Difficulty of Driving From WDW to Universal? - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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!
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.
I've never done this, but I'm considering renting a car this time as we are planning probably 3 excursions including 2 to Universal. This trip will be just me and my daughter who is not old enough to drive a rental car.
How difficult is it to drive from WDW (specifically the Boardwalk) to Universal? The last time we visited we took a cab to Universal and it was $50 each way. Fiscally it seems to be smarter to rent a car for around $250. I know there is gas/tolls on top of the price of the rental, but I'm more concerned about the difficulty of driving around Orlando.
I hope this is in the correct forum! Admin please re-direct if not.
Any input is appreciated!
__________________
Can't wait for trip with DD August 2017!!!
Me&Hubby Daughterand Son
Last edited by Belle*; 07-03-2017 at 11:07 AM..
Reason: newsletter07202017
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
It wouldn't be difficult at all. We've done it, and it's probably about a 15-20 minute drive on I-4, heading east from the WDW properties. Check on the price of parking at Universal. It's a bit more expensive than WDW (if you're off property), maybe around $25 per day. Also, Universal has tiered parking, general and preferred areas. Based on my previous trips, I wouldn't opt for preferred again, unless the locations have changed. It's not that much farther to the general parking.
The drive from WDW to Universal was pretty easy, though, and the Universal exits (72 maybe?) are well marked. You can do it.
I agree. We always rent a car as we usually do some other area attractions and it is easy to drive to Universal or SW. We have even driven to KSC. The rental company we use is Alamo. You can sign up to be an Alamo Insider for free and you get a discount when you sign in under that and book. Basically you pick if you want a compact, midsize, etc. You can skip the line if you pay online. Go right to the kiosk near the desk at the airport with your license and cc you used and then you can print out the documents and then go to the garage. Alamo is on the main level so just find the section that has the type you picked and select whatever car you want in that section. If you book and find the cost went down you can always call and get the lower rate. They are so nice and easy to deal with.
We like to do Alamo from the Car Care Center at Disney. It costs less than the airport since there are no airport fees tacked onto the price and they offer a free shuttle to and from your resort. Doing that also allows us to take DME and have Disney handle all the luggage for us (a huge perk IMO).
As for driving on I-4, we've been to Sea World a couple of times and it was marked pretty well and it didn't take long at all. I can't imagine Universal being any more difficult, especially if you get your driving directions ahead of time like I did. I didn't really need them though as Sea World was a straight shot off the highway and impossible to miss.
We did drive fro Ft W over to universal and didn't find it all that difficult. They did offer some sort of preferred parking option and we made sure we were there in time to take advantage of it. Enjoy your trip
It's really, really simple - trust me, if the Brits can do it driving on the other side of the road, then anyone can. It's well signposted, so you don't even really need a GPS. All the theme parks want you to visit them, so they're always sure to direct you every step of the way.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
About This Page: 
Daughter
and Son 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
)
Linear Mode
