ORLANDO, Fla. – Universal Orlando Resort is preparing to ring in the holidays on Saturday.
This year, the resort has a number of festive and fun activities planned including Grinchmas, Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s, Mannheim Steamroller performances and holiday décor at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
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On Friday, guests visiting Universal Studios were allowed inside the highly-themed Holiday Tribute Store.
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As with other event tribute stores at Universal Orlando, creators use their talent and skills to take the shopping experience to the next level.
The store takes guests into four highly-themed rooms. This year, guests will dive into Santa’s Workshop, get a little nutty at Earl the Squirrel’s Christmas Curious Museum & Emporium, explore gifts stolen by the Grinch on Mt. Crumpit and take in the winter scenes at Hogwarts Castle.
This is the second year for the character Earl the Squirrel. The wacky rodent rose to fame last after he got his own room and specialty merchandise was released. But the big question, who is Earl? News 6 spoke with Universal about the character last year.
“So many years ago, there was a power outage in our tall tree out here in front of Macy’s. And some people say Earl was in there chewing on a cord, and he knocked out some of the lights. Other people will say he was just trying to get up to the top of the tree to see more of the Christmas decorations and disconnecting a lot. I don’t know what happened. But a squirrel caused a power outage in our tree,” said Rob Cametti, director of visual merchandising and store design.
This holiday season, more squirrely merchandise has returned in Earl the Squirrel’s Christmas Curious Museum & Emporium along with some tasty treats.
Earl’s 🌲Tree Farm is back, and better than ever this holiday season at #UniversalOrlando | A whole bunch of new merchandise is now available. 🐿 pic.twitter.com/pwkf1bHmry
— Landon McReynolds (@LandonProducer) November 10, 2021
If guests look and listen, they may even hear some electric noises and lights flickering inside one particular tree.
Guests will find a bunch of merchandise options perfect for holiday gifts inside the store including ornaments, shirts and hoodies, mugs, plush characters and so much more.
The store is located in the New York area of the park near the “Revenge of the Mummy” attraction.
The shop will be open during normal park hours.
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