It’s probably the worst kept secret on the Internet that TouringPlans has been in the process of launching Universal Orlando content this year. Actually, the worst kept secret is about Tom Bricker and Brian McNichols and that time on “it’s a small world”…but I digress.

Universal Studios Florida (the park) and Islands of Adventure have become more than an afterthought to Central Florida vacations. They are destination parks with a lot to offer. The following are some things I really like about Universal:

1. Centralized bag check. Once you go through security at the entrance to CityWalk, that’s it. You’re then free to move from park to park without going through another bag check line.
2. Parking garages. No more getting into your sun-baked car at the end of your park day.
3. Generous Annual Pass discounts. Universal Annual Passholders get discounts on dining, merchandise, and the onsite hotels all the time.
4. Thrill rides. Disney may still be the master of telling a story with an attraction, but you don’t care when you’re screaming for your life on Hulk or Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.
5. No Princesses. No Pirates. That’s right – I said it. I’m over Aurora, Rapunzel, and Jack Sparrow. Bring on Harry Potter and Marvel (for now).
6. Lower crowds. In general, a slow day at Universal is less crowded than a slow day at Walt Disney World.
7. Team Members. I’ve have universally (see what I did there?) great experiences with the folks who work at Universal Resort. They are as friendly and helpful as the best Cast Members at that other resort.
8. Halloween Horror Nights. A Halloween event that isn’t afraid to be scary. If only Disney could give us something a little more adult-oriented (Donald’s Kinda Sorta Scary Halloween Party at the Studios maybe?).
9. Easy access to two parks with no transportation issues. Disneyland folks know what I’m talking about here. You want to go back and forth between Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure? Go for it; it’s just a short walk.
10. Universal Express (yes, this will also show up on my “Things I Don’t Like” list). No return times to worry about – just show your pass and get in the shorter line.

That’s what I have for now. Have you visited Universal Orlando and think I’m way off base? Tell me in the comments. Are you considering a trip there and your curiosity is piqued? Check out the great new Universal content on the site and ask questions in the comment section. Stay tuned for the inevitable follow-up list of “Things I Don’t Like at Universal” in a future article.

Ten Things I Love about Universal Orlando Resort is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Past experience has shown us that when the Walt Disney World theme parks, particularly the Magic Kingdom, see extra high crowds, cellular service can be extremely unreliable. If you’re using Lines, our mobile app, while you’re touring this week, please switch over to the free in-park Wi-Fi. Lines does not cache any park information or your plans locally to your phone and needs a data connection to work correctly.

Enjoy your holidays at Walt Disney World!

Don’t Forget Walt Disney World’s Free Wi-Fi This Week is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

TouringPlans.com se complace en anunciar nuestro primer eBook en español – Walt Disney World: Temporada de Fiestas TouringPlans eGuide 2012. Para obtener más información, visite nuestra nueva página en http://touringplans.com/disney-ebooks/temporada-de-fiestas-eguide-2012.

Esperamos que os guste!

TouringPlans.com eGuide en Español! is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Our new custom design

We are super excited to announce pre-orders for a snazzy new t-shirt designed just for TouringPlans.com by Richard Terpstra, whose work you have probably seen on some of the retro-style shirts for sale at Walt Disney World and Disneyland and at his blog, DesignerLand. We realize that this is not the same shirt we asked for votes on earlier in the month, but when we got the opportunity to do a run of the these shirts in time for the holidays, we jumped on it.

The shirts are American Apparel jersey knit unisex short sleeved Ts. The size chart is found on the order page. We are taking pre-orders for one week (until December 3) and will ship the shirts by December 17. The price is $24.95 ($26.95 for extended sizes), with a $2 discount on a second shirt shipped to the same address.

As they say, order early and order often!

New Custom TouringPlans.com T-Shirts Available for Pre-orders is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

The Looking Glass

Today, Disney Parks announced on the Disney Parks Blog and on Facebook The Looking Glass, a new Tumblr page that features some fantastic artists from the Disney fan community. The project is a social media first for Disney in that it reached out to photographers outside the company rather than featuring its own work.

