Been on Disney Tours?

[theBIGyowski]

...and hurricane season starts today

[cousininmiami]

That's a bad word here in Miami

[boilerbabe]

We've done the Segway tour in Epcot and LOVED it! Behind the Seeds loved that and also Dive Quest...no comparing that one to anything! My ultimate fav!

Would love to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour sometime!

[Lion Sleeps Tonight]

Well, you can't back out of the rope bridge actually! While signing up for the tour on the phone, the CM asked many questions. One was, is anyone afraid of heights? There are also other parameters, you have to be over 4' tall, under 250 #, good heath, no heart conditions etc, be able to walk distances, wear tennis shoes or walking shoes (closed), no sandals or flip flops, no loose items that cannot be hooked on to the vest, and get across the rope bridge! You have to answer this series of questions before they make the reservation and charge your credit card! They also asked about any food allergies and/or dietary needs so they can have the right food for you at the Boma Hut on the Savannah! Hummmm, can't think of anything else right now... oh yeah, this is rain or shine, no refunds! I'm hoping for no rain. July is rainy in Orlando, but the morning is usually OK, doesn't cloud up and rain until the afternoon.

Wow. I guess all the criteria makes sense. I am so excited for you! I was actually looking at a brochure for this today and I really want to try this one day. Thanks for sharing all the info!

[Sharonofwindham]

I want to go on the Wild Africa Trek. It looks like a lot of fun, and from the looks of it, you get to sit in a sheltered area on the savanna and watch the safari expeditions go by.

This looks really fun! In 2001, we did a behind the scenes of the AK. It was amazing!!
It started out in a classroom, then off to some of the nighttime enclosures, where we ended up seeing a giraffe that was still in quarentine, a rhino and her new baby, along with a gigantic male that we were able to touch, and a bull elephant that was fairly close. We were very surprised since we new when we signed up that we weren't necessarily going to see any animals, and the tour was just to inform and show us how the animals were cared for. This was enough for us, so interesting! Seeing the animals was just icing on the cake. It was pricey, but a good chunk went to their conservation fund.

[dwellsbct]

I have done the "Keys to the Kingdom", "Behind the Seeds" and the "The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains" tours... All of them were great and worth the price for someone who has been to the parks as many times as I have. I would not recommend them to a first time visitor on a short visit. First they do take away some of the magic and second they can be lenghty.. Well behind the Seeds is short and OK for a quick tour but the others are longer.
Whatever you do ...JUST HAVE FUN!!

[Brian845]

We really wanted to do th "Wildlife Discovery Excursion" at the Animal Kingdom on our upcoming trip, but they discontinued it at the end of 2010, so we have no plans for tours since our children are too young to go on most of them. Maybe when they're older we'll do the "Wild Africa Trek", since that looks like fun.

[MmeLeota]

I'm hoping that we will be able to do a couple of tours in January. We're looking at Behind the Seeds, The Magic Behind our Steam Trains, and UnDISCOVERed Future World.

Although, when I was looking at the website I noticed the Wild Africa Trek...and since we don't plan on taking an African Safari (but it's something I have always been facinated with), I thought this might be pretty sweet. When I talked to a CM on the phone, and I mentioned hubby's mobility concern, she told me that there is a less intense version of the trek available. Because I was just looking for some information, I didn't have her go into full detail but it sounds like you get to do all aspects of the tour, except for the real physical stuff. It sounds pretty awesome though...

[Amy]

I'm hoping that we will be able to do a couple of tours in January. We're looking at Behind the Seeds, The Magic Behind our Steam Trains, and UnDISCOVERed Future World.

Although, when I was looking at the website I noticed the Wild Africa Trek...and since we don't plan on taking an African Safari (but it's something I have always been facinated with), I thought this might be pretty sweet. When I talked to a CM on the phone, and I mentioned hubby's mobility concern, she told me that there is a less intense version of the trek available. Because I was just looking for some information, I didn't have her go into full detail but it sounds like you get to do all aspects of the tour, except for the real physical stuff. It sounds pretty awesome though...

That is good to know about the Wild Africa Trek. F1gment is interested but I'm not sure she would be able to do all the activities. I will have to call and inquire more about the specifics of the less intense version and see if she can participate. She was very disappointed not to have been able to participate in the Segway tour last year. Especially since her birthday gift from me was a tour of her choice!
We are also looking into the Behind the Seeds tour. I had forgotten about the steam train tour. The big drawback for me on that one is getting transportation to the starting point since the buses don't run that early.
F1gment so far is inclined to pass on the Dine with an Imagineer due to her many food allergies. I told her WDW is really good about accommodating those with allergies but she is not sold yet.

[MmeLeota]

Good to know info about the steam train tour. Thanks for that heads up. I really want to do that one because you get to see the Roundhouse. Since I used to drive monorails that had previously lived at WDW, I have always wanted to check it out...and I do love trains! (but not in a Gomez Addams sort of way... )

[theBIGyowski]

DW and I did the Behind the Seeds tour and we can highly recommend it...especially for the price. You get to learn much, much more than the boat ride can ever show you. You get to ask questions whenever you want. You also get to taste some of the produce grown there (we tasted cucumbers). We also got to feed the tilapia which was fun.

At some point we would love to do a Keys to the Kingdom tour...but that will just have to wait because we're always too busy running around riding attractions.

[Amy]

Good to know info about the steam train tour. Thanks for that heads up. I really want to do that one because you get to see the Roundhouse. Since I used to drive monorails that had previously lived at WDW, I have always wanted to check it out...and I do love trains! (but not in a Gomez Addams sort of way... )

Yes, I checked and you pretty much have to have a car or hire a taxi because the buses don't run early enough to get you there for the start of the tour. And I don't know why, but paying for/relying on a taxi sort of freaks me out.

[Amy]

DW and I did the Behind the Seeds tour and we can highly recommend it...especially for the price. You get to learn much, much more than the boat ride can ever show you. You get to ask questions whenever you want. You also get to taste some of the produce grown there (we tasted cucumbers). We also got to feed the tilapia which was fun.

At some point we would love to do a Keys to the Kingdom tour...but that will just have to wait because we're always too busy running around riding attractions.

Good to know on the Behind the Seeds tour. I think Mom would really enjoy it having gardened a good part of my growing up years, and now again these last few years. Was it a big or small group BIG?
Is the keys to the kingdom the long, 8 hour tour? If so, we did that once and it was truly awesome!

[MmeLeota]

DW and I did the Behind the Seeds tour and we can highly recommend it...especially for the price. You get to learn much, much more than the boat ride can ever show you. You get to ask questions whenever you want. You also get to taste some of the produce grown there (we tasted cucumbers). We also got to feed the tilapia which was fun.

At some point we would love to do a Keys to the Kingdom tour...but that will just have to wait because we're always too busy running around riding attractions.

Good to know on the Behind the Seeds tour. I think Mom would really enjoy it having gardened a good part of my growing up years, and now again these last few years. Was it a big or small group BIG?
Is the keys to the kingdom the long, 8 hour tour? If so, we did that once and it was truly awesome!

According to the website, the Keys to the Kingdom tour is about 4.5 hours long and is only Magic Kingdom. The Backstage Magic tour is a 7-8 hour tour that tours the backstage of all 4 parks.

We'd like to do both of them eventually...

[Amy]

We might have both of those actually. I really remember the longer one because we saw so many interesting backstage things. The best was seeing them do maintenance on the American Adventure attraction ride platform. That was amazing! It seems like we also received a book at the end of that tour.
It was a pricey tour though