The holiday season has begun at Universal Orlando Resort,
and there are a ton of activities and events.
So if you're heading
over to Universal Orlando this year, I'm going to go over all of the fun
festivities that you can experience to help you plan your trip.
So let's get into it.
The holidays at Universal is going on
now until January 1st and expands
both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
The best part about the holiday celebrations at Universal
is that most of the activities are included in admission,
and you don't have to pay
extra to experience most of them throughout the parks.
We're gonna start our festivities at Islands of Adventure
and begin at Grinchmas located at Seuss Landing.
During the holidays Suess Landing has been decorated
with all of the holiday charm and cheer of Dr.
Seuss’ Whoville.
In this area, you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for the Who's.
Who will be making their way around to put a little bit of spark
and holiday spirit within your day.
And while you're in the area make sure to catch Grinchmas
Who-liday Spectacular, which is a fun retelling of the Grinch.
I really loved this show.
It's a really spectacular show filled with Grinchy, fun, fantastic music,
and all of your favorite Grinch moments from the movies and the books.
If you want to spend even more time with the Grinch
then you'll want to make sure to check the app
to catch the special meet and greet photo
opportunities with the Grinch himself at Honk Honkers.
Meeting the Grinch was probably one of the biggest highlights
of our entire holidays at Universal, and he makes sure to spend a little bit
of time with each of the guests before the photo ops.
Well Hello!
Aren’t you just so happy
to see me?
Why is that not me?
I'm going to need to get Sharpies and color in all his skin green.
So that it’s actually me.
Does that sound acceptable?
We’re like, we're reading each other’s minds here
Wow, there's nothing going on in there.
Wow.
I sense a lot of emotional distress.
What’s on your bag?
Wow, that is the most boring that I have ever seen
It’s what my mom said
when she saw me dressed up like this.
“That is the most boring bag I have ever seen”
Very traumatizing.
Let’s get a picture.
Once you've finished with all of the festivities at Seuss Landing,
then you'll make your way over to the Lost Continent
where you will be able to find the All Hallows Eve boutique
has been reimagined with a Krampus theme for the holidays,
and here you'll be able to find spooky Halloween
themed Christmas merch in this fun and spooktacular store.
If you enjoy finding beautiful Christmas trees
like the one at All Hallows Eve Boutique,
then you'll want to pick up one of these holiday tree hunt maps.
These maps are $12 and are a fun scavenger
hunt to find all of the decorated holiday trees across Universal
Studios, Islands of Adventure and Universal Citywalk.
I really enjoyed going throughout the park and finding
all of these beautiful trees throughout Universal during our trip.
And at the end of the day,
you can stop by one of
the select stores indicated on the map to collect your prize,
which ended up being this really fun Earl the Squirrel ornament
that we got at the legacy store as we left for the evening
Once you’re finished with the Lost Continent, you'll make your way over to Hogsmeade
which is a part of the wizarding world of Harry Potter
and is a magical area no matter what time of year you come.
But it's especially magical during the holidays.
While you're here, you'll have to make sure to catch
the seasonal melodies of the Frog Choir that perform
a few times throughout the day.
And if you come on
one of the rare chilly days while you're here in Orlando,
you can warm up during the holidays with a cup of hot butterbeer.
And if you end up staying until the evening,
you'll want to make sure to catch the magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle,
which happens from dusk until close on select nights throughout the season.
This amazing projection show is roughly about 10 minutes long
and is something that you won't want to miss, especially for my fellow
Harry Potter fans out there.
And before you leave Islands of Adventure,
my Christmas video would not be complete
without mentioning the Port of Entry Christmas shop.
Even though this shop is available 365 days a year, it's
one of the best locations to find festive Christmas ornaments, stockings,
decorations, souvenirs and so much more in islands of adventure.
So now, since we've enjoyed all of the holiday festivities
in islands of adventure,
let's head back to Universal Studios to finish off our tour.
Once at Universal Studios will head straight back to Diagon
Alley, which has some fun holiday festivities that include these
beautiful holiday decorations that you can find throughout Diagon Alley.
And while you're here, you won't want to miss Celestina
Warbeck and her Banshees as they entertain you with some of fun,
festive holiday favorites from the magical world of Harry Potter.
And the best part about it is that it ends in a flurry
of snow.
Just a short walk from Diagon Alley is the New York area
where you'll find the giant Christmas tree that stands a massive
80 feet tall and is complete with a five foot topper.
And while you're checking out the tree, you'll want to keep an eye out
for the famous Earl the Squirrel whose story we learned from our VIP
tour guide, Mike, who told us that, Earl the Squirrel is based off
of a real squirrel that made his home in their giant Christmas tree.
One year, Santa was making his way down the parade route as usual
when he went to light the tree and nothing happened.
So later that night, team members went to investigate
and they discovered that Earl had built this nest within the Christmas tree,
along with a few severed strings nearby.
