Marceline to Magic Kingdom Tour
In 2016, I was able to do the Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. This tour lets guests discover how key events in Walt Disney’s life inspired the creation of Magic Kingdom park on a 3-hour walking tour. Disney offers a number of different tour options at each of their theme parks, so if you are interested in one of these, visit the Walt Disney World Tours website!
Selecting the Tour
Taking a Walt Disney World tour was something I had on my Disney Bucket List, so I was able to sign up for a tour during a solo trip to Walt Disney World around the D23 Destination D event in 2016. The hard part here for me was determining which tour to do. After some deliberation, and since I had recently visited Marceline, MO for myself, I decided upon the Marceline to the Magic Kingdom tour. This shorter tour allowed me the opportunity to experience the parks as well, but be sure to check out the lengths before signing up.
Arriving at Magic Kingdom
The tour started promptly at 8 am, which also happened to be when the park opened. Because of this, I was able to enter the park early! This meant a few photos down main street with no one around, but they did want us to stay near the Town Square Theater, where the tours all start from. Outside of the gates, there are cast members that you can find who will help you out, and let you into the park if you have an early morning dining reservation, or have signed up for a tour! Be sure to arrive early, though, as security checks, transportation delays, or confusion of where to go would be a really terrible reason as to why you missed out on your tour!
The Tour
The tour consisted of a few different parts. I wont get into too many specifics as to not spoil the tour for those who want to take it. The tour guide gave us information about the park and key facts that related parts to Walt. Then, we went to The Haunted Mansion, where the guide filled us in on information in the queue and on the ride. We got to see some back stage areas (my favorite part) which were very locked down and they prohibited the use of phones or any photos from being taken. Then we got to ride It’s a Small World with commentary from our guide.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and provided many great items to look at in the attractions that I had never noticed before. Throughout the tour, each participant has an ear piece to allow everyone to hear the guide without having to have them yell. This let them tell us about little parts of the attractions, even though they were not sitting with us in the same car.
There were around 15 people on the tour and it took the exact 3 hours that they advertised. As soon as the tour ended, we were all able to go on our ways to whatever part of the park we chose!
Tour Disclaimers
First and foremost, some tours can be very pricey. Some tours can take a very long time. Be sure to check these before signing up, as it could be a rude awakening if you sign up for a 4 hour tour and have to leave early due to poor planning. Next, you will be walking around the park quite a bit in most tours. This one specifically had us go all around the Magic Kingdom, so guests who struggle to walk, might not enjoy this. The tours also do not allow guests under the age of 12 for this, and other reasons.
Finally, this tour and many others, take guest backstage. Going backstage will potentially “spoil the magic” of how things within the Disney Parks work. Younger children (over the age of 12) and adult might love this, or might hate that the illusion of magic is no longer there. Make sure everyone in the party is aware of this before you go on any backstage tours!
