Universal Studios Hollywood's 2026 Holidays Bring Merry Minions to Grinchmas and Hogsmeade
The season runs November 21 to January 3, it's included with admission, and Minion Land gets its own holiday celebration for the first time. Here's everything coming, and how Grinchmas got here.
Halloween Horror Nights is still going at Universal Studios Hollywood, but the park has already laid out its plans for Christmas. The 2026 holiday season runs every day from Saturday, November 21, through Sunday, January 3, 2027, and all of it is included with regular park admission, so you won't need a separate ticket for any of it.
That's a few days earlier than last year, when the holidays started on November 24 and ran through January 4. Horror Nights runs on select nights through November 1, so the park gets roughly three weeks to swap out the scare zones for snowmen before the Grinch moves back in.
Most of the lineup is made up of returning favorites. Grinchmas takes over Universal Plaza again, Hogsmeade gets its Christmas makeover, Super Nintendo World puts up its decorations and CityWalk lights its big tree. The new addition this year is Illumination's Merry Minions, the first holiday celebration Minion Land has ever had.
Grinchmas in Universal Plaza
The centerpiece is a 65 foot Christmas tree covered in hundreds of colorful ornaments and thousands of LED lights. Several times every evening the tree lights up in a ceremony that ends with a flurry of falling snow, which is about as close to a white Christmas as Los Angeles is going to get.
You can meet the Grinch, his loyal dog Max and a few residents of Who-ville around the plaza. Cindy-Lou Who reads How the Grinch Stole Christmas to guests, and The Fah-Who 4 A's, a singing quartet of Whos, perform holiday songs throughout the day.
Over at the Who-ville post office, you can mail the Grinch a postcard listing three good deeds you've done this year, then sit down and decorate your own paper Grinch ornament. There are seasonal sweet treats to try and a batch of park exclusive Grinchmas merchandise to browse as well.
How Grinchmas got here
Grinchmas has a longer history at Universal Studios Hollywood than a lot of fans realize. It first showed up for the 1999 holiday season, running from November 17, 1999, to January 1, 2000, to promote Universal's live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carrey.
That first version went big. There was real snow, a Whovian procession through the park several times a day, the Grinch's Cave Maze and the Mt. Crumpit Snow Plummet, a 41 foot icy sledding hill. Studio Tour trams drove past the actual Who-ville sets built for the movie on the backlot, and the snacks included Mt. Crumpit Crispy Treats, Grinch cookies and green eggs and ham at breakfast.
The event came back in December 2008 with a 40 foot Who-ville tree, a winter playground with real snow and cookie decorating. In 2009 it moved into the old Wild West stunt show arena, the space that is now Universal Plaza, and that's where it has lived ever since. The tree has grown along the way, from 40 feet then to 65 feet now.
Merry Minions makes its debut
Minion Land is getting holiday lights and decorations for the first time. The Minions will be out in their holiday outfits for meet and greets and photos, and a new Merry Minions merchandise collection will be on the shelves.
Minion Cafe is adding a menu of seasonal food and drinks for the occasion. Universal hasn't shared the individual items yet, so that's one to check once the season starts. The Minions have been part of the park since Despicable Me Minion Mayhem opened in 2014, so it's a little surprising they're only now getting a Christmas of their own.
Christmas in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Hogsmeade goes back to garlands, wreaths and twinkling lights over its snow capped rooftops. The Frog Choir sings holiday songs several times a day, and the village shops stock special merchandise and keepsakes you won't find the rest of the year.
This is also the one time of year you can get Butterbeer hot. It sits on the menu next to the usual cold and frozen versions, and on a chilly Hollywood night it's the one to order.
After dark, The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle covers the castle in holiday lights and projections, all set to a medley of music from the Harry Potter films. The show debuted at Universal Studios Hollywood on November 24, 2017, the first year the land celebrated Christmas after opening in April 2016, and it was produced by the Montreal studio Moment Factory.
Super Nintendo World
Super Nintendo World opened at the park on February 17, 2023, and its holiday look leans into the games instead of traditional Christmas decor. The entrance to the Mushroom Kingdom gets two snowmen, one in Mario's red hat and scarf and one in Luigi's green cap and scarf, standing next to a holiday tree topped with a Super Star.
Holiday merchandise turns up all over the park, including at the 1-UP Factory inside the land. Last year, Power-Up Band owners could also collect a Winter Wonder stamp from December 1 through February 28 and a Holiday Party stamp during December. Universal hasn't said whether those stamps return for 2026.
Universal CityWalk Hollywood
CityWalk has its own 40 foot Christmas tree with more than 200,000 LED lights. The Universal Studios Store is getting an all new holiday collection of apparel, accessories, collectibles, home decor and ornaments, and on select evenings the 5 Towers stage hosts live music, DJ sets and street entertainment.
CityWalk doesn't charge admission, so the tree and the stage shows are there even if you aren't going into the park that day.
Tips for planning your visit
Stay until dark. The Grinchmas tree lighting happens several times each evening and the Hogwarts Castle show only runs at night, so a day that ends at sunset misses the two biggest moments of the season.
Holiday weeks tend to draw big crowds at Universal Studios Hollywood, especially around Christmas and New Year's, so check our crowd calendar before you lock in a date. If your trip is flexible, the first weeks of the season, before school breaks start, are worth a look.
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