Hanging with Earl the Squirrel and The Grinch. A Christmas TR 12/1-12/9. Updated 12/26*

[Wood Nymph]

It was in the 50s this morning and the high was going to be low 60s. Here I am getting ready to head out. I had my Happy Christmas shirt on with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine!

It was a cold week with a beautiful blue sky.

I love the HP themed shirt. I'm a big fan of the books.

Universal had low crowds during my stay.

The crowd must have been at WDW. It must have been nice to be in the stores without a crowd around you.

It was time to see Kreacher, he was being his usual cranky little self! I love when people don’t realize he is there! They are always thrilled to see him peeking out behind the curtains.

This is the first time that I have seen a picture of Kreacher. That is a nice touch.

 

[pkondz]

I slept really well and it was nice and quiet. I didn’t even use my earplugs yay!

Bonus!

My whole trip was cooler than I wanted but still way warmer than my house.

Above the freezing mark is definitely warmer than below it.

I had ordered a few grocery items while I was on the airplane. The items were delivered to the resort way before I arrived and Bell Service kept my items until I arrived. I just got a case of water, granola bars, strawberries, bananas, cold brew coffee, and creamer.

I think I've asked before... where do you order the groceries from?

I loved my view and realized I could see the boat transportation coming and going. I liked that!

I'd like that too.

Nice shot of you.

I never waited more than 5 minutes for a boat this whole trip.

Uni has Disney beat with transportation, I think. I've never waited very long for a boat.

Universal had low crowds during my stay. This was awesome!

I guess most people don’t rope drop a store, haha

I got a cabin all to myself on the train. I loved my ride over to Hogsmeade .

It's such a great (and clever) way to travel between parks.

I turned around and went right back on the train.

Been there, seen that.

I mean look at this dragon, amazing!

Good capture of it!

I love when people don’t realize he is there! They are always thrilled to see him peeking out behind the curtains.

went to the snack stand to try the Gingerbread “Gingy” cookie. It was not good! It had a weird taste and was stale.

Well, that's unfortunate.

I decided to buy a refillable Christmas mug.

How much is that?
I presume it's good for the length of your stay?

I went in to find a table, at USO, you find a table and mobile order from the table.

Is this new? I don't recall doing that.

I really wanted a hot butter beer, in the not to distant past, you could order a butter beer as your drink with a kids meal,

That would've been nice. I've never had the hot one, just cold or frozen.

I decided to get ice cream at the shop in DA. Usually this place has a huge line, today no one.

Score.

I walked right in and ordered the butter beer ice cream. This was delicious and the first time I tried it!

Ohhhh... this sounds amazing!

Here is the awful cookie with his head bit off.

You killed him!!!!

I guess he had it coming for being stale and all.

 

[disneyAndi14]

was a cold week with a beautiful blue sky.

It really was, coldest I have seen this time of year since I have been coming at this time! Of course our last day was 80 degrees

I love the HP themed shirt. I'm a big fan of the books

Thank you! I am as well, loved the books so much! The movies are good but the books are excellent

The crowd must have been at WDW. It must have been nice to be in the stores without a crowd around you.

They sure were! It was really nice at Universal with the low crowds! Disney use to be low crowds this week! Cheer competitions are every time I go now ugh!

This is the first time that I have seen a picture of Kreacher. That is a nice touch.

Thanks, I think about every 10 minutes he peeks out of the window.

Above the freezing mark is definitely warmer than below it.

Yes very true, it was -2 degrees when I woke up yesterday, yuck It is supposed to be in the high 30s next week for us, I will take it! That is Fahrenheit of course!

I think I've asked before... where do you order the groceries from?

I order from Instacart, they have Publix, Target etc.. to shop from. They usually give you a deal for free delivery as a promotion.

Uni has Disney beat with transportation, I think. I've never waited very long for a boat.

true! Stress free travel to the parks for sure!

It's such a great (and clever) way to travel between parks.

It really is. Smart on USO part because you have to have park to park tickets! The Hogwarts Express is a great attraction!

Good capture of it!

With that beautiful blue sky the dragon looks amazing!

Well, that's unfortunate.

Stale expensive cookies suck!

How much is that?
I presume it's good for the length of your stay?

