The Life of a VIP - Adventures By Disney Backstage Magic - Page 11 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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!
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I saw Shrek and Fiona, and since there were only a couple of people waiting, I queued up to meet them.
My nephew is a big fan of Spongebob, so I went into that store and bought him a gift. I also saw Spongebob greeting guests and I knew DN would love to see a picture, but there was a long line, so I skipped it.
I called Celebrity Helicopter and wondered if it would be better to take the tour the next day, but she said the forecast for Monday was rain, so that meant I needed to do the helicopter tour that day at 2:30. Which meant I wouldn’t be doing the Universal VIP tour. That meant that I needed to do the tram tour, so I went there next.
I arrived just in time to catch a tram. I ended up with a row to myself. I really enjoyed the tram tour. We rode past sets that I recognized from a lot of TV shows and movies. During the tour, when we passed certain sets, we would see a little film clip of that set in a film or tv show. They told us that CSI (the original), Parenthood and Desperate Housewives were among the shows currently in production on the lot.
The studio is so large they have their own fire department.
There was a major fire at the Studio in 2008 that destroyed New York Street and the King Kong ride as well as a film vault. The film unfortunately cannot be replaced, but New York Street is being rebuilt, as is the King Kong portion (now in 3-D!).
The courthouse section (famous from the Back to the Future films) survived the fire and has recently been used in many productions, including Ghost Whisperer.
A number of new highly detailed sets are being constructed. This is because the old sets show their faults in high definition. There was a lot of construction going on in this area.
This will house the brand new King Kong 3-D attraction, opening this summer
I was excited to see a glimpse of the sun. I hoped that was a good sign for my helicopter tour. The tram came to a display of cars used in films and tv.
And then we saw how they make cars go flying through the air once they get blowed up real good.
Then we went through Jurassic Park.
Then, we came to this.
And it started to rain!
No worries, it was just movie rain.
The rain caused a flood.
Then we went through the western area. They actually have four streets that can serve as four different towns, because each one has its own bank, sheriff’s office, tavern, etc.
There was a big tank filled with water that they use for filming underwater scenes.
The actors go inside, and the crew and director stay nice and dry outside. You can see there’s a window they can use on the side of the tank. We passed Lyon Estates, home of Marty McFly.
Then we came to this lake.
Aside from being used for countless productions, it was blocking the way! Luckily, the tour guide knew how to part the waters. Unfortunately, because I was in the back of the tram, I couldn’t really see all that well.
The view from the back
We also passed Skull Island (they never used anything larger than this in the remake of King Kong).
Next on the tour was Earthquake (which was used recently in Bones).
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The little town also served as Cabot Cove on the tv show Murder, She Wrote. I am embarrassed to admit I’m a big MSW fan.
Then we headed over to Wisteria Lane, home of tv’s Desperate Housewives.
As we continued, I saw this street name, which made me chuckle.
I can pretty much guarantee that people living on Psycho Pass don’t get many visitors. Then we went through Whoville.
The tour guide told us that the cars all actually worked. Then we came upon the Bates Motel.
Is there someone in the window?
You could actually get a good look at Mother in the window, but I kind of like how it’s sort of vague in the photo. It adds to the creepiness, I think.
Next was the set of the plane crash scene from The War of the Worlds. This was eerily realistic.
We passed some other things, including the cabin from the John Candy movie Great Outdoors.
Then this big blue sky wall.
They use it when filming on the lake in front of it, so it appears to be a vast ocean. It works on film obviously because they don’t shoot all the trees and stuff around the lake. It was used brilliantly in The Truman Show.
We next visited the Tomb of the Mummy.
Once inside the tomb, things got a little crazy. It was a great effect! The video might give you a little vertigo
I really enjoyed the tram tour. I felt like it gave a great sense of how movies are made, and there were a lot of things I recognized from my favorite shows and films.
I’d done everything I needed to, but I still had time, so I explored the park for a little while.
Frankenstein was wandering around and hilariously scared a woman walking through the park. I can laugh because she was walking around and not looking where she was going, so she literally bumped into him before she saw him, and then got scared. Ha!
I went over to watch Shrek 4-D. I had to wait about 5 minutes for the show to start and that was truly the longest wait I had the entire day!
After the show, I decided it was time to head out, but on the way, I figured I’d do the House of Horrors.
This was a walkthrough haunted house, similar to what they have at Halloween Horror Nights, but on a much tamer scale. It would have been pretty frightening for younger kids (there were plenty of warning signs, though). I am admittedly a big chicken, and I wasn’t really scared, but I have to admit Chucky got a jump out of me when he popped out in front of me. And the scare at the end would have caused me to scream had he jumped out at me instead of the girl in front of me. She and her boyfriend backed right up into me!
When I came out, I saw a few characters doing meet and greets (Curious George, Woody Woodpecker, and… uh, Mrs. Woody Woodpecker? I don’t know her name ). The thing I enjoyed most was that they were doing the Single Ladies dance. Random, right? That kind of random weirdness always strikes me as funny.
I figured I’d grab some lunch at City Walk on the way out. Perhaps my favorite restaurant (at least from the outside) was the Saddle Ranch Chop House.
I didn’t eat there, though. I ended up eating at Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom, though I have no pictures of that. I do have some more City Walk photos to share.
All in all, it had been a successful morning at US. I got everything done on my list and more in about 4 hours.
Up Next: The best way to see L.A.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Wow, you did get a lot done in a short space of time. I didn't realise Universal Studios there was so different to the one in Orlando. Maybe we'll have to visit it sometime....
Great update...you did a lot in 4 hours. The tram ride looks like the most fun. I would of LOVED to see Wisteria Ln. Can't wait to see your flying tour!
Interrupting my reading to say: Wonderful start to your trip.
Quote:
This place is heaven for science/astronomy geeks.
My husband Paul is a science/astronomy geek and he would have been in blissed-out-science/astronomy geek-heaven at this place. In fact, he just read a book about the life of Tesla, which he really enjoyed. The Tesla display reminded me of Frankenstein's laboratory though. Now back to the tr.
ETA: Was just telling Paul about your visit to the Observatory, and he, of course, is familiar with it, even though he's never been there. He said to tell you that they've filmed other movies there too, including Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy's movie "Bowfinger" (which we loved).
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Nancy
Last edited by BostonTeaParty; 04-25-2010 at 02:49 PM..
WOW, Sharon! You sure got a lot done in one morning. The tram tour looked especially interesting. Could you see any of the filming, while you were there? Looking forward to hearing about the helicopter ride
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Then we went through Whoville.
Then we came upon the Bates Motel.
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Our 3 princesses LOVE the RED SOX!!!!
Now back to the tr. 
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