Holiday Travel

A Very Hogwarts Holiday: Why I Must Visit Universal Orlando for Christmas This Year

Ok. So I know that I typically present myself as a rather sarcastic, definitely pessimistic, bourbon and beer drinking, no-care-giving, cold-black-hearted kind of a person. But then there’s Christmas time.

CHRISTMAS TIME!elfjpg-0d7cf3_1280w

And then there’s all things theme park.

ALL THINGS THEME PARK!

Aaaaand…then there’s Harry Potter.

HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!

I just learned that this year, there’s a whole Harry Potter Holiday Spectacular Thing* happening at Universal Orlando. Thus, I’m understandably all OH MY GOD THERE’S A WHOLE HARRY POTTER HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR THING HAPPENING AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO JUST TAKE MY MONEY.

*This is obviously not the name of the event.

You guys–my heart just grew three sizes. Which is an apt thing for my heart to do, given what Holidays at Universal Orlando entails. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

So the first thing I did was try to research said event. And I found a bunch of awesome stuff, but it wasn’t all in one place. Thus, I’m bringing it to you all in one place. Right here, in this post. Here’s what you should expect from Christmas Time at Universal Orlando (if you are wondering why I’m calling it something different every time, it’s because I want people to find this post based upon their search terms. It’s called SEO, people. Also, I do not know what it is actually called so I’m just making things up.)

Anyway–this is what I’ve learned about Going To Universal Orlando for Christmas 2017 in the past fourteen minutes, condensed into a bullet point list. Don’t you want to go? Because I sure do.

  • Hogwarts castle will feature some kind of holiday projection show, which sounds pretty great. I am hoping for wand-related fireworks. And no, I don’t know how that would work. That’s why I’m me and not the people in charge of the Hogwarts Holiday projection show.
  • The a cappella frog choir will perform special holiday songs. If that’s not the best sentence I’ve ever written, I do not know what is.
  • You can buy a bunch of cool holiday-themed Harry Potter things. I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure I want to buy these things. JUST TAKE MY MONEY.
  • You can eat and drink a bunch of cool holiday-themed things. Hot buttered butterbeer, anyone?
  • There will be holiday theming and entertainment in both Hogsmead (Islands of Adventure) and Diagon Alley (Universal Studios.) Because of course there will–that’s how they get you to buy a two park pass. But again: TAKE MY MONEY. Also the train between the two is pretty great. I may have done it three times in one day back in March. But I digress.
  • In addition to the Harry Potter festivities, Seuss-Land (in Islands of Adventure) will also feature something called a Whoville Grinchmas, which involves a huge Grinchmas tree, the Grinch himself (you see why the whole heart growing three sizes thing is apt) and, according to some news outlets, a Whoville boy band. I’m not sure what that entails, but I’m pretty sure I want to see it. Also: THE GRINCH. I LOVE HIM.
  • There will also be some kind of Macy’s Day-esqe parade. So there’s that too.

Have I convinced you to visit Universal Orlando for the 2017 holiday season? If so–want to go with me? Because I’m going. Somehow. It would be cool to have a friend.