It was $18.00 with my AP discount. I can take it back and reactive it on my next trip for a fee. You do have to pay a small fee each day in the parks. If you buy more like for the whole family the price keeps going down and even buy 2 get one free type of thing.

Is this new? I don't recall doing that.

It is newer in the last year or so.

That would've been nice. I've never had the hot one, just cold or frozen.

The hot butter beer is my favorite

Ohhhh... this sounds amazing!

The ice cream is better than the butter beer drinks, there I said it and won’t take it back!

You killed him!!!!

He deserved it! No sweet gingerbread from him! Haha

 

[disneyAndi14]

After my delicious ice cream and throwing away the beheaded Gingy, I walked over to the Tribute store.

The outside revealed it was a pop up book experience.

The entrance showed several books on a table before entering the first room. This let you know which stories would be in the store.

The first room was a Harry Potter pop up book experience. All the books had either a touch or smell experience. I just looked at everything. I didn’t want to touch or smell but it was a cool experience.

A huge Hogsmeade advent calendar. I loved it. It would be cool to see it further along and what each day held.



The next room was The Grinch story. I love the Grinch Christmas story and how it has lasted the test of time!


It is a must watch in many homes, mine included.

Earl the Squirrel, the famous USO, mascot had his own story room next. There was an Earl book you could buy!


I didn’t buy it but enjoyed looking at all the merchandise related to the sneaky little squirrel.

Here are more pictures in the next post…..

 

[disneyAndi14]

There is always a treat case in the last room with unique bakery items. I just looked and didn’t buy anything sweet at this time.


Taking my time in the Tribute store was wonderful, I was often the only one in each of the rooms.

I headed out and took a few pictures of the big tree where Earl the Squirrel is hiding.


I walked through the Minion area and checked out the art work on the way out!


The artwork on the big Universal store before leaving the park! Love it



My plan was to go back to the resort for a few hours before returning to US for some delicious garlic knots from Louise Italian QS.

I walked along Citywalk and took the boat back to SFR.

My evening with the Holiday Tour is coming up soon.

Thank you for reading along and commenting!

 

[Wood Nymph]

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas stories.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Love the Christmas stuff at Universal—so fun!

 

[pkondz]

Yes very true, it was -2 degrees when I woke up yesterday, yuck It is supposed to be in the high 30s next week for us, I will take it! That is Fahrenheit of course!

Similar up here. But... makes for slushy, messy streets. Not a fan of that.

I order from Instacart, they have Publix, Target etc.. to shop from. They usually give you a deal for free delivery as a promotion.

Thanks.

It really is. Smart on USO part because you have to have park to park tickets! The Hogwarts Express is a great attraction!

It was $18.00 with my AP discount. I can take it back and reactive it on my next trip for a fee. You do have to pay a small fee each day in the parks. If you buy more like for the whole family the price keeps going down and even buy 2 get one free type of thing.

Not bad. Interesting that you can reactivate it. Another thing Disney could improve on.

The hot butter beer is my favorite

Tempting me, aren't ya.

The ice cream is better than the butter beer drinks, there I said it and won’t take it back!

Okay! Okay! I'm convinced! I need to get back.

He deserved it! No sweet gingerbread from him! Haha

 

[pkondz]

After my delicious ice cream and throwing away the beheaded Gingy,

All the books had either a touch or smell experience.

Huh! Interesting. Were some of those for sale?

I love the Grinch Christmas story and how it has lasted the test of time!

I remember watching that in black and white.

It is a must watch in many homes, mine included.

I must admit it's been quite a few years since I've seen it.

Earl the Squirrel, the famous USO, mascot

And here I've never even heard of him.

There is always a treat case in the last room with unique bakery items. I just looked and didn’t buy anything sweet at this time.

No idea how you could resist! Then again, I think you'd eaten not long ago.

Taking my time in the Tribute store was wonderful, I was often the only one in each of the rooms.

Niiice.

I headed out and took a few pictures of the big tree where Earl the Squirrel is hiding.

Did you find him?

Like this one the best.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Finally here and reading along. Glad things improved once you got the horrible travel day out of the way! USO looks wonderful all decorated for Christmas and those blue skies have me wishing I was there now. Dull and grey here today.
Happy Christmas everyone

 

[disneyAndi14]

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a bright, beautiful Disney filled New Year!
See ya all real soon!

 

[disneyAndi14]

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas stories.

