Christmas Day at Universal Studios Hollywood

Are you thinking of visiting Universal Studios Hollywood on Christmas Day? Well, there’s a couple of things you should know.

First, Universal Studios Hollywood is open on Christmas Day. The opening hours are typically from 9am until 10pm, but this is subject to change.

Second, Christmas Day is one of Universal Studios Hollywood’s busiest days. The theme park doesn’t release daily attendance records, but it reached capacity (21,000 guests) on Christmas Day in 2016 and 2017.

If you don’t want to spend your entire Christmas Day waiting in line, then you’ll want to:

1. Look at visiting at another date
2. Invest in an Express Pass so you can skip the lines
3. Plan your day in detail

If it’s your first visit to Universal Studios Hollywood, I wouldn’t recommend visiting on Christmas Day.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean visiting on Christmas Eve either. In fact, the week of Christmas and the week between Christmas and New Year is one of the busiest at Universal Studios Hollywood.

These higher crowds are due to:

• Locals, typically annual passholders, have extra time off work.
• Tourists visit the park in conjunction with visiting family over the holidays.

So, if the end of December isn’t a great time to visit Universal Studios Hollywood, when is?

If you want to see Universal decorated for Christmas, visiting after November 10th but before Thanksgiving is best.

Universal Studios Hollywood typically decorates for Christmas straight after Halloween. However, taking down Halloween Horror Nights sets and putting up Christmas decorations takes a few days—hence the 10th.

Alternatively, the lowest crowds of the year at Universal Studios Hollywood are in January and February.

If you can’t postpone the January or February trip, I suggest buying an Express Pass.

However, tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood are sold using a dynamic pricing model. This means both park tickets and Express Pass tickets are the most expensive on Christmas Day. That being said, given the high standby wait times, the time you should save with an Express Pass will be significant.

If you’ve been to Universal Studios Hollywood before or are a first-timer with a fixed schedule and no Express Pass, you’ll need to plan your day.

If you’ve been to the theme park before, that’s a lot easier to do. You’ll have a rough idea of what to expect and where things are. However, it will be more challenging if this is your first time.

Some ways you can save time and further streamline your Christmas trip to Universal Studios Hollywood include:

• Staying in a hotel within walking distance of Universal Studios Hollywood
• Planning how you’re going to get to the theme park in advance
• Upgrading your Universal Studios Hollywood parking
• Arriving at the theme park before it opens
• Eating breakfast before you arrive at the theme park
• Buying your theme park tickets in advance
• Making dining reservations for CityWalk in advance

Implementing just a few of these plans before your trip should significantly improve your day.