Welcome and thanks for visiting! On our trip to Disney World and Universal in April 2026 we enjoyed a wide variation of shows to take a break from walking or queuing. As performances are so varied, I thought I would rate them so if you have limited time, hopefully I can help prioritise!
This post is part of a larger blog detailing our trip to Disney World and Universal in Florida. LINK TO THE MAIN BLOG HERE! (Once finished – not yet!)
I would like to mention that no matter what score I have given a show, they are ALL worth experiencing if you have time. None are bad and the very worse case is that you get to sit down for a few minutes to rest!
The list below will break up the type of show as follows:
- Night Shows – Lights galore to witness before the park closes for the day
- Day Shows – Performed several times throughout the day, many with a maximum capacity
- Misc – Hogwarts Express in Universal as this didn’t fit in the other groups!
For the locations of the shows, I am using a key that I will refer to throughout my Disney and Universal blogs.
- DMK – Disney’s Magic Kingdom
- DHS – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- DEP – EPCOT
- DAK – Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- UUS – Universal Studios
- UIA – Universal’s Islands of Adventure
- UEU – Universal’s Epic Universe
Shows we did NOT experience
Unfortunately, even with all the time in the world, attractions at parks are constantly undergoing renovation, so you would be very lucky to find everything open when you visit. I thought I would provide a list of what we didn’t to to avoid disappointment further down the list.
- Closed: UIA – Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts (renovation)
- Closed: UEU – Whatever they do when fountains are working (renovation)
- Closed: DAK – Tree of Life Awakenings (seasonal)
- Missed: UUS – Bourne Stuntacular
- Didn’t Pay Enough Attention: UUS – Tales of Beedle the Bard
- Didn’t Pay Enough Attention: DMK – Dream the Night Away Parade
As my wife is a huge Harry Potter nerd it was such a shame to see Hogwarts covered in scaffolding and tarpaulin. The one saving grace was that we did know about this beforehand. There may well be some other smaller shows we simply weren’t aware of. Certainly an excuse to visit again in future!
Whilst not shows, there are also dozens of opportunities to meet characters on the street! We bumped into Rafiki whilst he was wandering around EPCOT but the only one we queued up for was to have a quick picture with Chip and Dale at Animal Kingdom to take Mikayla back to her childhood!
Anyway, let’s crack on with the shows and my dubious, possibly offensive scores!
Night shows
🎬 DHS – World of Animation ⭐⭐ (out of 5)
If this show stood alone, it wouldn’t be that bad. The low score is primarily because other shows were better. Magic Kingdom has a better show, EPCOT had better fireworks. It didn’t help that after this we went straight to the Fantasmic show which, as you’ll see below, we found much better. One benefit for this show was that it was much quieter with space to sit on the floor.
🎬 DMK – Happily Ever After ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The must-see show that didn’t disappoint. Classic tunes, animation projected onto the iconic Cinderella castle accompanied by fireworks. At 20 minutes long it really was a spectacle and ample opportunities to capture that perfect photo. The only reason it didn’t get a 5 was because we didn’t feel the need to watch it again.
🎬 DEP – Luminous: The Symphony of Us ⭐⭐⭐⭐
For the most part this wasn’t very Disney themed bar a few recognisable songs. For this reason Mikayla isn’t impressed with my scoring but out of all the night shows, this had the best firework display, setting off during most of the 20-minute show. Extra points for the location. It’s in the middle of the large lake in EPCOT so it can be viewed from nearly everywhere in the park alongside a snack of your choice from the countless vendors covering 11 countries cuisine.
🎬 UUS – CineSational: Symphonic Spectacular ⭐⭐⭐⭐
For our second week of the trip, at Universal, the night shows were kinda forgotten about. It didn’t help that Hogwarts was boarded up (which has its own show) and in Epic Universe the fountains were dry, assuming that is where a show would normally take place. This meant that we managed to remember this show on the very last night! Because of the time passed since our Disney shows, this was an enjoyable watch. Unlike the Disney shows it made clever use of drones, that didn’t quite make up for the rather naff firework display. I may be being generous giving this a 4 rather than a 3.
