Universal’s Superstar Parade

[TylerDurden]

Shrek is on the way out so there's no point in adding him to the lineup

What do you mean Shrek is on the way out? That's been nothing but speculation so far, and bad speculation at that...Shrek pulls in pretty good numbers for what it is. Of course, I could be missing something, in which case that's still no reason to get rid of his presence from the park entirely. Shrek is still recognizable, he can be in the parade despite not having an attraction in the park. Spongebob, Hop, and Dora the Explorer seem to manage just fine.

 

[TubaGeek]

I don't think all of us are saying they should use every IP. Scooby Doo, Woody Woodpecker, Betty Boop, that's the stuff that would fit in the parade. The parade would improve vastly if there were more floats since 4 is really, really bad.

Is that the only criteria you use to judge the thing? The number of BIG floats? I mean, overall there's something like a dozen themed vehicles in the parade. If you look at it in terms of quality and variety, it can't be beat. But if the number of units and how long it takes while moving are your only issues, then I guess it's a pretty lousy parade.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Is that the only criteria you use to judge the thing? The number of BIG floats? I mean, overall there's something like a dozen themed vehicles in the parade. If you look at it in terms of quality and variety, it can't be beat. But if the number of units and how long it takes while moving are your only issues, then I guess it's a pretty lousy parade.

Yes, I'm referring to the number of big floats. If there were a few more this could easily be the best parade in Orlando IMO, but that still goes to the MSEP.

 

[TubaGeek]

Yes, I'm referring to the number of big floats. If there were a few more this could easily be the best parade in Orlando IMO, but that still goes to the MSEP.

To each their own. I think you're crazy, but I'm sure you return the sentiment.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

To each their own. I think you're crazy, but I'm sure you return the sentiment.

It's really the only parade in Orlando I'd call good Hopefully Festival of Fantasy is good, the concept art looks great

 

[Victoria]

I prefer SuperStar over the current offerings at Disney any day.

Did you hear that from your same source as the gem regarding the Simpsons statue?
I will say, though, that the parade won't be running while Macy's is at 5. There will just be more shows throughout the day. Hopefully, once Macy's is at 8 and Superstar is back at 5, the floats will be in MUCH better condition than they currently are.

SuperStar will still run during Macy's. It'll run at 2pm and when Macy's goes to 8pm it'll change to 5pm.

 

[TubaGeek]

I prefer SuperStar over the current offerings at Disney any day.
SuperStar will still run during Macy's. It'll run at 2pm and when Macy's goes to 8pm it'll change to 5pm.

I agree with your first statement and disagree with the second.
If I may ask: what's your source?

 

[Victoria]

I agree with your first statement and disagree with the second.
If I may ask: what's your source?

I'm just guessing. That's how they did it last year. But if not I'm glad the floats are getting some tlc.

 

[TubaGeek]

I'm just guessing. That's how they did it last year. But if not I'm glad the floats are getting some tlc.

I think that TLC is exactly why they'll be running shows instead of the parade. Other parades can take out one unit at a time to do maintenance, Superstar doesn't have that luxury. This will give them the first opportunity to fix some dents and scratches, and HOPEFULLY replace some of the (many) missing elements.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I just wrote a blog post about wether or not the parade needs to be replaced, here's a copy and paste of it since I don't believe you can link to your own site on here (there was an introduction linking to this thread FYI):

In case you didn't know, the parade began it's daily run in May 2012 when it was Universal's "Year to be Here". Ironically for them, 2013 was the year to be here. Anyways, the big part of the promotion was to bring in families with younger kids. The promotion had this parade, Universal's Cinematic Spectacular, a HD refurb of Spiderman, and most importantly, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. I believe the parade was announced mid-January 2012, so assuming they started the floats then it would have taken them a little under 4 months to make the whole thing (build the floats, train the cast, etc). Sounds about right if you ask me, and I'm not using the "Uni builds things fast" excuse. It's a 4 float parade with a few things in between the floats, and the build time was quick enough to get it running before Memorial Day. I'm not saying they're bad floats, in fact they look really good, but if you think 4 floats are good enough for a parade I'm going to have to disagree. Oh, and don't get me started on the street parties. If Universal wants to keep families in the park for the parade, they can't put floats out on the street in the middle of the day and do a street party. All it does is tell people, "Hey you've seen the floats, now you don't have to see them again later on!" It doesn't help that the park doesn't have much to do for non-thrillseekers as is, so really I think they need to start over on the parade while keeping the same name. If the rumors are true about IOA getting the 2015 and 2016 rides, any of those two years would be the perfect time to get a new parade up and running to give USF some new entertainment (that's excluding the new Beetlejuice show and potential Fear Factor replacement).

