Guide to Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party at Hollywood Studios

Jollywood Nights is a new Christmas party coming to Hollywood Studios for the 2023 holiday season. Our guide to the event covers dates & details for Walt Disney World’s newest hard ticket event, plus our commentary about this ‘counterprogramming’ to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, anticipated crowd dynamics at WDW in November and December, and more. (Updated November 6, 2023.)

Let’s start with the basic details that we already know about Disney Jollywood Nights (DJN). This event will be held on select nights in Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS), offering a more refined holiday vibe, sights of sparkling décor, sounds of modern beats over classic holiday songs, tastes of craft cocktails and decadent dishes. It’s nostalgic and it’s glitz and glam galore.

Get ready to dress in your holiday glam best or festive flair, dance the night away to merry mashups, indulge in divine treats and bubbling spirits, and snap selfies with iconic characters during Disney Jollywood Nights. For an extra dose of holiday cheer, the party wraps with the return of the nighttime spectacular, “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” You’ll be in fa la la la la la la la land before you can say Tinseltown!

Disney Jollywood Nights is a separately ticketed, limited-capacity holiday event from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on 10 select nights from November 11 to December 20, 2023. Tickets to Disney Jollywood Nights are now available for all guests. Ticket prices range from $159 to $179 per person, depending upon the date. Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members can save $10 per ticket to Disney Jollywood Nights, valid for all event nights.

Party dates for Disney Jollywood Nights are:

• Saturday, November 11, 2023 (SOLD OUT)
• Saturday, November 18, 2023 (SOLD OUT)
• Monday, November 20, 2023
• Monday, November 27, 2023
• Wednesday, November 29, 2023
• Monday, December 4, 2023
• Wednesday, December 6, 2023
• Saturday, December 16, 2023 (SOLD OUT)
• Monday, December 18, 2023
• Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Ticket holders will be admitted to Disney’s Hollywood Studios as early as 7:00 PM on the valid date of their ticket. These date-specific event tickets do not require an additional day theme park ticket or theme park reservation.

Walt Disney World has shared a sneak peek at more of the entertainment and other offerings during the Jollywood Nights Christmas Party, with two new stage shows being among the highlights. Disney Holidays in Hollywood is a star-studded variety show in the grand tradition of Tinseltown’s most beloved holiday specials – all with a twist of today’s Hollywood magic.

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Tiana, Belle, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are among the special guest stars, and there are plenty of surprises in store – including a brand-new original song by Tiana. Singers, dancers and live jazz musicians round out the talented cast of entertainers in this dazzling performance. Jolly vignettes remind everyone that the holidays mean something special to each and every one of us.

Jollywood Nights attendees also won’t want to miss “What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along.” 

Enter a dreamlike adventure in The Hyperion Theater where Jack Skellington takes us on an ethereal exploration of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Sing along to beloved songs from the iconic film and discover peculiar magic in unexpected places. Along the way, you’ll conquer Oogie Boogie and be encouraged to follow your curiosity.

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and friends are wearing new outfits exclusively for this glitzy celebration – and they invite you to do the same. The new outfits are inspired by the party’s vintage vibe, which celebrates the glitz and glam of Hollywood.

Art directors, show producers and designers worked together to land on just the right combination of colors and fabric for these special looks. Delve into any old collection of ornaments from the ‘30s, ‘40s or ‘50s, and you’re sure to find an array of colorful pastels. And that’s exactly what we see here!

Mint green and soft reds in sumptuous fabrics set the tone as you encounter Mickey & Friends Holiday Greetings in Animation Courtyard. The gang has just wrapped on the set of their new holiday film, and you’re invited to catch a glimpse of the magic!

A DJ will play the merriest of mash-ups, featuring a mix of smooth classics layered with modern beats. While tunes at the entrance set the tone for the evening, stroll around Echo Lake for a trip down a more recent memory lane featuring holiday music and characters from classic Disney Channel favorites, including Powerline Max, Rescue Rangers Chip ‘n’ Dale and Phineas and Ferb.

