This past week, Universal Studios Hollywood held it’s USH Pass Member Park Takeover on Tuesdays November 28th and Wednesday November 29th! This holiday event invited USH passholders to experience Christmas in The Wizarding World of Harry PotterTM, GrinchmasTM with The GrinchTM, and everyone’s favorite rides with little to no wait!

First, I love the idea that USH hosts events like this for its passholders. It adds to the value of your annual pass but also makes you feel a bit special. Which, in the end, is what you want your passholders to feel like in the first place.

Second, I’ll have to be honest, this event wasn’t totally on our radar. We are so incredibly thankful that we were made aware of it because it ended up being one of our favorite events at USH for one simple reason…no crowds. This event succeeded in creating the most stress free theme park experience I think we’ve ever experienced. With very little planning (mainly because we attended with a 5 year old), we were able to accomplish every single thing we wanted to do or see.

Almost every single ride was minimal waits, if not no wait at all. We were able to hit both SLoP and Minion Mayhem back to back within the span of 20 minutes, which on a normal park day would be unheard of. Even visiting Super Nintendo World was a stroll in the park! Which, for those that don’t know, this is one of the most crowded sections of the park simply because of its popularity. Mario Kart: Bowser Challenge was the longest wait in the park for us and it was at 20 minutes. Honestly, it was just so nice being able to experience the park without having to traverse large crowds of people.

Additionally, it was nice that USH had their holiday entertainment offerings for their pass members as well. Grinch’s and Christmas in The Wizarding World are huge draws for crowds coming into the park in search of the holiday spirit. Whether you wanted to catch The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle, Storytime with Cindy-Lou Who, witness the Tree Lighting and Wintery Snowfall, or meet the Grinch himself, passholders were able to do so with significantly less people in the park.

With that being said, The Grinch, Max and any of the Grinchmas offering were the only experiences that had significant waits. When we arrived, The Grinch has a 2 hour wait in the Universal Plaza! But, there is another way to meet the “jolly” green Grinch. If you head down to the Lower Lot, you can also meet the Grinch right above the Jurassic Cafe. This is actually (during daytime hours) a dedicated Grinch Meet and Greet location ONLY for passholders (Nov. 24-26, Dec. 2-3, 9-10, 2023 Select Times from 12pm-6pm) This location saved the day because this is where we were able to meet the Grinch and our kiddo couldn’t have been happier meeting him.

If there were any additions we’d like to see at future AP events at the park, it would be some changes in atmosphere outside of the heavily themed areas (Grinchmas, Wizarding World, Super Nintendo World). Maybe a couple DJ’s scattered throughout the park to really make the night feel different, rather than a normal night at USH. Additionally, it would be incredible to get limited edition food items that are only available during AP Takeovers. The park is filled with holiday foods, and shorter lines for your popular theme park items. But having something special for passholders in terms of food would take it to the next level.

OVERALL

Most park experiences (and this accounts for all theme parks) come with a certain level of stress, but this event gave us the ability to roam the park without stress. Honestly, with parks getting more and more crowded, nights like this are incredibly unique. And this event succeeds in being able to cultivate a relaxing and fun experience for pass holders. Additionally, just the existence of such an event brings much more value to your USH annual pass. Yes, other parks have AP merch, AP discounts, and various other AP perks. But not many parks have dedicated AP nights! As long time USH passholders, we are happy to see nights like these exist. Not only for exclusivity, but to enjoy an easy trip with our kids. We were able to bring our kiddo to enjoy the park and make some incredible memories.

It’s really hard for us to find faults in the USH Pass Member Park Takeover at Universal Studios Hollywood. This event took the more difficult aspects of theme park experiences away and allowed us to truly focus on what’s important; and that’s the special moments with our families.

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