Universal Basics 101--Planning - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks

   guidebooks   |   news   |   podcasts   |   boards   |   blog   |   worksheets   |   photos   |   articles   |   updates   |   register   |   follow us on


Forums Closed
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.

So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.

Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.

And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.

We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm​. You made it all happen.

There are other changes as well.

Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:

We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.

It's time to move on and move forward.

PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.

But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.

So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.

And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.

That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!

If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.

So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

Go Back   PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums > PassPorter's Florida Destinations Beyond Walt Disney World > Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure
Register


Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.

To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.

If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-27-2010, 04:54 PM   #16
Beautiful Mother
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Beautiful Mother's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,976

Post Thanks / Like
Wow! Info keeps getting better! Thanks.
__________________

Beautiful Mother
My Countdown Counting down to: Disneyland Fever
A year long celebration of 35 years together!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsDLR 1964, 1981, WDW 1995, Jan. 2006, Sept, 2006, Sept. 2007, DLR-Feb 2008, WDW-Sept. 2008, DLR Feb 2009, WDW Dec 2009, DCL-Wonder Dec 2009, DLR Feb 2010, DCL-Dream & WDW Feb. 2011, WDW April 2011; DLR-Oct. 2011, DCL-Magic Feb. 2012; DLR May 2012, Food & Wine-Oct 2012, WDW Dec. 2012; Magic-May 2013; Fantasy & WDW Food & Wind-Oct 2013; DLR-May 2014; Fantasy and WDW Food & Wine Nov. .2014; WDW-Flower & Garden, Star Wars Weekend May 2015; WDW-F&W, DCL Southern Caribbean, DLR 2016; BTB DCL Bahamas, WDW Flower & Garden, F&W 2017; DCL Panama Canal, WDW F&W, DLR 2018;
Beautiful Mother is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2010, 09:33 AM   #17
Goofy's Gal
Community Rank: Wayfarer
 
Goofy's Gal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Just outside Boston
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 137

Post Thanks / Like
We went to Universal for the first time in December 2008. Here's my opinion on Universal.

1. What can you see in two days?
Yes. We were there for 1 1/2 days and saw everything. Since we are not thrill ride people we did not go on any of the rollercoasters or water rapid rides. That said we went on just about everything else and still had time for a leisurely lunch at Margaritaville...both days! I would recommend the express pass if you are planning to go on the coasters.

2. What is the "atmosphere" of the park? Is it like Disney where you are immersed in the area or like Six Flags where the theming is just in the ride? Universal does a good job of executing their theming. The decor in most areas is very dynamic and beautiful. Unfortunately we found many of the area themes were more geared toward "Baby Boomers" and their adult children. Most specifically Toon Landing at IOA. My 11 yo DD had no idea who most of the characters in this area were. Beetlejuice Graveyard review was lots of fun, but again many of the kids in the audience had little reference for the music or character. I would really like to see Universal update their themes a bit. Last is the characters...I was shocked at how shabby many of the costumes were. Definately not as well done as Disney.

3. What help should I expect from "cast members"?
We found the cast members to be very polite and helpful. However, be prepared for the "Timeshare People". It was very much a hard sell atmosphere...we were approached at least a dozen times each day. A huge difference from Disney's much more relaxed selling.

Honestly, we enjoyed the park for the most part. We will be returning again this year because we want to see the Harry Potter area and there are a few rides we would like to enjoy again...MIB, Simpsons and Spiderman are our favorites.
__________________
** Carrie **
My Previous TripsWDW Disney Village 1983, WDW offsite 1985, WDW CBR 2001, WDW WL 2004, DLR 2006, WDW WL 2008, WDW BLT 2010, WDW AKL 2011, WDW BWV 2012, WDW BLT 2013, WDW SS Treehouses 2015, WDW BLT 2016, WDW BWV 2017...
Goofy's Gal is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2010, 01:09 PM   #18
DisneyLuv
Community Rank: Trekker
 
DisneyLuv's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: A little over 1000 miles from my happy place!
Posts: 1,628

Post Thanks / Like
this is great info. we are thinking about including 2 days at US for our next big trip to WDW. thanks for posting these questions!
__________________

DisneyLuv
My Previous TripsWDW, Dec-Jan 2017 (POR), WDW December 2016 (AKL), WDW August 2016 (Off-site) WDW December 2014 (POR), WDW December 2013 (POR), WDW December 2012 (POR), WDW October 2011 (CBR), WDW April 2011 (POR), WDW December 2009 (POR), WDW June 2008 (POR), WDW June 2007 (AsMo), WDW October 2004 (offsite-Sheraton Buena Vista), WDW Summer 1984ish.
DisneyLuv is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2010, 05:48 PM   #19
Carousel96
Community Rank: Explorer
 
Carousel96's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 10,722

Post Thanks / Like
Thanks for this thread! We're planning to go to US/IOA this Nov so this info is great!
__________________
Carolyn

My Previous Trips1974 w/mom and best friend -- 1976 w/parents -- 5/2002 ASMo DD's 1st visit -- 11/2002 ASMo w/hubby and the Princess (2 trips that year - what luck!) -- 2005 POP holiday trip -- 2006 ASMo w/ DH, DD, B and SIL for niece's graduation -- 2/2009 DLR -- 11/2009 ASMu -- 11/2010 POFQ & 12/2010 POP -- Non-Disney trips: too many to mention
Carousel96 is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 06-17-2010, 06:46 PM   #20
Beautiful Mother
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Beautiful Mother's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,976

