The Universal Holiday Tour has returned for the 2024 Christmas season at Universal Orlando Resort!

The Holiday tour has been offered since 2020, and I’ve been lucky enough to experience every year so far. Here’s everything offered on this year’s Holiday Tour, what to expect, and if it’s worth the price.

Universal Orlando Holiday Tour 2024 Overview

This is a 5 hour guided walking tour gives you special access to all the exciting holiday entertainment experiences taking place inside Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure parks. 

Theme park admission isn't included in the price. Reservations and a separate park admission ticket is required. Your park-to-park admission and Universal's Holiday Tour ticket must be valid for the same calendar day. The tour is subject to availability and elements are subject to change without notice.

The Holiday Tour price starts at $89.99 per person plus tax; park admission is not included. Prices vary depending on the date. Most dates start at $99.99.

The Universal Holiday Tour is offered on various nights starting November 26. For the month of December: The 12, 15-19, 21-25, and 27-29.

2024 Universal Holiday Tour Includes:

• Reserved seating for the Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular.

• Exclusive Meet and Greets with the Grinch and his faithful dog, Max.

• Light bites, desserts, hot chocolate, non-alcoholic beverages, and more.

• Private Meet and Greet with Santa

• Priority access to one pre-selected attraction 

• Empty Tribute store walkthrough

• Guest free iconic Christmas tree photo

• Empty Seuss Landing walkthrough 

• An after-hours showing of The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle 

Holiday Tour Check-in

Check-in starts at 5:30 p.m. and guests should arrive no later than 6:15 p.m.

The check-in area is located between Universal Studios Florida, and the Hard Rock Cafe.  a Team Member will scan your park ticket and Holiday Tour QR code. Once you’ve checked in, you’ll stand in line to get a wristband and then get grouped with a tour guide.

If you arrive early, you will be waiting in this area until almost 6:30 p.m., so eat ahead of time, and pack a water bottle.

First Stop of the Night— The Grinchmas Who-liday Spectactular

Reserved seating for the Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular. This show is a  live retelling of the classic tale starring the Grinch, featuring music recorded by Mannheim Steamroller. 

Thanks to the Universal Holiday Tour, I had a great seat 4 rows back with a great view!

Priority Access to 1 Pre-Selected Attraction 

After the Grinchmas show, our group headed to Universal Studios Florida to ride the Illumination Villain-Con Minion Blast attraction.

While Universal Orlando was still open to daytime guests, our group was guided into the Express line to experience this attraction. two years the attraction was Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon… so a much better option!

Time to Meet Santa!

The Santa Meet and Greet is located in the upstairs VIP area of Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. This holiday meet and greet is exclusive to the Universal Holiday Tour, and is not available to regular park guests. 

It does not feel rushed, making it a really unique and great experience. A Team Member will use your phone camera to take a photo for you. You can see Santa in Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s, but the Holiday Tour is the only way to actually meet and talk with Santa.

Iconic Universal Christmas Tree Photo Op

After the Santa Meet and Greet, we walked over to the New York area of the park to get photos in front of the iconic Universal Christmas tree. You can get some really epic empty photos when the Universal Orlando is closed.

Holiday Tribute Store

After our Christmas tree photos, we headed to the Hollywood area of Universal Studios Florida to explore an empty Holiday Tribute Store. You’re given a several minutes to go into each room of the tribute store.

Light Bites and Rest Break

We got roughy 35-40 minutes to eat and relax at Cafe la Bamba.

In previous years, the light bites have been inside Circus McGurkus.

This year, The Holiday Tour food options were again major downgrade. Come with low expectations, and eat beforehand. Two years ago, the food options were amazing; and really made the value of the Holiday Tour incredible.