Mine as well, it really is a classic!

Love the Christmas stuff at Universal—so fun!

It really is fun to explore all the Christmas displays and being solo allows for that!

Not bad. Interesting that you can reactivate it. Another thing Disney could improve on.

It is! I wish Disney would do that

Okay! Okay! I'm convinced! I need to get back.

You do! Holiday time is very magical

Huh! Interesting. Were some of those for sale?

Yes, you could buy all the books!

I must admit it's been quite a few years since I've seen it.

I try to watch the old classic Grinch each year!

And here I've never even heard of him.

If you go during the holidays, you will learn all about Earl the Squirrel!

Did you find him?

I did, he is hard to photograph because he peeps out about half way up and blends with the tree a little

Finally here and reading along. Glad things improved once you got the horrible travel day out of the way! USO looks wonderful all decorated for Christmas and those blue skies have me wishing I was there now. Dull and grey here today.
Happy Christmas everyone

Yay! Welcome Moira! Glad to have you following along.

 

[disneyAndi14]

The Grinch Holiday Tour

I headed back to US around 5pm and stopped in at Louise QS for the garlic butter rolls and I filled my cup with a cherry vanilla Diet Coke. The garlic knots are delicious and super good price for a theme park. They cost $4.00. The tour would have small bites a little later in the evening so this was a perfect snack at the beginning of my evening.

I walked to the sign in area which is where the Blue Man group used to perform by the Hard Rock Cafe.

There are many groups of 10-12 people in a tour group with a tour guide. I do not remember our tour guide’s name, I should have wrote her name down. She was really nice and did a really good job with our group. Our group had a family of 5, a mom with her 2 kids, a mom and adult daughter and little ole me. So 11 of us.

We started out going to the Grinchmas show. It is a 30 minute show retelling the Grinch story. I really enjoyed it.


After the show, we went back to US and watched the end of the Drone show. We were in the NY area so we just saw a few of the drone productions. I liked it.

We saw the big Christmas tree all lit up and heard the story of Earl the Squirrel, apparently some years ago a real squirrel was in the Christmas tree and did chew on the lights and caused the lights to go out on the tree. Now the tree has a spot on it where Earl comes out. We found the spot and saw the little animatronic squirrel peek out for a minute.

I could not get a good picture of Earl in the tree but he was there!

We went in the Christmas Tribute store next, since I had thoroughly toured the store earlier, I didn’t take many pictures. I took this one with the Butter Beer sign, it would change design at times in the foam.

Our next stop was LaBamba for some light bites. I tried a few of the corn dog nuggets with cheese and crackers. The small buffet had an Alfredo fettuccini, corn dog nuggets, fruit, salad, and cheese, crackers, and hummus dip.

Drinks were coke products and water.

I spent time with the mom and adult daughter during the tour, they were very nice and travel to USO and WDW 1-2x a year together. They live in Pensacola and were shocked how cold Minnesota is in the winter, lol

Our next stop was riding Villian Con Minion blast. US was closed so we had the ride to ourselves. It is not my favorite ride and I have no idea what I am shooting at. The laser guns are cumbersome and heavy!

Our next stop was the meet and greets. On our way over to the Jimmy Fallon area, I saw Nate from Paging Mr. Morrow, he was with a tour guide all to himself.
The mom and daughter duo were Star struck, lol they love his videos on YouTube.

We started with Santa Claus

Next was The Grinch’s dog Max. He was a real dog and a very good boy.

We met the Grinch himself next. All the meets were wonderful, I like meeting the Grinch the best he was very funny!

Our next stop was a little break area with desserts and hot cocoa.

I really liked the pumpkin mousse dessert.

After our break, we walked over to Hogsmeade to watch
the Christmas show on Hogwarts castle. I stood on the bridge and had a great view. It was about an 8-10 minute light show with Harry Potter movie music I loved it with the low crowds and great view.

Once the show was over, we were walked out of IOA and the tour was over. It was about a 5 hour tour. I really liked it, mainly to see the Grinchmas show and to meet The Grinch and Max. The Grinch meet up in the park has an average 120-200 minute wait, umm no thanks! ‍

You can only meet Max on the tour no where else.

The tour was around $80.00 with my AP discount.

