First look: Epic Universe blasts out new nighttime show

Epic Universe theme park has rolled out “Universal Celestial Goodnight,” its end-of-night, color-coordinated, lighting-loaded spectacular. Here are a few observations from Tuesday’s premiere.

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Parking at Celestial Park

The action is set in Celestial Park, at the base of the Helios Grand Hotel, which abuts Epic. That intergalactic theme kicks in with the opening narration, which addresses fellow travelers with terms such as energy portal, chronos and power of stars.

To the uninitiated, Celestial Park is the sprawling entry land of Epic, with its other themed areas branching off from it. It has shops, restaurants and two notable rides, Stardust Racers roller coaster and Constellation Carousel. On the far end stands Helios, fronted by a water feature and dozens of prancing fountains — so very Vegas — and a tiered amphitheater, where many Epic visitors gather for “Celestial Goodnight.”

Light moves

But the show’s action drifts beyond that focal point, up to the main plaza level, especially in its lighting.

The facade of the Helios becomes an enormous projection screen featuring moody lighting and mostly abstract images, sporting colors that coordinate with the lit and surging fountains. The look fluctuates as the show’s emphasis shifts from land to land.

The lighting scheme extends onto nearby buildings, particularly the domed structure above the carousel, and onto signage, including the Meteor Astropub sign. If sitting in the tiered section, some of this happens behind you, so occasional glances are encouraged. Even what appears to be normal street lamps get in on the flickering, color-changing action. The chronos symbol atop Helios undergoes several lighting effects not seen during daylight hours.

The show incorporates 7 million LEDs, and about 600 light fixtures, plus 350 fountains, Universal says.

Sound thinking

As Universal Orlando promised, the show virtually travels to Epic’s four themed worlds, including Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic and Super Nintendo World. The “Goodnight” music is a strong factor holding that together.

The popular Mario theme music sets a happy mood early, and it morphs into a Donkey Kong ditty. Also recognizable are “Harry Potter” soundtrack moments, “Test Flight” from “How to Train Your Dragon” and a snippet of dialogue featuring Victoria Frankenstein, a character featured in Dark Universe’s signature ride Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.

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Big bang

Traditional fireworks, augmented by laser action, go off in spritzes on opposite sides of the park, but the bulk of the big bangs hit above the Helios. This pyro may be the least choreographed of the show’s elements, but it’s also more difficult to control than today’s LED technology.

Still, the pyrotechnics are coordinated with the fountains, particularly in the blazing-white finale, which is dense enough to practically obscure the sight of the hotel.

Give’m Helios

Although the park’s design builds up to Helios, standing tall, some people might be distracted by guests in the hotel rooms, curtains agape, also taking in “Celestial Goodnight.” Some are backlit; the pattern of open versus closed drapes is naturally irregular and usually doesn’t match the color scheme of the presentation.

Solutions might be tricky. What host would tell paying customers of a hotel — part of the resort’s higher-end “signature collection” — to please close their blinds and not look at the shiny objects? And it doesn’t seem cost-effective to change out windows in a year-old hotel for a 9-minute spectacular.

Or maybe it’s savvy marketing. Who wouldn’t, on the outside at Epic, look up and think, “It would be cool to watch this show from a ‘signature collection’ hotel”?

“Universal Celestial Goodnight” now joins the daily schedule at Epic. It is tied to the park’s closing time, which in July and August is 9 p.m.

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