When is the Best Time to Book Your Universal Trip for the Holidays?

When is the best time to book your Universal Orlando vacation for holiday events like Grinchmas, Mardi Gras, and Halloween Horror Nights? In this episode of Talk Travel to Me, host Kristy Ouellette sits down with Mickey Guru Travel Company travel advisor Lacie Flake to break down Universal’s event calendar, resort booking timelines, and dynamic pricing secrets. Discover why the sweet spot between Thanksgiving and mid-December offers optimal weather and low crowds, learn how to secure VIP RIP Tours for HHN, and find out why locking in your resort early is the key to saving hundreds on your next getaway.

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Transcript

Intro [00:01]
Ready for your fast pass to the perfect vacation? This is Talk Travel to Me. Join host Kristy Ouellette and the Mickey Guru Travel Company team for one big travel question every episode. Solo insights or expert round tables all with a sprinkle of magic and the ultimate insider edge. Fasten your seatbelt, it's time to talk travel.

Kristy [00:25]
Hey Traveler, welcome back to Talk Travel to Me. This week I'm joined by Lacie Flake, one of our fabulous Mickey Guru travel advisors.

Lacie [00:35]
Hey there.

Kristy [00:36]
And we're answering the question, whether you want to party at Mardi Gras or see Grinchmas, how do you time a Universal Orlando vacation perfectly around their best events, and when is the sweet spot to book? Let's talk about it. Alright Lacie, you are our resident Universal expert. So what do you think is the time of year that you just have to be at Universal?

Lacie [01:06]
So my favorite time of year at Universal is actually the holidays. My family has traveled November, December, and January to experience the holidays at Universal, but my absolute favorite is that dead time in between Thanksgiving and like the second week of December. It's such a sweet spot. That is. my absolute 100% best tip on Universal travel. The weather's perfect and the crowds are low and the parks are beautifully decorated. I mean what more could you ask for?

Kristy [01:40]
I got to agree. I love the holidays, so going to Universal and the place that we love down the street too at that time of year is just magical in every way. And I think for me one of the biggest things, especially as I've gotten older, is the weather.

Lacie [01:57]
Yeah.

Kristy [01:57]
I am not a fan of the heat. I actually was talking to our Universal business manager earlier this week and we were talking about the weather and she said it's basically cremation season. And I went, I've never thought of it like that. You know, it's no secret. we were talking about Halloween Horror Nights, so there were definitely like pieces of that. But it was funny that like summer is a time where a lot of people want to go and can go because kids are out of school and all of that. But I don't know, it's lacking something.

Lacie [02:29]
So hot.

Kristy [02:31]
So, so hot. So let's talk about, as we were preparing for this episode, we were kind of talking about. Universal has seasons that they have specific events. And those are real popular drivers to people that are going to Universal. And I think you've been at all of them, so let's see about that.

Lacie [02:54]
Yeah.

Kristy [02:55]
So in January, they start off the year typically towards the end of January with Rock the Universe. Tell us a little bit about what that is and whether you think it's a must do. What are your thoughts about that?

Lacie [03:12]
So Rock the Universe is a Christian music festival that happens after hours at Universal Studios Florida, so only on Edmatt Park. So there's multiple stages set up across the parks and multiple very popular bands and singers come in and they perform on Friday night and Saturday night of that. It's normally the next to the last weekend of January. It's all after hours. It's a separately ticketed event. Your ticket actually gets you in at 4 p.m. on the day of the concert. You can buy a one day ticket or you can buy the weekend pass that we'll do both nights of the concert. But you get to go to the parks starting at. 4 p.m. on the first day and then all day the second day. So it gives you that park admission as well as the concerts and things. And this event is extremely popular. So I've been a couple of different times and for the entertainment that you receive, if you love Christian music and the number of artists who are there, the price is unbeatable. The tickets are less than $200 for the weekend. You can't normally see a concert for that. Much less multiple. There are normally like 10 to 12 different groups who perform over the course of the weekend and they are heavy hitters. They are super popular groups such as like Forrest Frank. People may not recognize some of these names. Brandon Lake, Casting Crowns, these huge bands. It's a great weekend. It's a lot of fun. The rides are open. The restaurants are open after hours as well as if you need a break. Because it is standing room only. So I do warn people about that. There are no seats. They don't have the concerts in the... There's only one actual sit down stage area at Universal. It's in the back of the part. where Fear Factor once was. They don't have a concert back there. I've often wondered why. Because it would be nice to have that optional seating. But they normally do them, of course, at the Big Music Plaza stage beside the now defunct Hollywood Rip Rod Rocket roller coaster. That's the big stage where the heaviest, most popular bands are going to perform. And then the other stages are just set up in different areas across the park. But be warned, it is a lot of standing. It is a lot of people. But such a fun event if you enjoy that kind of thing.

