Universal Studios Florida Report: Evening Entertainment Encore
We head back to Universal Studios Florida for another update, with emphasis on Orlando’s first nighttime spectacular to return at a major theme park. In this park report, we’ll share night photos of the park, Cinematic Celebration images and thoughts, and commentary about the good & bad of Universal’s reopening.
The day actually began at Magic Kingdom, with our new “Deluge Debut of Christmas 2020 at Walt Disney World.” This is effectively a two-part ‘Sunday theme park report’ with Magic Kingdom being the main event. Towards the end of the evening there, a torrential downpour began, pushing the vast majority of guests towards the exit.
The actually gave us the idea to bounce over to USF for an evening entertainment encore, as that park was still open for another few hours. Extending the closing time until 10 pm on the weekends is just one of several things that Universal Orlando has “done right” when it comes to modified reopening operations. In our previous Islands of Adventure and USF Photo Reports, we touched upon this, but wanted to discuss it a big further here, as the topic came up a lot in the comments to those reports…
Let’s start with the good of Universal Orlando’s phased reopening. In our view, these successes stem from a couple of things: aggressiveness and leanness. Unlike Walt Disney World, which has been incredibly methodical and conservative, Universal has been bold, often out in front of its Central Florida counterpart. Universal opened first, has restored more on an earlier timeline, and seems to view this as an opportunity to capture local marketshare and sow fan goodwill.
A large key to their success in being aggressive is thanks to being a leaner operation. Not just in terms of bloat or bureaucracy, but in “product” complexity. Walt Disney World has way more moving parts, many of which are planning and resource intensive. While Universal has counterparts for most of those, they’re not nearly as popular or integral for guests. Quite simply, Universal is a more relaxed experience for most guests, and that’s big reason why they’ve been able to act dynamically and more quickly than Walt Disney World.
Before we delve into Universal Orlando’s concrete successes, a brief note on our evening in the park. It was totally uneventful and predictably uncrowded. Sunday nights are much slower than Saturday to begin with, but the one-two punch of post-Halloween and the downpour further depressed attendance levels.
Accordingly, I’m just going to sprinkle random photos from our night in Universal Studios Florida throughout the first half of the post, all presented without commentary because, frankly, what you see is what you get: a bunch of empty walkways and walk-on attractions…
On the topic of Universal’s specific reopening “wins,” the big one is the degree to which entertainment and shows have already returned. For this, it’s probably easiest to simply look at the Universal Orlando Showtimes page (there are tabs at the top for each park).
As is probably clear, that’s a lot of entertainment–most of what was available pre-closure. Much is running in modified form, but it still gives the Universal parks more or less the same energy and sense of life as they had before. While Walt Disney World’s cavalcades and character greetings have been good additions, some areas of the Disney parks definitely feel flat.
Universal also surprised fans in September with two haunted houses, Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives and Revenge of the Tooth Fairy. Those were originally slated to debut as part of Halloween Horror Nights 30, before that special event was cancelled.
Universal deserves a ton of kudos for this—with large numbers of actors and staff, these houses are not cheap to operate. HHN is usually a hard ticket event and one that is viable largely due to alcohol sales. To offer even a portion of the experience to day guests is a great, guest-friendly move.
During the last few weeks, Universal has further accelerated its efforts to enhance the parks with more entertainment. This weekend, the Beetlejuice haunted house also opened for what appears to be (a fairly perplexing) two-day run.
Last week, Universal Orlando made an even bigger move by quietly bringing back its nighttime spectacular, Cinematic Celebration. To my knowledge, this happened without any announcement–no press release, nothing on the official blog, zero app push notifications, and not a single tweet. There has quite literally been more fanfare for pizza fries during that time. (In fairness, pizza fries are very much deserving of the attention and accolades.)
In several ways, it feels like Universal Orlando’s game plan has been a mix of managing guest expectations and underpromising, overdelivering. There has been almost no hype about what’s happening now or next, with marketing efforts being focused on the deep discounts on tickets, hotels, and other promotional offers like UOAP perks or their merchandise “garage sales.”
From our perspective, this has been a truly winning formula. Universal Orlando has effectively lowered the bar on our expectations by offering stellar deals…but then handily surpassed that by going above and beyond with the in-park experience. This has increased our tolerance to the occasional problem, which, like Disney, Universal has had.
Here, it’s worth pointing out that the grass is often greener on the other side. (Usually, that is not the type of double-standard Disney and Universal fans apply to their respective ‘home’ park.) While Walt Disney World fans might be envious of Universal Orlando’s approach to reopening, it has not been without its share of criticism.
