I went to the preview Friday night, and the castle projection show was better than I expected, it just works well and doesn't feel hokey at all. It's about 6-7 minutes, and it started up again every 20 minutes or half hour once we got in. (Two AP groups, and then team members, they didn't force anyone out since they had Hippogriff and Forbidden Journey running.) I was with my 2 year old, so she had to ride the kiddle coaster multiple times (once while the show was running, which was just a cool experience) The show is fairly low key and elegant, with a burst of fireworks at the end, it just works (The projection tech itself worked there better than I expected).
Today we went late in the afternoon and did the Grinchmas show (good as always), and the new Christmas parade is amazing, in my opinion better than the Christmas parade at MK even (Which is part of an upcharge event) . We watched it from by the Macy's storefront across from the big Christmas tree in NYC (Which is probably the best place to be for the parade). The parade has been improved from last year in about every way, Universal has really stepped up the parade game with this one. Also ran into Tim Tracker... again (5th time this year).
We didn't see Mannheim, Diagon Celestina show, the Barney Christmas show, or the Frog Choir, unfortunately, but will be back again for that later (only so much the 2 year old can take). I did hear Hogsmeade was absolutely slammed packed tonight (like when it first opened) once dusk rolled around. The preview Friday was nice since it wasn't too crowded.
I have a feeling word of mouth will spread quickly and this will probably be the busiest Christmas season ever at Universal.
A few photos (I didn't take much):
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