Throughout the event, revel in oodles of spectacular entertainment. At Welcome to Disney Jollywood Nights, strike your best pose in front of a new neon sign before joining the dance party. Disney PhotoPass photographers will be there to capture the moment, and complimentary digital downloads of your Disney PhotoPass photos captured during the event are included with the price of your ticket.

Speaking of PhotoPass, there will be more special photo ops during Disney Jollywood Nights. A Robotic Arm Magic Shot will capture your red carpet moment with a glamorous, show-stopping video. There’s also a Camera Array Magic shot – seven cameras that will shoot a boomerang-style photo of your group in front of a Disney Jollywood Nights backdrop.

Walt Disney World also revealed the Full Food Guide & Restaurant Reservation Info for the Jollywood Nights Christmas Party. There have been a lot of questions about how guests will access the more intimate swanky spots at the new nighttime soiree. One highlight of Disney Jollywood Nights is Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby as the restaurant transforms into a smooth jazz joint, playing holiday tunes amidst sparkling décor.

Here, you can sip craft cocktails and indulge in an exclusive menu of light bites while enjoying the music and ambiance of this classy establishment. To experience the festive fun of Jazzy Holidays at The Holiday Brown Derby, you can request to join the walk-up waitlist on the My Disney Experience app. There’s no need to visit the host stand to check availability.

You can also drop by the dazzling Twilight Soirée at The Tip-Top Club, a swingin’ soiree in the courtyard of The Hollywood Tower Hotel. A live band will be bringing the fun with holiday tunes in jukebox style as you sip on fancy cocktails. The Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club will not use a virtual queue or walk-up waitlist.

Another entertainment offering will be “Holiday Fiesta En La Calle” on Commissary Lane. This will feature holiday street fair with lively energy and Latin holiday music will fill the air as musicians play along the walkways. Drinks and treats in this area will be inspired by Latin holiday traditions.

The final update is that during a recent Good Morning America segment, the company indicated that the Jollywood Nights Christmas party is “adults-only” and “for grown-ups,” causing considerable confusion and questions among guests. We answer whether that’s the case in Is Disney Jollywood Nights an Adults-Only Christmas Party? (Short answer: kids won’t be turned away from Jollywood Nights, but we also address whether you should bring them in the first place.)

Walt Disney World has also released showtimes for Disney Jollywood Nights:

• What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along – 8:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m.
• Disney Holidays in Hollywood – 8:45 p.m., 9:45 p.m., 10:45 p.m., 11:45 p.m.
• Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! Fireworks – 12:30 a.m.

Presumably, everything else will be operating continuously during Disney Jollywood Nights. Character meet & greets do take brief breaks during this type of event, but there typically are not sets that are spaced out with half-hour or longer gaps in between.

Enjoy after-hours access to some of your favorite rides and coasters under the stars. After-hours access to some of your favorite rides and coasters including the following:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Toy Story Mania

Note: Star Wars: Rise of Resistance will use virtual queue during Disney Jollywood Nights. Guests attending the event will have an opportunity to request to join the virtual queue for this attraction at 8:00 pm. A standby queue for this attraction will not be available during the event. Each Guest can request to enter this virtual queue no more than once during Disney Jollywood Nights.

Other that that, there are still unknowns about Disney Jollywood Nights. Our guess is that many questions won’t be answered until the first event, by which time at least some of the remaining parties will likely be sold out. For reference, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party sold out a couple of dates last year in September, with sell outs picking up steam between October 27 and November 4.

Disney Jollywood Nights is a totally different beast–in terms of event dates, capacity, and probably demand–so it’s impossible to say when more dates will sell out. But we’d guess that at least 3 more dates of DJN will sell out before November 11, 2023. After that, tickets could move quickly or slowly depending upon word of mouth from the first night.

