When my family was booking our holiday trip to Orlando this year and we were looking for holiday experiences, Disney’s Jollywood Nights very quickly made it to our itinerary. I had been to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party plenty of times growing up, and even once during college, but I felt as though there was nothing new or noteworthy motivated me to go back. Despite less-than-stellar reviews for the initial few events during its debut season last year, Jollywood Nights seemed like a Very Merry Christmas Party that was designed for a more grown-up audience. The marketing highlighted rare and retro characters, a variety of live entertainment offerings, and seasonal food and drink offerings around the park. Plus, all PhotoPass images and videos are included with your event ticket! Jollywood Nights does not offer complimentary treats like Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, but I personally found the menu options to be more expansive (yes, alcoholic drinks were also an option, which are never available at the Magic Kingdom), but we’ll get to that more in a bit.
Without a day ticket or annual pass, Jollywood Nights attendees can enter Hollywood Studios about an hour before the event starts. As a lifelong Muppet*Vision 3D fan who knew she wasn’t going to make it back before the attraction retired, I immediately made a beeline to catch one of the last showings of the day. This did work in my favor for the event, though. Before the event “officially” starts, you can really only wait in line for select offerings, and most of them happened to be in the vicinity of the Muppets Courtyard. Since it was the only offering that was open and therefore had a moving line, the first Jollywood stop was the robotic arm video setup; you could select from one of two options and capture a fun short video taken by a robotic arm camera on a set themed to the Muppet’s rendition of A Christmas Carol. The snow globe option was about three seconds, and the Fozzie bear cameo option was about ten seconds, and with a couple of minutes of practice and preparation before recording for each group, the line moved slowly. This experience shares the old Muppets souvenir store space with the Jollywood Nights event merchandise location, which we popped into after we finished our video. The store opens a few hours before the event starts, so unfortunately, the pin I was hoping to pick up sold out less than an hour before we made it in.
One of my whole family’s to-do’s for the event was Disney Holidays in Hollywood, the live stage show at Theater of the Stars. There are only a handful of showtimes each night and it was on the opposite end of the park from where we were, so we took our time and had a couple of delightful detours on the way. One of the food stands had a Duffy the Disney Bear brownie with Coca-Cola frosting. It was an impulse purchase since I don’t even drink Coke and it was so big that I couldn’t finish it, but I was satisfied with the half to two-thirds I was able to eat before passing it off to my dad. I also stopped to see Chip and Dale in their Rescue Rangers costumes! My dad picked up the exclusive Santa Gertie cookies while I was in line. They were out of ice cream, but the cookie was adorable and very photogenic. Who doesn’t love a dinosaur with a holiday hat?
We continued down Sunset Boulevard right to the Theater of the Stars and were very glad to have gotten there more than ten minutes early. The house fills up fast, and the show starts right on time! This was one of the crown jewels of the night, though. There’s a live jazz band, a full dance ensemble, and two lead singers. Better yet, the show is hosted by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy! That’s right – live Muppet performances on stage. We’re also able to see Princess Tiana, Mickey and Minnie, and Belle all sing songs, and the band gets its own moment to shine, too. It’s twenty-five minutes of upbeat singing and dancing with talented performers that just feels like holiday cheer.
Now that we got the main show out of the way, the focus for the rest of the night was meeting characters. While the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam! fireworks show was playing, I was able to get in line for Panchito without too much of a wait. After the fireworks show was over, a guitarist and singer came out to play in the courtyard! After Panchito, my family decided to finish the park loop and walk through Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge to get back to Muppets Courtyard to see Duffy the Disney Bear, who is one of my favorite characters and has only made rare appearances in the States for the last decade. We waited for about a half hour to see Duffy, which was the shortest his wait had been that night, and enjoyed a meatball treat from PizzaRizzo while in line. While making our way back to the front of the park, we did get lucky and jumped on the (relatively) short lines to meet Mickey and Minnie, and Phineas and Ferb. It was just about midnight at this point and there wasn’t much else to see or do in the short time that we had left, started to head out, but not before impulse buying a Chuuby shoulder buddy at the main gift shop.
There was so much to do and see at Jollywood Nights that I don’t think anyone could get to everything in just one visit. I was a bit disappointed since reviews from earlier in the season praised how empty the event was and how short all of the lines were on a night that was at capacity. I wasn’t sure if my night was sold out, but it definitely looked and felt busier than what I had seen from opening weekend. I did not see any character lines shorter than ten to twenty minutes, and most of the popular characters had lines that were easily over a half hour. I would have liked to see the Tip Top Club and a few more rare characters, but I did get to all of my must-dos and some surprise photo ops.
For me and my family, Jollywood Nights was worth the time and money! It was one of the more unique events that Disney has offered in recent history, and as a huge fan of the Muppets, live entertainment, and Duffy the Disney Bear, I was more than satisfied with my night. Jollywood Nights is only about five hours long, so I’d recommend keeping your day plans calm to preserve your energy for the night. The lines did get shorter as the night went on, so if you want to do as much as you can, you’ll easily be in the park past midnight (do keep in mind that the Skyliner stops running before the end of the party). The free PhotoPass was surprisingly valuable, especially since the event offered a lot of specialty photo ops and magic shots, including one with the Muppets on Sunset Boulevard. I would likely attend Jollywood Nights again if presented the opportunity, but would probably be a bit more intentional about planning out my night to maximize my time.
Have you been to Jollywood Nights? If so, what was your favorite part of the event?
Obligatory map photo
Hugging Duffy the Disney Bear for the first time in ten years
A reindeer Rex spotting!
Meeting Panchito (while listening to live music and watching the fireworks!)
The finale of “Disney Holidays in Hollywood”
Hanging out by Echo Lake
Santa Gertie cookie with Santa Gertie
Phineas, Ferb, and Agent P!
A Duffy Paw Brownie with a Gelatoni keychain cameo
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers! (please read in the tune of the song)
Outfit Deets: Reformation Dress (found at Woodbury Commons Outlet), Aerie Lace Long Sleeve Mock Neck, Aerie White Fluffy Jacket, Target Platform Boots (comparable to Dr. Martens Jaden Platform Boot), Madewell Silver Wavy Hoops, Bracelets from Mure + Grand / Pura Vida / Little Words Project / Kate Spade Outlet, Dooney & Bourke backpack with Aulani Gelatoni keychain
Have a terrific day!