Operating during this era of ‘temporary abnormal’ is untrodden ground for all theme parks. It’s easy for those of us sitting on the sidelines to Monday morning quarterback their operational decisions, but the reality is that of course mistakes are going to be made.
By and large, not requiring reservations to visit the parks has been a positive for guests of Universal Orlando, and has avoided adding further friction to a modified experience that’s full of it.
However, weekends have recently started getting busier, to the point that both parks are often hitting capacity before noon on Saturdays. Those not paying close attention to social media and crowd trends have undoubtedly wasted time driving to Universal Orlando midday on a Saturday only to be turned away.
This got to the point that Universal sent emails to Annual Passholders and on-site guests encouraging anyone with flexible plans to “consider visiting on a weekday when the attendance tends to be lighter” for the next two weekends.
Universal attributed this to increased demand, indicating that the parks are still limiting attendance as part of the enhanced procedures. To that point, last Saturday (the week before Halloween) was chaotic with long lines just to enter Universal Studios Florida later in the day after that park hit capacity in the morning.
Exacerbating this, one of the “next two weekends” that Annual Passholders with flexible plans were encouraged to skip was when the aforementioned Beetlejuice haunted house debuted. As you can imagine, that didn’t go over so well with Universal Orlando Annual Passholders on social media.
There have been other complaints here and there. One that comes to mind is crowding in Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Another is physical distancing and mask enforcement. In my view, the latter is a symptom of the former, and the former is difficult to control. Universal Orlando has done a good job considering the circumstances; anyone decrying anything short of perfection has unrealistic expectations.
Our original plan was to visit last Saturday for Universal Orlando’s Cinematic Celebration. Once it became clear crowds would be a headache, we nixed those plans. When rumors leaked about the Beetlejuice house, we rescheduled to this Sunday.
When it became clear on Saturday how popular that’d be, we scratched our Sunday plans. Then the deluge began late in the day Sunday, and we called yet another last-minute audible and headed to Universal Orlando.
Obviously, we’re extreme examples given our high degree of flexibility. You might claim this isn’t realistic for tourists; we’re locals and Annual Passholders, so our circumstances are fundamentally different.
However, we do the exact same types of things when we travel. We’ve long had go-with-the-flow demeanors and have likewise strongly encouraged even hardcore planners to embrace spontaneity. In the past, many readers have resisted that.
If you’re visiting theme parks this year, you really don’t have any other choice. Aside from getting mad when things outside your control don’t go as planned, I guess. But that’s not much of a “strategy” either.
Some of you may not want to compromise or be flexible, and that’s understandable to a point. If that’s the case, you simply should avoid visiting theme parks for the next year or so.
This might seem beside the point, and it sort of is, but it’s also essential to it. Feedback from readers who have visited the parks since reopening has been all over the place. More than anything else, it seems largely dependent upon expectations and flexibility.
Just something to consider if you’re debating a trip right now, especially for those who know they’re not amenable to rolling with the punches and demand the full theme park experience. Anyway, back to the primary topic at hand…
Our main objective in finishing our weekend at USF was seeing their nighttime spectacular, Universal Orlando’s Cinematic Celebration, which is now showing at 9:45 pm on Saturday and Sunday nights. We staked out spots in the Central Park viewing area approximately 30 minutes before show time.
Universal describes this as “a colossal celebration of music, water and light that transforms the park and takes you into the movies like never before.” Since this is a Disney-centric blog, we’ll offer the obvious comparison: it’s Universal’s take on World of Color.
Cinematic Celebration features pulsating scores from Universal’s most iconic movies (new and old) with dancing fountains erupt and scenes are projected onto mist screens.
Visuals include roaring dinosaurs from Jurassic World, speeding cars from Fast & Furious, the mischievous antics of the Minions from Despicable Me, E.T. phoning home, Harry Potter doing wizard stuff, and more. There are also spotlights, pyro, and projections on the buildings that form the backdrop.
I’m not wild about all of the films that are featured, but I really like Cinematic Celebration, as well as its predecessor and the Halloween Horror Nights twist on the concept.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Cinematic Celebration is better than the most recent nighttime spectaculars in three of Walt Disney World’s four parks. (That’s not a high bar, but Cinematic Celebration is a solid show.)
As with so many things, photos do not do Cinematic Celebration justice. That’s especially true here, as these are not particularly good due to my poor location choice.
I still haven’t captured a single photo of Universal’s lagoon fountain shows that I like.
For many of you, I’d imagine one impediment to visiting Universal Orlando is familiarity. You’re seasoned Walt Disney World veterans who know those parks inside and out, whereas Universal is entirely new. While it’s “only” a theme park, there’s understandably some degree of intimidation there.
