Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party Review: Good, Bad & Ugly
Disney Jollywood Nights is a hard ticket Christmas event with special holiday entertainment, food & beverage, and adult atmosphere at Walt Disney World. This reviews our experience with the party, covering bright spots and what went wrong. We’ll also address whether it’s worth the money, how much you can accomplish, and my step-by-step experience. (Updated June 5, 2024.)
Before we get down to brass tacks with the review and what went wrong (and right!), let’s start with basic background. Disney Jollywood Nights was the brand-new separately ticketed, limited-capacity Christmas party from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on 10 select nights. It debuted last year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with ticket prices ranging from $159 to $179 per person.
Jollywood Nights is billed by Walt Disney World as being a “glam holiday party” and a “swanky Hollywood bash filled with merriment, music and spirited good times.” The adult-focused event promised a more refined holiday vibe, sights of sparkling décor, sounds of modern beats over classic holiday songs, tastes of craft cocktails and decadent dishes. Disney Jollywood Nights is nostalgic and it’s glitz and glam galore. These are all ways that Walt Disney World itself marketed the event.
June 5, 2024 Update: Whether Disney Jollywood Nights returned for Christmas 2024 was an open question. After the opening night meltdown last year, there was speculation that it’d be (another) one and done. However, a lot of changes were made to tweak the event for subsequent nights and salvage the season. (See Walt Disney World Made Major Changes & Added Rare Characters to Disney Jollywood Nights.)
We were happy to hear that guests who attended subsequent nights did not report the same issues with lines, crowds, or other operational problems. As a whole, their experience sounds like it was significantly smoother and those reviews are much more positive than this one as a result.
Fast-forward to this summer, and Walt Disney World has posted casting calls for the performers in the stage shows at Disney Jollywood Nights. One of these specifically references the party, but it also reads like it was copy & pasted from last year’s casting call (it still refers to the party as brand-new). As such, we’re not treating this as fully official confirmation that Disney Jollywood Nights is returning for 2024. There’s still an outside chance that the stage shows are coming back in a reworked or reimagined event.
Regardless, this confirms that a Christmas party materially resembling Disney Jollywood Nights will be held at Hollywood Studios for Christmas 2024. Whether it’s called Disney Jollywood Nights or something different and how it differs from last year’s event all remains to be seen.
For now, here’s our review of the inaugural Disney Jollywood Nights…
Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club – Walt Disney World advertises this as a swingin’ celebration in the courtyard of The Hollywood Tower Hotel. Here, you can sip cocktails and unwind in style while a live band swoons and croons holiday tunes.
The first of two expectations versus reality misses, this is like marketing a swingin’ soiree with swoonin’ and classy croonin’ only to have the Driving Crooner be the entertainment. Yes, it would be objectively awesome to see the Driving Crooner, but is that really what was promised. You sure about that?
In this case, the band was great and gave a captivating performances. If all you wanted to do was watch them, and that was the case for me, what Walt Disney World offered was arguably good enough. As an active experience, this was a bit lifeless, which I guess is somewhat fitting for an otherworldly soiree.
With that said, I think it would be a tough task to actually turn this into a swinging soiree–how many Walt Disney World guests are actually going to dress the part and dance? I don’t know, but I’m guessing the answer is “not enough to give this the right vibe.” The thing is, we don’t know because the setup didn’t facilitate anything but standing around in a cramped viewing area.
This doesn’t even begin to address the bar situation here, which was a basic drinks served from a glorified outdoor vending cart that had a 30+ minute estimated wait. (I say estimated because the line moved at a glacial pace–one of our friends was in it, but bailed after making zero progress after 15 minutes.) The good news, I guess, is that it should be pretty easy to effectively double capacity by bringing a second ODV back here before the second party.
Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby – This iconic restaurant transforms into a limited-capacity smooth jazz joint where you can enjoy holiday music, craft cocktails and an exclusive menu of light bites in a sophisticated setting.
Disney also previously described Jazzy Holidays at the Brown Derby as being inspired by New York City piano bars. The Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant was to be turned into a sing-along piano bar with a piano and accompanying singer, performing songs from the ’20s, ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. The space was to be transformed into “a swinging speakeasy party like you’ve never seen, something you could only find in a big city.” Normally a table service restaurant, the space was to be set up differently and include multiple bars.