Kristy [05:48]
When do you think you wish people should be booking if they want to go to that event? When do you recommend? Because it is really popular.

Lacie [05:58]
It is really popular. I recommend booking as soon as the tickets are available. They normally aren't released until September, October of the year. They'll release the lineup for the bands. And tickets will go on sale shortly after. So I definitely suggest getting them as quickly as possible. Not only the tickets, but also your resort. Because resorts are going to book up really quickly during that. time frame also. I know personally I've tried to book resorts and not been able to get them even before tickets go on sale. Because you kind of know every year it's going to fall on that same weekend. I normally book Thursday, Thursday, Sunday of that last week of January. And they book up quickly because people are preparing their stay even before tickets go on sale.

Kristy [06:47]
Yeah, and I think that's going to be a theme that we're going to see in this whole episode. What I want to say about this whole episode is that oftentimes the tickets to the event, the special features that you can add to your Universal booking, don't come up at the same time as the resorts. And you always, if you want to go, you always want to book those hotels first. And then we can add any of those features in the day that those drop. And that's actually how you get your best service out of your travel advisor too. Because if your hotel's already booked and you say, I want tickets to Rock the Universe, we're going to be watching that for you. You go onto a special. little pinned board for your agent that says Rock the Universe. So as soon as that information drops, they know what to do. And I think that I was kind of looking because they did announce the dates for sure this year. It's January 22nd to the 23rd. And there are a lot of hotels that are already booked. What I did find, which is not surprising, is that some of the rooms that are the more expensive rooms are still available. So like if you wanted one with a water view versus just a standard view, those are available at many different locations. But if you're looking for the more budget trip, the earlier you can book that, the better.

Lacie [08:06]
Absolutely.

Kristy [08:07]
Rock the Universe is just the first example of that. And then we've got Mardi Gras, which Mardi Gras is early this year on February 9th. So that usually runs February through April. It looks like when they do announce the dates, we're probably looking at a February 2nd. If we look at what happened the last time February 9th came up, that's just conjecture at this point. But I've been to Mardi Gras there, and I know. you have, right?

Lacie [08:39]
Yes.

Kristy [08:40]
What do you think of that event?

Lacie [08:42]
So I really, really enjoy Mardi Gras at Universal. I'm from Mississippi, so the real Mardi Gras down the street in Louisiana is not that far away from me. So I've been there too. And when I say Universal is the next best thing, it really is. Their parade is amazing. It is hands down the next best I've ever seen. The floats that they have are just next level. The food, the music, all of it. It's just a great experience. to vibe is unbeatable. That's awesome. Gumbo, beignets. I mean, it doesn't get a whole lot better than that.

Kristy [09:21]
It's no surprise to anybody listening that I'm not a foodie. I wouldn't try gumbo ever. I don't like things mixing together like that. My husband loves it though, and he really thought it was great. I absolutely thought I've never been to real New Orleans, so it's on my bucket list. I want to go see it. I don't know that I'm ready for that party atmosphere because I'm not one that likes outside of theme parks, big crowds and things like that. But I agree with. the floats. One of my dreams is actually to book that being on the float because you can do that Universal.