It was a little chilly this evening with a temp in the low 50s, high 40s. The tour guides had down coats, scarves and gloves on, . I didn’t find it to cold but it would have been nicer if it had been warmer.

I enjoyed the tour and think it is worth the money and time especially if you don’t want to wait in extremely long lines to meet the Grinch and see the show, and also if you have a short stay at USO.

I took the boat back to my resort and was in bed by midnight.

My plan for Tuesday was a 2-3 park day at WDW!

Stay tuned for a “Merry” Day with a chill in the air!

 

[pkondz]

You do! Holiday time is very magical

Might be a bit late for this year.

Yes, you could buy all the books!

Even better!

If you go during the holidays, you will learn all about Earl the Squirrel!

Okay.
(But I think you already explained it in your post.)

stopped in at Louise QS

Where and what is that??

I do not remember our tour guide’s name, I should have wrote her name down.

Terrible TR writing!!!


I almost never remember the guides names.

We started out going to the Grinchmas show. It is a 30 minute show retelling the Grinch story. I really enjoyed it.

That sounds fun.

After the show, we went back to US and watched the end of the Drone show. We were in the NY area so we just saw a few of the drone productions. I liked it.

I've never seen a drone show. Would like to. Looks pretty cool.

We saw the big Christmas tree all lit up and heard the story of Earl the Squirrel, apparently some years ago a real squirrel was in the Christmas tree and did chew on the lights and caused the lights to go out on the tree.

I took this one with the Butter Beer sign, it would change design at times in the foam.

Really! How cool is that?

I tried a few of the corn dog nuggets with cheese and crackers.

How did they compare to Casey's??

They live in Pensacola and were shocked how cold Minnesota is in the winter, lol

Our next stop was riding Villian Con Minion blast. US was closed so we had the ride to ourselves. It is not my favorite ride and I have no idea what I am shooting at. The laser guns are cumbersome and heavy!

Nice you had the ride to yourselves, but...

The big man, himself!

Next was The Grinch’s dog Max. He was a real dog and a very good boy.

No way! That's awesome! Many pettings coming up.

I like meeting the Grinch the best he was very funny!

Very pleased to hear that.

I really liked the pumpkin mousse dessert.

I'm not a huge pumpkin fan, but that looks amazing.

After our break, we walked over to Hogsmeade to watch
the Christmas show on Hogwarts castle.

Niiice.

It was about a 5 hour tour.

Long! In a good way.

The Grinch meet up in the park has an average 120-200 minute wait, umm no thanks! ‍

Whoa. Makes the tour an even better deal.

The tour was around $80.00 with my AP discount.

I think that's pretty reasonable.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Next was The Grinch’s dog Max. He was a real dog and a very good boy.

I'm impressed to see that they had a real dog. I bet they had several dogs that they would rotate in and out.

Once the show was over, we were walked out of IOA and the tour was over. It was about a 5 hour tour. I really liked it, mainly to see the Grinchmas show and to meet The Grinch and Max.

That tour looked like fun. The cost is reasonable, too.

 

[buzzrelly]

Hi Caroline!

After seeing you and Susan I've been wanting to get back into Trip Reports...both reading and writing! I guess seeing you both and Su-Lynn made me remember the reason why I've met so many awesome Disney people!

Sounds like a nightmare of a travel day! So sorry you had to go through all that. You must have been so relieved to get to your hotel to relax!

The Grinch meet looks so cute, great pics!

I agree it was soooo cold that week we were there! Definitely needed all the layers!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Steppesister]

I finally arrived at my resort around 7:30pm. I checked in and went up to my room. I was in tower 2 room 2718 with a water view. View from room, took the next morning.

WOW! What a view!!

My whole trip was cooler than I wanted but still way warmer than my house.

Yeah... me too. Ugh!

I ordered the kids fish and chips.

I did some kids meal orders too. It's fun to find anything other than hamburgers, hotdogs, or nuggets.

A huge Hogsmeade advent calendar. I loved it. It would be cool to see it further along and what each day held.

Ok, that's really neat! I love this!

Once the show was over, we were walked out of IOA and the tour was over. It was about a 5 hour tour. I really liked it, mainly to see the Grinchmas show and to meet The Grinch and Max. The Grinch meet up in the park has an average 120-200 minute wait, umm no thanks! ‍

What a fantastic tour! You really did a lot and saw some super cool stuff!