Almost none of that happened. Jazzy Holidays did have a pianist, that part is true. And his piano did have garland on it, so check the box for decoration (singular) in the Brown Derby! That was literally it. Although nitpicky, another odd choice was to play Disney music in equal amounts as holiday songs.
If you happened to time Jazzy Holidays poorly and be seated right after a set ended, you might not even realize anything special was happening, as no Christmas music–not even a background loop–was playing during the downtime.
Although the competition is fierce, this probably is the biggest disappointment of Jollywood Nights simply by virtue of the time commitment, difficulty in accessing the space, and expectations vs. reality. No offense to the musician, who was talented and gave great performances, but one man does not make a speakeasy party unless that fella’s name is Jay Gatsby.
The only silver lining here is that I did purchase food (not wanting to be rude) and the sliders were fantastic. But that’s not enough to justify doing Jazzy Holidays. Save yourself the stress and time, and skip this.
Atmosphere – Beyond the two limited-capacity offerings underwhelming, the biggest misfire of Disney Jollywood Nights for me was the vibe. One of the things we routinely talk up about Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is the exceptional ambiance–our favorite thing about the event is simply being there.
Seeing the snow fall on Main Street, hearing Jolly Old Saint Nicholas in Fantasyland, enjoying the moody lighting and special projections, free-roaming characters having fun–it all just puts a smile on my face. And that’s not just nostalgia talking. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party has mastered its mood, and that’s a big reason why so many people love that party.
By contrast, several areas of Disney’s Hollywood Studios felt like complete ghost towns. And not in a good way. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was so desolate that Cast Members were practically begging guests to enter Oga’s Cantina. Toy Story Land had virtually nothing going on for Disney Jollywood Nights. The two most popular parts of the park offered nothing.
Even lands that ostensibly were participating in Disney Jollywood Nights were pretty sad. We don’t normally spend much time in Animation Courtyard–because why would we?!–and this event was a good reminder of that. It felt like a dead mall trying to reinvent itself by adding a Spirit Halloween Christmas. The Commissary Lane “party” was not quite as sad, but also nothing special and very low-energy. Ditto Pixar Place.
Echo Lake was a bright spot, but not because of Disney Jollywood Nights–it’s always a sleeper during the holiday season. Same goes for Sunset Boulevard, but that’s because virtually all of the substantive offerings were in this area of the park.
Only small pockets of Disney’s Hollywood Studios felt like they were open for business, much less actively celebrating Christmas. Again, this is a regular ole DHS problem, but it’s amplified when you reduce the park capacity and pretend there’s a party happening. It just didn’t have the energy.
Ride Wait Times – With the exception of Slinky Dog Dash and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, every attraction appeared to be a near walk-on. Slinky Dog Dash did have a line (maybe ~10-15 minute actual wait until the last hour) and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance used a virtual queue before breaking down for a bit.
I didn’t do any rides due to the short duration of the event, but this was definitely a bright spot of Disney Jollywood Nights. Due to differences in demographics and people steering clear of some of the underwhelming offerings, I’d expect attraction waits to increase during subsequent events. They still should be manageable and far better than a normal day, though.
Disney Holidays in Hollywood – This is an all-new stage show inspired by the glitz and glamour of vintage Hollywood TV specials—with a contemporary twist and some holiday magic—at Theater of the Stars, Disney’s own Hollywood Bowl-inspired venue.
According to the company, Holidays in Hollywood is a chance to see the holidays through a fresh lens in this star-studded series of jolly vignettes. Holidays in Hollywood features appearances from special guest stars, including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Tiana, Belle, Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse—accompanied by a talented cast of singers, dancers and jazz musicians.
I absolutely loved Holidays in Hollywood! So much so that I wish I could’ve seen it more than once. The performances were fantastic, and although I would’ve loved more Muppets, everyone else was fantastic. In particular, dancing Minnie and Mickey Mouse did a superb job. All around fantastic choreography, music, staging–everything.