Light Bites Include:

• “White Christmas Pasta”

• Sweet Potato and Turkey Soufflé

• Yellow Mustard and Seasonal Chutney

• Mini corn dogs

• Salad bar

• Cheese and cracker station

• Fruit bar

• 3 small desserts

Drinks:

• Bottled Water 

• Bottled Soda

• Coffee

• Hot chocolate bar

Grinch Meet and Greet

The most anticipated part of Universal’s Holiday tour is getting to hang out with the Grinch. 

Universal Orlando’s Grinch meet and greet in the park is a stand-by queue instead of a Virtual Line this year, so the Universal Holiday Tour is a stress free  way to meet him without waiting in a really long line during precious daytime park hours.

During the Holiday Tour, the Grinch meets guests inside the theater, which has wayyyyyy better lighting and a more immersive backdrop behind you.

While you wait in line to meet for the Grinch, you can  watch & hear his interactions with other guests. Get ready for lots of belly laughs. 

Photo Opportunity with Max

Meeting Max is exclusive to the Universal Holiday Tour, so it’s 100% worth it right there!

Dessert Break

Desserts Included:

• Mini chocolate chip cookies cakes

• Mini cheesecakes

• Trifle

• Blue Grinch Cookies

• Fruit

• Bottled water + soda

• Coffee + Hot chocolate

After-Hours Showing of the Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle

The last stop of the Holiday Tour was to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. While in Hogsmeade you get an after-hours showing of the Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle.

You get roughly 15 minutes to take photos of an empty Hogsmeade or practice your spells. 

Sadly again this year, none of the shops or dining locations like the HogsHead Pub were open. In previous years, you could buy Butterbeer during to enjoy during this part of the Holiday Tour.

The Christmas light show is the same show available each night, but this after-hours showing is exclusively for guests on the tour and provided you with a minimal crowd viewing experience.

After the light show, there's time to get that iconic empty Hogwarts Castle photo before the tour guides leads yuo the exit of the Islands of Adventure to say goodnight.

Overall Holiday Tour Review:

I had an awesome time on the Holiday Tour and would recommend it to those looking for a unique Holiday experience. 

I still enjoyed the Holiday tour even with the changes, but would really really really love  to see the food offerings be better next year. There’s a lot of great improvements from last year’s Holiday tour, but also some major downgrades. 

The flow of the Holiday Tour runs so smooth and is very efficient + organized. Nothing felt rushed. There’s not as much standing around and waiting free time, which is much appreciated. 

Meeting the Grinch and Max in the theater was fantastic. The lighting is significantly better than the daytime meet and greet. It’s an extremely short wait to meet the Grinch.

Your tour guide can really make or break  your Holiday Tour experience. Ours was so fun, and had a really enthusiastic vibe. Our guide loved hyping up each offering, knew about a lot of holiday Easter eggs in the land, and explained in detail everything that was coming up next.

The worst part is the “light bites” portion of the tour. This year, it felt like the food was an after thought. No holiday themed food really.

Other Small Holiday Tour Perks Left Out this Year:

• No digital download of your photo with Santa

• No digital download of your photo with the Grinch

• No Wizarding World of Harry Potter or Grinch postcards during the dessert portion

• No ornament souvenir gift handed out at the end of the HolidayTour

Is Universal Orlando’s Holiday Tour Worth the Price in 2024?

Yes! Considering everything Included, there’s a lot of value to the Holiday Tour.

If you’re looking for a special Holiday experience with guaranteed photos with the Grinch, Max, and Santa the Universal Holiday Tour is perfect for you. 

The Grinch meet and greet alone is  worth the price so you can avoid the long wait times to meet the Grinch during regular daytime park hours. The exclusive meet and greet with Max is SO worth it as well!

Things to Consider Before Booking Universal’s Holiday Tour:

• The Holiday Tour is pretty long with minimal breaks

• It runs very late into the night. If you have littles, the tour could go late enough into the night where they don’t get to fully  enjoy it

• The Priority access to one attraction is already pre-selected prior to the tour

• Depending on your dates it could be chilly in the evening so make sure you bring a sweatshirt for layering