Quick LinksCinesational: A Symphonic Spectacular
Summary
DreamWorks Land offers themed areas inspired by Shrek, Trolls, and Kung Fu Panda opening on June 14, 2024.
Universal Studios debuts Cinesational water and drone show as well as Hogwarts Always night show.
The Summer Tribute Store showcases 70s and 80s film nostalgia with themed merchandise in three rooms.
I visited Universal Orlando Resort this week to check out the new experiences in store this summer at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, with the bulk of the trip being focused on the highly-anticipated new land, DreamWorks Land. Located towards the back of the park, the new themed area is filled with experiences for kids and adults that are inspired by three animated franchises: Shrek, Trolls, and Kung Fu Panda.
In addition to DreamWorks Land, Universal Studios introduces two new shows for guests to check out towards the end of their nights in both parks. First is a nighttime water and drone show in Universal Studios Florida called Cinesational and the other is Hogwarts Always, a new night show inside Harry Potter’s land that’s presented against Hogwarts Castle — both are incredibly exciting and worth seeing.
And like clockwork, there’s also a brand-new tribute store, called the Summer Tribute Store, in the Hollywood area of Universal Studios Florida that will be a must-see (even if you’re not buying anything) for any fans of Universal’s iconic films like E.T., Jaws, and Back to the Future, as well as Ghostbusters! But I have much more to share with you on everything below.
DreamWorks Land
DreamWorks Land opened on June 14, 2024, and is located towards the back of the park, near the Hollywood area and E.T. Adventure. Its purpose, as its name suggests, is to showcase the wonderful animated franchises from the DreamWorks studio. While there are only a small handful of series showcased at its opening, hopefully more will come in the future.
DreamWorks Land consists of three themed areas based on the movie series Shrek, Trolls, and KungFu Panda. Other films and series such as How To Train Your Dragon are not represented in the new land. However, Gabby from Gabby’s Dollhouse is available for a meet-and-greet. Several character meet-and-greets are located throughout DreamWorks land, with characters from Shrek taking up most of the focus. Although there are multiple attractions, there is only one actual ride: Trolls Trollercoaster (more info below).
Shrek
When you enter DreamWorks Land, you’ll see Shrek’s cottage on the right-hand side, where Shrek, Fiona (in human form), and Donkey will be available to meet. Donkey and Fiona will talk to you, but Shrek will not, though he will imitate laughing at everything you say! Donkey’s interactions are impressive and welcoming to guests — in one instance, I heard him attempt to speak Portuguese because one of the park goers asked. To the left of the land’s entrance is Shrek’s Swamp Meet, a small vendor that serves themed food such as a Shrek-shaped pretzel with green melted cheese and a Donkey-shaped chocolate ice pop, among others. Right after the Swamp Meet is King Harold’s Swamp Symphony, where there are 10 frogs — split evenly on both sides of King Harold — that people can get to make noise by jumping on the green-colored markings in front of the frogs. (Perhaps a group of people can create a symphony?) And back to the right, past Shrek’s cottage, is a playground area with water sprinklers, a bridge, and a slide — a little area for kids to play around in while parents take a break on one of the many benches in the zone. The last part of the Shrek area is Mama Luna’s, where you may see and meet Puss in Boots as well as Kitty Softpaws. Mama Luna’s has 10+ interactions that affect the four screens displayed on the walls: opening a door, playing music by turning a wheel, and others. Each movement changes something on-screen and can be “played” by several people at once.
Trolls
Trolls is the next zone after Shrek, making up the middle portion of DreamWorks Land. As previously mentioned, the main attraction of the area is the Trolls Trollercoaster, a kid-friendly rollercoaster that moves at relatively slow speed — more akin to Hagrid’s ride in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so don’t expect a Trolls-themed Velocicoaster! Across from the Trolls rollercoaster is a play zone and meet-and-greet area, where people can dance and take photos with Poppy and Branch. It’s worth checking out the Trolls area alone for its abundance of shade underneath giant mushrooms. That can be very much needed photos with Florida summer weather.
DreamWorks Imagination Celebration
DreamWorks has never hidden the fact that it’s a studio that prides itself on exploring the imaginations of their creators and animators. The core theme of imagination and not losing it with age is at the center of the new musical show in DreamWorks Land, located inside the DreamWorks theater — a round auditorium with three sections and a stage in the center, which has three ramps. (Pay attention to the walls surrounding the theater: there are screens that display scenes that contribute to the show.)
Throughout the DreamWorks Imagination Celebration show, the main two cast members, as well as their three backup dancers, will run and dance on the ramps and in front of audiences in each section. The show’s story centers on two people who were childhood friends — a young man and young woman. They used to look at the sky and let their imaginations run wild with what they saw in the clouds, but now the young man can no longer see anything in the clouds, so the woman is encouraging him to open up once more.
The DreamWorks Imagination Celebration is effectively a six-part show with six dance numbers. It begins with Zane and Amara, the two childhood friends, talking about how he lost his imagination and he just needs to open himself up to seeing what’s in the clouds. They then sing about family. Once they see Shrek in the clouds, they suddenly fall into the world of Shrek. Shrek himself appears and then leaves to find Fiona, while Donkey stays behind to quell the Dragon, whom he falls in love with. At that point they sing and dance to “I’m A Believer.” Next up is Kung Fu Panda. They see Master Oogway in the clouds and then Po, the Dragon Warrior, comes out on stage. Once Po is given Oogway’s staff to wield, they break out into song, dancing to “Fight Song.” Zane still can’t rediscover his imagination, so he sits down, dejected, and is serenaded by Amara. He ultimately joins in and together they sing “True Colors,” which gives Zane the chance to actually see something in the clouds for himself. When the song ends, Poppy comes out on stage. Poppy and Branch join in as they all sing “Dance, Dance, Dance.” The show begins to wrap up as King Julian comes out, interrupting the show. He sees himself in the clouds and then everyone — all the cast members and the characters from the show — comes out and sings “I Like To Move It,” ending the show.
