Hi Peter,
I love tours at Walt Disney World and the
Backstage Magic Tour (BSM) is my all time favorite - its AWE-SOME!
For this particular tour, you will not need a theme park ticket. This tour begins outside the gates of Epcot at the tour group meeting location. You will board a bus from there & the magic really begins. On our tour, we visited all four of the theme parks. The tour bus will take you to a backstage area & you will enter the park from there. You won't need a ticket to enter but bags are subject to inspection before you go in. Once you finish that part of the tour at a park, you will exit through a backstage area & re-board your bus to your next exciting location. Several of these locations are outside the theme parks & many guests don't even realize they exist. I felt like such a VIP!
At the conclusion of the tour, the bus will bring you back to Epcot near the front entrance. You won't actually be in a park at the end of this tour.
While Guests are allowed to bring cameras, you will not be allowed to take photos in backstage areas & this includes no photos taken with a phone. You are welcome to take pictures when you are on-stage (i.e., inside a park where you would have access to if you had paid to get into a theme park). Your Tour Facilitator will remind you when entering a backstage area that you are not allowed to take photos. If you are ever in doubt, ask your Facilitator before taking any pictures.
You will be walking a LOT during this approximately 7 1/2 tour so wear super comfy shoes. Also be sure to check the weather before you head out & prepare for the day as this tour is rain or shine.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Wishing you many magical memories :-) Allison