CineSational: A Stirring New Nighttime Show at Universal Studios Florida
Main photo by Garrett Martin; others courtesy of Universal
You’ve got just about a month left to see CineSational: A Symphonic Spectacular, this summer’s cool new nighttime show at Universal Studios Florida. It runs on “select nights” through Aug. 25, and if you were planning a Universal trip in the next few months, the show’s good enough to warrant going there before it wraps up. And I’m surprised I’m saying that, as somebody who has gone on record as never particularly caring about theme park shows or parades.
Like Universal Studios as a whole, CineSational is a tribute to the power of movies and the nostalgia we feel for them. The 22-minute show invokes some of the most beloved movies ever made through music, water projections, fireworks, and drones. In turn it also calls upon the history of Universal Studios Florida itself; the 34-year-old park is well into its middle age, and has reached the point where the children who grew up with it in the ‘90s are now bringing their own children, who will forge their own memories of the park.
If you’re familiar with the movies that have inspired attractions at Universal Studios Florida over the decades, you can probably guess most of the films that are referenced in CineSational. Spielberg’s trifecta of Jaws, E.T., and Jurassic Park all show up, with iconic scenes projected onto giant water screens, drones recreating Elliott and E.T. flying on their bicycle, and the most memorable motifs from their scores appearing in the show’s medley. The Harry Potter, Shrek, and Despicable Me franchises all play a part, and at one point the show quiets down for Bowser to play “Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Even movies that no longer have a regular home in the park make an appearance, like Ghostbusters and a show-closing arrival of the Back to the Future Delorean. The Universal Monsters, the Fast and Furious franchise, How to Train Your Dragon: movie history from the past century is represented, with something for every age group to feel nostalgic about.
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