Lacie [10:02]
That is a must. That is a must. So I haven't done that. You get to actually ride the floats and throw beads. Yeah. Such a wonderful experience. I recommend going and watching the parade first. That way you kind of know what's up because riding on the float does take up a lot of your time. You have to be there a couple hours in advance and you have to meet and thump at the animal actor stage. They give you your costume. It's pretty much just a slip on shirt. And they give you all your beads and all your instructions and assign you to what float you're going to be riding on. So you kind of have to know how that works and be prepared that it's going to take a little while. But it is such a fun experience.

Kristy [10:46]
Oh, yeah.

Lacie [10:46]
Totally different view, of course, from standing in the crowd.

Kristy [10:51]
And I think it was super fun to watch. The one thing that again, we talk about when to book these things, I typically. don't book that far in advance. And so when I've gone, they've already sold out of the experience to be on the float.

Lacie [11:08]
Very popular.

Kristy [11:09]
Yeah. And it's a lot of fun, especially for older kids. Obviously, you're not going to take a three or four year old to do it, but older kids, it's super fun. I did have a client last year. It was so cute. She had been to real New Orleans back in the day in her college days. And she said to me, so when people are looking for beads at Universal, is it the same? And I said, no, that will get you ejected from the park. So keep your clothing on and secured. And I was like, you're just throwing beads to anybody in the crowd. Like, you can yell and wave your arms if you want. But like everything has to stay covered. And she was like, thank God, for sure. So Universal opened the calendar for 2027, but only partially. So I don't think we have the ability to book all of that Universal Mardi Gras time frame. I think just the beginning of February, I think maybe.

Lacie [12:09]
No, it does. go through April. Through April.

Kristy [12:11]
OK. Yeah.

Lacie [12:12]
But anything past that season, we're kind of stuck right now.

Kristy [12:15]
That's so weird to me.

Lacie [12:18]
Yeah.

Kristy [12:19]
And I feel like when they do that, whether it's them or Disney, I feel like they're trying to kind of hedge their bets about pricing. Like they're trying to figure out whether they're going to go too far and make people upset or need to heavily discount or how they're going to manage that. But so I would say for sure book Mardi Gras time frame now. We don't have the float reservations yet. We don't have any of that. But we know when they're doing it. And so if you want to see and it is something to see, it is absolutely.

Lacie [12:52]
And the parade, it happens every night. This is not just a one or two night thing. This is every night in that time frame. And it's also included in your parking mission. So that's a nice little perk. You don't have to buy a separate ticket for this event. This is included. Everyone who has a daytime ticket has access to Mardi Gras. They have access to the food booths. There's. also I can't remember what they call it. The concerts. They're kind of sporadic and they will announce those the lineup for that in advance because some people want to go on a specific day to see a specific artist perform. But other than that, it's every day. So any time that you're there during that time frame, you are going to be Mardi Gras.

Kristy [13:39]
Yeah, which is great. And also, I think that one thing that people don't people often not are not clear on is Mardi Gras in a specific section of the Studios Park. So if you have done that and now you're not interested in doing it anymore, you don't have to be part of that. It's not like it's taken over the entire thing. Right. And so you can go during that season, spend a day or two checking out that stuff and then move on to the rest and not feel it's very crowded in that particular area. Especially on those weekend nights when they have the concerts. But during the week. And that's usually what I tell my clients is that to go during the week for the first time. And then if? you wanted to go to a concert, you can go to the concert that's over there. But otherwise, it because it's such a long period of time and it's included with a mission, I think it allows people to not feel like the panic and the crush of getting there. It's like it's more chill than the next one. A lot more flexible. Yeah. Then the next one we're going to talk about, which is terrifying to me. I know you love it. And I want to go with you one of these times because Halloween Horror Nights is the absolute biggest event at Universal Orlando or Hollywood all year long. And it runs from August to November 1st. It also is only at the studios, right? Right. Yeah.

Lacie [15:09]
Yeah.

