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Universal's Cinematic Celebration Night Show

Something minor thats really bugging me about the show, but when the Universal globe is revealed and the signature opening music is played, does it stop short? It feels like it ends abruptly and doesnt finish. I know it leads into Jurassic World but it just doesnt sound quite right.
 

I noticed a few quirks, like right at the start of the Trolls section, Poppy fades out for some reason while still singing (until branch shows and then both fade in), and that just doesn't look right.

The far right screen had some weirdness too at a few places else in the show.

Trolls is absolutely the best section in the show, though -- I included this particular video because I think the reaction to the start of Trolls will be a common crowd reaction to that part starting up.
 
What i've noticed, the farther screens on each side have the best clarity... and this is an issue World of Color also experiences, but I find the screens can become incredibly hard to see when all the fountain lights are on and going. The farthest screens have no lights in front of them, and a pretty dark background, so the image really pops.
 
Something minor thats really bugging me about the show, but when the Universal globe is revealed and the signature opening music is played, does it stop short? It feels like it ends abruptly and doesnt finish. I know it leads into Jurassic World but it just doesnt sound quite right.
I agree! I don't remember fully hearing the Universal fanfare during the show. The Universal logo shows up for 3 seconds and cuts to black.
 
Saw in person tonight. Despite a couple assurances it was only a technical rehearsal, I can't imagine it was missing many--if any-effects. And a few more bursts of pyro not going to keep this trainwreck on track.

Actually the fireworks are the highlight. I know conventional wisdom is they can't do them on Disney level--and these were not Disney level--but you could build a show around the level of pyro in, say, the Trolls segment. Did a decent enough job filling the lower sky. A solid 10 minutes of that over the band shell and RRR would make for a fun end of night show.

Instead we got too much Bellagio fountains, followed by water screens that just don't work. Never seen World of Color in person but it seems far more effective than either copycat show in Orlando. Is there something in the Orlando climate that makes water screens less effective, or do Orlando parks just not spend money like Anaheim? Genuinely curious.

I think How to Train Your Dragon and King Fu Panda would make for fine lands. However, neither is iconic enough in theme music or character voices to really anchor this type of show. (And the visuals are hit or miss with the spotty water screens.) Ditto Sing and Secret Life of Pets, and even F&F in this context. They feel shoehorned in between the iconic Williams scores, like the local act who gets to open for The Rolling Stones.

Nor is there any sense of build to the show. Just a seemingly random line-up of 'member berries ('member Jurassic World? now 'member E.T.?). At least the last version grouped movies by genre. This just pulls scenes out of a hat until the fireworks finale at the end.

And I can't believe they just recycled ride footage for the Transformers segment. Height of laziness.

Speaking of laziness, this cries out for more tiered seating, like DAK. Didn't do enough to terraform Central Park. Not a lot of great seats, even standing room doesn't offer a lot of great views. Needed to do more than the bare minimum.

By itself, this is just a bad show. As a follow-up to Fallon and Volcano Bay and and F&F, this indicates a troubling trend in Universal Creative. They just don't get "it." The undefinable X factor that makes theme park works. Again, a simple fireworks show set to iconic John Williams scores with a couple projections would be fine--it works wonders at DHS. But they overreach and then under-deliver. I've been an AP since 2001, and I don't see myself returning to UOR until September 14. It depresses me to much.
 
Nor is there any sense of build to the show. Just a seemingly random line-up of 'member berries ('member Jurassic World? now 'member E.T.?). At least the last version grouped movies by genre. This just pulls scenes out of a hat until the fireworks finale at the end.
This is my biggest issue. It's just Universal trotting out their biggest franchises/licenses for no specific reason. No build to the show at all, it's just all there.

With how long this show is, they really have no excuse to have not included other properties besides the ones that they chose to. If that's because it's supposed to be this "relive your day" show, I still don't give them the benefit of the doubt because that's a bad concept for a nighttime show. It limits you to a select few things when Universal has such a large and iconic library to pull from.
 
Saw in person tonight. Despite a couple assurances it was only a technical rehearsal, I can't imagine it was missing many--if any-effects. And a few more bursts of pyro not going to keep this trainwreck on track.

Actually the fireworks are the highlight. I know conventional wisdom is they can't do them on Disney level--and these were not Disney level--but you could build a show around the level of pyro in, say, the Trolls segment. Did a decent enough job filling the lower sky. A solid 10 minutes of that over the band shell and RRR would make for a fun end of night show.

Instead we got too much Bellagio fountains, followed by water screens that just don't work. Never seen World of Color in person but it seems far more effective than either copycat show in Orlando. Is there something in the Orlando climate that makes water screens less effective, or do Orlando parks just not spend money like Anaheim? Genuinely curious.

I think How to Train Your Dragon and King Fu Panda would make for fine lands. However, neither is iconic enough in theme music or character voices to really anchor this type of show. (And the visuals are hit or miss with the spotty water screens.) Ditto Sing and Secret Life of Pets, and even F&F in this context. They feel shoehorned in between the iconic Williams scores, like the local act who gets to open for The Rolling Stones.

Nor is there any sense of build to the show. Just a seemingly random line-up of 'member berries ('member Jurassic World? now 'member E.T.?). At least the last version grouped movies by genre. This just pulls scenes out of a hat until the fireworks finale at the end.

And I can't believe they just recycled ride footage for the Transformers segment. Height of laziness.

Speaking of laziness, this cries out for more tiered seating, like DAK. Didn't do enough to terraform Central Park. Not a lot of great seats, even standing room doesn't offer a lot of great views. Needed to do more than the bare minimum.

By itself, this is just a bad show. As a follow-up to Fallon and Volcano Bay and and F&F, this indicates a troubling trend in Universal Creative. They just don't get "it." The undefinable X factor that makes theme park works. Again, a simple fireworks show set to iconic John Williams scores with a couple projections would be fine--it works wonders at DHS. But they overreach and then under-deliver. I've been an AP since 2001, and I don't see myself returning to UOR until September 14. It depresses me to much.

I’m gonna have to disagree about Dragon’s score. Maybe not iconic in comparison to the Williams catalog, but definitely fantastic and very moving.
 
It limits you to a select few things when Universal has such a large and iconic library to pull from.

This is one of my biggest problems with Universal's current strategy. A lot of people argue that Disney relies too much on nostalgia, however, nostalgia can work wonders. Not saying you should rely on that 100%, but I think Universal underestimates their nostalgic/iconic appeal. Definitely work in the new stuff, but don't neglect the iconic stuff. ET is a nice portion of this show, but come on, Universal has so much more to pull from than what they are for this show, and also for the parks at this moment.

Embrace the new, but acknowledge that you have some timeless, iconic IP.
 
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