The SATURDAY SIX Celebrates CHRISTMAS at the Universal Orlando Resort

This week’s SATURDAY SIX is once again looking at how Universal is celebrating Christmas. Last week we saw what was going on over at Epic Universe, including the next level bonkers (in the best way possible) details at Pizza Moon and Snoggletog in the Isle of Berk. Today we are going to head over to check out everything else that is part of the Universal Orlando Resort, starting with…

# 6 – The Hotels

While parks like Volcano Bay and Epic Universe get the lion’s share of attention, maybe the biggest change over the last decade at Universal has been the amount of hotels they have added to the resort. First came my beloved Cabana Bay Beach Resort, but not long after we also got Sapphire Falls, Aventura Hotel, and Endless Summer’s Dockside & Surfside along with Terra Luna, Stella Nova, and Helios Grand Hotel all opening this year alone. Each of these hotels has been decorated for the Christmas season to help guests get into the spirit.

The main Christmas tree at Helios Grand Hotel is stunning.

Be on the lookout for fun gingerbread villages at several of the resorts, including Sapphire Falls.

Have to love that the bars at each hotel also have special drinks for the season.

In a true “pinch me, I’m dreaming” moment, Cabana Bay has released another refillable mug design for this Christmas season. This is the fourth refillable mug design dedicated solely to Christmas that Cabana Bay has had over the last decade. I’m relatively certain not a single other hotel at Universal or Disney has had 4 different designs TOTAL over the same period, let alone just one holiday. Just absolutely amazing.

# 5 – Citywalk

Next let’s head over to Citywalk, the shopping and dining district for UOR, where the main shopping area has once again been rechristened to Mistletoe Pines Village.

You just may run into Earl the Squirrel during your visit. Can you imagine a Figment (or similar popular character) meet-and-greet at Disney Springs? “Inconceivable!” – Vizzini, The Princess Bride

The Red Coconut dance club has had it’s annual retheme into The Green & Red Coconut Club. The overall theme for this year is the Mistletoe Pines ski lodge.

Inside you’ll find a whole bunch of photo-ops, including this neat snow globe one.

Along with Christmas theming on both floors of the venue.

There is live entertainment at The Green and Red Coconut Club along with exclusive drinks at the bars.

Over at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium – which is always my number one place to take visiting friends and family because they have NOTHING like Toothsome back home – another over-the-top seasonal milkshake has entered the chat.

The Red & White Nice Shake features a mocha and peppermint shake with candy cane sprinkles, peppermint bark snowflakes, and topped with a candy cane.

If you like the flavor peppermint, this shake is for you (I’m still more of a Marshmallow Crisp guy myself.)

Meanwhile, over at Voodoo Doughnut the seasonal donuts are themed towards The Nutcracker.

For me this is a “swing and a miss,” especially when compared to the offerings the Voodoo Doughnut location at Universal Studios Hollywood has this year.

# 4 – The GARLAND

In our article looking at the Christmas decorations at Epic Universe, we noted that many of the places had some truly wonderful references “hidden” in their garland. Mistletoe Pines Village in Citywalk may take the overall crown though, because there are some true gems in their garland. First let’s check out the Cinnabon kiosk, which features several of the iconic Cinnabon classic rolls.

I’d love to  have one of these decorating my own tree back at home.

The kiosks with merchandise have garland elements that Universal fans need to go out of their way to check out.

These include references to many classic Universal attractions.

While I do like this Universal Globe ball…

…this Islands of Adventure scroll is even better. It is referencing a design you would often see in Port of Entry during the opening years of the park. Just brilliant.

# 3 – Blues Brothers Christmas

Speaking of garland, let’s check out some that are located in the New York section of Universal Studios Florida.

The classic “Bluesmobile” is front in center.

The Blues Brothers Holiday Show is possibly the most underrated attraction in all of Universal, especially if you like Christmas music like I do. Before the shows start we get to see Jake and Elwood driving a decked out Bluesmobile.

The Blues Brothers show in general is one of my favorites in any park, but the Holiday Show takes it up a notch because all the songs they perform are Christmas songs.

I’ve seen countless Blues Brothers shows over the years at Universal and the live musicians and singers are always just fantastic.

An annual highlight for me is seeing the creation of the Blues Brothers Christmas tree, complete with a pack of smokes and a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon as the star. On the Mt. Rushmore of Christmas trees we have Charlie Brown’s tree, the Rockefeller Center tree in NYC, Clark Griswold’s tree in Christmas Vacation, and the Blues Brothers tree.

Not only do guests get to be a part of the show, after each performance there is also the chance to meet and get pictures with the Blues Brothers. From bell-to-bell this is a show that would make even the Grinch’s heart grow three sizes.