I do wish Disney gave more room for the vintage Hollywood TV special framing device room to “breathe.” This was a fantastic idea, and a great nod to the old school style of the Disney MGM Studios, but it didn’t quite fully click. (So perhaps perfectly in line with the OG park’s approach!) I also understand that Disney only wants stage shows to be so long, and this was already really meaty.
I’d put Holidays in Hollywood in the same tier as the Hocus Pocus or Very Merriest stage shows at the Halloween and Christmas parties in Magic Kingdom. It would probably be #3 on that list, but it’s a close call. Regardless, being in the same league as those is a win.
What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along – According to the company, this is a chance to join Jack Skellington at Hyperion Theater for a dreamlike adventure inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Sing along with the Pumpkin King to beloved songs from the film as you follow 2 friends on a larger-than-life journey. You’ll discover the peculiar magic of wonder in unlikely places, conquer the Oogie Boogie man himself and stay curious when things are not quite as they seem.
Given that I’m a very cool (allegedly) adult man over the age of 12 years old, I have zero use for sing-alongs. I don’t get the decision to make a really high quality show…and then turn it into a sing-along. It would be like if Cirque du Soleil, for some reason, called on the audience to perform the acrobatics.
Some of you might love sing-alongs for whatever reason–fine, that’s your prerogative–but judging by the near silence of the audience during my showing, my viewpoint is seemingly the prevailing one.
With that caveat, What’s This? was way better than it had any right to be. The silent performers were fantastic, seeing the Jack Skellington puppet in a theater setting is awesome, and Oogie Boogie stole the show. What’s This? ended up being the pleasant surprise of the event for me. It wasn’t as good as Holidays in Hollywood, but I expected to love that. As someone who hates sing-alongs and is indifferent to all things Tim Burton, I was surprised to enjoy this so much.
What’s This? also underscores that there is easily as much at Disney Jollywood Nights for kids as for adults. Of the worthwhile offerings, the argument could be made that this event was actually more kid-friendly than adult-oriented.
Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! – This nighttime spectacular returns to Hollywood Studios only during Disney Jollywood Nights. According to the company, it features heartwarming holiday moments from favorite Disney films are brought to life on the façade of the park’s iconic Chinese Theater. It’s a stunning display of fireworks, lasers, lights, projections and merry music.
I’m not the world’s biggest Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM fan. I don’t love it or hate it, but I do think it’s incredibly lame that: 1) this show wasn’t brought back for regular daily operations the last couple of years, and; 2) a new nighttime spectacular wasn’t created that better fit the event. Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM feels like an afterthought. It’s as if Disney knew the above offerings weren’t enough, so they recycled an old show and tacked it on.
Event Specific Food & Beverages – There are dining locations throughout Disney’s Hollywood Studios selling party-exclusive food and beverages. There were actually quite a lot of these options, as you can see from the Full Food Guide & Restaurant Reservation Info for the Jollywood Nights Christmas Party.
As noted above, I was able to sample some of the items served at Disney Jollywood Nights. Most of it didn’t wow me, especially not the Dinosaur Gertie cookie (I cannot believe people stood in line ~30 minutes for that). With that said, I also wasn’t there for the food–it was an already short event and I figured that would eat up too much time.
Too Much Friction – It might be possible to read the above and say that it sounds a lot like After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. And perhaps that’s a fair point. Having done After Hours at DHS, I think even that has a better energy than Disney Jollywood Nights, with the park feeling mostly alive thanks to a mix of guests, characters, and free refreshment spots better distributed throughout the park.
Regardless, the key difference between the respective events is friction. We’ve recommended Disney After Hours in the past because it’s a quasi-VIP event that removes all friction from the regular experience and gives guests the run of the park. Short of doing a VIP tour, it makes people feel special.
During After Hours, you don’t have to bother with booking Lightning Lanes, Mobile Order, or any of the barriers that normally get in the way of a great day at DHS. Walk up to an ODV and you’re handed free* soft drinks, ice cream, popcorn, and so forth. (*Included with admission.) That’s not true at Jollywood Nights.