I know the feeling. I’ll say there’s also something to be said for discovering and potentially mastering new things. It’s fun and satisfying, even if it’s “only” a theme park. Hopefully with our continued Universal posts, you’ll be well-positioned to do both on your next visit to Central Florida!
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more. For regular updates, news & rumors, a heads up when discounts are released, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you seen Cinematic Celebation at USF? Been to Universal Orlando on a Saturday or Sunday this fall? If you’ve visited both Disney and Universal post-reopening, which do you think is doing better? Thoughts on anything else covered here? Do you have any questions about the current modified Universal experience? Will you be attempting to visit Central Florida this holiday season, or are you waiting until 2021 or beyond? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
You mentioned its difficult to control mask wearing….its not….just got back from WDW and rarely did I spy anyone trying to pull a fast one. At Disney refusing to wear one can get you a swift exit. Does Universal not do this? Do they also not have employees constantly reminding and marks on the ground? If not…they are on the wrong side of the whole issue…as a nurse it’s sickening that so many people do not care.
We visited both parks 2 weeks ago and I can say that Disney was more on top of making sure that people are properly wearing their masks than Universal. I remember seeing plenty of people not properly wearing their masks in Universal, where there were very few in Disney. Disney’s cast members are definitely more vigilant, and don’t even think about taking it off for a picture or you will get reprimanded by the nearest cast member.
I am one of those compulsive planners you talk about. I like to plan everything down to the 15 minute mark. Yeah… I’m that person. Last time we went to DC, I laminated our plans and our metro routs. Anyway, we will be visiting both universal and Disney in the next couple of weeks. First time we’ve been in 2 whole years!!! With such limited entertainment options available right now, my family has decided to take a whole day at the MK to just walk around, look for hidden Mickey’s, and play Sorcerer’s. I thought my OCD and anxiety would be off the charts, but honestly It feels like a good move. I’m excited to just leisurely stroll the park and really pay attention to the details and little things. Pray for me. Us OCD planners are not ok right now.
We are from Ohio and Universal Orlando has been our annual escape from basically everything. This trip pulls my family back together again amidst some very tragic occurrences the past several years so not being able to pull one off the past two years has been tragic in itself. My adult kids are willing this fall but I’m afraid to pull the trigger in fear of committing only to find over-crowding, gates closing, long lines, and especially, drastically-reduced park hours. It appears that both parks close by 5-6pm, except for Thanksgiving week. I can’t find hours of operations for the few weeks that follow. Can anyone advise? Thanks for the newsletter. I wish we had personal guides to walk us thru the In’s & Out’s of Disney. In our few attempts to visit those parks, we’ve simply been completely overwhelmed resulting in bad experiences, and in simply giving up.
Universal is my family’s go to place as well. Universal is a much more relaxed experience then Disney.
Disney requires way too much advanced planning and scheduling, and you get to walk around staring at your phone all day, I might as well go to work. Everything they do seems more complicated and more painful than Universal. Including their reopening. I can’t figure out how anyone has a good time at Disney, so you are not alone.
I’ll just stick to Universal.
You mentioned that you were in a poor location for the Cinematic Celebration. Do you have recommendations for best viewing spots?
As someone who remembers amusement park offerings from decades ago, I’d put this park to park comparison on par with comparing Palisades Amusement Park to Coney Island in the 1950s.
Palisades Park had plenty to offer – rides, sideshows, entertainment and French fries covered in salt and vinegar. Cousin Brucie was host to many famous singers and rock groups of the 1950s. The side shows were not censored, meaning, as teens, we were always shocked by what we saw. The famous wood coaster was situated near the cliff’s edge, so it seemed even higher and more dangerous when you were on top. It also boasted the world’s largest salt water pool. So, to me it was comparable to Universal.
Coney Island, on the other hand, was chock full of unique rides, side shows and great street type food. There were so many rides and attractions, they spilled down the side streets. Sideshow barkers were a show unto themselves, hyping and talking up bizarre sights inside the tents (sights, btw, greatly exaggerated), which we always fell for. That to me represents 1950’s Disney World.
The end result…Palisades Park closed decades ago and is now a high rise apartment complex (breaks my heart). Coney Island, although not as large as it once was, still exists, complete with its famous parachute jump. Like Palisades Park though, much of Coney Island has also become home to apartment complexes. I guess the moral really is, enjoy it while you can. You never know when things will change and all you will have left is your wonderful memories.
Just wanted to let you know that I appreciated both the anecdotes and the moral of the story. 🙂
Thanks Tom. Your article triggered my memory bank.
