Universal 360 status

[subtchr]

One other note (which I'm sure contributes to the mass of people...): people who hold tickets that are only good for IOA are being allowed into US after 9:30 in order to watch this show. Have fun ~

 

[joalexajeff]

Our family watched the tech rehearsal on June 29. Movie clips are shown on the three globes in the lagoon, while fireworks go off sporadically from the lagoon, and buildings located in UO. The sound section near the end of the show was garbled and needs work. The fireworks were neat, especially the ones coming from the building behind us. We were told this show would exceed any theme park fireworks show around. While entertaining, we all agreed the Epcot show is still the gold standard.

 

[phamton]

One other note (which I'm sure contributes to the mass of people...): people who hold tickets that are only good for IOA are being allowed into US after 9:30 in order to watch this show. Have fun ~

Actually, that was a mistake last night. Cinespere was announced at IoA and so many people thought they could go with a one park ticket. Guests were let in for no charge because of that misunderstanding. It was a one time thing. If you do not have a ticket that includes both parks, you will not be allowed to cross over from IoA to Universal. So buy a two park pass, if you are going to be at IoA.

 

[lookingforward]

Is there a preferred annual pass holder section for this? Thanks!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Does anyone know what the view is like from Lombard's? Any tips for seeing the show, after having dinner there?

I must be the only person that's not overly impressed with Illuminations. IMHO, Fantasmic is much better. I like the nighttime entertainment at MK & SW better also. I've seen Illuminations quite a few times, which could be one reason I'm not so crazy about it. I really wasn't that impressed the 1st time I saw it though.

 

[Don Pacho]

I was just watching the new tv commercial.
Amazing the projections on these balloons

 

[jtimmons]

Wait, so the show is INSIDE Universal Studios, not the citywalk lagoon. I thought the park closed earlier than 9:30??? Do the close the rides and want you to wait around for it or what?

 

[subtchr]

Starting this past week the parks have been open until 10:00

 

[brady961]

I live about 7 miles from Universal Studios. One Mile from Sea World. I love sitting on my patio to watch the fireworks from Sea World. Tonight I was able to see some of the ones from Universal Studios.

Although I love living this close to all parks, and love seeing the fireworks, I can sorta understand the feelings of those living across and next to Universal. Even though I am seven miles away, my windows shook from the "blast", I guess like the concussion (if that is the right word). So I can only imagine how loud it is across the street or next to Universal.

What I could see tonight from this distance looked spectular, but again I can understand the concerns of those living closer as it was rather loud even for me here.

Sea World I can see and hear but those have never been as loud as what I could hear from Universal. Plus it seemed Universal show was longer than Sea World's.

Of course I heard and saw Universal then about 15 mins after theirs was over, Sea World started. Just don't plan on sleeping around 10p during summer months. Or sometimes later as summer goes on as parks will stay open later.

 

[Luv2Roam]

The PAP section is nothing note worthy. It's roped off, standing room only and congested.
I think next time I would just eat at Lombard's and stay put.
I wouldn't mind seeing it again in a few months and see if and how they change it.
It was okay. Worth a look, but not a long uncomfortable boring wait like last Saturday.
I wouldn't wait like that for Illuminations or Fantasmic, both which are better.
I hope it does work for Universal though. They need a shot in the arm.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Standing with your back to the city street area (mummy side) would be the worse spot -- although not terrible. Behind their backs was quite a bit of good display on the buildings.Overall DH liked it better than I.
To me it was a work in progress and did not compete with Illuminations.
It was nice, but not worth the wait.

I agree. We watched it from the side of the lagoon where the Back to the Future ride would be behind us. I liked the shadows they did on the buildings across the lagoon from us (scarob beetles when a Mummy clip was showing, a pteranadon when there was a Jurassic park one etc, - if spelling is wrong, sorry, not taking the time to check it). The show I think will be compared to Illuminations with the whole projection on a globe thing. To be honest I wasn't that impressed with the montage of movie clips, it just didn't seem that exciting to me. Fireworks are always fun but also honestly there were a few in sync with gunshots on the globe that kinda startled me. DH also liked it better than I did. I like the emotional response I get when watching something like Illuminations, Disney knows how to pull at your heartstrings. The movie montage seemed like one big universal promo and didn't do much for me . . . but all just my personal opinion.

It starts July 1st.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Oh, as for the question about Lombards. I tried to get a reservation there twice for dinner last week and was told they closed at 5 pm. We went by there before the 360 show and sure enough, they were closed. Kinda strange I thought. We'd already had dinner at Finnegan's one night and wanted to do something different but full service. Don't know if Lombard's always closes that early but we were disappointed.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Oh, as for the question about Lombards. I tried to get a reservation there twice for dinner last week and was told they closed at 5 pm. We went by there before the 360 show and sure enough, they were closed. Kinda strange I thought. We'd already had dinner at Finnegan's one night and wanted to do something different but full service. Don't know if Lombard's always closes that early but we were disappointed.

Thanks for the info. I haven't tried to make a reservation yet. I tried to book Mythos a few days ago, which was less than 30 days from our trip. They said to call back 2 wks prior. I'm thinking Lombard's may be the same, so I'm going to wait to call for that one too.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

You're welcome. Hope it works out for you, I would've loved to try Lombard's. Finnegan's was good BTW.

Have fun!

 

[dtuleya]

There was a credit card VIP viewing area which we thought would really be the best viewing spot. (Mastercard, I think.)

Does anyone know anything else about this area? I have a Mastercard and would love to know how you get in.

 

[phamton]

Does anyone know anything else about this area? I have a Mastercard and would love to know how you get in.

You have to purchase tickets at the gate using your mastercard.

 

[dtuleya]

You have to purchase tickets at the gate using your mastercard.

Do you mean park tickets or VIP tickets for 360?
If you mean VIP 360 tickets do you know how much they are?

 

[phamton]

Do you mean park tickets or VIP tickets for 360?

Park tickets.

 

[bubba's mom]

If you are approaching the lagoon by Mels, go to the right of the lagoon and there is a Universal VIP sign (on the gate I think) to the park for those peeps. It's not a huge sign, but it is there. I have a pic of the one sphere during the show posted on another thread (should be 1st page as I only posted it last nite).

 

[David R]

Like others on this thread, I also live right next door to Universal (we should do a meet and greet one day) so we went over on Friday night to check out the show before it oficially opened.

I gotta say that I was extremely underwhelmed. The first half is horrible, the movie clips go on forever with hardly any fireworks or anything else. Am I watching a nighttime spectacular or a Universal promotional trailer like those in some DVDs? When they showed The 40 Year Old Virgin screaming "aaahh! Kelly Clarkson!" and they shot a couple fireworks while the screens went dark, I laughed thinking it was the weirdest ending to the worst nighttime show I've ever seen.

But apparently that was just the halfway point of just a bad show. The second half involved projections on the buildings across the lagoon (the "Earthquake" side if you will) and that was kind of cool at times. I'll give them props for that, it's the only saving grace the show has.

What followed was more movie clips with the occasional fireworks and a few laser effects.

The 2nd half of the show is definitely better but overall it's nothing more than a disjointed collection of film clips with fireworks shot at seemingly random intervarls. Definitely nothing I plan on seeing again. If you are in the park, sure, stay and see it if you don't have to fight any crowds, but I would not make any efforts to travel to Universal to see this.

Several people did clap at the end, so apparently they liked it. Maybe I'm jadded because I live here and I get to see the Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic shows whenever I want to, but I get the feeling that others will feel the same as I did. When the show was over, my friend looked at me with a strange expression on his face and exclaimed "who put this together?"