 Today we're back in Florida as we take a look at the Holidays at Universal Orlando Resort. Both parks are decked out for the Holidays and look amazing. Let's take a look!! Written by Renée Girard Stopping by Universal Orlando this afternoon for some holiday entertainment.  The old Terminator building is all decked out for Christmas.  It’s snowing in Diagon Alley!  Christmas decorations are up in the London area outside of Diagon Alley.    The holiday additions to Diagon Alley are pretty subtle but nice.     Fast & Furious Supercharged construction progress.    It’s time for the all new Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s.   The minions and the rest of the gang from Despicable Me kick off the Universal Holiday Parade. 
Characters from Madagascar and Shrek featured in balloons and floats for the parade.     Santa Claus comes to town for the grand finale of the Universal Holiday Parade, and the tree lights up for the evening.     I loved Puss in Boots’ Santa costume!  We didn’t make it in time for a Grinchmas show, but still took in the sights of Seuss Landing.    Oh, and the lines today? Super short to non existent. It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  Took in another viewing of the holiday show on Hogwarts Castle, and it’s such a wonderful addition.   
    It’s been great to see new things for the holidays this year at Universal Orlando!  Related Updates:
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 Happy Tuesday everybody and welcome to some fun early week speculation. Just like we did with NintendoLand last year (or was it earlier this year) we're going to have some fun with some park stuff that may or may not happen (let's face it, it's probably not going to happen). But that's not going to stop us. Written by Gregg Condon A couple of things have inspired this, so we're not TOTALLY coming out of left field. First, reports that a TV series based on The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings is in development. Which means only one thing, the suit between Warner Brothers and that of the estate of Tolkien that was resolved in July has led to a softening of the relationship and they are ready to work together again. This had to do with characters in The Hobbit Movies used in online slot machines and other games which led to the Tolkien estate not trusting Warner Brothers anymore. And who could blame them.  So let's look at that aspect of it first. I think anybody who's a fan of Tokien's work could tell you the Hobbit Movies were a HUGE disappointment. For me, The Hobbit is my favorite all-time book. It's the first book I remember reading growing up and I've read it every couple of years since. I was very excited about these movies, and even re-watched them over the weekend once this news broke, just to refresh myself with them. Now I will say, on this recent re-watch I actually enjoyed them more than I had before. Sure, the movies aren't close to the book AT ALL, but a few scenes such as "Riddles In The Dark" are perfectly done. But at the end of the day, there was way too much added, too much from the book not in the movies, WAY too much CGI and WAAAAAAY too much color correction done for these movies to be part of my yearly rotation. In fact, this was a problem we all could have seen coming with the release of Return of the King which suffered from the same over-use of CGI and color correction. But I digress ...  So all that being said, I'm actually interested to see where a Hobbit and/or Lord of the Rings series could go. A lot more time for character development for sure. Because we all know why all those battle scenes were added to The Hobbit, because there aren't many in the book, it is a children's book after all. Still, I'd love to see a straight book adaptation of both stories. And then have the side stories created with the input from the Tokien estate. That would be the perfect scenario for me, as a fan of the books. So why is a theme park site writing about this, and why is it in the Universal Studios section of the site?  Well in Orlando, it's been rumored for a LONG time that Universal Studios is planning on building a third park in the future. They've been buying land like crazy as we've written about quite a few times. And last week, they added another 100 acres of land in the proposed area of the third park where they already had purchased 450 acres in 2015. And today they announced 2 new hotels being built on the former site of Wet and Wild. So the expansion is coming, they are getting ready for it before they announce a 3rd park. (imagine that Disneyland Resort)  So what if the softening of the WB/Tolkien relationship happening the same week that Universal purchases even more land isn't a coincidence at all? Universal has worked with WB to bring theme park worlds to life, to the benefit of all. A theme park based on Tolkien's work has been rumored and thought of since long before Peter Jackson's movies made their debut in 2001. So maybe now is the time? The property is so rich in character, so steeped in literary history it'd be hard to pass up the chance to turn this into a themed environment.  The possibilities are endless. In the Tolkien works you have the possibility for both thrill and family attractions. Dining with the Dwarves. Drinking with the Hobbitses. Singing with the Elves. Do we think there will be a complete park based on Lord of the Rings? No. But a fantasy park with a Tolkien based land as one of the main anchors, it's definitely something that could happen. And that trip to visit Middle Earth may be as close as Orlando in the very near future. What do you think? Is it finally time for the world of Middle Earth to come to the world of Central Florida? Would you be excited to have Middle Earth as an anchor of a 3rd Universal park? Related Updates:  We're getting down to it everybody, the big Christmas celebration is in less than a week. We hope you're getting those last minute preparations ready, it's probably the last day to order stuff on Amazon to get stuff delivered in time and the stores are gonna be packed with procrastinators. OR ... you can just sit back with a nice cup of cocoa or peppermint mocha and enjoy this great update from the Holidays at Unviersal Orlando Resort. Written by Renée Girard Spending the afternoon at Universal Orlando to see what's going on for the holidays!  Picking up the new Starbucks mug from Universal Orlando too!  The weather is perfect and wait times are short at Islands of Adventure.
Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure always looks fun and festive this time of year.    We stopped by to meet the Grinch before going to his show.  Going to see the Grinchmas show at Islands of Adventure. Feels like HHN, as we go into one of the sound stages. 
 The performers in Grinchmas do a terrific job recreating the characters. And Max is adorable!     Harry Potter & the Forbidden Journey is closed for most of December at Islands of Adventure, but guests can still walk through the queue.  Now on to Universal Studios for the Macy's Holiday Parade!   Mannheim Steamroller will be in concert Universal Orlando weekends in December.   Construction on Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon.     Construction over at the Fast & Furious Ride, with the Scooby Doo ballon.   Universal Orlando has recently been testing Return Time Tickets, which you can book on the app or at a kiosk, currently only for Shrek 4D.  Ending our day at Universal Orlando with the Macy's Holiday Parade!  I love all of the unique floats, characters and balloons that are part of the parade.  
All of your favorite Universal characters make appearances in the holiday parade too!     The Macy's Holiday Parade balloons are huge in person!
  Once Santa gets to the Christmas tree along the parade, the lights come on. Looks great!
 The holiday experiences at Universal Orlando are always a lot of fun to see. We had a great day!  Related Updates: |
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