Universal VIP Experience Photos (160!) and report - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 Disneyland Resort California > DL: Southern California Attractions
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 07-22-2007, 10:51 PM   #1
nbodyhome
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Orlando
Posts: 1,405

Post Thanks / Like
Universal VIP Experience Photos (160!) and report

MouseSteps - Non-WDW Content

This was a GREAT tour and I highly recommend it!!! I got to walk around the set of the Bates Motel, one set area from Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.
__________________
nbodyhome is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2007, 11:41 PM   #2
bradk
Community Rank: Explorer
 
bradk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: nyc
Posts: 9,580

Post Thanks / Like
did you actually walk around wysteria lane? quite a few changes from when i took it. no hot soundstage? i wanna go back and take it again. hopefully when i hit disneyland later this year if that happens.

i also wouldn't exactly call what disney and universal have synergy. it's more like if one studio has a resource that someone else needs, they'll make it available for a price (if it's available that is). universal actually makes any of those street sets available for private functions too.

also interesting to note.. as i understand it (they didn't explain it on the tour), that cleaver house isn't the original. the original was torn down but was recreated for the spinoff movie/series 'still the beaver'

also, that anubis-like statue i believe is from the revenge of the mummy portion of the tram tour, where the tunnel starts spinning around you to disorient you.
__________________

Last edited by bradk; 07-22-2007 at 11:44 PM..
bradk is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 07-23-2007, 08:35 AM   #3
nbodyhome
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Orlando
Posts: 1,405

Post Thanks / Like
Yes, the Mummy - thanks! I actually liked that portion too, but it was at the end of the tour and I didn't write everything down that we did.

We didn't walk around Wisteria Lane - but about 4 or 5 other places (props, that one POTC set, the Bates Motel, etc.) . The Cleaver House didn't actually look exactly like I'd seen it online, so no wonder about that! Thanks! There was no filming being done that day, since it was a weekend. Each tour will be a little different, and I know that it would be different going on the weekend vs. the weekday.

I find it interesting about Universal/Disney also though that - unlike WDW, if you want to book a DL package, they may ask you if you want to add on other parks like Universal! So they do work together out there to some degree, unlike here. It was a little mind-bending to me that Wisteria Lane and POTC were on the Universal lot, I'm just so used to Uni and Disney being completely separate here (no matter the reason for Disney using the Uni soundstages).
__________________
nbodyhome is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2007, 08:21 PM   #4
lauren-roxy
Community Rank:
Legend Extraordinaire
 
lauren-roxy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304

Post Thanks / Like
Great photos and sounds like a pretty fun tour to take!!
__________________
Lori
My Countdown Counting down to: Last day of school!!!
My oldest is off to the middle school!
My Previous TripsWe go to Disney every July for our Annual Trip
lauren-roxy is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2007, 09:32 PM   #5
nbodyhome
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Orlando
Posts: 1,405

Post Thanks / Like
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauren-roxy View Post
Great photos and sounds like a pretty fun tour to take!!
It was a lot of fun, thanks!!! I would do it again in a heartbeat.
__________________
nbodyhome is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2007, 04:13 PM   #6
Deb Willis-Woods
Community Rank: Passenger
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 29

Post Thanks / Like
Your pictures are so great. Makes me want to plan a trip up to US. I have been more times than I can count but I've never taken the VIP tour. I just might have to splurge the next time and do that. It looks really interesting and obviously worth the $$. Thanks for sharing.
Deb Willis-Woods is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2007, 04:58 PM   #7
nbodyhome
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Orlando
Posts: 1,405

Post Thanks / Like
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deb Willis-Woods View Post
Your pictures are so great. Makes me want to plan a trip up to US. I have been more times than I can count but I've never taken the VIP tour. I just might have to splurge the next time and do that. It looks really interesting and obviously worth the $$. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! That was my first time to go to the California park, and I wouldn't go any other way. I think it is well worth the splurge, especially with everything it included! And it was a really fun day.
__________________
nbodyhome is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2007, 01:51 PM   #8
Splash_Lover
Community Rank: Sightseer
 
