Everything You Need to Know About Universal Orlando‘s Holiday Tour

I love the holiday season at Universal Orlando! This is one of my favorite times in the parks. There are fun special experiences that you will only find during the holiday season at both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

The first part of our tour began with reserved seating for the Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular. Since multiple holiday tours were going on at the same time, we all had reserved seating right in the middle of the theater for the show. This was great because we didn’t have to wait for the show and use time during our day in the park like we would have had to do had we just seen the show during the regular park hours.

Since each group only has 15 guests per tour guide, the way you spend the evening varies so that way there aren’t too many groups all in the same area at once. This prevents you from having to wait long for things and makes it feel very special like a regular VIP tour during the day.

After the Who-liday Spectacular, we cut through the backstage area of the park and headed to Universal Studios to the New York area of the park. Santa was located backstage at the Jimmy Fallon ride. We got a private meet and greet and photos with Santa which was really special. Santa was located in an area that is not available to daytime guests, so it was cool to get to go behind the scenes and see some backstage areas of the park.

Note: You can only meet Santa on this holiday tour!

After meeting Santa, we stopped for an Earl the Squirrel sighting inside the Christmas Tree in the New York area of the park. Since this was officially after the park had closed, we got photos in front of the Christmas tree without other people in the background. Getting to be in the park after the parks had officially closed was worth the cost of the tour ticket alone! It was so awesome being there without crowds of people.

After we got photos of the Christmas tree, we walked over to the Universal Holiday Tribute store. We had a private shopping experience without anyone else in the store. This was amazing because this store can get so crowded and it was such a more enjoyable experience getting to enjoy the themed rooms and shop for holiday-themed merchandise.

Next on the tour was for a quick meal at Cafe La Bamba! Since the tour starts early and runs late, I suggest eating a small meal before your tour so that way you’re not too hungry. Since there are multiple groups, there are different times that you may be eating depending on when you get to this portion of the tour. There were small snack-type foods (like chicken nugget bites, french fries, salad, cheese and crackers, and more) to choose from. You also have your choice of soda, water, and coffee. This cost for food and drinks would have been almost the normal price of the holiday tour ticket and it was all INCLUDED with your tour which was awesome!

After we ate our snacks, we ehaded voer to Villian-Con! This was the one attraction that was included in the holiday tour. This isn’t my favorite attraction, but Universal has to keep an attraction open that is family-friendly for everyone to be able to do. However, I did enjoy this attraction this time because it was only our group on it which made it so much more enjoyable! We walked right through the line and were on the ride in less than 5 minutes.

Once we finished Villian-Con, we crossed backstage back over to Islands of Adventure so that we could meet The Grinch and Max the dog! The Grinch is always such a fun and entertaining meet and greet. I have also met him at breakfast this year,  which I found was a better experience just because you got to spend more time with him. (Read more about that experience here!)

Note: You can only meet Max the Dog on this holiday tour!

Fun fact about Max the Dog: There are 4 dogs that rotate so that way Max never gets tired and is not overworked. :)

After our meet and greets, we got to the dessert portion of our night! Universal had themed treats, hot chocolate, soda, and water to enjoy for a little bit. It was nice to break up the evening this way so that we weren’t on our feet for so long. We got to spend a little extra time here before heading over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to finish the night.

We ended the tour with a private showing of The Magic of Christmas on Hogwarts Castle at 10:30 PM. This was exclusive to the holiday tour groups since the park closed at 7 PM. Normally, this area is so packed and crowded with people each night. This was not like that at all and the show SO enjoyable! We had tons of space to move around and could get a great view wherever we stood since there weren’t that many people around! It was amazing!! Being in the park after hours was so worth the cost of this ticket. It is so special and fun to see the park in a totally different way.

Review:

I honestly loved this tour. I felt like it was just like a VIP Tour but just a shorter version and specific to the holiday offerings. For the price you pay for this tour, you aren’t waiting in long lines, you get exclusive meet and greets that you can’t get during the day in the park, food and drinks are included, and so much more. I had a great time and Dan did too!

Important to Know:

Theme park admission is not included in the price of the tour. This tour will sell out so it is important to book your tour in advance.