Right now the only 4 IPs being used are Despicable Me, Spongebob, Dora, and Hop. Considering the last one is already outdated and unknown to a lot of people, technically there's only 3. Looking at Universal's roster of kid friendly cartoon IPs that are costumed, we have Shrek, Popeye, Scooby Doo, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Betty Boop, and Curious George. I'd say everything would be a go. Even if Shrek 4D's days are numbered they can still keep the meet and greet, Popeye has a new animated movie being released by Sony in 2015, Illumination is making a Curious George movie, there'll be a new Rocky and Bullwinkle short made by Dreamworks before Peabody and Sherman in 2014, and Scooby Doo and Betty Boop are timeless enough. Do you realize that's 6 IPs?!?! We could have 10 floats in the parade (9 without Hop) if Universal used those characters, plus it would appeal to all audiences. I'm actually surprised Universal hasn't done this yet. Oh yeah, AND GET RID OF THE DAMN STREET PARTIES!!!!! Like I said earlier, it's only hurting Universal's chances of keeping families with small children in the park all day.

 

[TubaGeek]

... Oh, and don't get me started on the street parties. If Universal wants to keep families in the park for the parade, they can't put floats out on the street in the middle of the day and do a street party. All it does is tell people, "Hey you've seen the floats, now you don't have to see them again later on!" ... Oh yeah, AND GET RID OF THE DAMN STREET PARTIES!!!!! Like I said earlier, it's only hurting Universal's chances of keeping families with small children in the park all day.

It's better to have something for small kids ALL DAY than just for half an hour at 5. Not to mention, the shows are not the same as the parade stops. Also, you've gotta have something to give the performers 8-hour days, and there's not room enough for another batch of floats (a la MISICI at MK) without making sacrifices.
And I think the (unfortunate) inclusion of Hop is part of an agreement with Illumination Entertainment. You'll notice there are two Nick units and two Illumination units. They countered that by giving Hop the most "gimmicks": a live drum line, a character on drums, pogos, and the candy girls. When you look at the relevancy of the IPs you listed in the eyes of a kid, as well as the potential for how many characters could be on the float, Hop isn't looking so bad. I mean, Shrek could easily carry it, and MAYBE Scooby. The others either don't have enough characters or aren't well known.
Illumination does have a LOT of projects on the pipeline, though, so hopefully we'll see a replacement or addition before too long. Then they'll just need to find room to stash 'em. Adding floats would knock out the sound stage used for Walking Dead this last HHN.
Who knows, maybe this 4-unit parade was just a test run to see if they could justify the cost of a larger parade.

 

[kimlovesfl]

The parade was announced in 2011, with that big flash mob thing with the minions in front of the arches, I just don't remember the month. Superstar, Cinematic, and DM were all announced at the same time.

The A and C shows are very popular, especially with families with small children. I can't tell you how many questions I get about meet and greets with Dora and Diego in particular. The parade draws a good crowd, even on not-busy days. Sometimes I wonder where all those people come from when the park seems nearly deserted.

The floats do need some TLC, and I'm glad they are getting them.

 

[mahnamahna]

I just wrote a blog post about wether or not the parade needs to be replaced, here's a copy and paste of it since I don't believe you can link to your own site on here (there was an introduction linking to this thread FYI):

In case you didn't know, the parade began it's daily run in May 2012 when it was Universal's "Year to be Here". Ironically for them, 2013 was the year to be here. Anyways, the big part of the promotion was to bring in families with younger kids. The promotion had this parade, Universal's Cinematic Spectacular, a HD refurb of Spiderman, and most importantly, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. I believe the parade was announced mid-January 2012, so assuming they started the floats then it would have taken them a little under 4 months to make the whole thing (build the floats, train the cast, etc). Sounds about right if you ask me, and I'm not using the "Uni builds things fast" excuse. It's a 4 float parade with a few things in between the floats, and the build time was quick enough to get it running before Memorial Day. I'm not saying they're bad floats, in fact they look really good, but if you think 4 floats are good enough for a parade I'm going to have to disagree. Oh, and don't get me started on the street parties. If Universal wants to keep families in the park for the parade, they can't put floats out on the street in the middle of the day and do a street party. All it does is tell people, "Hey you've seen the floats, now you don't have to see them again later on!" It doesn't help that the park doesn't have much to do for non-thrillseekers as is, so really I think they need to start over on the parade while keeping the same name. If the rumors are true about IOA getting the 2015 and 2016 rides, any of those two years would be the perfect time to get a new parade up and running to give USF some new entertainment (that's excluding the new Beetlejuice show and potential Fear Factor replacement).