Splash_Lover's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MN
Posts: 88

Post Thanks / Like
I would love to take this tour next time I go. I love universal but did not go last time as we have a 5 yr old and not really young person park. I love seeing the changes that have taken place over the years since I first went. Then, you got on the tram as you entered universal and there were no rides just shows. The first time you had a chance to be filmed in a scene from adam-12. When I went in 1990, the big show was Star Trek. They had kitt from night rider that would talk to you. When I went in 1998 what a difference with the rides and shows.
the spinning tunnel on the tram tour was originally a scene out of the six million dollar man from the sasquatch episode.
__________________
If more people would learn to embrace a Mouse,Get a little Goofy,believe in fairies, and find their laughing place maybe we could all live together in harmony


My Countdown Counting down to: WDW Vacation 2010
arriving at Neverland
My Previous TripsDL Dec 1990, WDW Dec 1991, DL march 1998, DL jan 2007, and several DL trips as a child
Splash_Lover is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2008, 02:49 PM   #9
Joy J
Community Rank: Explorer
 
Joy J's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,386

Post Thanks / Like
I loved reading your report and looking at your photos. It brought back a lot of memories from when we did the tour and some changes too of course. Back then, we got to clamber all over the Crossing Jordan set. We ended up taking some rather unusual photos of "dead bodies." It was amazing how realistic those "corpses" looked.

Joy
__________________
1968 - Disneyland
1976 - Offsite
1984 - Offsite
February, 2003 - All Star Music
August, 2003 - Animal Kingdom Lodge & Wilderness Lodge
December,2003 - Wilderness Lodge
December, 2004 - Beach Club Villas
August, 2005 - Port Orleans, French Quarter
November/December, 2005 - Old Key West
July/August, 2006 - Disneyland Hotel
January, 2007 - Boardwalk Villas
Joy J is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2008, 06:26 PM   #10
bradk
Community Rank: Explorer
 
bradk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: nyc
Posts: 9,580

Post Thanks / Like
http://bradk.smugmug.com/photos/23690078-L.jpg http://bradk.smugmug.com/photos/23691606-L-1.jpg http://bradk.smugmug.com/photos/23690224-L.jpg

as corpse examples...

i'll be doing the vip tour again in april
__________________
bradk is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2008, 11:42 PM   #11
nbodyhome
Community Rank: Trekker
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Orlando
Posts: 1,405

Post Thanks / Like
The Crossing Jordan set was closed (I think the show was cancelled?) But each time, it's something new.

I don't know if I'll get there in March when I'm in CA. I would love to do it again, so we'll see!
__________________
nbodyhome is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2008, 10:25 PM   #12
Joy J
Community Rank: Explorer
 
Joy J's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,386

Post Thanks / Like
Great photos Brad!

Joy
__________________
1968 - Disneyland
1976 - Offsite
1984 - Offsite
February, 2003 - All Star Music
August, 2003 - Animal Kingdom Lodge & Wilderness Lodge
December,2003 - Wilderness Lodge
December, 2004 - Beach Club Villas
August, 2005 - Port Orleans, French Quarter
November/December, 2005 - Old Key West
July/August, 2006 - Disneyland Hotel
January, 2007 - Boardwalk Villas
Joy J is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2008, 11:39 AM   #13
tdandboys
Community Rank: Trekker
 
tdandboys's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,264

Post Thanks / Like
We wanted to do this, but we couldn't afford it. Thanks for sharing.
__________________
Tina K
My Countdown Counting down to: DJ 16th birthday
I can't wait to see the Mouse!
My Previous TripsWDW 1997 Honeymoon, DL 2004 with DJ WDW 2007 June, Caribeenean Beach Resort WDW 2007 July, Animal Kingdom, DL Christmas 2007-it was wonderful Grand Californian June 2009 Marriot),at All-Sports 2010-WDW-Saratoga Springs 2014-Boardwalk 2017-20th Anniversary
tdandboys is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Reply




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














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

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:09 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