Universal Studios Japan Spectacle Night Parade Review

The Universal Spectacle Night Parade is a brand new, electric night parade at Universal Studios Japan. It is also the first Universal parade to feature Harry Potter.

Currently, the parade runs on select nights so be sure to check if the parade is on when you are visiting the park. It should also be mentioned that due to the often wet and stormy weather in Osaka, it is not uncommon for this parade to be cancelled. Fortunately the weather did not stop this parade from running on the day of my visit. I paid for access into the special parade viewing area during my visit. This cost roughly just over $10 and was well worth it in my opinion. This viewing area guaranteed you a good view of the parade.

One thing to be known about watching parades in Japan is that everyone sits down. This is great as it stops your view getting blocked by a taller person moving in front of you or a parent putting a child on their shoulders. Also, most guests bring their own mat to sit on.

The Universal Studios Japan Spectacle Night Parade starts by Terminator and runs down to the park entrance. It then turns left and goes past Hollywood Dream The Ride before again turning left at the Monsters show theatre. The parade then turns left after passing Stage 14 and goes straight down until reaching the end of the road opposite Terminator. At Terminator the parade turns right, making its way through the New York section of the park where it then finishes soon after passing the Palace theatre.

The parade route is clearly marked out on all park maps. This is very useful when trying to figure out where you want to watch the parade from.

The Spectacle Night Parade itself features floats from four different films; Harry Potter, Transformers, Jurassic World and Despicable Me. Floats in this parade include the Hogwarts Express, Bumblebee and a Raptor enclosure.

Every single float in this parade is absolutely incredible. My personal favourite float was the Hogwarts Express. This float was the same size as an actual steam train and the combination of audio, screens and clever lighting made this one of the best parade floats I have ever seen. It really did feel like the Hogwarts Express was passing down the centre of the street.

The technology and style of these floats are most comparable to Disney’s Paint the Night Parade. However, these floats really take this technology to a new level. The floats are more interactive and also a bit bigger than the majority of the floats in Paint the Night. I have been fortunate enough to see many different night parades at Disney over the years, and this new parade at Universal is more impressive than any of those parades.

The one thing this parade does lack is a catchy tune that links the parade together like the classic Baroque Hoedown played throughout Disney’s classic Electric Light Parade.

One thing I really liked about this Universal parade is that they also use projection mapping to theme the surrounding buildings to match with the floats currently passing by. For example, during the Jurassic world section of the parade a variety of dinosaurs can be seen running across the buildings and in the Harry Potter section there is a dementor attack projected which interacts with speeds cast by the parade actors. This adds a new level of theming to nigh time parades that I have not seen replicated anywhere else.

Overall, I was completely blown away by the quality of this parade. I really do feel that this parade sets a new standard for all future night time parades. The one wish I have now is that this parade is replicated in Florida. At the moment, if this was to happen it would be the only nighttime parade in Orlando. I’m sure this along with the outstanding quality of the parade would cause many guests to stay at the park later and also cause a boost in overall attendance.

Also, my personal wish would be to see some more classic universal films featured as floats. Just imagine a Jaws, E.T. or classic monsters parade float. Stunning!

Would you like to see this parade in Florida? (we would)

Please check out our full review of Universal Studios Japan.