Kristy [15:11]
So tell us about that without scaring me too much.

Lacie [15:15]
So Universal Orlando is actually celebrating its 35th Halloween Horror Nights season this year. So this event is jam packed with all of the scares that you can possibly think of during the Halloween season. So Universal, they make the movies. So they have the ability to create haunted houses that are out of this world. You've been to a. haunted house before. I'm sure most people have a little haunted house in their town. That is not this. That is not this. Okay. This event is designed to scare your pants off. It is designed to be extremely immersive. When you walk into these haunted houses, you feel like you have entered a movie set and it is unbelievably detailed and immersive. So Universal owns IPs like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Stranger Things. They have access to that. They have a partnership with Netflix. The Exorcism. I could go on for days about the different IPs that you'll see at these haunted houses. And it literally looks like you're watching the movie when you walk into those houses. They pump in scents, some of them not as pleasant as others. The scare actors are highly trained. The scares are right on point. There's normally 10 haunted houses. Five of them are normally IP houses. And the other five are Universal created original houses. So crazy.

Kristy [16:54]
I have the list of what they've announced so far because the other thing that they do is they announce the tickets are on sale and then they dribb and drab to kind of. build excitement. The topics or the themes for the ones that are IP in Orlando and Hollywood, they're having Stranger Things five. And it says it's based on the final season of the Netflix hit. I haven't seen any of those. Have you watched those at all?

Lacie [17:23]
I've only watched season one. I really am not a huge Stranger Things fan. I've tried, but it's not my fave.

Kristy [17:30]
And then we have Sinners, also Orlando and Hollywood, based on Ryan Coogler's vampire horror film.

Lacie [17:37]
Yeah, I haven't seen Sinners.

Kristy [17:39]
It says it's based in Mississippi, 1930s.

Lacie [17:42]
Yeah, in the Mississippi Delta. Oh, yeah.

Kristy [17:47]
Have they ever done that one before? Is that brand new? Do you know?

Lacie [17:49]
No, it's a brand new movie. It just came out this year.

Kristy [17:52]
Oh, okay. Maybe I should stop by watching the movie and see.

Lacie [17:56]
It's pretty good.

Kristy [17:57]
Yeah.

Lacie [17:58]
Yeah.

Kristy [17:59]
Okay. And then in Orlando and Hollywood, they also have announced Hellraiser, which I've never seen that movie, but I've seen the image of the guy with the pins all over his head. So that one has been announced. And it basically says that you're entering a realm of pure pain and suffering. Sounds. like 2026 to me. But anyway, witness pinhead in the Cenobites performing their nightmarish rituals.

Lacie [18:27]
Okay.

Kristy [18:27]
Okay, pause. I need you to think of someone in your life right now. A friend, a sister, a coworker, that one person in your group chat who plans every trip and takes it very seriously. Got them? Good. I need you to send them this episode. Not later. Now. Well, wait, wait until we're done. When you're not done listening, then you could do it. But soon. Okay. Word of mouth is how little podcasts like this one grow. And I would love nothing more than to be the show that your whole travel squad is listening to. So if Talk Travel to Me has ever saved you from a bad hotel, helped you survive a theme park, or just made your commute a little more fun, pass it on. Your people will thank you. Probably. I mean, I can't guarantee it, but I feel pretty good about it. Okay, back to the good stuff. And so original concept houses this year, they are having, these are all for Orlando only. Jack and Oddfellow, Chaos and Control. This is the clown, right?

Lacie [19:24]
Yes. So Jack is the original face of Halloween Horror Nights Orlando. He was an unoriginal character created with the whole backstory whenever HHN first started. So they're bringing him back for this anniversary year.

Kristy [19:37]
Oh, okay.

Lacie [19:38]
Yeah. And Oddfellow also is an original character. There's a whole storyline behind these two guys.

