Keys To The Kingdom

Amanda Lund & Matt Gourley

Keys to the Kingdom is an unprecedented, eight-part docuseries exploring the peculiar backstage life of theme park characters, performers, and fans. Hosted by recovering theme park employees Matt Gourley (Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, Superego, Drunk History) and Amanda Lund (Earios Co-founder, The Complete Woman, New Girl), each installment promises insider secrets, stories of absurd guest interactions, and fascinating tales of workplace minutiae. Brought to you by Earios in conjunction with Tradecraft Media.

Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Our Editor's Take

The Keys To The Kingdom podcast should have an advisory warning for anyone who loves theme parks. This is because the docuseries dispels the fantasy and reveals the not-so-fantastic. It tells the good, bad, and ugly tales behind America's most famous parks. Current and past theme park staffers share their experiences on the podcast. The show scrutinizes the beautiful, make-believe world of theme parks like Disneyland.

Matt Gourley and Amanda Lund know theme parks, and it shows. The husband-and-wife duo's knowledge of theme parks is not sedentary. Both podcast hosts spent years of their lives working at recreational parks. From 2001 to 2008, Lund worked as a theme park princess at Disneyland Resort. Gourley worked as a talking trash can at the same place. The hosts didn't meet during their respective times at Disney. Instead, their "meet-cute" happened when they were both working at Universal Studios.

In the hilarious opening episode, Gourley compares his theme park years to a "tour of Vietnam." The hosts discuss how they connected over the shared trauma of working in a theme park. The dreary summation of their time at theme parks is a recurring theme in many interviews. The podcast juxtaposes the joys experienced at theme parks with workers' angst. It details the stark, weird, and sometimes frightening reality behind these parks. Listeners hear first-person accounts ranging from the exciting to downright crazy.

Most Keys To The Kingdom guests worked or are still working at theme parks across America. They share hilarious, thrilling, and shocking details about what goes on behind the fairytale. Listeners get to view theme parks through the experiences of the professionals. The interviews are a mix of on-the-record and anonymous.

In one episode, an unidentified guest shares their experience working as a furry. The interview evokes amazement and anger towards thoughtless people. The Keys To The Kingdom series might make listeners question their behavior at theme parks. Episodes ranging from topics from "Operation Petticoat" to "Be Our Guest" may appeal to listeners.

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ArtsArts
Society & CultureSociety & Culture
ComedyComedy
Performing ArtsPerforming Arts
DocumentaryDocumentary
Play Trailer
Introducing Keys to the Kingdom
Sep 12 2023
Introducing Keys to the Kingdom
Have you ever wondered what it's like to work as a beloved theme park princess? To toil a full day in the sun, dressed head-to-toe in a fuzzy costume? To be stalked by obsessed and sometimes crazed fans? Hosted by Amanda Lund and Matt Gourley and with first-hand accounts by a diverse gathering of characters, actors, and entertainers, Keys to the Kingdom reveals what it's like to step out into the magical world of make-believe and into the hard-reality of the theme park performer lifestyle. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

Introducing Keys to the Kingdom
Sep 12 2023
Introducing Keys to the Kingdom
Have you ever wondered what it's like to work as a beloved theme park princess? To toil a full day in the sun, dressed head-to-toe in a fuzzy costume? To be stalked by obsessed and sometimes crazed fans? Hosted by Amanda Lund and Matt Gourley and with first-hand accounts by a diverse gathering of characters, actors, and entertainers, Keys to the Kingdom reveals what it's like to step out into the magical world of make-believe and into the hard-reality of the theme park performer lifestyle. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Operation Petticoat
Oct 16 2023
Operation Petticoat
What is it like to don the silken glove, sparkling tiara, and massive cultural burden of the world's most beloved princesses? Former theme park princess Amanda Lund and former theme park performer Matt Gourley sit down to speak with a diverse collection of past and present princesses, culture experts, and one very sad prince. Guests include Deep Skirt, Ruby Rose, Kristen Meinzer, Jessica Lesaca, and Epaulette Babe. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Good, the Bad, and the Fuzzy
Oct 16 2023
The Good, the Bad, and the Fuzzy
The theme park fuzzy. Costumed head-to-toe in a fur-covered, foam-lined, portable sweat lodge. Why do they do it? For money? For honor? Matt and Amanda seek to find out as they talk to a menagerie of chipmunks, donkeys, and of course, mice. Guests include White Glove 1, White Glove 2, Scott Aukerman, Jeff B. Davis, and Space Ranger. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Breaking the Rules
Oct 23 2023
Breaking the Rules
What about those rare theme park employees and guests that don't dutifully follow the rules? On this episode of Keys to the Kingdom, we're talking with the bad boys, the rebels, the wayward fuzzies and the defiant fans that stand up to the system despite the consequences. Guests include Nader Shokair, Rebecca Lumianski, Jeff B. Davis, Maria Blasucci, Sona Movsesian, Mark Felt, and Drew McWeeny. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We Need to Talk About the Fans
Oct 30 2023
We Need to Talk About the Fans
The Theme Park Fan is its own species, one that runs the gamut from harmless enthusiast to harmful obsessive. In this episode, Matt and Amanda will share stories of guests from both extremes, and everywhere in between. Guests include Taran Killam, Jodi Eichler-Levine, Epaulette Babe, Jake Fite, and Molly Hawkey as Flora. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Professionals
Nov 6 2023
The Professionals
These guys do it all: act, sing, dance! But if they're not careful, they may find themselves stuck in the theme park world forever and ever. On the other hand, if they're not careful, they may find themselves without a job in this ever-evolving workplace, losing vital stability, premium benefits, and what amounts to a pretty cushy career. Guests include Gale Brennan, Grandma Agva, Mark Gagliardi, Cherry Blossom, and Rebecca Lumianski. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Scare-actors
Nov 13 2023
The Scare-actors
Halloween season in the theme park world is a very spooky time. Not since Burning Man, the Renaissance Faire, or Woodstock '99 has there been a more lusty gathering of lovable weirdos and questionable characters. In this episode, Matt and Amanda speak with all types, from monster to manager, within the spooky season performer world. Guests include Cherry Blossom, Drew McWeeny, Mark Gagliardi, Rebecca Lumianski, Eric Martin, Scott Aukerman, and Brandon Adams. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Be Our Guest
Nov 20 2023
Be Our Guest
Sometimes just being a theme park fan is a story in itself. In this episode, Matt and Amanda not only speak to guests about their strange and scarring experiences, but they themselves revisit their origins in an attempt to rate the major theme parks. Guests include Sarah Campbell, Josh Dean, Michael Bowes, Todd Levin, and Andy Daly as The Walker. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Happily Ever After
Nov 27 2023
Happily Ever After
Does the fairly tale ending really exist? For the fan, for the theme park worker, for your intrepid hosts? In the season finale of Keys to the Kingdom, Matt and Amanda aim to find out. Guests include Erich Schwartzel, Mark McConville, Rebecca Martens, Nick Pettigrew, Jim Gourley, and Marion Lund. Get 8 full-length, bonus companion episodes featuring numerous extended and unheard interviews and more at https://plus.acast.com/s/keystothekingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.