Universal's Holiday Tour

[mlayman7]

We did the tour last night on Thanksgiving. Brittany was our guide and was fantastic. She gave a lot of great information and always knew what was going on at all times. The only negative was the area for the parade, we got there well before we were supposed to but all the front row areas were taken by adults and did not seem willing to let our 3 kids be able to see. Thankfully an open area got closed and we jumped in the opening to get a spot so they could see. Not sure why they don't have a bigger area (400 total people do the tour each night) so everyone could get a guaranteed spot to watch the parade. Otherwise everything else was great. Having usf and hogsmeade closed to be able to walk around taking photos without thousands if others around was worth the price to us. The grinch meeting was fun (cookies were very good), meeting Santa was great for the kids, and having spots for the grinchmas show was also valuable especially on Thanksgiving. By the time the tour ended it was after 11 pm, which was later than the 10 pm stated on the email but not going to complain about the extra hour, just about the lack of correct information provided. Overall, well worth it.

 

[Krisshay13]

Aww....we had Brittany, too.........the 1st night. She was great!!

Now that I've had a day at home & can think straight...LOL I really do think the amount of the tour is worth it. Except for the parade viewing.......wish they could come up with a better place for that. I'm not sure how they could but, I think for a tour, it should be where you can see Santa light up the tree.
We were sitting on the 1st row & I moved behind my DGD & offered for a little boy behind me to take my spot. I didn't plan on standing but, felt the kids need to be able to see more than I do. So, shame of those that didn't move for your kids, mlayman7.

 

[keishashadow]

We did the tour the 1st night......were in the 1st Q&A, sounds like the same time as Soniam. It was fun but, yes very unorganized.

We were there on Saturday, nov 27th. Appears they’ve gotten the bugs worked out as we were so pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the tour. (Mr) Chris was our guide, did a wonderful job

when we exited Bourne @ 4:20 pm and saw so many people sitting on the crubs already, knew we needed to head up to the tour checkin. Told there were 30 tours that night. We did manage to snag a spot front & center. There were many areas of open space on the fence but, being held down for others in their party.

parade started at 5:40 pm ish with the tree lighting immediately afterwards

we then did grinch show (obviously, a much bigger budget than prior years, yea!). It was followed byQ&A. That material needs work but, the cast gave it their all








then, onto grinch picture & cookies/hot chocolate. He was in rare form!





back to studios for some interesting info & time to spend in tribute store & pics in the area. look for tributes to beloved rides, past & present in the decorations





kong helping out with garland


classy solo cup lights at finnegans



Don’t forget to look for Earl the squirrel, also in the tree

 

[keishashadow]

Onto meeting Santa. Only had 10 min to enjoy on balcony

Creepier than during HHN as to lack of people after park close

Nice, quality with with St Nick & each person receives the scavenger hunt ornament





wish we could’ve taken the train vs the walk up to castle. Had time there to romp with other tour guests. Nice to have a very chill opportunity to enjoy that area

 

[Krisshay13]

OMG...to think, it was 1 week ago tonight that we were on the tour
Thanks for the pictures.......brings back such sweet memories.
I knew the 1st night would have kinks to work out & I'm the type that goes with the flow so, didn't bother me. But, glad to hear it's smoother now!!
Our selfie with the Grinch came right after he took a bite out of an onion someone brought him.....his breath sure STANK!! LOL

 

[Susan2771]

Thank-you all so much for sharing your experiences with the tour and the photos I really appreciate it so much with our tour less than a month away to get a feel of what to expect. Merry Christmas to you all!!

 

[OHVolunteer]

Thanks everyone for posting your experiences. My youngest is Grinch obsessed and we had Grinch breakfast scheduled at Gaylord Palms Thanksgiving weekend and they cancelled that event. So we sprung for the Holiday Tour tickets on December 21 as a surprise. Sounds like we should plan to head down early and grab lunch (we are passholders and local - so weren't planning on going to the park beforehand), but sounds like we may want to eat in Citywalk and then head over to check in by 4ish. Hoping they have the kinks worked out so that the Grinch makes sure to hit each tour group as its the main reason we are doing it.

