Walt Disney World has unwrapped a new holiday offering. Disney Jollywood Nights, an event with new shows, menu items and musical experiences, debuted Saturday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park.
“Disney’s Hollywood Studios was my first park when I was hired back in the day,” Tom Vazzana, creative director with Disney Live Entertainment, said Saturday. “So I know the pockets, and I know the storylines. So I knew we wanted to have diverse offerings in terms of not only authentic voices and styles, inclusivity. But also … What is the street telling us?”
“It was really a lot about how can we interpret and reimagine what’s existing in the park and then kind of plus it up for our older demographic,” said RJ Temple, show director.
Here are some of what was experienced on opening night.
What’s this? Two shows
The after-hours/separately ticketed event features two stage productions that showcase wildly different Disney characters and themes. “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along” begins with a memorable, monumental on-stage appearance by Jack Skellington and continues with big-screen interactions with two live performers plus some Oogie Boogie action.
The lyrics appear at the top of the screen in a “Nightmare”-ish font. The songs are fast-paced and wordy, so familiarity with the film is helpful. But it’s not required to enjoy the show. I saw only a handful of people singing along at the singalong, and that might be because the show is overwhelmingly visual.
Meanwhile, “Disney Holidays in Hollywood” pretends to be a televised variety show, complete with commercial breaks, with the Jollywood crowd as the studio audience. There is some comedy – jokes worked in about both figgy pudding and spirit jerseys. Puppet-sized Miss Piggy and Kermit appear alongside Mickey, Minnie, dancers and an eight-piece live band. There are jazzy songs, traditional and original, including a couple of numbers by Tiana and Belle, and ambitious staging. A friend noted it had a Disney Cruise Line feel.
Both shows clocked in at just under 30 minutes.
Tune town
The event is divided into zones sprinkled between the Tower of Terror area and Commissary Lane.
“You go to Echo Lake; you’re going to have a throwback to the ‘80s. Then you go down Sunset, we’re going to 1939, and that’s where we experience the Tip Top Club. And then we go to Commissary Lane, which is now our Fiesta en la Calle, our Latin festival,” Vazzana said. “South Beach was the inspiration [for the latter]. I was there last year, and I said we could string up lights, and we could do a festival here.”
For the most part, visitors can go with the flow, although for Jazzy Holiday at the Hollywood Brown Derby, folks must join a “mobile walk-up list” via the My Disney Experience app.
There was a jam of party-goers for the band at Tip Top Club near the base of the tower (which remains open during the event), and there’s also a bar down there that got a lot of attention, creating a human logjam. There was more elbow room at Holiday Fiesta en la Calle.
There were reports of gaps in the musical programs. Rain toward the end of the evening also disrupted performances.
Eating your way through the holidays
Although crowds are thinner at Disney after-hours events, there are still queues to endure. We waited about 30 minutes for edible fare at Fairfax Faire on Sunset, including tasty and filling “popovers” (one with turkey, one featuring “the sides”); Kermit’s Frozen Banana Bliss beverage, which was smooth, overwhelmingly banana tasting and non-alcoholic; and Mistletoe Martini.
The dining options are spread over the park and not always evident in the darkness, so checking out Disney’s online foodie guide before arrival is advised. Among the items for sale here and there are yuca con chicharron, tuna ceviche, spicy pimento-kimchi dip, brisket Reuben funnel cake, Frozone’s snowball macaroons, antipasto flatbread, Sandy Claws hot cocoa and Twilight Daiquiri.
Picture it: Characters
As with many Disney events, characters are in demand.
Echo Like goes throwback with Powerline Max, Rescue Rangers plus Phineas and Ferb. Mickey and friends are found in Animation Courtyard, decked out in new holiday costuming that includes greens, pinks and aquas, a palette out of the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, Disney says.
“They have a hot set where he just finished wrapping up a holiday film,” Temple said. There are also giant candy cane props and photo ops with camera arrays and robotic arms.
The park is loaded with photo ops, including Disney PhotoPass and do-it-yourself Christmas card backdrops.
Dapper daze
Disney pushes the event as “a night of dapper delight” on its website, and folks were more dressy than Floridians usually bother with. Many broke out sequined dresses or novelty seasonal suits. There were some hybrid attempts with formal tops and shorts. I did see some interesting choices, including a man as Woody from “Toy Story,” which felt Halloweenish, but, hey, who argues with a toy during the holidays?
Of course, plenty of people chose comfort over styling.
“I would love people to dress up and come and spend the evening with us,” Vazzana said. “I just think it adds to, you know, a holiday party that you always wanted to go to that no one ever invited you to.”
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Finale
Hollywood Studios didn’t discard all its previous holiday fare. The retro decor around Echo Lake and Sunset Boulevard is still prominent, and the evening ends with a “Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam” nighttime spectacular outside the park’s Chinese Theater.
Jollywood Nights experienced opening-night confusion about locations, queues and timing that comes with the unfamiliarity of a new event.
Disney Jollywood Nights is scheduled for 10 select evenings through Dec. 20. Ticket prices vary with date between $159 and $179. Three nights had sold out as of opening night. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party event, which cranked up for the season on Thursday, continues at Magic Kingdom on select nights through Dec. 22.
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Threads: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. You can subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.
