Christmas at Hogwarts

Christmas at Hogwarts. Words that send chills of excitement to any Harry Potter fan. And I was lucky enough to experience the Universal Studios Hollywood version a few weeks ago. This is the first year they’ve done it in the US. Last year Universal Japan pioneered the event. And Livingston Studios in the UK has always outdone the holidays. So it was great to visit something closer to home!

Everywhere you look the town of Hogsmeade is decorated for the holidays! And you’ll find Hot Butterbeer on tap! (It is a unique butterscotch flavor that isn’t overwhelming.) And you can get a special holiday feast at the Three Broomsticks!

Inside the stores are decorated too! Looks like the Owls will have a lot of work this holiday season! There are also numerous new souvenirs such as tons of house themed ornaments, stockings, garlands, and more.

Fancy a kiss under this giant mistletoe?

Even the Sorting Hat is festive!

And the daytime entertainment gets the Christmas magic! Here the Frog Choir sings some of their new songs. I really enjoyed the second song in the video.

But the real magic starts at night. A word of warning. The event is VERY popular. I made the mistake of wandering other parts of Universal and then trying to come back from the Castle Show. Universal had Hogsmeade completely blocked off. Multiple lines around the entire theme park were trying to merge together, and I did see some fights as that happened. BUT the shows happen very frequently, so it didn’t take long to get back in (about 15-30 minutes) and most people filtered out quickly after seeing the show.

The show itself isn’t that long, but is an amazing piece of magic. Scenes and spells are cast onto the castle, transforming it multiple times. This culminates in a magical fireworks show at the end. I really enoyed it and watched it twice!

After the show, you don’t have to exit. You can explore Hogsmeade all lit up for the holidays. I was also lucky to go on a full moon, which added to the magic.

If you don’t want to fight the crowds in the small stores, many of the items (but not all) can be bought at two stores on the way out of the park.

What is amazing is they put a little magic in these shops. I noticed a very large tree that was decorated very similarly to the trees in the movies. So I decided to take some photos. Suddenly, music started up AND IT STARTED SNOWING IN THE STORE. It was magical! I appreciate whichever employee made that happen right as I was taking photos. Everyone else in the store stopped and with wonder came up to the tree to experience the snow. It also was a nice last memory to have while heading out of the park.