[ed. note: These three tours were taken by Paul and his girlfriend, Christina, between 10/28/06 and 11/6/06]

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Behind the Seeds
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After Soarin', we had about 10 minutes or so until our Behind the Seeds tour.

Our first stop was a small lab area where they harvest mites. No lie. There is a form of tiny insect that feeds on the inner layers of leaves, destroying them. There is another insect that feeds on the first kind. They keep a supply of the former on-hand, so that they can grow populations of the latter. And then anytime an infestation of the bad guys breaks out anywhere in WDW, they send a litter of the good guys to them to destroy the bad guys. I find that terribly interesting. Next we walked into the greenhouse, the same parts you see on the Living the Land tour. Jonathan was incredibly knowledge-able, telling us all about both the plants and the technology and media used to grow them. We even got a handout that showed how we can create some of the vertical-growing systems they have there in our own homes. Into the fish-farming area, we were allowed and encouraged to feed both the fish and the alligators. There was one gator who'd separated himself from the group, and was not overly interested in eating. I asked one of the assistants if they knew why. They didn't, but had a bunch of theories, including simply that the others were ostracizing him. Regardless of the reason, they had someone come out every day to hand-feed that one particular gator, to make sure he eats.

Into another section of the greenhouse for more information that I can't remember now (there was far too much!), and the tour was over about 45 minutes to an hour after it started. On the way back, Jonathan gave the little girl and my girlfriend Magical Mo-ment certificates for being "excellent Fish Feeders". Heh. Very cute, and very appreci-ated.

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Around the World on Segway
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At Guest Services, we checked in and had a seat until about 8:50, when a nice woman named Peg came to take us and the other members of the tour (I think ten or eleven to-tal) over to Innoventions. First stop was a briefing room in which Peg demonstrated the machine and we watched a brief video presentation. Then we had about 30-45 minutes of training on the Segways. We were taught how to stand up on them and step back off, and then several instances of going forward, turning around, and going the other way. Then we did some "slalom" training of going around cones, practiced ducking beneath low-lying branches, how to stop and pull the Segway over any obstruction, and finally some inclines, both up and down. Once the two instructors (Janet had joined us) were satisfied that we were ready, we rode the Segways out of the building and across Fu-ture World to just behind the Imagination Pavilion for a bathroom break. Once we were all set to go, we rode to World Showcase. From the time we left Innoventions all the way to Norway, we were asked to stay in a single-file, and defer right-of-way to anyone not on a Segway. Once we got to Norway (which was "backstage" as World Showcase hadn't opened yet), we were allowed to ride as we pleased, so long as we stayed be-hind the tour guides. We rode up to each pavilion, and even through some of them. Along the way, Janet gave us some trivia about each of the pavilions. For example, Germany's is based on one specific city in Germany (whose name escapes me) which also happens to be the basis of the architecture in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom.

Somewhere around Italy, we were given about 20 minutes of "free ride", during which we could go anywhere between about a 75-100 foot area, marked by a set of cones. During this time, Peg and Janet also volunteered to take our pictures and video with our cameras. It was also somewhat fascinating to see the backstage preparations going on in World Showcase - the CMs washing down the sidewalk, and the F&FW booths being stocked, etc. There's just so much going on at WDW that most people will never notice or see. After our free ride, we continued the rest of the way around WS. We were asked to do a series of "challenges" that included slaloming around the columns of Italy, up and around Japan's garden, around the model train area of Germany, etc. This was great, and unexpected. I had been somewhat assuming we'd just be doing a straight shot around the WS, just going in one big loop. I wasn't expecting all the diversions.

Once we got to the bridge past France, we were told to go back to single-file all the way back to Innoventions. We got there, dismounted our Segways, and were given souvenir pins - one I'll never trade, btw. Overall, that was an amazing experience, and one I hope to do again. We were astonished at how intuitive they became after such a short amount of time (compare and contrast to learning to ride a bicycle, for example).

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Keys to the Kingdom
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Christina and I arrived at the Magic Kingdom at about 8:25 a.m. The far right turnstile had a rope separator, with signs and cast members saying "Breakfast reservations be-fore 9 a.m. only!". Our tour was supposed to start at 9 a.m., and we were supposed to be at City Hall at 8:45 a.m. So we went to the CM at the rope, told her we were doing KttK, and were allowed through.