Kung Fu Panda
At the very back of DreamWorks Land is Po’s Kung Fu Training Camp, but beware: this is definitely a wet zone. It may look auspicious at first, but while most of the area has little sprinkles here and there, there’s one part that is equivalent to a water fall — if you’re unlucky, you might just get drenched. But there’s at least a dryer nearby that you can use to dry off.
There are five parts to the Kung Fu Panda area, two of which are water-based. First is the Gong of Resounding Resonance in the center of the themed area. It doesn’t seem like you can strike the gong, but I’m sure that won’t stop fans from trying! Second is the Pond of Perpetual Wetness, which is an area kids and adults can walk or run through and get wet from the sprinklers above. Third is the Laundry of Ultimate Cleanliness, and believe me when I say, it is an area you will get wet. Every few minutes the top of the area will pour seemingly dozens of gallons of water down the roof, landing in the area in front of the sign. If you’re standing there, you will be completely soaked. Fourth is Mr. Ping’s Noodle Kaboodle, an area people can hang around and play. Unfortunately, there isn’t a Mr. Ping snack stand to sell his famous noodles. Fifth, and in the far back, is an area where people can learn kung fu from the Dragon Warrior himself, in an interactive virtual zone where Po will interact with audiences from a screen. I only caught a glimpse of this show — it’s unclear if Po will actually show viewers kung fu moves — but in the time I was there, Po called me out for wearing a hat… in the Florida summer.
Cinesational: A Symphonic Spectacular
Have you ever wondered if Universal Studios could compete with, and perhaps beat, Disneyland and their World of Color? They might have just done that. There’s always been something beautiful about World of Color and its ability to pull viewers back into their childhoods — but here, with Cinesational, Universal Studios does something equally as beautiful, but perhaps much more cinematic (hence the name). Rather than pull at the strings of childhood nostalgia, it pulls on viewers’ imaginations and awe, showcasing every corner of Universal Pictures’ backlog.
Cinesational is a water-and-drone show that takes place over 20 minutes and features movies such as E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, The Mummy (the Brendan Fraser movies), Jurassic World and the entire Jurassic franchise again, Back to the Future, and Fast and Furious, among many, many others. It was awesome to see a giant, silhouette shark displayed on the buildings behind Central Park while the Jaws theme played, and it was equally awesome to see animated franchises like Minions, Shrek, and Trolls get their well-deserved due, the latter two just in time for DreamWorks Land’s opening.
The iconic Universal Monsters get a wonderful tribute, all featured in black-and-white. Non-Universal Pictures movies like Transformers, Ghostbusters, and Harry Potter are also included. If there’s a ride based on the movie series, or if Universal has some sort of merchandising agreement, it’s included in the show. The Cinesational show includes everything from Universal’s original days with monsters all the way up to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with the song, “Peaches,” being used towards the end of the show. Universal Studios uses a whopping 228 fountains and 600 drones during the show, with the latter being used to display various images in the sky above the park, like Shrek and Fiona kissing, the Hogwarts crest, the Ghostbusters logo, and more.
Hogwarts Always
Harry Potter is often considered a fall or holiday movie series, but this summer Universal’s Islands of Adventure is introducing a new projection show in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It’s called Hogwarts Always because it’s not necessarily about Harry Potter himself or anyone else, or any story in particular, but rather about a year-in-the-life of a Hogwarts student.
Hogwarts Always begins with the Hogwarts acceptance letters being delivered, then having the students arrive at Hogsmeade and disembarking from the train. As the year begins, the students are sorted into their houses. While the Sorting Hat is speaking, each of the four houses get their moment to shine while being displayed against the castle. Various moments from the Harry Potter series are presented during the show: the spiders (arachnophobia people beware!), the Marauders Map, and so forth. An exciting Quidditch sequence takes place, with an ironically large Snitch speeding all around Hogwarts. There are four endings to the Hogwarts Always show, and in ours, Ravenclaw won the House Cup at the end — deservedly so. Gryffindor gets too much attention sometimes, but of course there are endings where Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff win. Hogwarts Castle is illuminated once the show is over, with the school’s crest on display at the top.
Summer Tribute Store
A couple of times each year, Universal Studios Florida redoes their tribute store, building a new one revolving around that time of year. And this time they’re going very hard on the blockbuster season, focusing entirely on nostalgia for the movies and culture of the 1970s and 1980s. The four movies that make up the bulk of the Summer Tribute Store are Jaws, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, with new, unique, and eventually rare merchandise.
There are three rooms in the tribute store, each one with a different theme. The first room is designed like an old video and electronics store, the second an arcade with arcade cabinets placed all around, and the third a traditional store (where the register is also located) with iconic scenes from each of the four movies on display on the ceiling in a form of diorama. Merchandise varies from clothing to hats, and keychains to mugs. All the markings of a traditional merchandise store inside a theme park.
Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, we did not get to see the new floats that will be used in this summer’s Mega Movie Parade, beginning on July 3rd. But everything else is now available to the public as of June 14th.