No Contingency Plans (Obsolete?) – Disney Jollywood Nights is held in Florida, a place known for its famously dry climate. Oh wait. Obviously, Walt Disney World cannot be blamed for the weather. There was a lot of rain in the last hour of night one, and that impacts certain things. That’s unavoidable, and it also happens in daily operations.
Less excusable is having no plan for rain and just, I guess, hoping for the best. There were a bunch of meet & greets with rare characters, all of which were held outdoors in open air. When the rain came down, they left and were done for the rest of the night. Character meet & greets are already low capacity and several had hour-plus waits, but that was worsened by them being unavailable for the last hour. Same goes for the entertainment that was also outdoors and also not relocated.
Disney Jollywood Nights was already too short to accomplish a reasonable amount of its substantive offerings, and it certainly didn’t help that one-quarter of the party’s unique offerings did not happen for the most part. What would the plan have been if rain started in the first hour of the event? Imagine how packed the few things that were indoors would’ve been then!
Long Lines & Logistics (Obsolete) – From an operational perspective, just about everything that could’ve gone wrong during the first night of Disney Jollywood Nights did go wrong. It was a complete meltdown–chaos, crowds, and confusion. Cast Members didn’t know how certain venues would operate or gave incorrect information, long lines formed for pretty much anything exclusive to the event, and a too-high percentage of paying guests left upset and underwhelmed, spending more time waiting than doing.
What’s most frustrating about this is that it was easily foreseeable. If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to revisit Why You Should NOT Do Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party. Aside from three paragraphs written in the immediate aftermath of the event, that post was penned back in June. It reads as pretty prescient now, but honestly, it really isn’t that remarkable.
In particular, it discussed how logistical failures play out on a consistent and predictable at Walt Disney World, immediate red flags I saw with this event, and how it was a potential perfect storm of problems. That it would be impossible for Walt Disney World to project demand dynamics, crowdflow, and the logistics of the many moving pieces.
It irritates me to no end that, from the outside looking in, I can identify this stuff within days of an event being announced–without the benefit of inside information. Yet Walt Disney World cannot do the same with months of meetings and planning and whatever it is that they do.
I’m just one dude on the internet. They have hundreds of people working on this. The difference is that I’ve been attending Walt Disney World events for over a decade, and have learned a lot from the good, bad and ugly of those. (I honestly wonder how many times Villains Unleashed came up in their internal meetings, or if no one is still at Walt Disney World who worked on that debacle.)
My Night in a Nutshell
My crew was laser-focused on joining the virtual queue for Jazzy Holidays at Brown Derby to start the event. Having been around the block with Walt Disney World, we knew this was going to be a serious issue. And it was. Regardless, speed strategy worked and we scored spots in the virtual queue for this intimate lounge.
We also knew that the 10 minute estimated wait sent out to everyone in the virtual queue was complete nonsense and 100% the result of a system simultaneously servicing so many simultaneous requests. Not my first rodeo with Disney IT, either. Accordingly, we made an immediate beeline to Twilight Soiree at the Tip Top Club rather than waiting for Jazzy Holidays to sort itself out.
We were among the first guests outside the Tower of Terror gift shop, and had a front row spot for the first set of the band that performed on stage. After watching their full set, we went to the Theater of the Stars for the Holidays in Hollywood show. Right as seating for this began, we were called back to Brown Derby presenting the dilemma of whether to bounce or hope they’d seat us late for Jazzy Holidays.
Our calculation was that many other guests would be in the same boat as us and, if this were a regular virtual queue, late arrivals would be accommodated. If we were wrong, oh well, we’d miss Jazzy Holidays. We returned to Brown Derby immediately after the show, and were correct–we were seated after a short wait.
At Brown Derby, we ordered almost immediately and also requested our checks when the food arrived. We managed to see most of the pianist’s full set, but our experience with Jazzy Holidays at Brown Derby was most definitely rushed. It’s pretty rare to have a counter service meal that quickly, let alone Signature Restaurant!
Following that, I did a quick lap of the park to check out everything else that I hadn’t seen. Me being me, I got distracted taking photos, and had to (literally) run to the last showing of What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along. I arrived 2 minutes before showtime, and the line was cut like a dozen guests after me. Phew.