Kristy [19:45]
I kind of like that. they do that. Like there's the IP that like people are familiar with just outside, but also this whole thing that they're creating. And like you said, they're a movie company first. So this is not like halfway done. Like this is like you are walking onto a movie set and now you're part of it. I did hear, I think you probably told me about this on a previous episode, that there was one haunted house that smelled like a meat factory. I think about that. That's like my Roman Empire. Like I think about that the most weird times. Like why would anybody want that?

Lacie [20:19]
I think I saw Massacre House. And they had a slaughterhouse in that film. And so when you walked into that area of the house, yeah, there were people vomiting. Like it was that realistic. I don't.

Kristy [20:31]
want to convince people not to go. But I do think this conversation helps you decide whether this is for you or not.

Lacie [20:39]
I mean, it's the real deal. But it's so immersive. Like crazy immersive, even to that point.

Kristy [20:47]
So just the last couple ones that we know about, I'll just rattle off real quick because I want to get to like the special things that come along with Halloween Horror Nights. Because this is kind of where my interest has peaked. But we also have H.R. Blood and Guts.

Lacie [21:01]
That's also a long history also.

Kristy [21:04]
It's basically a H.R. He escapes from prison, H.R. Blood and Guts, and evades a television station to host a final incredibly gory Halloween special. Okay. Madlands caged cannibals in a dystopian post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Lacie [21:21]
Oh, I can't.

Kristy [21:23]
Cyber Goria set thousands of years in the future in a cold machine driven world. Humans waking up from cryo sleep. I don't. Okay.

Lacie [21:31]
Yeah, that one seems strange. Universal always has a cold house.

Kristy [21:35]
Okay.

Lacie [21:36]
As crazy as that sounds. But this is going to be this year's cold house. All right.

Kristy [21:41]
That's an interesting take. Probably appreciated because this is during the time where. it is not quite cremation season, but it's hot.

Lacie [21:48]
It's hot, yeah.

Kristy [21:49]
And then invasion alien abduction. Which I do, I love the alien thing. So they'll have ten houses in total. And they're, like I said, they're dribbling and drabbing that information out. But Halloween Horror Nights, like I said, is their biggest event all year long. People plan their annual trips every single year to go to this. It's popular in Hollywood as well, but not as much. It feels like it's, they have a fabulous setup out there too, but Orlando seems to be the central location for these horror junkies. But in terms of the other pieces that go along with it, what is something that you think is really worth looking at for people that are going to Halloween Horror Nights?

Lacie [22:40]
So the timing is really important. The beginning of the season is crazy busy. Tickets sell out really, really fast. So if you're interested in going, especially in the beginning of the season, you need to get those tickets as soon as they go on sale. Opening night is always, it always sells out on the day tickets release. You're again, like we talked. about earlier, the resorts sell out really quickly. People book way in advance. I mean, as soon as they can, way before tickets even go on sale, which is normally in May, is when tickets are released. And granted, tickets are released without any house information. So the fans absolutely have no specific idea of exactly what's coming to the event when tickets actually go on sale. But they're that excited about Halloween Horror Nights that they don't really care. They just wait and see what what it's going to be because it's always fabulous. So the earlier the better, especially for those really popular nights, the end of October, the end around Halloween is really, really popular time of year to go as well. I always go the 1st of October when I go. First of all, that's our school's fall break time. So it's a great week that I have off every year, but it's also not as crazy busy. And the temps start to cool off a little bit. that August, September heat is is almost cremation. Yeah, October kind of allows it to cool off a bit. But the earlier the better. Seriously, you don't you? don't want to wait around, especially for some of these premier things that we're going to talk about in a second. Those have to be booked as soon as possible because they will be gone.

Kristy [24:25]
Well, you mentioned to me recently that you booked your tickets back when they first came out and that even now the hotel and like is more expensive dramatically, right?