On the far left of Town Square is a sign saying "Guided Tour Check-in". It's actually to the left of City Hall, not in City Hall itself. When we went in, they again had name tags already prepared for us, as well as our Guest Passes that would let us into Backstage. They also had menus from the Columbia Harbor House. We were allowed to choose one entrée and beverage, and our lunches would be waiting for us when we arrived. Christina and I each chose the chicken strips baskets. We were offered bottled water and coffee while we waited for our tour to begin, and then just had a seat outside near City Hall.

While we were waiting, the opening ceremony was starting. It was pretty cool being al-ready in the Magic Kingdom, and seeing the CMs in their period outfits ascend the Main St station, already smiling and waving at us. Around 8:50, we met Jason, our tour guide for the day. He gave us each a small radio pack that we would use to hear him as we're walking through the park, so he didn't have to shout. At 9 a.m., the MK opened, and the flood of people poured in. We remarked how odd it was that the other three parks openings were so calm with the rope walks to the big attractions, and this was more of a mad dash.

9:05 a.m., Jason leads us over to a quiet area near City Hall to start the tour. He tells us a little bit about himself, and his history with the company. He told us that for about two years, he had a role that he can't talk about while on-stage, and that leads him to tell us about Little Johnny, the 2'6" little boy who likes to hide behind bushes and will in-variably be right behind Jason if he were to say something Little Johnny shouldn't hear. So we can ask anything we want, but if it's a question that Little Johnny shouldn't hear the answer to, he'll give a "Disneyfied" answer and then the real one when we're back-stage.

We're told that we'll be going backstage twice today. The second time will be to the utilidors, but the first will be kept a surprise for now. We all introduce ourselves with our names, hometowns, and Disney dream jobs. The responses were as varied as First Aid Nurse to Train Conductor to Imagineer. Altogether, there are about 10 of us, ranging in age from about 17 to probably 50. Jason then tells us about Disney's four "keys to the kingdom" - Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. Obviously, they are all important, and it's every CMs job to enforce them all, but it's most important that they be given in that order. For example, even during the summer months, the doors to the shops on Main St are kept open. That's a courtesy to the guest, so they don't have to open the doors themselves, but it's not very efficient, because they have the air conditioning go-ing all day long too.

We started the walk up Main St, and Jason pointed out the names on the Windows, analogous to the credits of a movie. Roy O Disney is first, of course, as he was the "producer". Other artists and business men were also pointed out to us as we walked up the street, finally ending with Walt Disney, the director, right above the ice cream parlor. We walked over towards the Crystal Palace, as Jason reminded us of several examples of those four keys to the kingdom that we just walked through, without ever noticing it.

We were then led into Adventureland, as Jason pointed out how the scenery around us changes subtly as we walk from Main St over. The colors remain consistent, but less of them, for example. And then when you approach the bridge, the music from Main St fades and you can hear the drums from Adventureland. We sat down at some tables near Aloha Isle, as we were told stories about how the MK came to be. The early his-tory of Disneyland, how Walt arranged the dummy corporations to buy the land, Walt's passing and Roy's insistence that it would open on schedule. Very emotional stories, and Jason told them beautifully. Really, his enthusiasm and knowledge the whole day were remarkable.

Jason took us over to the Jungle Cruise and "commandeered" a boat for us. The regular Jungle Cruise skipper was still there on the throttle, but Jason took over the mic. He told some of his own corny jokes that the skippers aren't allowed to tell, but also some of the standard ones. More important, however, were the facts and trivia he gave dur-ing the ride. We were specifically pointed to some of the props, like spiders and the bot-tom man who "got the point ... in the end", and told to watch for them elsewhere in the parks.

After the Jungle Cruise, we walked around the back towards Frontierland. We briefly stopped in front of the McDonald's fry-cart, and it was pointed out to us that even that has a story line, which I won't spoil for anyone who will take the tour later. The cowboy Woody parade was just finishing, so we paused to let them pass us by, and then were told we'd be going backstage. Jason reminded us that when we get back stage, the "show" component of the keys to the kingdom would not be present, but the other three would be. We walked behind the gate and past the rail road tracks, making note of the yellow line on the road that shows the CMs exactly where the line of sight from on-stage is.