As I exited the sing-along, it started sprinkling. I headed over to Animation Courtyard to catch the last set of the characters there. By the time I arrived, it had turned into a torrential downpour. The final ~45 minutes of the night were more or less washed out, as there were no contingency plans for the party-specific entertainment offerings. I went from racing around for first few hours to pretty much just standing around to end the event.
Honestly, I didn’t have a terrible experience at Disney Jollywood Nights. Too much of it was a letdown for me, personally, but my night went way better than the average guests with whom I spoke on the bus ride back to the resort and during the days that followed. I also recognize that I knew what to expect (and fear!), and that greatly informed my choices to minimize problems. This review is from the perspective of an average attendee, who wouldn’t have known to make the same choices as me. (If everyone did what I did, my approach would not have worked!)
Where Disney Jollywood Nights Goes From Here
Finally, we want to quickly discuss where Disney Jollywood Nights goes from here for those attending the event this year. The good news is that Walt Disney World knows there’s a problem, and that this event didn’t go as planned.
But that doesn’t mean they have a solution. Again, all of this was easy to foresee, which is precisely why we wrote an article pointing to potential pitfalls back in June. That Walt Disney World was caught flat-footed demonstrates a disappointing lack of institutional knowledge and memory, as well as a failure of imagination.
Thankfully, there are some low-hanging fruit fixes—more bartenders, fully staffing the event, having contingency plans for rain. However, there’s a lot that it’s difficult to imagine gets addressed until 2024. The vibe of Disney Jollywood Nights isn’t suddenly going to change, empty lands won’t suddenly have entertainment, and they aren’t going to flesh out the substance of anything.
Ultimately, it’s difficult for us to recommend Disney Jollywood Nights as-is to the average guest looking for a Christmas time special event. There are niche circumstances where it might have appeal, but even those are a bit far fetched given all of the waiting and timing. Our view is that this event is not worth the money, and if you know us, you know we’re huge suckers for Walt Disney World special events.
Unless you’re okay with an After Hours event (minus the free food) and maybe a bit of Christmas entertainment, you should stick to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party this year. The Magic Kingdom event has actually gotten better this year thanks to lower crowds, making it the easy recommendation for us.
Ending this review on a positive note, Disney Jollywood Nights does have potential and I’m actually optimistic about its future. As silly as that might sound after the bulk of this review, hear me out. The bones of this event–the things that cost a lot of money to develop and are the biggest draws–are fantastic. Bits and pieces are really good, and there are kernels of great ideas that are just incomplete and need more time (and money) to incubate.
The creative side of Disney Jollywood Nights (well, minus Ollie…not sure what they were thinking there) is largely fantastic. The two stage shows were very good, and could be excellent with minor tweaks. The animating ideas behind both of the lounges are good, they just need to be fleshed out and given healthier budgets.
For the most part, it was the operational side that fell apart, and all of that is fixable. I’m incredibly confident that there is a worthwhile event buried in Jollywood Nights, and I truly hope the good ideas and entertainment live on to a new iteration of a Christmas party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Regardless, I’d expect Disney Jollywood Nights to return in 2024. Possibly with a different name if the current ‘brand’ is deemed too toxic, and hopefully in expanded form or even rebranded as an After Hours event (with free refreshments!). Walt Disney World clearly invested a lot of money in developing and marketing Jollywood Nights, and I cannot imagine it’ll break even after a single year. Here’s hoping they fix the problem points and the new or reworked event is better for Christmas 2024!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you attended Disney Jollywood Nights? If so, what was your experience? After reading reviews, will you purchase party tickets for Disney Jollywood Nights? Think the potential positives outweigh the negatives, or vice-versa? What has you excited about the event? What has you concerned? If you’re planning to attend, will you do so instead of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or in addition to it? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
If they do bring this back in 2024, does Disney typically add more events as they include them in their rotation? It looks like last year was just the 10 days and it was every other week – not a lot of opportunities to attend, unlike MVMCP.
This will be my first year hitting the holidays in Disney World and I am beyond excited but hopefully going the 2nd week of December does not cause me to miss out.
