The Holidays celebration at Universal Orlando Resort provides a great experience included with your theme park admission. Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s serves as one of the signature elements at Universal Orlando Resort. What should you know about Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s?
Most activities and entertainment at Universal Orlando’s holiday celebration remain the same yearly. For example, the 2023 Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s looks like previous years. Still, most guests love this parade. We covered it in some detail last year. For specifics about the parade, you can consult that resource.
However, this article will mention a few things to know that do not appear in the average guidebook. We hope these help as you enjoy your day at Universal Orlando.
Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s: Parade Times
Universal Orlando guests often struggle to find a schedule for showtimes and the parade. This information can be found in the Universal Orlando Resort mobile app. Times do change and can be influenced by weather. However, the 2023 parade will happen around 5:30 p.m. each evening of the Holidays celebration at Universal Orlando. If you forget, as you enter Universal Studios Florida theme park, white signs will be placed along the parade route indicating the time the parade starts.
Parade Length
On opening night this year, the parade lasted 29 minutes. This qualifies as a long parade with dancers, floats, and balloons. Also, depending on where you watch the parade from, you may find yourself watching the parade twice. This will consume a significant amount of time on your theme park day. You must also figure in time to find a spot before the parade, which involves at least an hour commitment for the best experience.
Suggested Locations to Watch the Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s
Speaking of places to watch the parade, unlike other Orlando area theme parks, many quality viewing locations can be found along the parade route. The standard suggested locations to watch the parade are:
- Near the Christmas tree in the New York area of Universal Studios Florida theme park
- Along Hollywood Boulevard area
- Between Café La Bamba and the Pantages Theatre, where the horror make-up show is conducted.
The parade route starts between Café La Bamba and the Pantages Theatre. Also, the parade makes a loop, turning left down Hollywood Boulevard and then passing through the Illuminations and New York areas before returning by Mel’s Drive-In quick service location.
If you take up a location near Mel’s Drive-In or the Pantages Theatre, you will have the parade pass by you twice. Still, this comes with a few issues. If you find yourself on the wrong side of the parade, you will be stuck with no way to exit to other theme park areas due to the parade blocking you. We suggest that if you do not want to watch the parade twice, be prepared to escape the parade area to exit the theme park or visit the areas outside the parade route reasonably. If you need assistance planning, the parade route will be on the theme park paper maps near Universal Studios’ entrance.
This holiday parade, included with your daytime theme park admission, makes a fun way to celebrate at Universal Orlando Resort. With a little bit of planning, this can cap off the evening nicely. Have fun planning your day at Universal Orlando Resort.
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.
