Most of the parks have some kind of behind the scenes tour.
Thought we could have a thread with reports, pics recommendations etc for the tours available at the Florida parks.
Have you done Keys to the Kingdom at MK or Segways at Epcot or maybe you was trainer for the day at Discovery Cove.
If so let us know how it was, was it worth the money, would you do it again or what was the guide like any thing really, oh and don't forget to post some pics.
Hopefully we can build a data base of most if not all of the tours available at the Florida Parks.
So I will kick us off.
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BGT Behind The Scenes Montu Tour
Last August (2012) myself and my daughter did the behind the scenes Montu tour, I had booked on line months before and had really been looking forward to it.
The tour cost $35 and was a guided tour that included a behind the scenes of the ride, a front of the line pass for front or back row and a fast pass for any other ride in the park.
When we turned up we were the only ones there so we had the tour to our selves, we were met by a lady (I forget her name and no pics, sorry) who was the ride manager and had been for years. She gave us a few facts and showed us the safety features in the station, we learned the international code for a coaster safe to go :thumbs:. We also got a look at the operating console, oh how I would have loved to have pressed that start button , but it wasn't to be :mean:
We were then met by a guy called Gabe. Gabe was to take over for the rest of the tour.
Gabe, I wish I got his email as he was a great guy.
We followed Gabe down some stairs and into the maintenance shed, here we got to see the coaster stripped down to its bare bones. I am a huge coaster fan but especially love B&Ms so this was like heaven to me.
Wheels and pins
Montu's track layout diagram.
We learned so much, I loved how they have a freezer to shrink the parts so they can fit them back in when putting the train back together, they are that precise. Gabe was a great guide but even better he was a fan too, we really hit it off talking about parks and coasters from all over the world. I told him about this site (OU) and WWofHP phase 2, he was amazed.
So after the maintenance shed we were let through the gates into the main ride area, we needed the manager to let us in as only she holds the key.
We were within feet of the ride track
and you got a real rush when the trains went flying past.
We were then allowed up the stairs near the brake run, from here the view was amazing
You felt like you could touch the riders and the stairs would shake every time a train went by.
We spent a good 30 mines up here chatting, I could have stayed all day. Gabe told us how when the ride first opened the bat wing element was so intense that riders would often need to be brought back round with smelling salts once back at the station. This was fixed with trims, sure enough you can feel these trims when you ride, they are just before you enter the bat wing. You can see where I mean in this pic.
We then got to choose a front or back row ride. Back in the UK I get to ride Nemesis regularly and I cant decide if I like front left or back right the best , so I cheekily asked if we could try both, they let us :happy: Like Nemesis I couldn't decide which gave the better ride, both are good but for different reasons.
After the ride we were given passes for front of the line on any ride in the park. So we bid good bye to Gabe and Montu......
,
And headed over to use our passes on cheetah hunt, the queue was 80mins and we went straight to the front, they never took the passes of us either. This happened twice, result. So we got Shiekra out of it too.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour as did my daughter and would recommend it to anyone, although I did find out later they had introduced a similar tour with 5 coasters. I will do this one day. Gabe was fantastic and If any one reading works with or knows him please pass on my thanks.
So there you have it, hope you enjoyed reading and I look forward hearing all about the tours you have done:thumbs:
Thought we could have a thread with reports, pics recommendations etc for the tours available at the Florida parks.
Have you done Keys to the Kingdom at MK or Segways at Epcot or maybe you was trainer for the day at Discovery Cove.
If so let us know how it was, was it worth the money, would you do it again or what was the guide like any thing really, oh and don't forget to post some pics.
Hopefully we can build a data base of most if not all of the tours available at the Florida Parks.
So I will kick us off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BGT Behind The Scenes Montu Tour
Last August (2012) myself and my daughter did the behind the scenes Montu tour, I had booked on line months before and had really been looking forward to it.
The tour cost $35 and was a guided tour that included a behind the scenes of the ride, a front of the line pass for front or back row and a fast pass for any other ride in the park.
When we turned up we were the only ones there so we had the tour to our selves, we were met by a lady (I forget her name and no pics, sorry) who was the ride manager and had been for years. She gave us a few facts and showed us the safety features in the station, we learned the international code for a coaster safe to go :thumbs:. We also got a look at the operating console, oh how I would have loved to have pressed that start button , but it wasn't to be :mean:
We were then met by a guy called Gabe. Gabe was to take over for the rest of the tour.
Gabe, I wish I got his email as he was a great guy.
We followed Gabe down some stairs and into the maintenance shed, here we got to see the coaster stripped down to its bare bones. I am a huge coaster fan but especially love B&Ms so this was like heaven to me.
Wheels and pins
Montu's track layout diagram.
We learned so much, I loved how they have a freezer to shrink the parts so they can fit them back in when putting the train back together, they are that precise. Gabe was a great guide but even better he was a fan too, we really hit it off talking about parks and coasters from all over the world. I told him about this site (OU) and WWofHP phase 2, he was amazed.
So after the maintenance shed we were let through the gates into the main ride area, we needed the manager to let us in as only she holds the key.
We were within feet of the ride track
and you got a real rush when the trains went flying past.
We were then allowed up the stairs near the brake run, from here the view was amazing
You felt like you could touch the riders and the stairs would shake every time a train went by.
We spent a good 30 mines up here chatting, I could have stayed all day. Gabe told us how when the ride first opened the bat wing element was so intense that riders would often need to be brought back round with smelling salts once back at the station. This was fixed with trims, sure enough you can feel these trims when you ride, they are just before you enter the bat wing. You can see where I mean in this pic.
We then got to choose a front or back row ride. Back in the UK I get to ride Nemesis regularly and I cant decide if I like front left or back right the best , so I cheekily asked if we could try both, they let us :happy: Like Nemesis I couldn't decide which gave the better ride, both are good but for different reasons.
After the ride we were given passes for front of the line on any ride in the park. So we bid good bye to Gabe and Montu......
And headed over to use our passes on cheetah hunt, the queue was 80mins and we went straight to the front, they never took the passes of us either. This happened twice, result. So we got Shiekra out of it too.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour as did my daughter and would recommend it to anyone, although I did find out later they had introduced a similar tour with 5 coasters. I will do this one day. Gabe was fantastic and If any one reading works with or knows him please pass on my thanks.
So there you have it, hope you enjoyed reading and I look forward hearing all about the tours you have done:thumbs:
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