The holiday season brings oodles of Seuss-ified cheer to Universal Studios Hollywood! This season, the park's annual Grinchmas celebration offers plenty of yuletide fun. During this most wonderful time of the year, guests can groove to classic holiday tunes with an acapella twist as the Who-Bee-Doo-Whops perform, listen to soothing storytimes with Cindy Lou-Who and meet the man of the hour — the Grinch! While this green grouch has a special gripe with Christmas, he can be a ball if you bring him an onion or bust out some jazzercise moves! Let's hop into all three places you can find this faux Santa during the joyous who-liday season (and one more place to spot him).
The Grinchmas Who-liday Tree Lighting
Come one, come all and experience the magic of the holidays in Whoville! Join the grand Who-bilation and celebrate by indulging in delicious treats and festive entertainment — provided by the residents of Whoville themselves! The highlight of this holiday celebration is the Grinchmas Who-liday Tree Lighting. In this heartwarming show, you can catch the Grinch's anti-Christmas shenanigans as he steals light from the zany Grinchmas tree. After a few jolly songs, his heart grows three sizes and he restores the tree to its illuminated glory. You won't get to "meet" the mean one, but you do get to see him.
The presentation is approximately 15 minutes long, with limited showtimes during weekdays (due to shorter park operation hours). If you're looking to get a closer look at the Grinch without waiting in line, this is a great opportunity to do so! As the tree lighting begins, the Grinch struts his stuff from his greeting area and through the audience before joining the Whos on stage. For the best view of the tree lighting, we suggest picking out a spot on the benches at least half an hour to 45 minutes before the show.
Meet the Grinch at the Who-bilation in Universal Plaza
The merriest part of the entire park is Universal Plaza — the hub of all things Grinchmas during the holidays! In this area, guests can enjoy plenty of merry entertainment, as well as themed treats. If you’re lucky, you’ll also spot his beloved companion, Max, in his reindeer best! Max is across the way.
To the lefthand side of the Grinchmas Tree (when facing the tree), you’ll find the area where the Grinch greets and teases his adoring fans in a Santa Claus suit. He spends roughly 2-5 minutes taking photos with each group, depending on how quickly the man of the hour gets tired of socializing. As this is his post for the entire day (throughout the entire week), visiting the Universal Plaza greeting area is your best bet at some guaranteed time with the Grinch. Don't froget — the line to meet him at this spot is usually the longest! You’ll want to hop into place as early as possible. Usually, his line can easily be over an hour long, specifically on evenings and weekends. When we visited on a Monday morning, the wait was only about 20 minutes! On a Saturday it was 70 minutes.
You can meet his dog Max with a significantly shorter wait, being that Max doesn't chat with you. But he is the "goodest" boy ever, yes he is! We are sure he makes Santa's "Nice" list for sure.
After Storytime with Cindy Lou Who, you can meet Cindy Lou to the right of the Christmas tree. She might also walk around. She ran up and gave the Grinch a hug while we were there! Did you know on weekends and holiday weeks, she also does Storytime in Spanish for one of the shows?
Meet the Grinch in the Universal Studios Hollywood Lower Lot
Do long lines make you feel particularly grinchy? We have a solution that will, admittedly, make people without an annual pass feel green with envy. Universal Studios Hollywood pass members get a treat this holiday season. On select holiday and weekend dates early in the season, pass members can also meet Grinch in the Lower Lot. Pass members can meet the Grinch from 12 to 6:30 p.m.on these dates:
- Nov. 29 and 30, 2024
- Dec. 1, 7, 8, 14 and 15, 2024
When the Santa saboteur appears in this secondary spot, you can find him on the terrace just outside of Jurassic Cafe in the Lower Lot. The Grinch poses for photos with guests in front of a festive red chair and holiday backdrop.
Although it isn’t available every day of the holidays at Universal, the wait for this meet-and-greet spot is significantly shorter than the one located in the Upper Lot.
Meet the Grinch at the Studio Tour
Trying to maximize your time at the park? There is yet another strategy for those who want to see everything the holiday season has to offer. The Grinch is sometimes hanging around and plotting his next scheme at the exit of the Universal Studio Tour! Throughout the day, mainly on weekends, he will appear in the area where you exit the Studio Tour attraction. It is the shortest wait you'll likely find for the Grinch.
Remember that he may only sporadically pop up at this location, as opposed to Universal Plaza (where you can find him all day). You can ask employees around the Studio Tour area for further details on when to find him there.
Tips for Meeting the Grinch at Universal Studios Hollywood
Here are some handy tips to keep in mind when trying to snag some time with the Grinch:
- Hang out in the vicinity of the Who-bilation celebration. At Universal Plaza, you can always find Whos walking around and the Grinch may even step out of his photo-op to interact with them.
- Arrive early and get those meet-and-greets in! You can meet Max, Cindy Lou Who, the Grinch and other Whos during Grinchmas. One Who (in purple) uses sign languages, and all the Whos can teach you Grinchmas greetings in ASL! The waits are shortest in the morning — especially during the week.
- Cindy Lou has a meeting spot after each story time.
- If you purchase the VIP Tour experience, your tour guide can usually provide you with the Grinch’s specific appearance times at different photo-op locations in the park.
Ready to meet the Grinch at Universal Studios Hollywood this year? Do you have any favorite who-holiday traditions during Grinchmas? Let us know in the comments below!
Related: Our ~Grinchy~ Guide to Christmas at Universal Studios Hollywood
Hoppy planning!
