Universal Studios Orlando Animal Actors on Location Show

Universal Studios Orlando makes for one of the best family theme park vacations imaginable. My kids had a great time at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. The rides were more thrilling than we expected, and perfect for older children and adults. Their favorite rides were, without a doubt, the Rip Saw Falls water ride at Islands of Adventure, and the Men in Black interactive ride (shoot those aliens!) on the Universal Studios side. All that running around can be hard on the feet, though; we were all exhausted by the end of each day at the theme park. That’s why we came to appreciate the sit-down shows at Universal Studios, too.
My daughter took this video, and I love hearing her laughing at the animal trainers’ jokes and the antics of the animals themselves. The Animal Actors on Location show is the same (as far as I can tell) each day, so there’s no real need to go more than once during a theme park vacation here.

This was, obviously, the last two minutes of the Animal Actors on Location show. There are parrots — macaws and cockatoos — dogs, cats, a skunk, and other animals that are retired from the movie business. I have to suppose that animals get rotated, and depending on what animals have been retired from working in Universal Studios movies, the breeds of cats and dogs (and pigs, etc) changes. The animals seemed happy and healthy, which made me happy. I’ve seen some pretty bedraggled animals in smaller zoos, and that’s upsetting. The animals here were nothing like those sad sacks, though: Shiny fur, feathers or hair, frisky behavior, and an affection clearly shared between trainers and animals made for a gratifying show experience.

The roof and stadium-style seating also provided a needed respite from all the running around in that hot Orlando sun for our family. For anyone taking a Florida theme park vacation with their children, the Animal Actors on Location show serves as an entertaining break from the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure ride lines and mayhem. Who knows? Maybe it will be YOUR child that gets to play a part in some of the interactive animal sketches. That would surely make for an unforgettable art of a family theme park vacation.