Backstage, we saw the outside of the ride buildings for Pirates and Splash Mountain. We also saw one of the collection facilities for the famous garbage collection system. The whole time, Jason was spewing endless facts about everything, more than I could ever hope to remember. Christina was actually taking notes (she had to justify this to her advisors as a "research trip"...). We walked down further backstage, and saw a "heads and feet" rehearsal of the Disney Dreams Come True parade. And then into a warehouse that contains all the floats of both parades. Now that we were backstage, Jason could reveal that role he held for 2 years, that of playing various characters of course. He played many different costumed-characters, but also played Peter Pan. As a demonstration that the parades are somewhat drilled into them, he spontaneously launched into the choreography as we were walking, to much amusement. Still more facts being given all the time, about the floats and where the drivers are and how it's important for the performers to stick to their choreography so the drivers can see every-thing.... it's truly astonishing everything that's going on around us as we're there just en-joying the parts that we can see.

As we head back to the gate that leads to onstage, we're told about the three evacua-tion plans for the MK, and how they've only ever had to use Plan A (i.e., normal night-time closing) even for 9/11. But that if need be, they could close the park and get eve-ryone either on a bus, down to the tunnels, or into the bunker-level secure buildings within 20 minutes. Really quite amazing. Final time to ask backstage questions, and then back onstage. As we're walking through Frontierland, we're shown where various security cameras and speakers are hidden throughout. Also told to take note of the dates on each of the buildings, as Frontierland as a whole has a story line.... the build-ings were erected in the order that would be most needed by the settlers (ex, a trading post before a saloon). As we cross over into Liberty Square, we're shown the symbol-ism of crossing the Mississippi river out of the Old West.

Liberty Square is clearly Jason's favorite part of the park. The trivia he gave us about this section was incredible. The shudders, the Liberty Tree, the bell, the urban legend surrounding the step, the brown trail on the ground, everything. There is so much more story line and theming than I ever would have imagined. We went into Columbia Harbor House and upstairs to a roped-off area. Our food was there waiting for us, on the tables with our names in front of each setting. A condiment bar had also been brought up just for us. Beneath our names we each also found our gift for the day - a Keys to the Kingdom pin. :-)

Because we were an odd party of three, Jason sat with us and so we were able to get even more information about the company and the parks. It was really quite wonderful. After lunch was over, we went over to the Haunted Mansion, and were given more in-formation about the upkeep of the grounds. We were also told in no uncertain terms that there is NO OFFICIAL STORY LINE for the Haunted Mansion. Anything you've read or heard is conjecture, hearsay, and made-up. The guests are encouraged to just let their imaginations run with this one. We were let into the ride through the "servants' quarters" in the back, which is usually used for VIPs or disabled access. Even with the comparatively small number of people who will see this hallway, it too is themed. On the ride, we saw those same spiders from the Jungle Cruise, as well as the unfortunate adventurer, who has a new career as a groundskeeper.

We crossed back towards Crystal Palace again, and again went backstage. This time, around the back of the buildings and down into the utilidors. They themselves are noth-ing special - it's just the concept and execution that's so well done. There is a radio station playing, very specifically NOT on Disney music (Can you imagine being a CM at Small World, and then coming on your break to hear... Small World?). As we're wan-dering the tunnels, various CMs are all over the place, all of them friendly, and I'm forced to wonder how much resentment they feel at having to continue the "show" even on their breaks. While we were down there, we heard the trash system go. It sounds like a bunch of rocks being shot 35 mph through metal tubes.

We came to an exhibit of various components of the "Magic". Some audio animatron-ics, some CM appearance rules, etc. We saw arial photos of the MK in various stages of completion, and then watched a 10 minute video on the computer center and the laundry facilities (which was far more entertaining and informative than you would ex-pect). Back out of the corridors, but still backstage, we see the landing area for Tinker Bell during Wishes. Back onstage and over to Town Square, Jason tells us one final story about Roy in front of his statue. We then went back to City Hall to turn in our ra-dios and guest passes. We thanked Jason profusely.

I have to say, TAKE THIS TOUR. It is without a doubt the best experience I've ever had, during any of my three trips to WDW. It does not "ruin" the magic at all. Far from it, it enhances it. You learn more about the theming and story line and how it all comes together than you will ever discover on your own.