So Earl, the squirrel felt so bad
about not lighting up the tree for the kids when Santa came around.
So he continues to live in the tree to this day and pops
out every once in a while to make sure that the lights are still on.
So as you're admiring the tree this year, don't forget
to keep an eye out for Little Earl the Squirrel.
It's a really fun holiday tradition.
And they move him every single year.
Right nextdoor to the giant Christmas tree is the holiday tribute store.
And if you never been
inside the tribute store, it's a completely immersive themed store
that originally started with Halloween horror nights a few years ago,
but now gets transformed for the holidays,
as well as the Mardi Gras celebration early in the year.
This season's holiday tribute store features
four themed marketplaces, a vintage New York,
which is a nod to the beautiful Christmas displays that you can find
in major department stores like Macy's and features
fresh cut Christmas trees as you enter,
this giant Santa centerpiece, a roated chestnut cart
nutcrackers in the store windows, and Carl’s Toy
Chest window complete with a moving gondola lift.
The next themed room that you'll walk
into is the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
This beautiful room that is themed to be almost like a mini Hogsmeade
complete with owlry and beautifully decorated store windows.
If you're a huge Harry Potter fan,
you'll want to take your time as you make your way through this room
to find all sorts of really fun Christmas merchandise
and ornaments.
Once you've passed through the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,
you'll walk into the Whoville room that is themed to the original cartoon.
The Whoville Room has a really cute Max centerpiece and Grinch scenes
in the window fronts, in addition to this really fun Grinch statue
that makes a perfect photo opportunity while you're there.
And last but not least is the Earl the Squirrel Village
that features one of the trees from the Christmas tree stroll,
the treats booth, which has a bunch of yummy treats to choose from.
Earl's best roasted nuts and a photo op
wall before you leave.
And at the end of the day,
you'll want to make sure that you find a really great spot
to watch the amazing Holiday Parade featuring Macy's.
The parade starts at the gate located right
next to Universal Orlando's horror make up show.
If you're a universal annual pass holder, there is a reserved area
for Passholders in front of Mel’s dine in.
But make sure to get there early because it is first come, first serve
and it fills up really quickly.
But there’s several areas throughout the parade route
where you'll get a really great view of the parade.
My favorite area is the corner right next to Starbucks, which gives you
this really great view down the street towards the Christmas tree.
And you get to see all of the floats as they make their way towards you.
And the start of the parade this year is this giant snowflake
that comes with fun dancing snowmen and snowflakes,
as well as the famous giant Macy's star.
After that is the
minions float that are decorating the tree,
followed by Gru and the girls.
There's also my favorite minion, Bob,
who is a giant balloon
and following him are many more minions
who are causing mayhem on the ski slope.
After the minions was Madagascar, who started their section
with the Penguins float.
This was followed by King Julian, who is always really fun
to see
and the rest of the Madagascar crew Alex,
Marty, Melman and Gloria.
Once they passed by, it was time for the Shrek section,
and this started off with a giant gingerbread man balloon
that was followed by the Three Little Pigs,
the big bad wolf and the three blind mice.
They also had a giant baby donkey.
Or should I say, Dronkey?
This was followed by Shrek, Fiona and Dragon
with another Dronkey finishing off their section.
Then it was time
for the Big Man himself, which started off with nods to Santa’s
workshop with a toy train as well
as an assortment of toys.
There was also a Nutcracker
and then Santa himself, who was always a welcome sight.
And the grand finale to the parade.
I loved the holiday parade this year,
and it is the perfect way to end your day at Universal Studios.
But if that was not enough holiday festivities for you, Universal
also offers a character breakfast with the Grinch and Friends,
which we tried to get tickets to but were sold out really quickly.
So if you do want to reserve this for next year, you'll want to make sure
that you grab your tickets as soon as possible.
There's also a holiday tour that you can add on, which is a fun way
to get exclusive access to holiday festivities.
And we got a really awesome tour guide named Mike,
who told us about a lot of details all throughout the park.
During the holiday tour at Universal you get an exclusive meeting
with the Grinch and his faithful dog, Max.
Reserved seating for Grinchmas Wholiday Spectacular and get a chance
to enjoy some small plates like Who Hash, chicken
and waffles, popcorn shrimp and some holiday cookies.
We even got a private meeting with Santa that included this digital
download of our photo, priority seating to one ride,
and the highlight of the entire night was definitely the exclusive
after hours viewing of the magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle.
If you are planning on staying even more days in Central Florida
and looking for more holiday experiences to enjoy, then
you'll want to check out my playlist that just popped up on the screen.
In this playlist, I'll walk you through other theme park holiday
festivities as well as local Christmas events
that you won't want to miss until next time.
Everyone, I hope you have an amazing day and go out and
enjoy some Florida sunshine.