 

[soniam]

Thanks everyone for posting your experiences. My youngest is Grinch obsessed and we had Grinch breakfast scheduled at Gaylord Palms Thanksgiving weekend and they cancelled that event. So we sprung for the Holiday Tour tickets on December 21 as a surprise. Sounds like we should plan to head down early and grab lunch (we are passholders and local - so weren't planning on going to the park beforehand), but sounds like we may want to eat in Citywalk and then head over to check in by 4ish. Hoping they have the kinks worked out so that the Grinch makes sure to hit each tour group as its the main reason we are doing it.

If the Grinch skips you by chance, talk to the handler and insist to see him. Explain that this is why you are doing the tour. We got skipped, but we didn't care enough to bother anyone. Definitely eat beforehand, a real meal, or eat quick service while waiting for/watching the parade.

 

[Susan2771]

If the Grinch skips you by chance, talk to the handler and insist to see him. Explain that this is why you are doing the tour. We got skipped, but we didn't care enough to bother anyone. Definitely eat beforehand, a real meal, or eat quick service while waiting for/watching the parade.

Not sure if you would know. By chance after checking in, did they allow checked in guests in/out privileges to get food and come back into the closed off area? Thank-you.

 

[Captain Morgan Sparrow]

Not sure if you would know. By chance after checking in, did they allow checked in guests in/out privileges to get food and come back into the closed off area? Thank-you.

yes, you can freely go back and forth

 

[cfoxga]

Thanks everyone for posting your experiences. My youngest is Grinch obsessed and we had Grinch breakfast scheduled at Gaylord Palms Thanksgiving weekend and they cancelled that event. So we sprung for the Holiday Tour tickets on December 21 as a surprise. Sounds like we should plan to head down early and grab lunch (we are passholders and local - so weren't planning on going to the park beforehand), but sounds like we may want to eat in Citywalk and then head over to check in by 4ish. Hoping they have the kinks worked out so that the Grinch makes sure to hit each tour group as its the main reason we are doing it.

We went on the first night and almost missed the chance for our girls to talk to the Grinch. He started out walking by tables but as people sat down later after getting cookies, there really wasn't an easy way for him to keep track of which tables he hadn't gone too. Eventually a line formed around him, but he had to "take a break" before we got to see him. The new Grinch came back in and went to another location in the room. Our time was almost up, so we decided to leave the line and head straight to him. Quite a few were still in the original line when we left, so I'm not sure if they all got a chance...

 

[Susan2771]

yes, you can freely go back and forth

Thank-you so much for answering my question. Appreciate it

 

[macraven]

To Keishashadow for her fantastic tour report with the awesome pictures she has shared with us!!

And many thanks for those that also shared with us!

 

[cescott]

Just went to book our holiday tour and found out that everything is sold out for the two park days we'll be there Guess I'll keep checking and see if any cancellations go through. My wife and I weren't sure whether we wanted to dedicate 5-6 hours of our limited time there (first time visiting Universal) but decided last night that it seemed like a good idea. Guess we debated too long

 

[DisneyPanthersFan]

@cescott Did you try calling? Someone previously in the thread mentioned that they were added to a waitlist for a day that was sold out.

 

[cescott]

@DisneyPanthersFan I hadn't tried that. Will give them a call this afternoon and give it a shot. Thanks!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I just canceled our tour for Dec 19, if anyone has been looking for a cancellation to pop up. We were a party of 4.

 

[Lynne G]

We did the tour with James as our guide last night. It was great! Now you get in line to get pictures with grinch, and the improv Q &A had some very funny parts to it. Great higher seats in the middle to watch the show, and do nice yo have no one close to you to watch castle show. The hot chocolate was very good, but we are not fans of those cookies. The only tip I have is we checked in closer to 5pm, and no spaces left anywhere close to front to see parade. So if you want to have no one in front of you to watch the parade, get there much earlier. And they give you a wrist band to wear, as can exit and enter as many times as you want before 5:30pm. We checked in, then went to Today Cafe to get food, as all they give you is the hot chocolate and cookies, and you can purchase drinks from the Potter places, while waiting for the castle show.