Right now the only 4 IPs being used are Despicable Me, Spongebob, Dora, and Hop. Considering the last one is already outdated and unknown to a lot of people, technically there's only 3. Looking at Universal's roster of kid friendly cartoon IPs that are costumed, we have Shrek, Popeye, Scooby Doo, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Betty Boop, and Curious George. I'd say everything would be a go. Even if Shrek 4D's days are numbered they can still keep the meet and greet, Popeye has a new animated movie being released by Sony in 2015, Illumination is making a Curious George movie, there'll be a new Rocky and Bullwinkle short made by Dreamworks before Peabody and Sherman in 2014, and Scooby Doo and Betty Boop are timeless enough. Do you realize that's 6 IPs?!?! We could have 10 floats in the parade (9 without Hop) if Universal used those characters, plus it would appeal to all audiences. I'm actually surprised Universal hasn't done this yet. Oh yeah, AND GET RID OF THE DAMN STREET PARTIES!!!!! Like I said earlier, it's only hurting Universal's chances of keeping families with small children in the park all day.

Rocky and Bullwinkle/Popeye/Betty Boop should stay in IOA - replace those three with Classic Monsters, Simpsons, and Transformers: you've got an all-ages parade!

Can't believe I forgot Scooby and Curious George!!!

 

[Cheezbat]

I agree the parade need at least three more floats. I also agree that there should be a focus on the USF properties...keeping IOA related characters to IOA.

It's a SUPERSTAR parade...does it have to be all kiddie cartoon characters? Why no Simpsons? Or Transformers? And as others have said...Shrek? Just adding those three give you more characters, more floats, more energy!

 

[darkridelover]

I don't think any new floats are needed at all. Sure some could be switched out for other properties but the floats barely fit on the street for the show stop as it is so adding another unit is out of the question. What I'd like to see is make the show stops longer than 3 minutes. Add a couple more songs. Maybe an audience participation section where the kids can come out and dance for a little while! Right now the show stops feel more like the front float got stuck so everyone got off and danced. Make it an actual show stop!

 

[TubaGeek]

I don't think any new floats are needed at all. Sure some could be switched out for other properties but the floats barely fit on the street for the show stop as it is so adding another unit is out of the question. What I'd like to see is make the show stops longer than 3 minutes. Add a couple more songs. Maybe an audience participation section where the kids can come out and dance for a little while! Right now the show stops feel more like the front float got stuck so everyone got off and danced. Make it an actual show stop!

I've always been amazed at how long Disney was able to make Block Party Bash. In its original iteration it was about ONE HOUR LONG, as opposed to Superstar's 30 minutes. I don't think I would much enjoy doing an hour-long parade every day, even if it was less-intense.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

The parade was announced in 2011, with that big flash mob thing with the minions in front of the arches, I just don't remember the month. Superstar, Cinematic, and DM were all announced at the same time.

No, that was only for DM. The parade and Cinespec we're announced in January 2012. Anyways, yesterday I was at the park and the parade was reaching Production Central when I went through the turnstiles. Despicable Me was a walk on, and not even before I reached the first preshow room the parade was over.

 

[Splatter]

It would also be low cost to run The Blues Mobile and The DeLorean in the parade as well. More eye candy and character for the parade.

 

[mahnamahna]

It would also be low cost to run The Blues Mobile and The DeLorean in the parade as well. More eye candy and character for the parade.

Between floats, they could have little things like those you mentioned, maybe a Fast and Furious segment, Marilyn and Lucy could ride around, even the Flintstones could drive their stone-age car... nothing special but it would give new meaning to the term Superstar

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

It would also be low cost to run The Blues Mobile and The DeLorean in the parade as well. More eye candy and character for the parade.

That would ruin the vibe of the parade since Blues Brothers is R and BTTF would be PG-13 by today's standards