If you’re a Floridian or Annual Passholder with a ton of flexibility and able to do one of the December 2023 dates for Disney Jollywood Nights, you probably can wait until reports come out from the first event before deciding whether or not to buy tickets. No guarantees on that, but if you’re on the fence and don’t necessarily mind missing out, that’s probably what we’d recommend. (I’ll be there on opening night and will have a report ASAP afterwards.)

As noted above, Disney Jollywood Nights is a brand-new event, so there’s not a ton we can offer in terms of tips & tricks or insight beyond the basic details that Walt Disney World has announced. With that said, we’ve been attending Disney hard ticket events since 2007, and have seen a lot of party concepts come and go during that time. We’ve also learned what works and doesn’t, and are able to identify some ‘red flags’ with Disney Jollywood Nights as a result.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a rundown of potential problems in Why You Should NOT Do Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party at Hollywood Studios. That covers everything from crowds to capacity to entertainment, and draws parallels to one of the biggest disasters in Walt Disney World special event history…which was also at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

On the other hand, there are a lot to like about this new Christmas Party, which we cover in Why You Should Do Disney Jollywood Nights. The bottom line is that we’re truly torn. Consider those companion posts that together should help you make an informed decision about Disney Jollywood Nights.

We’ll be attending the first Disney Jollywood Nights of the year and will report back with a full review, photo report, tips & tricks, and everything else you need to know to plan for the event…or decide whether it’s right for you. Of course, with one date already sold out, you may not be able to wait until then to purchase tickets.

Based on the Disney Jollywood Nights details, it seems like this event will offer some components that are interesting and reminiscent of the now-defunct Merriest Nites Christmas Party at Disneyland. There are certainly elements of this–like the Latin Street Fair and the Muppets hosting a live holiday special at Theater of the Stars–that have a ton of appeal.

With that said, I’m concerned that this will be an incomplete event (despite the price point). Although the jazz lounge at The Hollywood Brown Derby and an other-worldly soiree at The Hollywood Tower Hotel Courtyard sound intriguing, the words “limited-capacity” are a red flag, and give me pause that these will be difficult to access–everyone who wants to do them may not have the chance.

Finally, Disney Jollywood Nights doesn’t advertise the low lines of After Hours, which makes me wonder just how many rides will be open (Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance using a virtual queue reinforces that–and means only one ride per person at most). The event also does not have the entertainment roster of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. At least, that’s my initial impression.

In theory, Disney’s Hollywood Studios offering a holiday season event after park closing that serves as counterprogramming to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is a great idea. But as with anything, it’s very much contingent upon execution, and what we know about Disney Jollywood Nights thus far sounds makes it more of a toss-up than a sure thing.

I hope that it ends up being fantastic, as I think a Christmas event at DHS is a good idea and because this being a failure could mean that the concept is abandoned for another decade, rather than fixed and improved upon.

I’m already starting to warm to the idea of Disney Jollywood Nights. It’s still very much dependent upon the execution and whether the substance of the event lives up to the promise, but I think my first impression was overly sour and harsh.

On a positive note, I do appreciate that Walt Disney World appears to be trying to do something more sophisticated. This comes across very much in the spirit of old Hollywood, and focuses more on live music, performers, and atmosphere than it does on popular characters and rides. Obviously, those latter two things will be present to round out the roster, but they are not the focus of Disney Jollywood Nights.

So even if I’m a little concerned about the execution or whether there will be enough entertainment to justify the cost of admission (and keep crowds occupied–even limited-capacity events can have issues if ticket sales exceed compelling offerings), I do have to give Walt Disney World props for trying something different and more adult. We’ve wanted to see precisely this type of thing. Here’s hoping it’s fully fleshed out and a hit right out the door. (My prediction is that this will be feast or famine–either it’ll be a huge hit with its target audience or a total trainwreck.)

I don’t think Disney Jollywood Nights will be a failure in one key metric: ticket sales. This is a brand new event occurring during the popular holiday season and only has 10 dates. Bloggers, vloggers, social media influencers, College Program participants…plus some regular guests…will likely sell out the first night. I’ll be among them, because that’s what my people do!

