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:toast:This vacation was specifically to experience the Holiday activities at Universal, plus adding in Mickey's Xmas party. We had never traveled to the parks at this time of year, but last year's additions to the Universal holiday schedule convinced us to give it a try. Our expectations were high, after following IU member comments and viewing some of the event POV's. Those high expectations were met and actually surpassed many times over. The Holidays at Universal are certainly immersive, magical and include a good number of WOW moments. It all starts at the on site hotel resorts. We stayed at Portofino, and they surprisingly again upgraded us to the same fifth floor bay balcony (12' X 15' balcony, only a handful of those on site) that we had on our recent May vacation. The lobby tree and decorations were beautiful & tasteful, and the 40 plus foot Bay Piazza real evergreen tree was impressive. The Italian singers sang some Xmas songs along with their usual selections in a longer than normal format, and Portofino lighted that massive tree as their show began. a truly breathless moment. We also traveled to the other hotel resorts to view their Christmas displays. Sapphire was probably the best of that group with a beautiful lobby tree and trees on every single floor of the resort. I'd highly recommend this hotel holiday hopping trip if you have the time, and we augmented it with stops at the Bistro & Strongwater Tavern bars for a holiday drink and toast. The offerings at the parks were excellent and provided us with "THE BEST" Universal vacation we have ever experienced.
* Grinchmas was just pure 'Magical'. Seuss Landing, as Whoville, became our number one destination during this trip. Decorations were absolutely massive & beautiful. Pure holiday immersion. The 'Citizens' of Whoville, in a manner reminiscent of DHS when they had their full cast of Citizens of Hollywood in distant past years, put on entertaining skits and constantly interacted with the crowd. And the crowd was 'massive', even though these were still slow season overall park crowds. We visited Whoville often, early , mid and late day, and the crowds were always as huge as the Diagon or Hogsmeade crowds. And, as I've said before, be sure to ride the Seuss Trolley in the dark. It's many multiple time better with it's lighting package, plus the great views of the holiday decorations of Whoville. But the 'Crown Jewel' of this entire trip was the sound stage Grinchmas show. It was just Fantastic. Beautiful set, excellent singing and acting, amazing arrangement of music, and the show length is just right. This production is so entertaining we saw it four times, and could have easily seen it many more times without tiring of it. Every show reached seating capacity, even during this supposed slow season. Grinchmas was certainly a Wow moment.
*Potter Christmas Projection Show was multiple times better than I expected. The projections, music and effects are quite chilling, and easily a Wow moment. We saw this show three times. Crowds are huge though, and I'd imagine it's quite difficult to get a spot once the Christmas week crowds arrive.
*Hogsmeade decorations were elegant and tasteful. We didn't catch the Frog Choir Xmas Show. I just can't get into the Frog choir.
*Macy's Parade....I'll never be able to watch the Macy's Parade on TV again. Universal's production is so much better and more entertaining. Better floats and better pacing, with no boring sections. Length is just right. Snow and graffiti falling from the top of the NYC buildings helps make the moments very magical. And for those who asked, yes, the Robot was in the parade. Santa, at the end, with his lighting of the beautiful massive tree across from Macy's is certainly a Wow moment. We watched the Parade, from Macy's area, four times during our stay. Can't get enough of it.....and to add, lot's of Snow at every show
*NYC Christmas events; There's always Christmas on the streets of NYC. The Blues Brothers sketch is, as always, as good, if not better, with their holiday rendition. Marilyn Monroe show has a nice holiday touch. The Rockettes, though not listed on a schedule, make impromptu appearances in front of Macy's and perform their March of the Wooden Soldiers routine. The Stilt Walkers appear in Santa outfits, accompanied by elves, and perform a musical routine and photo op, in front of Macy's, periodically. And, throughout the day, Florida high school bands march through the streets, playing Christmas music. Plus Christmas music is piped through the NYC streets all day. Great immersion.
*Barney Christmas Show in Kidzone would be a good show for the little tykes. It's well done for a kiddie show, but unfortunately it was very sparsely attended when we went.
*Diagon decorations, like Hogsmeade, are elegant and tasteful. The Celestina Holiday Show was OK, but not as good as the regular show. The Xmas show tunes just didn't have a catchy sound.
*Mannheim Steamroller: We absolutely loved this concert. We watched it both nights it played during our vacation. The second time we had a really great spot about 10 yards from the stage, center. This is certainly a high point of the Universal holidays, and we especially liked the final section with the Grinchmas cast singing with the orchestra. A definite Wow moment....and lots of Snow
*USF in general, is decorated, very well, and Christmas music throughout most of the park really makes the atmosphere festive.
*Port of Entry, at IOA, certainly fits the middle eastern vibe of Christmas. We enjoyed sitting there and enjoying the ambiance as we listened to the beautiful holiday music that fit the POE so well.
Final thought: This was the Best of Universal vacations. We were completely fulfilled and immersed. Even the water taxis played Christmas tunes. We will definitely do this again in some future year. This trip has made our holiday season even better than before. And now we still have two weeks to enjoy the season before Christmas day. We had to change our drive route to skirt the oncoming severe weather driving home. And there was no trace of snow until we drove up to our hill top home. And greeting us here was a couple inches of beautiful white snow. Another Wow moment and a fitting end to our best vacation ever.