There’s been a lot of buzz lately about Universal Studio’s newest attraction, the Universal Mega Movie Parade. It’s the largest daytime parade the studio has ever offered, after all, and it brings in fan-favorite characters and moments from across the company’s movie history. In fact, key to this enterprise is the Jurassic World franchise and an infamous moment from the flicks: the iconic Jurassic Park scene in which the T-Rex roars while the banner falls.
Let’s explore why the attraction ends on that note, as well as how to catch the most epic moment the parade has to offer.
Why Did Universal Orlando Decide To Close With The T-Rex Anyway?
When you watch the parade, you may notice some floats encompass one movie, some tell the story of a whole franchise and some look at a famous scene in a movie. In the case of Jurassic World, fans will get kind of a two-fer. There’s a float of the gyrosphere that scared the heck out of Bryce Dallas Howard and that has become a mainstay of the Chris Pratt-led portion of the franchise, and there parade actually wraps with a second float featuring the iconic T-rex rearing its tiny little arms and imposing head and here to scare the heck out of you.
Given the parade also has a giant Stay Puft marshmallow and ghostbuster battling Gozer and plenty of other iconic picks to choose from, why end with the T-Rex? Turns out, there’s a reason. Per Universal’s parade director Michelle, using the dramatic Jurassic World score and the major banner moment just felt “right” for the theme park.
The only way we could think of ending this parade was with dinosaurs. Because that feels right for us. ...The most special part about this – not only again is the score – but as the T-Rex is making its final app and heading into the gate we really wanted to lean into what people remember most of the park and Jurassic World films, which of course for the T-Rex would be when the banner is falling in the Discovery Center and you hear that giant T-Rex roar.
It’s crazy to think that more than 30 years after the release of Jurassic Park, a moment that almost never happened in Steven Spielberg’s classic is getting highlighted in a parade in the parks. It’s a good reminder though that sometimes the best movie moments come about in ways you wouldn't anticipate or expect.
And given Scarlett Johansson's new Jurassic World movie's already filmed, there's only more magic moments to come from the franchise on the way as well.
There’s always some debate about the best vantage point to watch a Universal Parade. I personally usually like watching on a curve, so you can see floats as they come around from varying vantage points. But in this case, there’s one big reason you may want to catch the end of the parade: While T-Rex roars throughout, if you wait until Rexy is staggering his way out of the park, you’ll catch one final, epic roar. Per the show director:
Maybe you remember in Jurassic World when the T-Rex is on the helicopter pad and the T-Rex lets out a giant roar letting you know he’s running the place now? We felt that was the best period at the end of our amazing sentence that is Universal Mega Movie parade and we really wanted to end with that giant T-Rex roar reverberating in the street.
So they did, and it really is a wow moment.
To note: In general, the parade is only 20 minutes long, so even if you catch it on the front end, if you segue back to where the parade is ending, you may also be able to see Rex-y on the way out. It’s a banner moment (pun intended).
How To Watch Universal’s Mega Movie Parade
The parade had been in soft openings earlier this month, and is now set to run through November 14th. Most days the parade kicks off at 6 p.m. and wraps at the gate located near Mel’s Diner closer to the end of that same hour. But you don’t need to hear Rexy’s epic final roar to enjoy some major moments with Jaws, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Trolls, Minions, E.T. and more. Catch all 13 brand new floats, or just some of them at your leisure.
There’s a lot of “brand new content” at the resort this summer with the opening of the parade, the "perfect" new Dreamworks Land and more (with Epic Universe on the way). If you haven’t given a ticket a chance recently, now’s a great time to look ahead to your next Universal adventure, as there are some major ticket deals rolling out right now as well.