After that, there are enough diehard Walt Disney World fans that most or all dates of Disney Jollywood Nights will sell out for the Christmas 2023 season. This isn’t the type of thing where “failure” is likely to come by virtue of (lack of) ticket sales. If anything, it’ll be like Villains Unleashed and fail to the extent that it doesn’t comport with expectations and guest satisfaction is low as a result. Again, that’s assuming that it misses the mark. It could end up being fabulous, with the target audience absolutely loving it. (Like Villains Unleashed, I’ll bet more than a few families with small children purchase tickets and find it’s not what they bargained for.)

Another big thing that’s worth addressing is the impact that Disney Jollywood Nights will have on crowds throughout Walt Disney World. Christmas is an incredibly busy time of year at Walt Disney World, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party already screws with crowds and attendance dynamics.

One of the advantages of doing an After Hours event is that it has minimal impact on crowds since those events occur after regular park closing. Day guests thus don’t “plan around” After Hours, since it doesn’t really impact them. Although not branded as such, this is comparable to an After Hours event timing-wise.

With the 8:30 pm start time, Disney Jollywood Nights should not massively disrupt crowds. On a normal night during the holiday season, Disney’s Hollywood Studios would close at 9 pm. On Disney Jollywood Nights dates, the park will close at 8 pm to day guests. That’s a slight loss of time, but not enough that it’ll cause crowds to shift around significantly on its own.

With that said, there will likely be an impact on Fantasmic. Since the reimagined nighttime spectacular returned, it has offered two performances on busier days–including all but a handful of dates last holiday season. Last November and December, the first showtime typically occurred around 7 pm, with a second at 9 pm or 9:30 pm depending upon when the park closed.

Disney Jollywood Nights will mean no second showtime of Fantasmic on at least some nights. In turn, that will probably result in some guests rescheduling their Disney’s Hollywood Studios park days. That’s the logical approach if Fantasmic is a priority, as the second showtime is so much easier to catch. (See our recent Afternoon & Evening Plan for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which illustrates why.)

As we covered ad nauseum last year, this very dynamic at Magic Kingdom can be leveraged to the strategic advantage of savvy guests. It’s counterintuitive strategy, but it works consistently there. That’s our go-to approach to Magic Kingdom for August through December, and it works without fail.

The problem, as noted above, is that it’s counterintuitive. Additionally, most guests are not savvy or have good reason (no Park Hopper tickets, wanting to see Happily Ever After, etc.) for not wanting to embrace the approach. The fact that the strategy does work without fail is a testament to the fact that the hard ticket events are so disruptive to attendance dynamics, and that the scheduling of MVMCP and resulting crowds create headaches.

Nevertheless, one silver lining here is that savvy Walt Disney World planners will be able to strategize around Disney Jollywood Nights and benefit from slightly lower crowds as a result. It won’t be nearly as pronounced as over at Magic Kingdom where the park closes ~4 hours earlier than normal, but that’s probably a good thing, as that approach clearly creates winners and losers. (All of us are benefiting from lower crowds at Magic Kingdom precisely because others are paying the price of higher crowds.)

Ultimately, I hope that Disney Jollywood Nights ends up exceeding expectations. Heck, I hope to revisit this announcement in a few days and feel more positive about it for one reason or another. Once Walt Disney World provides more details, perhaps Disney Jollywood Nights will become more appealing…especially if that tease about the Muppets ends up being significant!

Or maybe Disney Jollywood Nights is simply something that’s “not for me” but will hold appeal for those who love to dance and get fancy for an evening out in the park. To find a silver lining in this new event, at least the holiday/jolly-night party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios should put some crowds and demand away from the 2023 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so that’s a win for longtime fans like me who love that time-tested event!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Will you attend this Christmas party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? If so, will you do it instead of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or in addition to it? What do you think about Disney Jollywood Nights? What are your thoughts on ticket prices? Will your family be buying or sitting out the Christmas festivities? Are you excited for Christmas 2023 at Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our perspective on this? 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!