Post Thanks / Like
This info is invaluable. I've instructed both "children" to "do their homework"! So we'll see if they do. I still think I'll probably have better answers from this thread than they find out! LOL
__________________

Beautiful Mother
My Countdown Counting down to: Disneyland Fever
A year long celebration of 35 years together!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsDLR 1964, 1981, WDW 1995, Jan. 2006, Sept, 2006, Sept. 2007, DLR-Feb 2008, WDW-Sept. 2008, DLR Feb 2009, WDW Dec 2009, DCL-Wonder Dec 2009, DLR Feb 2010, DCL-Dream & WDW Feb. 2011, WDW April 2011; DLR-Oct. 2011, DCL-Magic Feb. 2012; DLR May 2012, Food & Wine-Oct 2012, WDW Dec. 2012; Magic-May 2013; Fantasy & WDW Food & Wind-Oct 2013; DLR-May 2014; Fantasy and WDW Food & Wine Nov. .2014; WDW-Flower & Garden, Star Wars Weekend May 2015; WDW-F&W, DCL Southern Caribbean, DLR 2016; BTB DCL Bahamas, WDW Flower & Garden, F&W 2017; DCL Panama Canal, WDW F&W, DLR 2018;
Beautiful Mother is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2010, 02:03 PM   #21
Starbright
Community Rank: Jetsetter
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Canada
Posts: 2,605

Post Thanks / Like
This is a VERY interesting thread. Thankyou for asking these questions. I have one more to add:
Is Universal in Florida, the same as Universal in California???
This is my wild card for not knowing if we will go or not to this park. I think I want to go more than anyone because I want to ride ET, jaws and a few other "non coaster " rides. I also want to see the tribute to Lucy. We never went to Universal in LA and I don't know if I missed out on anything.

A very silly question....... when you see that things are filmed at Universal studios....where do those things happen???
Starbright is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2010, 02:42 PM   #22
GoofyMom
Wannabe Snowbird
PassPorter's Club Passholder


What's this?

Community Rank:
Legend Extraordinaire
 
GoofyMom's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 34,137

Post Thanks / Like
Universal Orlando is not the same as Universal Hollywood. There are definite similarities, but I'd say it's like Disneyland is to MK.

And y'know, I don't know for sure where things are filmed at Universal. I'm thinking they don't film at all in Orlando and they do film in Hollywood.
GoofyMom is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2010, 04:04 PM   #23
mylloh
Community Rank: Wayfarer
 
mylloh's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 127

Post Thanks / Like
This was all good stuff. I got a little dizzy reading it all -- kind of that dizzy with wanting to be there already and be in the middle of it right now!!!
I can't wait!
mylloh is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2010, 12:04 AM   #24
Beautiful Mother
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Beautiful Mother's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,976

Post Thanks / Like
DS says "Go, it WWOHP looks interesting", DD is a Disney Darling, so she wants to spend the rest of her time at MK. It may come down to the guys against the gals! LOL!
__________________

Beautiful Mother
My Countdown Counting down to: Disneyland Fever
A year long celebration of 35 years together!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsDLR 1964, 1981, WDW 1995, Jan. 2006, Sept, 2006, Sept. 2007, DLR-Feb 2008, WDW-Sept. 2008, DLR Feb 2009, WDW Dec 2009, DCL-Wonder Dec 2009, DLR Feb 2010, DCL-Dream & WDW Feb. 2011, WDW April 2011; DLR-Oct. 2011, DCL-Magic Feb. 2012; DLR May 2012, Food & Wine-Oct 2012, WDW Dec. 2012; Magic-May 2013; Fantasy & WDW Food & Wind-Oct 2013; DLR-May 2014; Fantasy and WDW Food & Wine Nov. .2014; WDW-Flower & Garden, Star Wars Weekend May 2015; WDW-F&W, DCL Southern Caribbean, DLR 2016; BTB DCL Bahamas, WDW Flower & Garden, F&W 2017; DCL Panama Canal, WDW F&W, DLR 2018;
Beautiful Mother is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2010, 04:39 PM   #25
julieb
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 1,972

Post Thanks / Like
I'm not going to say too much, because I'm really just a Disney fanatic, but Universal feels very different from Disney. Not the same friendliness or atmosphere at all, in my opinion, and sort of a little bit tacky, believe it or not. Just my opinion! The attractions are impressive, though. I'm very tempted by Harry Potter, so we're thinking about taking time out of our October Disney trip to make the trek over to Universal.
__________________
JulieB
My Previous TripsMay 2017, WLV; April 2017, WLV; March 2017, BWI; Oct. 2016, BLT; Feb. 2016, GF; Nov. 2015, BLT; Feb. 2015 GF; Oct 2014 Poly; Oct. 2013 VGF; May 2013, GF; Feb 2013 BWV; Dec 2012 BCV; May 2012 BWI; Jan. 2012 AKV; Dec. 2011 BLT; Oct 2011, CR; March 2011, BC; Oct. 2010, AKV and BLT; Oct. 2009 GF; April 2009 BWV; Dec. 2008 BWI; Feb. 2008 BWI; Dec. 2007 Poly; Dec. 2006 BC; Feb. 1998 YC
julieb is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Planning For Your First Trip to Universal Studios Orlando PassPorter News PassPorter News 1 02-28-2007 02:48 PM














Please login or register to hide these ads -- it's free and easy!

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:17 PM.

-->

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.4.0 Patch Level 1 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
(c) 1998-2017 PassPorter Travel Press/MediaMarx, Inc.
Celebrating 19 Years of Making Dreams Come True
Ad Management plugin by RedTyger