{"id":441222,"date":"2026-10-29T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T06:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/441222\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T06:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T06:00:11","slug":"earl-the-squirrel-to-debut-giant-balloon-in-nyc-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/441222\/","title":{"rendered":"Earl the Squirrel to debut giant balloon in NYC parade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Universal Orlando\u2019s fan-favorite Earl the Squirrel is getting a much bigger role this holiday season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Earl will make his giant balloon debut during the 100th Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on Nov. 26, according to Universal Orlando Resort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The new balloon stands 30.4 feet tall and 14.5 feet wide and features Earl holding a blue Christmas light while wearing his signature winter cap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">After his New York City debut, the balloon will head to Universal Studios Florida, where it will join Universal\u2019s Holiday Parade featuring Macy\u2019s beginning in early December.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Earl\u2019s story dates back nearly two decades, when Universal\u2019s entertainment team discovered a real squirrel living in the Christmas tree at Universal Studios Florida. According to Universal, the squirrel became known for stealing strands of blue Christmas lights and carrying them back to its nest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Universal later turned the story into a holiday tradition, eventually introducing Earl as a character guests could meet at the resort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">This year, guests will be able to meet Earl daily at Universal Studios Florida and on weekends at Universal CityWalk as part of the resort\u2019s holiday celebration beginning Nov. 14.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Universal Orlando\u2019s holiday celebration runs from Nov. 14 through Jan. 3, 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\">Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\">click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wftvapps.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793253611_784_APP DOWNLOAD LOCAL_1541693885678.jpg_13622062_ver1.0.jpg\" width=\"100%\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph body-copyright\">\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Universal Orlando\u2019s fan-favorite Earl the Squirrel is getting a much bigger role this holiday season.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[147,145,26599,28,171954,14592,139,141,140,2749,6114,144,146],"class_list":["post-441222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-central-florida","tag-channel-9","tag-earl-the-squirrel","tag-florida","tag-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade","tag-new-york-city","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-universal-orlando-resort","tag-universal-studios-florida","tag-wftv","tag-wftv-channel-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}