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USH Holidays 2019

Grinchmas budget cuts are unbelievable this year. That is all.

At this point, might they be considering of phasing out the Grinchmas portion of the event more and more at this point? Considering all they've been doing is cutting throughout the past few years, at some point, I'd think they'd just stop doing Grinchmas altogether
 
At this point, might they be considering of phasing out the Grinchmas portion of the event more and more at this point? Considering all they've been doing is cutting throughout the past few years, at some point, I'd think they'd just stop doing Grinchmas altogether

Funny you mention that....
 
Do we know why? Why are Knotts, Disney and hell even Six Flags offering much more Christmas offering? Is Universal really doing that bad money wise? They always seems busy and lines at most restaurants when I go...so confused how any budgets are getting slashed
 
Of all the local theme parks, Universal has the worst Christmas offerings IMO. If it weren't for the Holiday Castle show (and the fact it's the park we live closest to), we'd hardly go at all. I agree that even Six Flags has more to offer in terms of Holiday activities. While I enjoy the Grinch himself, I've never really been a fan of Grinchmas as a whole. The Whoville residents look kinda creepy up close.

Also, I may be wrong, but isn't Universal the only major local park that doesn't offer any specialty food offerings for the holiday? I know SFMM and Knotts have special food offerings, and I believe Disney does as well.

EDIT: They do have the holiday meal at Three Broomsticks, and they promote the Hot Butterbeer. But the latter is really year round, and the former is only a family meal for four if I recall. Grinchmas last year had some cupcakes/donuts, but that's all I can think of. Pretty darn minimal, unless there's other specialty food items I'm missing.
 
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We have a new tree lighting ceremony this year. Instead of the truncated version of the only 15 minute show we've been getting since 2013. It's actually an all new script and a bit longer than last year's at around 6 mins but uses a smaller cast.

 
I saw it last night. An improvement, but still feels about one minute too long to me. And I do think the crowd flow is a lot better without those benches. Though still a bit odd they've closed off about half the entrances to the area, so it's still a bit of a pain to get in and out of.
 
Food for thought: What if HHN went overbudget to the point of them having to cut things from the holidays?
But They have been packed for 6 months...as if they don't have the budget for some actors or something else to throw together.

I went two weeks ago no events and it was packed, they are making more than enough to keep the old shows going.
 
But They have been packed for 6 months...as if they don't have the budget for some actors or something else to throw together.

I went two weeks ago no events and it was packed, they are making more than enough to keep the old shows going.

I say that, with the fact that Death Eaters got cut from this years HHN (along with that they tested the Dark Arts show in Hollywood, with Pyro as opposed to drones).

With the hell that they are dealing with on the Indominus, it's not impossible to see that they are being forced to cut corners in particular areas. And unfortunately, the Holiday event this year seems like a big subject.
 
While the cuts are disappointing, I do think most are forgetting that that huge construction on the lower lot isn't free. Just looking at the scale & size of what's there so far, this has to be a pretty hefty investment. A good chunk of money must've gone to that. Not to mention SLOP. Just because they aren't open yet doesn't mean they aren't costing a lot of money to build. W

hen you consider that, and the rumors that HHN went over budget, and the costs of Jurassic World, and a new Grinchmas tree, I'm not surprised cuts were made elsewhere. There's a lot of investment going on, and just because they have a lot of money doesn't make it limitless.
 
Wow they really cut a lot of stuff out, but why did they cut out the background of Mt Krumpit (AKA the grinchs layer) from behind the tree? It was a small detail but it added atmosphere.
 
While the cuts are disappointing, I do think most are forgetting that that huge construction on the lower lot isn't free. Just looking at the scale & size of what's there so far, this has to be a pretty hefty investment. A good chunk of money must've gone to that. Not to mention SLOP. Just because they aren't open yet doesn't mean they aren't costing a lot of money to build. W

hen you consider that, and the rumors that HHN went over budget, and the costs of Jurassic World, and a new Grinchmas tree, I'm not surprised cuts were made elsewhere. There's a lot of investment going on, and just because they have a lot of money doesn't make it limitless.
Did they cut back when Potter was being Built?

Also sometimes you need to spend money to get more money, Nintendo land is going to bringing HUGE crowds and sell a poop ton of items. Nintendo toys (see Amiibo for even more reference) sell like hot cakes.

Lastly Don't use the money for entertainment on upgrading a Tree....9/10 people rather have shows over a tree being a little bit different.

To me its all just excuses....the parks are doing great, the new attractions are going to bring in even more people. Its just rich heads that was some extra cash in their pockets over people paying for tickets getting basic and i mean basic entertainment when six flags has more to offer you know you are being cheap
 
It could also be possible that Grinchmas and the Holidays don't bring in as much revenue as other events like HHN, Chinese New Year or Run Universal? This might just be a rebalancing of spending? (Trying to see positives here!)
 
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