At TouringPlans.com, the project is even more exciting to us because one of the seven photographers whose work is shown is Tom Bricker. In addition bringing his unique view to our blog, Tom is our chief photographer, the co-owner of the Disney Tourist Blog, and has contributed to the Huffington Post and many other print and online ventures. Congratulations, Tom!

Disney Announces New Tumblr Page Featuring Fan Photography is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

We have a winner! The chosen design will be available for preorder literally very soon.

You’ve begged. Pleaded. Bargained. And we’ve listened. Those snazzy red TouringPlans.com t-shirts that you see our staff sporting at meets – we’re ready to start sharing them with you.

We have two designs for you to vote on – both based on our popular Disney Dish with Jim Hill podcasts (iTunes or RSS). After a winning design is chosen, we will do a pre-order on the shirts and have the printer do a run of shirts for a single sale.

So first let’s put it out there.The back of the shirt will have our URL. The front? Well that’s up to you.  Both shirts will have the same back (shown below).

The poll will end Wednesday, October 24. We will announce the winner after that and open up preorders,

Vote For Your Favorite T-shirt Design is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

This is the first in a series of articles we will be running on Disney Cruise Line. Please let us know what you think in the comments!

One of the factors that causes guests to shy away from a Disney Cruise Line vacation is its up front costs. When you book a Walt Disney World vacation, you have complete control over the number of nights you spend, which resort you choose, and how you want to eat. On DCL a lot of those decisions are made for you and included in your costs.

For fun, let’s do an apples to apples comparison of 2 similar land and sea-based trips:

Accommodations
At Walt Disney World, your choices are Value, Moderate, or Deluxe. On the Cruise Line, you have 11 (11!) categories of stateroom from which to choose. This can be a little intimidating so let’s try to simplify it a bit. You really have 4 major room types from which to choose:

• Inside
• Outside with porthole
• Outside with verandah
• Suite with concierge

To match these up to WDW room categories, the closest approximation would be:

• Inside = Moderate
• Porthole = Deluxe standard view
• Verandah = Water view or Savannah view
• Concierge = Club level

The beauty of the cruise line is that even inside stateroom (including the one I stayed in on Deck 2 of the Fantasy last spring) has twice daily housekeeping with turndown service and a dedicated stateroom host. You’re not going to get that at Port Orleans.

Dining
All meals and beverages, including room service, but not including alcohol or specialty drinks are part of the cruise fare. This is roughly equivalent to the Magic Your Way Plus Deluxe Dining Plan, only far more flexible. The table service restaurants on the ships for lunch and dinner are better than WDW table service restaurants, but not quite as good as a Signature dining experience such as Jiko or Yachtsman Steakhouse. The buffets on the ships (Cabanas on the Fantasy and Dream, Topsider Buffet on the Magic, Beach Blanket Buffet on the Wonder) are better than most Walt Disney World buffets except Boma.

Port Adventures
A cost you have on the Cruise Line that you do not have at Walt Disney World is Port Adventures. For the purposes of our article, we will compare it to park admission. Of course, Port Adventures are completely optional and there is a wide range of activities at many price points you can sign up for. Some of them are fantastic values, like the onboard beverage seminars and sting ray experience on Castaway Cay. Others, like the Dolphin interaction at Nassau’s Atlantis resort are pricy, but once in a life time experiences.

Now let’s hit the numbers. We will compare the costs of 4 night cruise from Port Canaveral to 4 nights at Walt Disney World for family of 4. Our family is 2 adults, one 14 year old, and one 7 year old. The 4 night cruise stops at Nassau and Castaway Cay. For Port Adventures, our family will experience the Aquaventure water park at Nassau’s Atlantis Resort and the Extreme Getaway Package on Castaway Cay, which includes all-day snorkel, float, and bike rentals, plus the one-hour sting ray experience. For the Walt Disney World vacation, we include the Deluxe meal plan and 5 day non-park hopper tickets.

