Disney’s Jollywood Nights: An Enjoyable, if Half-Baked, Holiday Event

After two months of glitz and glamour, Jollywood Nights has wrapped up its first season. For years, Magic Kingdom was the only park to host a hard-ticketed Christmas event, but this year Hollywood Studios hosted what many considered to be a more adult version of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. To the chagrin of many guests prepared for an event that would rival MVMCP, the first evening was underwhelming and unorganized. Hoping negative reviews from the first two nights didn’t foreshadow our experience, my family dressed in our holiday best and sashayed our way into Jollywood Nights.

Food was not our focus for this event, as we had seen coverage of long lines for party-exclusive treats. We decided we would be satisfied with the iconic Santa Gertie cookie. The icing had a pleasant hint of mint flavor, but it lacked the powerful peppermint punch I crave in a holiday dessert. Otherwise, it was a tasty treat—the dough was soft, and the presentation was immaculate. I’m just glad we only had to wait a few minutes to try it.

While we were enjoying our desserts alongside Echo Lake, Rachel and I spotted a stuffed bear we hadn’t seen in years: Duffy Bear, dressed as Santa Claus no less! Although we had to wait almost an hour to meet Santa Duffy, the time we spent in line was worthwhile, since Duffy only meets regularly in Asian parks. Fortunately, Santa Duffy’s meet-and-greet started around 8:00, half an hour before Jollywood Nights commenced; by 8:50, within the first twenty minutes of Jollywoood, we had already met Duffy and enjoyed a Santa Gertie cookie! The night was off to a productive start.

After riding Alien Swirling Saucers and stopping by a pop-up dance party in Municiberg, we headed to “What’s This?”, a Nightmare Before Christmas sing-along in Hyperion Theater. “What’s This?” features mimes instead of traditional narrators, which makes for a comical, unique performance. My favorite part of the show was the Jack Skellington puppet, the same puppet used in Mickey’s Not-So-Spooky Fireworks Spectacular during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. One must have the perfect spot in front of Cinderella Castle to see this impressive puppet in the fireworks show, but “What’s This?” offers every audience member a pristine view of this tall, nimble puppet that looks as if it stepped out of Tim Burton’s cult classic. Overall, it’s a delightful show, short enough not to waste too much party time.

At that point, we only had an hour and a half left of the event, so we chose to forego “Disney Holidays in Hollywood” in favor of riding Tower of Terror as many times as possible. Between rides, Rachel and I also paused to enjoy live music from the Tip Top Club’s Twilight Soiree, which took place just outside the Tower of Terror gift shop. By 12:28, two minutes before the nighttime spectacular began, we had dropped into the Twilight Zone seven times in a row. Though other guests may have prioritized a meal at Jazzy Holidays at the Brown Derby or meeting rare characters, such as Phineas and Ferb or Mary Poppins, we were ecstatic to be able to ride our favorite attraction in Hollywood Studios as much as we wanted.

After our seventh ride, we sped to Hollywood Boulevard to watch Jingle Bell Jingle Bam!, a Prep and Landing-themed fireworks spectacular that has returned for this specially ticketed event. Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! only performs at 12:30AM. I wish there would be at least one other showtime a couple hours earlier in the night, but it was fun to close out the party with a bam!

And just like that, our time at Jollywood Nights came to a close. Was it worth it? Yes and no. Before the event began, I anticipated an incredible holiday event that would rival Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, but after I started reading terrible reviews from the first night, my expectations plummeted. I’m happy to say Jollywood was much better than reviewers warned. We enjoyed seeing “What’s This?”, meeting Santa Duffy, and re-riding Tower of Terror to our hearts’ content. That being said, it was not worth $180 per ticket. Jollywood Nights wants to be both an after-hours event and a Christmas party, but it succeeds at neither. It lacks the complementary snacks and drinks of an after-hours party and the overt holiday flair of a Christmas party. Hollywood Studios exudes retro Christmas spirit, so Jollywood’s distinct lack of Christmas spirit was disappointing. The only holiday offerings are the two live shows and the fireworks display, which foregrounds generic animated montages over holiday theming. The live bands and DJs throughout the parks, by and large, skimp on holiday tunes, tarnishing the seasonal atmosphere. Just a few more holiday offerings and complementary bottled drinks could easily elevate this event and make the high price more palatable.

Besides the general lack of holiday zeal, the Tip Top Club, what I was most looking forward to at Jollywood Nights, disappointed me. What I had envisioned as a swanky soiree, perhaps on the terrace above the Tower of Terror merchandise location, was an on-and-off band at the attraction’s exit with a perennially long line for unoriginal cocktails. The band was wonderful, but the space was disappointing. For months, Disney marketed the Tip Top Club as a luxurious watering hole and dance club, only for it to be a bare backstage pop-up bar. This supposed “hot spot” and the rest of the event, were overhyped, leaving myself, and no doubt other guests, disappointed.

Although my family enjoyed our time at Jollywood Nights, and the event certainly improved past the first night, it was underwhelming and not worth $180 per ticket. Much like Ollie, the supposed gingerbread mascot of this event who only appears in cutout form and on a neon sign, Jollywood Nights is fun, but half-baked. I only hope if Jollywood Nights returns that is more like the dazzling, glitzy, holiday event Disney promised.