Tonight is the first Disney Jollywood Nights event of the 2024 Holiday Season, and we will be in attendance to check out what’s new and improved this year. In this article, we’ll preview the event and offer some of our expectations heading into the night. This is the second year for Disney Jollywood Nights, and we expect to see some improvements where the event fell short last year, along with some returning hits from year one. Let’s jump in!
2024 Disney Jollywood Nights Preview & Expectations
Disney Jollywood Nights had a rough start in 2023. It was the first year for the event, and it showed. Disney simply wasn’t ready for opening night and it was a bit of a disaster as a result of poor planning and execution. That said, there were some very bright spots during the event in the form of exclusive entertainment. At the risk of spoiling this entire article at the onset, I’m very hopeful that the event will be improved this year and my expectations are relatively high.
As with our Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party preview, we’ll try to keep this relatively high-level. If you’re looking for more of a nuts and bolts article compiling everything you need to know, check out our Disney Jollywood Nights guide below!
Before we jump in, I want to issue a similar caveat as I did during the Very Merry preview by noting that I will have a different perspective on these types of events than you might. For many guests, this will be their first-ever Disney Jollywood Nights this year. While I do have the added benefit of having attended last year, that could probably be both a good and bad thing when it comes to my expectations this year.
The biggest asterisk when compared to the Very Merry preview is that Disney Jollywood Nights is still new. I only attended once last year, which means that the event still has some of that new car smell. Furthermore, there are a number of notable adjustments for 2024 that should make the event shine a bit brighter than it did last year. Let’s dig in a bit more and preview the event!
Jollywood Nights Must-Do’s
We’ll start out with a look at what we thought were the highlights from last year and what we’re most looking forward to during the 2024 version of the event.
Nightmare Before Christmas Stage Show
The stage shows were quite good at last year’s event and they remain a top priority for us headed into the 2024 Holiday Season. At the top of the list is the Nightmare Before Christmas stage show called What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along. The show is performed multiple times per night in the Hyperion Theater and features a dream-like sing-along of some of the movie’s iconic songs.
This is a unique production featuring very little dialog outside of the sing-along portions, which makes the show a bit more mature in concept. It will be interesting to see if anything has changed. Overall, we hope the changes are minimal because it’s a great show that should be a part of anyone’s plans for Jollywood Nights.
Disney Holidays in Hollywood
Next up on the list of must-do’s is the Disney Holidays in Hollywood show at the Theater of the Stars. Sometimes referred to as the Muppets holiday show, Holidays in Hollywood features Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy along with a few other Disney characters.
What makes this show wonderful is the live singing performances from Disney princesses such as Tiana and Belle. When you combine that with dancers and some classic holiday songs, it’s another strong offering that we’d recommend to anyone.
Glisten! Skating Show (NEW)
Another entertainment offering high on our priority list is the brand new skating show Glisten!, which will take place on Center Stage in front of the Chinese Theater. The show will bring talented skaters to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a brand new show. We’re not sure what to expect from this, but it’ll be a popular first stop for many tonight. Keep an eye out for photos and video, along with our thoughts about the show in a review later.
Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM
Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM is the exclusive “fireworks” show for Disney Jollywood Nights again this year, and I’m torn about it. On the one hand, the show is fun and cohesive, a wonderful offering for the holiday season. On the other hand, Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM used to be offered during nightly operations at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The fact that the show only sits behind a paywall is a bit of a travesty. I’d love to see Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM offered during nightly operations at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during the holiday season, but then it wouldn’t feel special during Jollywood Nights. Even worse, what if Disney designed a new nighttime spectacular for Jollywood Nights and it didn’t live up to Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM.
Ultimately, I’d love to see something exclusive for Disney Jollywood Nights, and I think that drones could’ve been the answer this year. That said, it’s tough to pump in new capital investments for a limited-time event that isn’t established and guaranteed to return year after year.
Expected Improvements
We’ll shift from our must-do’s to our expectations as to how the event will be improved. We’ll have a review following the first Disney Jollywood Nights of the year to see how the changes, and expected changes, stack up with our expectations outlined below.
Characters Crutch
We saw a very quick adjustment last year following a rough opening night event in the form of additional characters. Adding more characters, and some rare characters, was an “easy” way for Disney to “fix” Jollywood Nights last year, and we think that they’re using the characters as a bit of a crutch this year too.
That said, “crutch” might be too harsh here. Heck, we’d love to see some new characters at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so the fact that Disney has added a number of new characters to Disney Jollywood Nights certainly falls into the improvements category.
Extra Hour & New Time for Fireworks
Disney has also made some adjustments to the event length and fireworks timing that should make for a more enjoyable evening. The event now begins at 7:30pm instead of 8:30pm, giving guests an extra hour before the event ends at 12:30am.
Another improvement is showing the Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM fireworks show at 10pm instead of 12:30am. I think that this will work a bit better for two reasons. The first is a bit obvious – not everyone will make it to 12:30am. Some guests may even leave after the fireworks show, but we don’t expect to see the type of exodus that occurs at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. The second reason is that it will be a magnet of sorts, likely drawing some crowds away from other offerings to ease some of the demand during the middle of the event.
Adding the extra hour at the start of the event should allow guests to get to the fun a bit quicker. That means that the lines should be shorter than they were at the start of last year’s event, which certainly saw some significant crowds early on in the event.
Entertainment Improvements
There are a couple of entertainment adjustments that should also be an improvement over last year. A new Pixar Disco offering will be available in Pixar Place. This isn’t going to be a big must-do, but it should start to help spread out crowds. Last year, a big problem for the event was crowd deserts in Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge due to no exclusive programming in those lands. That made crowds along Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd quite dense.
Another adjustment that should be popular is moving Holiday Fiesta en la Calle from in front of the Sci-Fi Dine-In to Animation Courtyard. This new location should be easier for crowds and make the offering a bit more popular than it was last year. Appearances from José Carioca and Panchito from The Three Caballeros are also a nice touch.
Exclusive Merchandise
Disney is leaning all in with Ollie, the gingerbread mascot for the event, including more merchandise this year. Last year, there was a single t-shirt available, but there will be more merchandise available this year.
Speaking of Ollie, why isn’t he available to meet?!
Time for Redemption
As we close out this article and prepare for Disney Jollywood Nights tonight, I’m hopeful. Hollywood Studios has long been my favorite Holiday Season park. Of course, a lot of what made Studios wonderful during the holidays has been taken away (I’m looking at you, Osborne Lights), there is still some charm left in the park if Disney is willing to dig in and find it.
Of course, putting a lot of the holiday cheer behind a paywall isn’t ideal either, but that’s the direction that this company has driven in over the past 5-10 years. If Disney is going to put something behind a paywall, I want to root for them to do it well. Last year was a disappointing event, but as I get ready to head over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I’m hopeful that this year will turn things around and allow Disney to continue to expand the event.
I still think that I’ll walk away wanting a bit more out of the event, but I think that there will be a much easier argument in favor of the event than last year.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!