What is a more iconic activity during the holidays than having your photo taken with Santa? Well, how about meeting the Grinch? Universal Orlando has several ways to see and meet these dual icons of Christmas.

Santa Claus

Whether you call him Kris, Nick, or Santa, he’s the big guy in the red suit that everyone wants to see.

The best way to see Santa during the holidays at Universal Orlando is during the daily Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s. Featuring dozens of characters from Shrek, Minions, Madagascar, and the iconic Macy’s Parade Balloons, the parade cumulates with a giant sleigh with Santa on top. Santa can be seen all throughout the parade route but lots of guests prefer to be stationed near Race Through New York starring Jimmy Fallon and Revenge of the Mummy to see Santa light the Christmas Tree. The parade performs daily in Universal Studios Florida at 5:30 pm.

Want to meet Santa though? Who doesn’t. Officially there are two ways to meet Santa at Universal Orlando:

⭐️ The Universal Holiday Tour includes a private meet and greet with Santa during the tour along with a reserved space for viewing the parade. Tour pricing ranges from $95.84 t0 $159.74 per person with tax.

⭐️ Universal’s hotels frequently offer Santa meet and greet opportunities, for free and paid. For example, in the past Cabana Bay has featured a Santa in their tree lighting ceremonies and a Santa breakfast. Most of these opportunities are not publicly advertised outside of the hotel, so check Universal’s holiday calendar or check with your hotel front desk for more information.

The Grinch

Ok, he’s the other guy in the red suit. The Grinch is a social media star with outlandish, sassy interactions. The Grinch can be found exclusively in Islands of Adventure in Seuss Landing with three ways to see him:

⭐️ The Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular is a half hour stage production retelling How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The show, and The Grinch, are inspired by the original 1966 Chuck Jones short and the 2000 Jim Carrey movie – so you’ll hear your favorite songs from the original short mixed with the antics of the live action movie’s character. Shows run throughout the day and times can be found on the Universal Orlando app or the Universal Holidays site.

⭐️ The Grinch & Friends Character Breakfast is a meal featuring the Grinch and various Whos who interact with guests. Guests can choose between one entree for their meal plus an assortment of other snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. Tickets must be pre-purchase for this experience as it sells out (all 2025 dates are sold out at the time of writing). Prices start at $62.82 for adults and $35.13 for children, tax included.

⭐️ If the character breakfast is sold out and you don’t want to purchase the Holiday Tour there is one last way to meet the Grinch: wait it out. A Meet the Grinch meet and greet is available daily during the holiday season inside Seuss Landing located inside Honk Honkers. The queue forms next to Moose Juice Goose Juice and frequently reaches over four hours long. Either queue early or make a day out of it. The Grinch meets starting at park opening but the queue will close early for an on-time close with the park.

TouringPlans Touring Tips

⭐️ Meet the Grinch immediately at park opening, preferably queueing at the start of Early Park Admission. The meet and greet opens with the park, so a hour wait during EPA is better than four hours during regular park hours.

⭐️ Line up for the Holiday Parade at least half an hour before the parade begins, or 45 minutes if you want to see Santa light the tree in New York. If you don’t mind missing the tree lighting then grab a spot near Mel’s Drive-In, you can see the parade entering and exiting the park at this spot.

⭐️ Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular is performed every hour starting after 10 am. We suggest seeing the first performance and lining up at least half an hour before show time. If you catch an afternoon performance consider arriving at least an hour beforehand as the show fills to capacity.