Lacie [24:36]
Yes. So I I did this ASAP as soon as I could, because I knew exactly what I wanted, exactly when I wanted to go. And I knew that I wanted to do a premium event while I was at HHN. We'll talk about that in a moment. But I went back in last week just out of curiosity because that's how my travel agent brain works. And I just wanted to see the difference in what I booked in May and what I could book. that exact same thing for now. It is almost a six hundred dollar difference now. And I will caveat with this. My resort stay is a military price because my husband's military. So that has even gone up. Yeah. So like it doesn't matter what that discounted rate is. that you're receiving. That's not locked in either until you make that booking. So if I were to book the exact same thing now, regardless of what it was in May, I'm going to pay that right now price and it's just going to get higher as the as the time goes on. I actually am going to check it again in a couple more weeks and then a couple more weeks and just out of curiosity, see how much has changed.

Kristy [25:47]
Yeah, that would be a great social post for you. Like just to point out like book this date and then this how much? and that because one of the things that people don't understand that is is exactly how Universal and the Lowe's hotels that are located at Universal, they use a dynamic pricing model. So when they are first available, it is going to be the least expensive rate. And then as people book, the hotel fills up, the hotel gets more and more expensive. They just supply and demand is how they do it. We could literally see a quote right now and then in two hours go back and it's higher. So when we? do quotes, we usually put things on hold to lock that in for people so that we can control that as much as we can. But those that's for hotels, that's for tickets, especially these premium events.

Lacie [26:39]
So this year for the first time, my husband and I have been to HHN several times, but this year we decided to splurge a little bit and we booked a RIP tour. So a little play on words there. It is a VIP experience for Halloween Horror Nights. So we're so excited. This gives you front of the line access to all the houses. It includes some snacks, some drinks. Your tour guide gives you the backstory to every house. So they walk, they like, I've seen the tours before, but I've never experienced one. So they walk you around the whole mass of people who are in line for these houses and you stop on the side and they give you the whole backstory to this house. So what you're going to experience, how it came to be, kind of just all of the lore that was created by Universal for this house. Then you go straight in. There's no waiting. You know, you're not in the express line. You are like taken to the very front of the line and you go straight in the house. The guide stays with you all night. It does last the entire length of the event. So you have access starting at 5 p.m., which the event doesn't actually start until around 6. Normally it goes from 6 to 2 a.m. But you have access to the VIP lounge starting at 5. We have all kind of yummy snacks and specialty food items that are going to be served at HHN, but they're all included with your RIP tour. So you get a lanyard. And in addition to that, once your tour is over, when you get all the houses, you also have the IP access to the shows. So there's normally a lagoon show or there is a lagoon show. This year it's going to be Stranger Things theme. I actually announced that this week. And there's a show in the Old Beer Factory Stadium in the back of the park. That is a sit down like an hour long show. Oh, wow. And you have the IP access to that as well. So everything's included with that. There's no waiting, which is what I'm so excited about, because HHN crowds are no joke. Yeah. We have always gotten express passes for the houses, but this is even better than Express. If you don't have multiple nights to attend the event like we don't because we're not local. I think this is really worth the experience, worth that little extra cost that's involved to be able to do everything and get that VIP treatment. You get to go into special areas that you wouldn't get to go into normally and just experience some cool behind the scenes things. Yeah. I'm so excited.

Kristy [29:33]
I love that. And I don't know that I've done an episode yet about my VIP experience at Universal, but it was phenomenal. So that is coming at some point, but it was so good. My event that if I were going, what I would do is actually called the, oh my goodness, what is it? Behind the Screams Unmasking the Horror Tour. And that's during the day. So HHN is only happening at night. So they do these unmasking the horror in the daylight so that you can go look. at the houses and they have different ones. There's one that'll see like three houses, one that'll see three six, I think. And you get to see it, how it's put together. I feel like maybe if I saw that first and then I went to HHN, I might not be such a chicken. So I think that that is something that I think a lot of my clients that don't even do HHN, they will do that because it's really cool. And it's not that expensive. And you don't even need daytime admission to do it because they bring you in, they show you that, and then they bring you out. So it could be a great thing for like your first day or last day or a day that you're not spending in the park because it's a couple hours.