We actually really enjoyed it last year. Probably enjoyed it more than MVMCP tbh. The ticket cost is the major drawback for us, but with expectations that were really low going in, we were pleasantly surprised.
Do you know if they are still doing Fantasmic on the Jollywood Nights event days?
Looks like Fantasmic is showing at 7:15 pm on
Jollywood nights , park then closes at 8:30pm for Jollywood .
Thank you, Gail!
what should I do if I already purchased 5 tickets for Tues next week?
Susan, check the new review from the second party yesterday. I did the party myself and it was totally different.
It’s still worth going!
If still having doubts about going , I called DISNEYWORLD ticketing and they said if you are a no show and don’t scan your ticket at gate , you are automatically credited for the ticket price to your Disney account I thought that can’t be right ??? Seems too easy to cancel and still get a future credit? May double check that with a Disney ticket agent when we arrive to DISNEYWORLD. We have Jollywood tickets for early Dec and still not 100% sure we will go but reading current reviews , we may go for it out of curiosity.
Well done! A+ for an insightful, informative, funny and honest review.
Here tonight (11/18) for the second night of this event, and in my humble opinion and, based on previous reviews from this party, such as your review, I think tonight has been A LOT BETTER!
Even though it’s said that this event was sold out, I feel like the park is quite empty and nothing compared to MK with MVMCP.
I felt like tonight things are lined up and organized. I really enjoyed the fact that cast members have been checking up on guests asking for our opinion on how we like the food and how our night is going.
It’s a party I wouldn’t do it again. However I did MVMCP last night and that was too overwhelming with a 3yo child so I’m taking tonight easy and just enjoying what I can.
Lines are going super fast and my longest lines were 30 minutes each to see Minnie and Mickey.
I did find the food really good tonight and the atmosphere of the park is lovely and enjoyable
I know Disney’s idea was for a night out of dancing and partying but I guess that doesn’t match with Disney itself… I dunno, it just doesn’t make any sense to me.., not a party fun fur children that’s for sure but still lots of then to do.
We enjoyed the party and the food, and atmosphere was great!!!
I came with zero expectations and it’s been better than expected!
Thank you for such an entertaining article. I just kept laughing!
The Driving Crooner! As always, those references always get me. My husband and I thought that show was even funnier in our postpartum, sleep-deprived haze.
Really enjoyed this review and impressed to see all the new content from the new parents!
“If the planners and executives had to spend days at the parks, incognito, using Genie +, waiting in lines, getting rained on, ordering food on the mobile app, finding places to sit, etc. they may learn something faster and at less cost…”
100% agree.
As for doubting that they had hundreds of people working on this…I’m guessing you’ve never been to a ‘launch day’ of something at Disney? You’d never believe how many managers and plainclothes employees are present. And that’s just who you see!
Tom this made me laugh. We have been to a few, opening day of Star Wars, opening of Riviera. We were at Disney’s Hilton Head last spring the first day Chip and Dale appeared. There were easily 20-30 CM and managers…for two chipmunks.
I really appreciate your honest review and trust your opinion. We are really on the fence as the shows (two new + Jingle) is what really attracted us. But I was also looking for atmosphere and it sounds lacking . Had no intention of doing the Brown Derby and it seems like eating before you go is one of the keys to success.
We are really on the fence about whether to try and get a refund and switch to something else.
We’ve experienced the worst (Villains Unleashed) and one of the best After hours events (Oogie Boogie) and it is so disheartening that WDW cannot get this right.
MNSSHP and MVMCP are virtually unchanged in the last decade. Like your earlier Blog said we also want to support trying something new but this is disappointing.
I am really hoping some blogger (maybe you!) will attend another party and compare if anything has improved.
I think some of the problems these after hour parties have is labor shortages . Remember DISNEYWORLD was all about hiring workers from foreign countries and probably paying them peanuts, but post Covid , minimum wage went up and no one wants to work anymore , really . As a result these parks suffer and the turnover is high and the staff is undertrained .
We really enjoy MVMCP, but I kinda regret buying tickets to Jollywood .