In the 1930s, while dating, my parents often went to Steeplechase Park at Coney Island. Had my first clams on the half shell there when I was seven. $.50/dozen. Ate two dozen. Wonderful memories. Maybe that’s why I love Disney World so much.
Loving the Universal coverage! Thanks Tom!
Is the show as lengthy as World of Color? That’s my only complaint…it’s FANTASTIC, but really long.
It’s shorter–more on par with an average nighttime spectacular at Walt Disney World. (If anything, I think it could stand to be a tad longer, but I also love World of Color’s longer duration, so perhaps I’m an anomaly.)
Love the photos! We were there Sunday night as well, in fact I think we saw you guys after the cinematic celebration. We were one of the other weirdo couples hanging around watching the fountains and taking pictures after everyone else left (in fact the team members seemed pushier on Sunday than usual to get us out – maybe because the park was so empty). But totally agreed on how Universal is approaching this. We went the last two Sundays simply because the spectacular was back. And we spent money in City Walk and Hogsmede both times. It’s somewhat baffling Disney isn’t able to bring out the same feelings and enjoyment Universal is right now.
“We were one of the other weirdo couples hanging around watching the fountains and taking pictures after everyone else left (in fact the team members seemed pushier on Sunday than usual to get us out — maybe because the park was so empty).”
Yeah, I assumed the same. Disney is also quicker to clear the park when the weather is bad or attendance is lower, so that seems fairly normal–but it still was a particularly quick sweep!
Great words of advice and fun to learn more about Universal. Now more than ever it seems possible to do both WDW and Universal in a single trip, with shorter hours at the parks, less to do & deals. I never really felt this was possible on past WDW trips, but I’m thinking this may be the way to go if we try a visit while COVID restrictions are still in place.
“Now more than ever it seems possible to do both WDW and Universal in a single trip, with shorter hours at the parks, less to do & deals.”
Definitely agree with this. That’s especially true with Universal’s current ‘buy a day, get the rest of the year’ promo, which effectively makes it possible to Park Hop between Walt Disney World and Universal (essentially what we did), rather than among the Disney parks.
I’m one of those ‘plan a little but leave room for spontaneity’ people, and me and my partner had a blast during our visit to Disney at the end of August. So much so, in fact, that I’m already lamenting the fact that such a relaxed, “do what we feel like when we want it” trip can never really happen again at Disney. It was a once in a lifetime unicorn vacation (since we live in the midwest and aren’t APs). As such, I’m liking what I’m seeing from you in regards to Universal, where such an experience does seem possible with only a little effort and strategy. You seem to like experiencing theme parks in a similar way to what I enjoy…or maybe your joy of visiting them just rubs off through your photos and insights. Either way, its helpful, and you’ve done a great job of communicating on both the safety and the ambiance that can be expected. I wanted to return to Disney in Jan…but with Disney’s recent layoffs and what I’m seeing from you, it will likely be Universal that gets my money instead.
Like anything, a visit to Universal benefits from pre-planning and savvy strategy, but it’s nowhere near as dependent upon it as Walt Disney World is (or at least was, prior to the reopening). That alone makes it a nice change of pace–and we expect that to remain true going forward even as more components of the planned experience return to Walt Disney World.
I am kind of surprised more people are heading to Universal. With Disney now being mainly just “rides with waits” and way less atmosphere you can save a TON of money and head to Universal. My family has done Universal a few times over Disney in the last few years. We have been pleasantly surprised each time.
I think a lot of Walt Disney World fans arbitrarily dislike Universal because of an imagined rivalry or their own preconceived notions about the nature of the attractions. To be sure, there are a lot of simulators, screens, and other intense attractions–but there’s also plenty to do that is *not* those things.
I’m here now with my 6 year old. I was super surprised that the parks were not at capacity at all this weekend. I expected Volcano Bay to peak on the last day and UO with the last day for haunted houses.
I too thought that Hogsmeade congestion to be difficult to handle. They are trying though. Diagon Alley though never felt busy except for the food lines.
I did notice a HUGE issue with food lines from the weekend to weekday today. There really is more open on the weekends. Lines were super long today for food (because of less locations open) so I recommend reservations for an in park sit down if possible. Both Mythos and Lombards offered me outdoor seating.
Spend some time in Seuss Landing for the amazing Christmas decorations!!
Dining is another issue with Universal that we neglected to mention in the post. On weekends when more is open, the parks are often so busy that there’s still not enough to absorb the crowds.
Can’t wait until Christmas arrives in full around Wizarding World of Harry Potter, too!