Lacie [30:55]
Yeah, my husband, I went back and forth on whether we were going to do the RIP or behind the screams because we I want to ask people that the team members inside the houses are like, come on, keep moving, because I'm stopping, looking at all the details because they're so amazing. Yeah. So I really do. want to see this lights on tour of the houses where you have a guide telling you, you know, how they set this up and how they actually built this and made it so realistic. But I haven't yet to do that. Hopefully next year, we can knock that one out. Maybe next year. You can go with us.

Kristy [31:26]
Yeah, absolutely. I would love to. I got to get over myself and go because the idea that it is a terrifying event, but they now are selling necklaces where you can tell people in the scare zone to leave you alone. I would absolutely be buying one of those. And I do think an RIP tour would be great for me because I could stick close to the guide and say, like, I don't want to be too terrified. And also, if there's meat smells in here, I'm going to wait this one out. That's going to be a thing. So HHN again, and this is the theme for all of these when to book is as soon as you know you want to go book that hotel. And then when the tickets go on sale, you let us know. and we'll get those immediately for you when they are available. And we can add that right to your package. It's not it's not a lot of pain points. It's actually pretty easy with Universal to do that. Wrapping it back up again. where we started, I guess, is at the holidays. We do have dates for that this year, which thank goodness, because they don't normally give that to us ahead of time because they're so busy with HHN events. But we know the holidays at Universal are going to start this year, November 14th to January 3rd. They have really cool things like the holiday tour. But the big thing I think really is Grinchmas. A lot of people are into that. And then, you know, they they do such a good job. So we would encourage anybody listening, anybody that wants to try Universal, especially if you were looking at the events that we know specifically going on right now. HHN, we don't want you to have to pay an extra six hundred dollars in a couple of weeks. So let's get that locked in. And then it's the perfect time to book your holiday time. And. Lacie was absolutely on the same page as me with that. the time between Thanksgiving, the Monday after Thanksgiving is really when that starts through like the middle of December is a really quiet time because people are preparing for the holidays rather than going on vacations. So I think that that makes a whole lot of sense. So any last minute things about when to book? We've. really. I think I think everybody understands the point that we were trying to make. that because that dynamic pricing, it just goes up and up and up.

Lacie [33:52]
So it does. The sooner, the better. Yeah. Always. We need to tweak it. We can. But the sooner, the better.

Kristy [34:01]
Yeah. And on the off chance, which does happen other than HHN time and holiday time, I think sometimes there is a price drop and we check for that as well. So like when we're checking client reservations, we're like, hey, wait, maybe there's a drop here or a new promotion because when they first release something, they don't put it on a discounted rate. But we can go back and have that added. So we're always watching that. So there's no no. downside to booking early. No. Only an ability for you to have pricing locked in and not have to pay more.

Lacie [34:35]
So right. One more really important thing about the holidays at Universal. These tickets, much like Universal Mardi Gras, are included in your daytime ticket. So there's no need to buy extra tickets like you do for HHN or Rock the Universe. These are all included. You have access to Grinchmas and the Hula Day Spectacular, the Wizarding World Christmas, the parade, which is a Macy's parade, high quality balloons like the Thanksgiving parade in New York City. But all that's included again. So nothing is stopping you from seeing all the Christmas things, but you need to get that resort booked as soon as you know those dates.

Kristy [35:14]
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. All right. That is one more question unpacked. Now, if today's episode got you thinking whether you've got a travel stumper you want us to tackle or you're ready to stop crossing your fingers and let a pro handle the heavy lifting for your next getaway, we would love to hear from you. You can find everything you need, including contact info for Lacie at mickeyguru.com or. you can just take a peek at the show notes. It's all right there. See you next week, traveler.

Outro [35:42]
Thanks for listening to Talk Travel to Me. We hope this episode cracked open inspiration for the treasures that await you at your next dream destination. If you love the show, please review, subscribe and share it with a friend. At Mickey Guru Travel Company, we're your trusted guides for theme parks, cruises, resorts and more. Visit our website at mickeyguru.com to learn more and book your vacation today.