Great review Tom! We were there on night one (we are actually in your photo of the Brown Derby!) and felt most of the same pain that you did. Our night started with a 40 minute wait for our wristband followed by the fiasco with the walk up list at the Brown Derby. The fact that they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) foresee the operational challenges of this party boggles the mind. At least we left before the rain started. On a side note, I am the person who talked to you about the party ahead of time at the Yacht Club. We were so young and naive then! 🙂
I suppose it goes to show that sometimes the “hundreds” of people making the plans and designing attractions, shows and amenities should also be required to use and experience them as normal people. Your first hand experience of parties, room stays, etc. gives you an intuition and insight no analysts or project manager can glean by reading statistics. If the planners and executives had to spend days at the parks, incognito, using Genie +, waiting in lines, getting rained on, ordering food on the mobile app, finding places to sit, etc. they may learn something faster and at less cost of those “hundreds “. I’m not so sure they had hundreds working on the logistics of this party. Walt Disney sometimes comes across as a bit arrogant in that they think anything they dream up will be well received. I’m hoping this gets fixed because I’d like to go to both Christmas parties next year.
“If the planners and executives had to spend days at the parks, incognito, using Genie +, waiting in lines, getting rained on, ordering food on the mobile app, finding places to sit, etc. they may learn something faster and at less cost…”
100% agree.
As for doubting that they had hundreds of people working on this…I’m guessing you’ve never been to a ‘launch day’ of something at Disney? You’d never believe how many managers and plainclothes employees are present. And that’s just who you see!
“Jollywood” sounds so much like Bollywood, that I subliminally thought of it as a B-Movie level experience even with just the early marketing before any of the nights actually took place. Perhaps a new name, rebrand for 2024, as you suggest, when they iron out some of the issues will be a smart play.
My first impression was that the name was a bit off, but I’ve come to appreciate the pun.
Still wouldn’t be surprised if they choose to call it something different in 2024.
We have tickets for the December 16 event (that’s already sold out, so should be packed again). I think we prefer the offerings at Jollywood to MVMCP overall, but there’s nothing at Jollywood it would kill us to miss.
Do you think it makes more sense to switch over to MVMCP for a more stable event or stick with Jollywood and accept that things will likely go wrong throughout?
Probably going to wait for the Saturday and Monday parties to see if anything improves operationally, but yikes, wish we could just get a regular refund. They can’t even roll it into credit for Oogie Boogie Bash, an event we know we want to do eventually when our trip lines up.
I would wait for reports from the next couple of parties unless the substance of Jollywood Nights sounds unimpressive.
You’re going late enough in the season that a LOT could change between now and then when it comes to logistics and operations.
I’m here tonight ( 11/18) and it’s way better and way more organized!
Cast members keep checking up on us all the time to ask how things are going.
Much more laid back party than MVMCP and I’m kinda enjoying this tranquil feeling.
Food is pretty good and I hadn’t waited in line for anything except for 30 minutes for Mickey and Minnie each
Honestly I am going in with zero expectations. The only reason we bought tickets is because of a 13 year old who loves all things Muppets and all things Nightmare Before Christmas. I will look at her face during the two shows and consider it money well spent.
That’s the right attitude!
For a Muppets and Nightmare Before Christmas fan, I could see this being worth it–especially so if you prioritize other things with short lines and without friction outside of the two shows.
Sounds like the Osborn Christmas Lights by themselves were more Christmassy and better than Jollywood Nights. Are you listening Disney? I remember reading the offerings and was not impressed. Didn’t seem like they were offering much.
I’ve seen Jingle Bell Jingle Bam several times and I liked it, it wasn’t spectacular but it was part of a day at the Park. It was nice. Now you have to pay to see what once came with your ticket? That’s the perfect example of adding insult to injury.
I kind of expected this to be a disaster. Then too I had had the advantage of reading your blog. I was hoping we’d both be wrong.
I miss the Osborne lights. We made a special trip their final year because we’d never seen them. They were wonderful, and included in the price of regular daily admission instead of being a separate upcharge event. I really think the five years between 2014-2019 were the peak for WDW in terms of the value proposition on what was, even back then, a very expensive vacation. Sad to say, but I think it’s true.
