The holidays are a great time to visit Walt Disney World, and while there are plenty of free and included amenities and events to enjoy during the season, Disney also offers separately ticketed after-hours events. These include Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom and new for this year is Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios. While the Magic Kingdom party is geared towards kids and families, Jollywood Nights is being advertised by Disney as “Hollywood Glamour Meets Holiday Cheer” and is marketed more towards adults. I had the chance to attend the event this week, and take in everything Jollywood Nights had to offer. So is this event worth going to? Read my thoughts below!
Jollywood Nights is the first separately ticketed event I have attended at Disney, I’ve never been to the other Christmas party, the Halloween party or any after hours events, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the crowd levels or environment. Hollywood Studios is my favorite Disney park, so I was very excited to get to see it decorated for the holidays and try out all of the unique offerings for this event. Let’s go over what Jollywood Nights actually gets you for your money, and my thoughts.
Entertainment:
Like I mentioned before, Jollywood Nights caters more towards an older audience, but I think the offerings at the event can cater to anyone, especially the entertainment. There are three shows offered at this event, and two are brand new and original for Jollywood Nights. “Jingle Bell Jingle BAM!” is the nighttime projection and fireworks show on the Chinese Theater, which has been seen at Holywwod Studios before, but the two new shows are: “What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along” (longest show name of all time?) and “Disney Holidays in Hollywood.” In addition to these, there are many “street-mosphere” performances live a live DJ in the middle of the park. There is also Holiday Fiesta en la Calle, a Latin holiday street celebration, as well as Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club, a 1930s themed live four piece band playing in the courtyard of the Tower of Terror.
The standouts among these for me were the Nightmare Before Christmas show and the Twilight Soirée. I am a big fan of Nightmare Before Christmas, and I have been dying for some representation in the Florida parks since we don’t get the Haunted Mansion overlay. This show filled that void perfectly for me, and featured some amazing puppeteering, fun sets and costumes, and some special effects that perfectly fit the story.
I really liked that they approached this as a show with an integrated story, not just a screen playing clips from the movie. The highlight of course is the incredible Jack Skellington puppet that emerges at the beginning and the end of the show. I had no idea how big this thing actually was, and in the Hyperion theater you can sit very close to it and truly see all of the detail and movement at work. They did a great job of converting the theater that normally houses the Frozen singalong, and the stage had a brand new set on it just a few hours after the park closed to guests, which was even more impressive.
Disney Holidays in Hollywood, the outdoor stage show at the Beauty and the Beast theater, features holiday songs and classic Disney characters like Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Tiana, Belle, Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse. To me, this was the one thing at the event that I feel was made the most for children. This is not a negative, Disney was built for kids obviously, but for a show billed as capturing the “glitz and glamour of vintage Hollywood TV specials,” this felt more like something that you would see on the Cinderella Castle stage at Magic Kingdom. The highlights here were seeing Kermit and Miss Piggie in person, as well as a new song by Tiana, who had probably the best singing voice I have ever heard at Walt Disney World.
There is also the “Jingle Bell Jingle BAM!” nighttime projection and fireworks show on the Chinese Theater, which I only saw the end of, but was still impressed with what I saw. The other street-mosphere was great and set the mood of the holidays perfectly, but I want to give a special mention to the Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club. This captured everything I wanted about Jollywood Nights. It was the perfect combination of old Hollywood charm mixed with special Disney theming to one of my favorite attractions, and holiday touches that felt as smooth and swanky as this event was advertised. I did not get to try any of the cocktails here, but they all looked delicious, I was just enjoying watching the band so much. If I could’ve done one thing differently at Jollywood Nights, I would’ve been making more time to see this band.
Food and Drinks:
The other big selling point of Jollywood Nights is the exclusive dining options. While I didn’t get to try everything, there is simply too much, I did eat and drink my fair share of holiday treats. The first thing I tried was the Sugar Cookie Martini, available at many of the bar locations at the event. This drink features “Stoli Vanil Vodka, Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur, and DISARONNO Originale Liqueur mixed with milk and sugar in a sprinkle-rimmed glass with a sugar cookie garnish.” All I wanted from this was a drink that tasted exactly like a sugar cookie, and that is just what I got. It was the perfect way to kick off the event, and this definitely is stronger than most drinks I’ve had at Disney, they weren’t trying to hide the alcohol taste at this event. The cookie that comes on top was also quite good, and the sprinkles around the rim was a nice touch.