# 2 – Tribute Store

For Halloween Horror Nights, the seasonal Tribute Store was shoehorned into a space reserved for arcade games, leading to an overall experience that – while good – certainly wasn’t up to the high bar that the Tribute Store creative teams have set over the years. For the Christmas season, the Tribute Store is back in the Hollywood section of the park and we are happy to report it is once again awesome.

There are so many INCREDIBLE references for Universal fans that the Tribute Store itself could get it’s own dedicated article. Let’s check out some of my personal favorites, including the return of Mr. Tape from the Summer 2024 Tribute Store.

Any time  you see a reference to “Universal Escape” (Universal’s ill-fated  and ultimately disastrous attempt to rebrand the resort back at the turn of the Century) you know its an Easter Egg from the true sickos.

In this year’s award winning Theme Park Turkey of the Year Awards, we pointed out that Universal got its hands caught in the AI Slop cookie jar when creating The Green & Red Coconut Club. Thankfully the Tribute Store remains 100% AI Slop free and there’s no way a crappy algorithm stealing other people’s designs is going to ever create something as great as this: A Christmas Carol parody below featuring Earl the Squirrel in every role.

Speaking of Earl, there’s also a whole bunch of incredible photos of him mixed with classic Universal moments, such as this one with the shark from Jaws with a nutcracker in its mouth. Truly sublime.

Here we have another deep cut, with Earl in front of the façade for Universal’s Horror Unleashed, the year round haunt that opened up in Las Vegas earlier this year.

Throughout the multiple rooms of the store you’ll find gag after gag that reward guests who take a closer look.

You may have noticed that nutcrackers play a pretty big part in this season’s Tribute Store. Well, there’s even an entire room dedicated to them!

However, it gets even better because if you look at this collection of nutcrackers you’ll see an incredible surprise.

That’s right, we have a nutcracker featuring Ygor, everyone’s favorite assistant over at Dark Universe.

This Ygor nutcracker design is referencing the wooden character dolls that you see in the queue for Monsters Unchained. These dolls, including Ygor, have been faithfully recreated by the hugely talented artist, Satisfactual Sign Company.

The Tribute Store is also where you’re going to pick up your prize if you complete the Backlot Club’s special quest. If you want to know more about the Backlot Club, be sure to follow @bioreconstruct on social media because he’ll let you know everything you need to know about this neat “bonus” for Universal fans. Basically it’s a combination of the Universal Orlando Resort app along with three in-park kiosks at Universal Studios Florida.

When you finish your goal, the reward can be obtained at the Tribute Store and it is a pack of three random cards. The cards feature characters from a fictional Earl the Squirrel cartoon universe. There have been 8 total cards released, but Rumors and Innuendo suggest a 9th card will be added to the series that just may combine two of our favorite characters in this set.

This is going so far above and beyond in terms of fan service that its almost incomprehensible. I was also truly blessed by Bio himself by sending cards down to me and Bacini.

# 1 – Universal Holiday Parade

I’ve always said that parades are the ultimate win-win at the theme parks. If you love parades, they are super fun to watch. If you hate parades, they take people away from the attractions you do like. The Universal Holiday Parade is in my tippy top of all time theme park parades because it combines everything: a ton of walk around characters on the streets, highly themed floats, and – best of all – gigantic balloons in the air!

There is pretty much zero changes in Universal’s Holiday Parade from year to year, but thankfully this one of those rare cases in the parks where that’s a good thing. Don’t fix what ain’t broke.

How can you not love stuff like this?!

Don’t get me wrong, Disney’s recent Starlight nighttime parade is fun, but the amount of walkaround characters on the ground is minimal. Universal’s Holiday Parade is LOADED with entertainment groups, many of the characters directly interacting with guests on the parade route. These are the type of memories you bring back home and last for years to come.

The end of every Holiday Parade includes the big man himself lighting the Universal Studios Florida Christmas tree.

A closer look at the tree reveals Earl the Squirrel himself, about to  make mischief with a string of lights.

The parade also gives photographers a chance to get some fantastic shots that you can’t get any other time of the year. Forget win-win, this has now entered classic Michael Scott win-win-win territory.

Honorable Mention – The Christmas Sweaters

If you’re like me,  you’ve already written a letter to Santa asking for some of the great Christmas sweaters that Universal has put out this season. I mean, c’mon, how terrific is this Jaws one?!!

The Universal Classic Monsters having a Christmas party?!!! I’ll take all three of these.

So there you have it: The SAT SIX Celebrates CHRISTMAS at the Universal Orlando Resort! See you next weekend for the latest installment of the SATURDAY SIX, where we’ll look at something fun from the world of Disney and Universal. If you enjoyed yourself, be sure to check out the THEME PARK ENJOYMENT INDEX, giving a monthly recap of all the theme park news you need to know (and a lot more you don’t need to know, but we’re gonna tell you anyway). You can also follow Your Humble Author on BlueSky (@derekburgan).