becuase of all the great things I've heard about it here on DC. I noticed that there was a sign on the balcony that read "Caution: Camera's in use, close curtains for Privacy" or something along those lines. I quickly got up and shut the glass door behind me, I didnt want those camera's to catch what Joe looks like at 6 AM!:p :D . I crawled back into the top bunk, and waited anxiously (sp?) for the 6:45 wake up call. When it finally came, my mom smiled under her sleep filled eyes becuase she heard Mickey Mouse on the other end. The both of us tried to get dressed and ready with out making that much noise, so we would'nt wake up the rest of the family. We had to get going becuase it was about 7:45, and my mom wanted to catch the 8 o'clock bus, as instructed by the person at the front desk. We had to check in with the tour guide at 9:15. The bus came right on the dot, and we pulled up right infront of the MK at about 8:15. After the bag check, we approached the farthest gate that had a sign for people with PS's before the park opened. My mom asked the CM where the people taking the KttK tour go, and he said you can go straight into the park now. I guess he had us confused with the 8:30 KttK tour, becuase the park opened at 9, so we should of just gone in with the rest of the crowd. Oh well, we decided to just go on in and wander around for the full hour before our tour, and 30 min. before the parked opened. It was so cool! We had all of main street to ourselves, except those young parents with there strollers making mad dashes to Cindy's royal table or the CP. We sat on the Roy and Minnie statue and had our picture taken by a CM, I wish I had a scanner to show you guys how empty the place was! We strolled down Main street at a very slow pace, doing the window shopping, and ended our stroll as we walked right through Cinderella's castle. We ended up chatting with the CM at the Royal table, and to our great pleasure and later great displeasure we found out that they had an opening for 2 at that very moment!! We got all excited becuase we knew how much of a head ache it was to get into CRT. Unfortunatly, we had to pass up the greattttt offer because it was 8:45, and our tour would be starting in hakf an hour. We walked out of the castle disappointed, but glad to know we were lucky enough to come across that great find. The bakery opened about 5 mintues before the park, so my mom and I were able to get a quick danish and Chocolate milk for Breakfast. Once we got our food we walked directly across the street to the Athletics shop, dodging the strollers in between becuase by now the turnstiles were rolling! lol. We struck up a conversation with the CM, she asked us about our Blue ribbons that we were wearing! lol. So of course we gave her all the great scoop about Disney Central! lol. Im going to stop here, becuase my full report was to long to post in one thread, so to read about the tour read the next post, and if there's room in there I will talk about Boma's as well.
Joe:)

[jwdj4lfe]

Pretty soon it was time to check in for the tour. We got to city hall and meet 2 CM's that checked us in and gave us a name plate with our names and the KttK tour on it, plus a necklace type thing that said Guest on it. We also got to pick out lunch at that time. I picked the chicken tenders and my mom had the tuna fish sandwich. Pretty soon our Tour Guide Regina showed up and called us over to one corner. We went around in a cricle and introduced ourselves saying our name, location and our favorite disney Character:) . There were 9 of us total, including me and my mom. I was the youngest as well. There were 3 couples ( 3 different age groups) 1 firefighter from long island who was taking the tour by himself but had his family with him, and then me and my mom. We started the tour walking down main street, and stopped in one of the corners to talk about the names on the 2nd floor windows. Regina also explained to us about disney's big 4 "Courtesy, Efficency, show and safety." I wont give to much away becuase you guys need to take the tour! lol. We walked over to Adventureland and got a brief history about Walt Disney, I was proud to be able to answer such questions as "What was mickey's original name?" and "What was Walt's first Job?" lol. We rode jungle cruise, and learned about the rides history and some hidden mickeys along the way. After that we rode Pirates, which normally isn't on the tour but we had time for it. I learned about the plot of the ride, Which I wasn't sure about before, and also saw some more Hidden Mickeys! After that we had our first back stage experience, inbetween Adventureland and Frontierland. I wont go into detail b/c I promised Regina I wouldnt. Regina, our tour guide was really big about preserving the magic for everyone, and told us stories about her days of being a Face Character. She really made this tour great, and the magic was not ruined for me or my mom one bit. After coming back from backstage it was time for lunch at the Columbia Harbor House. Our food was already set out and we had nice name plates with our commemorative tour Pin attached. Luckily, Regina sat at our table and we were able to get an even better experience hearing her personal stories, both within and outside of the WDW company. After that break we learned the history of the Haunted Mansion and some of the secrets as well as Hidden Mickeys. After that, we rode the ride of course! Once that was done, we headed back towards Main street for our glimpse at the Utilidors! The moment I was dieing for! lol. We went behind one of the stores and then went underground. There's nothing really to say about the Utilidoors, they are just tunnels with pipes over you. And no, thank god I did not see Mickey mouse with his head off! In fact I didnt see any characters! Regina told us the tour purposely takes the guests away from the locker rooms, costume Department, and break rooms, which are under Fantasyland. The walls are color coded for whatever land you are under. After that we went above ground, to the offices above mainstreet, and there we learned about the costume department, by looking through displays of characters make up, and wigs, shoes and costumes (like those of world showcase workers). After that it was time to resurface and have a last discusion with Regina. She gave us another story, that almost, ALMOST brought me to tears. You could tell that she has alot of compasion for working at Disney and keeping the magic alive for kids of all ages. After that we said our good bye's at the flag post, and the Fire fighter snaped a quick picture of me, regina and my mom for us. The tour was awesome! It in NO way ruins the magic, I learned so much about the MK and Disney Company that I never even considered asking before! I highly recomend this tour, and if you could request Regina! Ok, im goingto stop there at the end of the tour becuase it's midnight and I got to wake up at 7 am tomorrow! lol. I will post the rest of my day (including our ps's at boma's) when I get back from our short trip to the keys on sunday.
Joe:)

[BDavis932]

Ohhhhhh! I wish I could do that this trip!! I will wait until our kids are a bit older and do it then. I always like to have something to new to look forward to on each trip.

Thanks for the great report! I really enjoyed it!

Have fun in the Keys....

[DisneyTeacher]

Joe, your tour sounds wonderful! I have never taken it, but I really want to. I hope it is still offered in 10 or 11 years when my DS is old enough to take it. I am enjoying your reports, you're doing a great job.

[tiggerlover1971]

great trip report thanks for telling me about the keys to kingdom tour I am definately going to take this tour in october when we go for a week

[dab]

Joe what a thorough report! Thanks for sharing your memories! I hope one day I'll be able to take the KTTKT!! That is definatley something to look forward to! Two questions for you: How long is the tour? and What was going on with the cameras at AKL?

[neen626]

Great report Joe!!

Hopefully DH and I will be able to do KttK tour when we go in September.

Neen

[jwdj4lfe]

Thanks guys! Dab: The tour is usually 4 to 4 1/2 hours, however ours went to 5. The camera thing was the AKL has cameras around the resort and the savannahs to survalince (sp?) the animals and make sure the guests dont throw anything into them. So they put stickers out on the balconies warning people that they might be on camera at anytime. I have no problem with it, you just close your draps for privacy. Glad you guys are enjoying the reports, I gotta get started on the Boma's and O'hanas breakfast soon.
Joe:)

[dab]

That is very interesting about the cameras. Wouldn't that be a fun job to monitor them. I bet those CM's could tell some crazy stories!