Shedding light on the making of Epic’s new nighttime show

Viewing instructions for Epic Universe theme park’s new nighttime spectacular could well be to look up, down and all around.

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“Universal Celestial Goodnight” not only incorporates fireworks in the sky and lighting in a lagoon, but also effects embedded into attractions, onto a hotel’s facade, the edges of amphitheater seating and along stairway banisters.

And that was the plan, an interconnected design, even before Epic Universe was under construction, said Jason Horne, assistant director-entertainment creative development at Universal Orlando.

“Whoever went into this thinking we can connect everything all together… I mean, what a brilliant move. … Now it gives us such a tool kit while we’re out there to be able to affect everything,” said Horne, part of the team that created “Celestial Goodnight,” which debuted as part of the Epic’s nightly entertainment lineup this week.

“We have the capability, first and foremost, of choreographing every piece of light in Celestial Park – every building, everything in the walkways, the banisters, the stairways, everything gets choreographed,” Horne said.

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The focus of the show’s action is toward the Helios Grand Hotel and the adjacent Cosmos Lagoon, which is stocked with fountains that glow, sway and burst upward to musical cues. But lighting effects continue throughout Celestial Park, past two other lagoon sections and up to the main entrance.

“All three are choreographed to the show as well, so no matter where you stand, including Astronomica – which is the splash pad – is also choreographed to the show,” Horne said.

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Added to the park for the show are lights that wash over the Helios Grand, giving it the appearance of colorful textures; LED light beams on the edges of the hotel terrace; dozens of light fixtures; and huge lights behind the hotel dubbed Mad Maxes, which produce big beams.

“It almost looks like a halo above the hotel during certain sections of the show,” Horne said.

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Although fireworks and lighting are major parts of the production, planning usually begins with fountains. Initial ideas were explored via computer, then later there were many nights of real-life, on-site testing after the park had closed for the day, Horne said.

Designers and programmers “are incredible with their attention to detail and their ability to to turn around these ideas that I’m throwing to them on the spot of how we can tie things together,” he said. “They’ll fiddle for a little bit, and then all of a sudden, it’s this beautiful thing.”

Epic, which opened in May 2025, already presented end-of-night fountain shows in Celestial Park, and some elements were retained for the latest production, Horne said.

“It always created great satisfaction for our guests. So we did feel like we already had a good base to start from,” he said. “Then the question was, ‘How do we plus it up? What do we do to make it feel epic?’”

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“Celestial Goodnight” segments salute four themed worlds of Epic Universe, including Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk and Dark Universe. Music and sound snippets are coordinated with the fireworks and other visuals.

“This is a moment to just sit back and sort of be a little bit of retrospective and share it all one more time with your friends and family,” Horne said.

Email me at [email protected]. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

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