🎬 DHS – Fantasmic ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The only show that we enjoyed twice. It had a storyline, a host of Disney characters and Mickey Mouse running the show. Stories projected onto water screens and subtle use of pyro made this stand out compared to the others. Also note that this was shown at 8:30pm and 10pm, so you can fit it in right at the end of the day. We seen one of each show time, and noticed the 10pm showing had a bit more added on with a bit of fire involved, without giving too much away.
Day shows
🎬 UEU – Le Cirque Arcanus ⭐⭐
A new show at Epic Universe, based around Fantastic Beasts. Considering the potential with lights and pyro etc. I was really disappointed compared with the special effects of, say, Harry Potter & The Cursed Child London theatre show, which is ten years old. I wasn’t a fan of being forced into a pen, standing up with 400+ people for the first 15 minutes of the show. I did like the fact that the small tent you enter through opens up, magically obviously, to an area 5x larger than expected to house the queue, similar to the tent in the 7th film.
🎬 DHS – Little Mermaid Musical Adventure ⭐⭐⭐
A mix of stage acting and digital, this was better than expected. Unfortunately it just wasn’t that memorable even with the classic tunes. Still worth a watch.
🎬 UEU – The Untrainable Dragon ⭐⭐⭐
Mikayla enjoyed this but there just wasn’t much of a story to go alongside the colourful animatronics. A Dragon can’t be tamed… its egg is found… baby dragon hatches… Dragon becomes trainable. Sorry for the spoiler on this one but it really is that basic.
🎬 DMK – Enchanted Tiki Room ⭐⭐⭐
I think this was our first show. It was enjoyable enough with pleasing music but the show itself was a bit too mechanical to score higher, compared with the technological advances of others.
🎬 DHS – Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular ⭐⭐⭐
A bit too slow paced considering it’s potential. It was obvious they missed parts out of the show as some parts of the set weren’t touched. I believe this was following an accident! Some classic scenes and interesting ‘how it works’ saved it from a lower score.
🎬 DHS – Beauty & The Beast on Stage ⭐⭐⭐⭐
An absolute classic. A simple, 20-minute show that links closely with the film including the iconic songs and characters.
🎬 DHS – Villains: Unfairly Ever After ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A new show (May 2025) that has a wide cast of baddies all competing to win over the audience, who get to choose the most unfairly treated as a villain. Pleas include Cruella, Hades, Captain Hook and more.
🎬 DEP – Turtle Talk with Crush ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A quick show primarily aimed at kids, who loved it and also received laughs from the adults. It’s basically a Q&A with Crush who is on screen, but voiced by an actual person who controls the digital face and body movements in an impressive way. Therefore every show will be different as who knows what questions some kids will ask!
🎬 DAK – Festival of the Lion King ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
At 30 minutes this is a decent length show and manages to deliver a complete performance, where other shows understandably have to miss bits out. Crowd engagement, circus style gymnastics, a storyline, impressive animatronics, a very funny Timon running around and of course, the amount of absolute bangers to singalong to.
🎬 DMK – Enchanted Tales with Belle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’m a bit biased here because Mikayla adores BATB and having her photo taken with Belle was a really cute experience for her, and for me seeing how delighted she was! I’m sure she doesn’t smile that much in my company…
You and a group of 30 odd others are instructed to help Belle prepare for her dance with Beast, with many role-playing options for the kids (and adults if you’re desperate). Each of the cast gets a photo with Belle and a bookmark to keep for participating afterwards. Mikayla was asked if she wanted a photo simply because she had Belle themed “Mickey ears” on. That was nice. Sadly I think we lost the code to purchase the proper/professional picture.
Misc
🎬 UIA/UUS – Hogwarts Express ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is listed as a ride but it’s basically a transport system to get from the back of Islands of Adventure (Hogsmeade) to Universal Studios (Diagon Alley). You’re in a replica of the carriage and whilst the journey only takes 5 minutes, the realistic screen/window takes through London, the Countryside, past Hogwarts and vice versa. They do have slightly different videos each direction and it’s a must do for any Harry Potter fan. Although it was only a five minute ride I think they could have done more with a story to make it a 5.
—
There we go! If you have been lucky enough to see the shows I hope we don’t disagree too much! Thanks for reading and be sure to check out my other Disney and Universal blogs!
How Not 2 Life 