- Crispy Duck Drumettes
After that, we checked out the only exclusive sit-down option at the event, Jazzy Holidays at the Holiday Brown Derby. This was another highlight of the whole event for me, it definitely felt like a fancy Hollywood party from the 1950s. The menu is only smaller plates and appetizers, but everything I saw looked delicious. I had the Crispy Duck Drumettes, which were duck wings with spicy orange glaze, carrots and kumquats. These were probably the best wings I’ve eaten at Disney, the orange glaze was perfect and the meat was crispy on the outside and wonderfully soft on the inside. I also feel like the portion was perfect for the price, some of the other items at this location seemed small, but the Duck Drumettes were a good size.
- Gertie Cookie
Some of the smaller snack type things that I had were the Sandy Claws Hot Cocoa and the Christmas Gertie Cookie. The hot chocolate was delicious, I don’t like dark chocolate as much as normal chocolate, but this worked perfectly with the cherry whipped cream that comes on top. It was a nice warm drink to have as the night got a little chillier. The Christmas Gertie Cookie is a sugar cookie with mint icing, and has become an icon for the event since it’s shaped like Gertie the dinosaur. I think this cookie was good, but a little overpriced at around $5. Honestly, I think these should come free with the event, like the cookies at the Magic Kingdom party, but there is no food or drink included with a Jollywood Nights ticket. There is an option to get this cookie with mint ice cream for a few dollars more, and I think that would be a more cost effective choice for this.
- Sandy Claws Hot Cocoa
The final food item I had was the Just the Sides Popover from Fairfax Fare on Sunset Boulevard. This consists of macaroni & cheese and savory collard greens with ham topped with cornbread crumbs in a house-made popover. There are a few different popovers available here, and this is definitely a more filling option than some of the other snack-type things at Jollywood Nights. The one I had was delicious, and the mac and cheese and collard greens were just what I needed to get me through the rest of the event.
- Just the Sides Popover
Characters:
One of the major changes after Jollywood Nights’ first week was the addition of more characters, and there were so many at this event. The main meeting areas were around Echo Lake, in Animation Courtyard and at the center of the park. Some of the characters appearing were: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Duffy, Phineas and Ferb, Chip and Dale, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Powerline Max, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Edna Mode, Frozone and Stitch.
In addition to those, there are special photo opportunities like moving cameras, special holiday effects, and two unique photo spots in Galaxy’s Edge. For me, characters were not a high priority but I did get a photo with Duffy and Jiminy Cricket, as well as one of the moving cameras and one of the Galaxy’s Edge photos. I didn’t wait longer than 15 minutes for any of these, and I would say they were all worth it since these are rare photos and characters that are almost never seen in the parks. Time is your most valuable asset at any special ticketed event, every minute counts, so it’s important that lines moved quickly and I’m happy to report that they did throughout the night.
Rides:
All of the rides are open for Jollywood Nights, but unfortunately none of them have a holiday overlay unless you count Alien Swirling Saucers, which has holiday songs that play but that isn’t a new addition. I think with holiday songs on Rock n Roller Coaster or a holiday film on Star Tours and Toy Story Mania, it would add value to the event and motivate guests to ride the rides because as it stands now, it isn’t worth it to spend time of an extra ticket party riding the same rides you can ride during the day. Rise of the Resistance operates on a virtual queue, but it is much easier to get than the other virtual queues and we got it easily but didn’t end up riding.
Overall Thoughts:
Overall, I had a great time at Jollywood Nights, and I think that it is a great option for people looking for something different to do for the holidays and see Hollywood Studios in a unique way. This event definitely got me in the holiday spirit, and I think that what is offered currently is worth the price if you plan out your night correctly. In terms of what I would improve about the event, I think the biggest thing would be to simply start an hour earlier. That would still allow the park to be open for a majority of the day but also give the opportunity for party goers to do one or two extra things. I would also love it if the Gertie cookies and regular hot chocolate were included. Some holiday overlays on rides would be much appreciated as well, and some Life Day theming in Galaxy’s Edge would draw in a big crowd.
Other than these small things that will be worked out in time, for the first year of the event I think it was a big success. I felt the food and drinks were exceptional, and the shows were a big standout, especially the Nightmare Before Christmas show and the Tip Top Club. The ambience of the park was executed very well, and the various types of christmas music and the street-mosphere really set the tone as well as the flurries of fake snow that would come down over the main street and Sunset Boulevard. Most importantly, it felt like the holiday season and the touches of old Hollywood brought it to the next level.
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