Here is another way to look at this event.
It will cost you about .74 cents a MINUTE to go to it.
I am not sure what Disney is thinking, or if they even are at this point with loser events like this.
I see your point but your “per minute” calculation makes Jollywood Nights compare favorably to other ways you could spend money on a special event. How much per minute do people pay for average seats at an NFL or NBA game, touring Broadway musical, or rock concert? (The answer: more than this.)
Jollywood Nights may not be “worth it” but the per-minute rate isn’t what makes or breaks the bargain.
After seeing live feeds from the first night I saw a lot of the issues you mentioned here. I had purchased tickets a few months ago with the hope Disney would do something good. Being a long time Disney World Christmas time attendee, I was hoping for another good Christmas even. I remember the Christmas dinner show they would do at the Contemporary, the Osborn Christmas Lights at the Studio (desert viewing party was great also for that), Maybe they can move the Disney Holidays in Hollywood show to the theater between Space Ranger Spin and Carousel of Progress where they used to do Mickey’s Twas the Night Before Christmas show for the MVMCP next year. Luckily I was able to exchange my tickets for Jollywood nights for another night doing MVMCP. We will be doing MVMCP twice this trip but it is better than being disappointed with Jollywood nights. All the problems listed by Tom and other people whom have attended is a good reason not to attend this year. The only thing I can see Disney improving for the upcoming problems is staffing to decrease the wait times for food and drinks. Besides that, a rainy night will ruin the entire party.
That theater became Cast Member parking. I liked when they did the MVMCP show there!
I’ve been waiting for your review on this, as I’m taking my parents in December as part of a ‘reverse childhood’ trip to show them the parks before my annual pass expires. They’ve not been to the parks since the 90s, and this seemed like a substantively great way to show them Hollywood studios (because they totally would dance at the ‘swinging parties’ at least for one song.) However, I am now really torn. I, too, was hoping for a lower crowds, ‘After Hours’ type environment where they could experience the studios in a relaxed and interesting way, with some extra treats from food booths and interesting entertainment. Now…I’m not so sure. Crowds are the number one issue I was hoping to avoid, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case unless we hang out in Galaxy’s Edge the whole time (honestly kind of tempting.)
Did you notice if any of the shops or food outside of main street were open (like Dok Ondars or ABC Commissary, etc?)
And, should I end up not wanting to do this event – have you heard what Disney is doing–if anything–to exchange? ($$ Credit, moving to MVMCP?)
I was able to change my tickets to MVMCP. I did have to pay the difference in price but was worth it. They will also give you a credit for a future ticket purchase, but no refunds.
I’m honestly surprised that you’re still torn. I actually remembered one of your earlier comments (pretty sure it was you!) when writing this, imagining a ‘use case’ where someone wants a bit of the holidays + After Hours.
For that, I honestly think Jollywood Nights could be fairly good. Lines for attractions are still a wildcard that could change, but I can’t imagine them getting significantly worse. Just remember that ‘capacity’ is significantly lower for food & beverage and character meet & greets. Meaning that if you put all of those people who were standing in line for that stuff in line for rides, they’d be gobbled up with ease.
Obviously, I can’t make the decision for you, but having a good idea of your preferences based on posting history, I’d stick with Jollywood Nights if I were in your shoes. (With that said, it does sound like WDW is allowing switches to MVMCP.)
It’s really the crowds that make me hesitate, as that was what killed MNSSHP for me last year. What had me torn was also that you mentioned it was not marketed as an After Hours event for a reason, and that it strangely didn’t have the life that the After Hours events had. I quite loved the After Hours at Hollywood studios! But…if this is similar but with some Christmas…maybe it is worth a shot. I’ll keep an ear out to hear about subsequent events and see.
Thank you for that. We’re going on Saturday. armed with your info I’ve got a good idea for a plan. We’re going to dress up and treat this like a date night. Wish us luck! We will join the line for the jazzy club and roll the dice on late arrivals. I saw coverages on the line for call backs and don’t think that will be fixed anytime soon. I’m a sucker for that dinosaur though and will want that cookie lol
I enjoyed my cookie! Anything Gertie is good for me.