This past weekend was the first Disney Jollywood Nights event of the 2024 Holiday Season, and we were in attendance to check out what’s new, what’s changed, and what’s returning this year. As you’ve probably heard by now, Disney Jollywood Nights had a rough debut last year during its first year as an event, but Disney is sticking with the concept and making some changes this year.
One of the returning favorites is the Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along at the Hyperion Theater. While the Holidays in Hollywood show was reworked, the Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along saw no notable changes. Given how well-received it was last year, we’re happy to see that it returned in 2024 and it was our first stop of the evening!
Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along at Disney Jollywood Nights
The full name of the show is What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along, and it takes place multiple times per night at the Hyperion Theater which normally hosts the Frozen Sing-Along during normal operating hours.
What makes the Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along so unique is that the main performers are silent the entire time. While we reported that the actors were Cirque du Soleil performers, that’s only possibly partially true. We’re told that the performers are primarily Disney performers who may be trained at Cirque du Soleil as well. Either way, the end result is a wonderful performance that leans heavily into physical emotions and comedy throughout the show. Jack Skellington provides some narration and the rest is carried by the sing-along aspect.
Speaking of Jack Skellington, the life-size puppet returns this year after a busy season at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. It’s wonderful to see the puppet take command of the space instead of being an unexpected, but tough-to-see aspect of Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks show.
Audience participation during the sing-along portions remains lower than what I’m used to seeing in that theater with the Frozen Sing-Along, but it’s almost impossible to compete with Frozen. At the risk of getting out ahead of our overarching Disney Jollywood Nights review coming out later this week, entertainment continues to carry the day during the event, and the Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along remains at the top of the list as the event’s must-do show.
Check out our video and photos below for an updated look at the show from our visit to Disney Jollywood Nights this weekend!
Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along Photos
Jack Skellington opens the show with a dream-like sequence, introducing a story that will blend reality with fiction. The actors are asleep on their chairs before static from the TV wakes them up and our story begins.
A mysterious gift is delivered via the nearby furnace and the two actors open it to find a snow globe and a sign asking “What’s This?”. It’s a clever way to essentially work as a sort of cold open before introducing the title card.
A shake of the snow globe kicks off the first song, which of course is “What’s This?”.
Another shake of the snow globe causes a nearby box to glow green, catching the attention of the couple on stage.
The next song is “Kidnap the Sandy Claws”, and our couple finds masks that resemble the trio singing the song on screen.
Following the end of the song, the couple looks for the next item that will trigger a new song to advance the story and they’re drawn to a dusty old record player.
Cracking up the record player spits out some leaves before launching into “Sally’s Song”.
The next prop to activate a song is a large sack that has a Santa hat inside of it. Putting on the hat causes bugs to scatter everywhere and as the couple chases the bugs around the stage, it’s only when one of them squishes a bug that things start to take a turn for the worse.
Oogie Boogie’s familiar laugh rings through the theater before the scary sack shows up in person to sing “Oogie Boogie’s Song” while chasing the couple around the stage as they slowly get pulled into his trance.
A tug on a long, green thread starts to unravel Oogie Boogie, sending us into the final song of the show after defeating the green guy.
The finale song is the “Finale/Reprise” song from the movie, perfectly closing out the story of not only Jack and Sally, but of the couple on stage as well.
Jack Skellington returns to the stage to ask us if what we saw was just a dream, did it really happen at all?
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!