Universal unwraps new parade, Potter program
Universal Orlando has two new major holiday offerings. One is a parade built from the ground up, while the other has visitors looking to the skies for Harry Potter characters.
At Universal Studios theme park, the long-running Macy’s Holiday Parade has been re-imagined and, in some ways, reengineered. The nightly event (now dubbed Universal’s Holiday Parade Featuring Macy’s), has several major changes that help it earn its “all-new” status.
“One of the biggest differences is the scale of the parade, the size of the parade and a little bit of sophistication to the parade,” says Laura Sauls, show director. “We just wanted to make it bigger and better this year.”
A big visual difference is the parade’s new set of floats. They are self-propelled, ending the need for the big white pickup trucks that have hauled them through the streets of the park in previous years. An oddly festive touch involves the units’ lighting around the base, which creates a “floating” effect, if you will.
The floats, designed in-house at Universal, are flanked by Macy’s balloons as well as dancers and stilt walkers. The units are clumped into themes by intellectual properties “Despicable Me” (minions ski and make snow angels), “Madagascar” (to the tune of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Madagascar”) and “Shrek,” which features a dronkey (think dragon plus donkey) balloon.
The final stretches of the parade include a Macy’s segment with traditional toys (dancers as Raggedy Ann, a retro robot, etc.) and Santa on a new LED-edged sleigh.
The holiday parade, which has about 100 performers, sports a new soundtrack, which includes an original composition for Universal that’s featured near the beginning and end of the proceedings.
Some characters not normally seen at Universal are in action. Look for Gru’s entire “Despicable” family and others in the parade and afterward.
“For this holiday, all the characters in this parade will have a special meet and greet,” Sauls says. “King Julian [from “Madagascar”] does a really fun mini-show at the tree after the parade.”
The new slick parade may be overshadowed by the addition of Christmas festivities on both sides of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the first time. The biggest deal is a projection show onto Hogwarts Castle overlooking Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure.
“This has been something we’ve wanted to do for years and years, ever since this Wizarding World opened in 2010,” says Michael Aiello, director of creative development. “We were thinking about Christmas because it’s such an amazing magical time just by itself — and to be able to add that sort of layer to something that’s already so massively magical is only a good thing.”
The concept has us, the theme-park visitors, as residents of the village of Hogsmeade, looking up at the castle, which is putting on a magical light show.
In real life, there are 24 camouflaged projectors pointed at the structure, and the result is an everchanging appearance to the castle, whether it be icy, Yule Ball-inspired or a giant spired advertisement for the Weasleys’ business. The 7-minute show will be repeated on a regular basis between dusk and the park’s closing time daily through Jan. 6.
The new wizarding offerings are in conjunction/cooperation with Warner Bros., the Blair Partnership and Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling. Although the show was years in the making, approvals weren’t so arduous, Aiello says.
“When you have good content to work with, you can create good content. … That’s it,” he says. “The persuading is relatively easy if you’ve done your homework, and you present something that fits.”
Elsewhere in the Wizarding World, the Frog Choir and Celestina Warbeck both have new seasonal songs. One choir selection is “I Cast a Spell on Father Christmas,” which Aiello calls a cautionary tale, and Warbeck warbles “My Baby Gave Me a Hippogriff for Christmas.”
Universal is retaining the Grinchmas festivities at Islands of Adventure and, on select nights, concerts by Mannheim Steamroller. These holiday events are included in regular themepark admission.
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