So what do you think? Does a cruise cost more or less than you expect? Do you think its value is reasonable compared to what you get on land? Do you have plans to cruise on Disney Cruise Line in the future? Let us know what kind of information you’d like to hear from us to help you with your planning.

Comparing the Cost of a Disney Cruise Line Vacation to Walt Disney World is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

TouringPlans.com would like to give a HUGE shout-out to subscriber Chris from Wisconsin and his family for letting us tag along in Magic Kingdom today! 

Green means that FASTPASS testing is a go

As reported at Jim Hill Media and other Disney fan sites this week, Walt Disney World began a limited test of new enhanced FASTPASS features that will roll out at some point in the future. Alternately called X-Pass or FASTPASS +, the new system will allow guests to pre-select a certain number of attractions per day for FASTPASS windows. We had already heard that some guests with resort reservations between May 1 and May 15 have been contacted by email to participate in the test. In a new twist, we now have seen guests approached at the Disney’s Magical Express check-in and asked if they wish to take a survey. If this happens to you, the answer is YES (and drop us line too)!

The FASTPASS card guests in the testing phase are given to use

In the 3-5 minute survey, guests are asked to choose Magic Kingdom attractions from two lists to get FASTPASSes for on a particular day. We don’t have the exact stack up of attractions, but they are separated so you can only pick so many headliner attractions and the rest are less busy ones. The test seems to be limited to Magic Kingdom attractions, and guests may only try it for one day in their vacation as opposed to the length of stay. It’s not clear how guests are being selected at the airport to participate.

After picking the attractions and giving an email address, guests are presented with a FASTPASS card to be used in the park. They also receive email confirmation of their chosen attractions.

The following attractions are currently being tested:

• Splash Mountain
• Space Mountain
• Jungle Cruise
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Haunted Mansion

A Cast Member assists with scanning one of the new FASTPASS cards

Using the new system is very easy. There are RF scanners by the FASTPASS return entrances with Cast Members standing by. Guests wave the FASTPASS cards by the scanners, which sends their information to an iPad the Cast Member is carrying. The iPad shows the Cast Member the guest’s name, any special events the party may be celebrating, and if the guest’s return window is valid. If everything is in order, the guest goes through the entrance just like other FASTPASS users. Upon arrival at the point in the line where you would normally hand over the paper FASTPASS to the Cast Member, there is another RF reader that is scanned. The Cast Member verifies that the FASTPASS is valid and the guest continues on to board the ride.

In addition to being used to board attractions, the FASTPASS card can be scanned at other stations close to the FASTPASS kiosks that will let the guest know how many more attractions they have left for the day and what the return times are for them.

The fine print

I was lucky enough to get to try this out today – a Cast Member told me that only 300 guests a day are currently part of the test. It worked flawlessly and there were several things I really liked about it. For one thing, it’s easier to keep up with one card than multiple small tickets. As someone who (no joke) had to have my Annual Pass replaced this week after leaving it in a FASTPASS kiosk in Animal Kingdom, I appreciated being able to wave my card in front of the reader instead of inserting it and waiting for the FASTPASS to pop out. Moreover, there is no worrying the Cast Member enforcing return times when it is a simple green for current return times or red for invalid times.

If anyone else has a chance to try out the enhanced FASTPASS system this month, drop us line and let us know what you think!

X-Pass First Look At Magic Kingdom Today is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will close at 8pm tonight (Sunday, April 29, 2012) instead of the scheduled 7pm close. In response to this extra park hour, Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition will operate until 7:15pm.

Animal Kingdom Park Hours Extended 4/29/12 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

You have questions about Fantasyland? Wondering about the crowds the new attractions will generate this summer? Join us Wednesday, March 21, at 8PM Eastern and chat with TouringPlan.com’s Scarlett Litton, Walt Disney World lead researcher and the brains of our operation, and Brian McNichols and Fred Hazelton, tourist prognosticators (i.e., statisticians) and founding members of the Tom Bricker Fan Club.

The chat will be moderated and can be found at http://touringplans.com/contact-us/chat.

Talk to you soon!

Join Us Wednesday for a Live Chat About Fantasyland is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.