Jollywood Nights, Was It Worth It? The Wish I Saw the YouTube Videos Before the Purchase Edition.

I wrote this almost a year ago, but with ticket sales approaching (or already here), I thought having our experience somewhere permanent to share would be good. Do you ever get really excited about an event (and no, Fyre Festival should not be an example), buy tickets for said event, and it just doesn't meet your expectations? That is how I felt about Disney's Hollywood Studios Jollywood Nights.

To preface, the family and I always do Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (I also know this is controversial, but we have always enjoyed it so no complaints on this end), but have always passed on the Christmas/Holiday events. One, they run right into each other so they can be really pricey and two, it just has never held my interest. However, after seeing all the postings and the comparisons between Jollywood and Very Merry, I might be singing a new tune at the end of the year.

So obviously myself and a million other Disney loving people saw the the debacle that was the first night of Jollywood Nights unfold on social media. In true Disney fashion, Disney does what Disney does in a limited time and tried to zhush it up with some last-minute rare character introductions. It was a super cool concept in hindsight, but all it did was extend the lines and redirect them somewhere else which was already a complaint, but let's back up a smidge.

Lets address the elephant in the room... is this event worth it? I am talking about the everyday person that is only going to pick one holiday event, does not live in the area, and wants to get their money's worth on top of it. Honestly, I would say no. It is REALLY expensive for what you get (your parting gift was two drink coasters, let that sink in...I would have much preferred a commemorative ornament). This is particularly painful to say because Hollywood Studios during Christmas is my favorite park (don't @ me). I love the vintage vibe and the old-fashioned Christmas music, but I just didn't think there was enough to do and I am not just talking about for the kids, but even as an adult, there was just not enough. I also felt that if you are going to charge over $200 for an evening like that, they should have gone all out with decorations and not just the ones that are normally there.

A couple of suggestions, if you were thinking of potentially checking it out next year (once the kinks were worked out), go during the week. Two things made this an enjoyable evening for us, one, our expectations were REALLY low and two going during the week allowed for what I think were a lot fewer lines which left more time to do more (maybe not a lot, but a lot more than what I was seeing online).

We were able to experience the Nightmare Before Christmas (even got pixie dusted when we were the last people in and one of the Cast Member supervisors brought us to saved seats in the second row) Sing-A-Along.

The show was really unique, but VERY adult and this is coming from someone's kids who love Nightmare Before Christmas. More on this below.

I loved these two performers below (I loved that they were a little older) and felt they had great chemistry together.

We were able to see many of the Fab Five in their Holiday outfits. They do rotate them, so if there was a specific one you wanted photos with I would ask about their schedule and get there a little bit earlier to begin standing in the line and then drop back until the one you are waiting for appears (please do the kind thing and discuss this with the families/party behind you).

Daisy and Donald are forever a favorite with my kiddos.

My girl will choose Daisy and her fashion sense over Minnie any day of the week.

We drank some champagne by the Tower of Terror with no waits (I heard that on the weekends the wait was astronomical). The specialty drinks here were quite good. We didn't even attempt the lounges or the shows if we are being honest. I watched them on a live stream and was not overly entertained, felt I had seen it by that point and just gave it a hard pass, but again, if you are paying for the event, I can see why people waited. I would have liked to experience the lounges, just because it was something different and in a location I had never experienced, but I didn't feel like I missed out because I didn't do it.

I will say we were able to do a lot of the Photopass experiences that I was looking to do (Ollie by the front, the Christmas tree, Muppets magicshots, etc).

No matter what, Gertie will always be my favorite part of the Christmas season at Hollywood Studios.

Just to get it out of the way now, my only regret was not standing in line for Santa Duffy (there was also Santa Stitch whose line was not astronomical and honestly that was also kind of a FOMO if not for the wait alone). However, the line was just too long and to be honest, the Photopass pictures were really dark and not consistent throughout the night so I am not sure it would have been worth it anyway. Of course, my kiddos have all of a sudden become obsessed with Phineas and Ferb (who were there) after the fact. Although the Commodore calls it the 'hair show' lol. I did, however, get some cute shots in front of their Christmas tree.

First things first, I am not that girl who needs to stand in REALLY long food lines for a specialty treat. I am the hangry kind of girl who wants to eat when she wants to eat and expects food to be in a nearby vicinity. I will give you a second to pull yourself together on this one and allow you to judge me. I am just not the person who gets overly excited about these events for the food and neither is my family (although that pickle milkshake was a 100% worth the hype at Epcot...don't @ me).

I am just as happy with a popcorn and a frozen coke (the kiddos will also choose popcorn over everything). When we got there, they had the Valentino popcorn bucket which was the cutest thing I had ever seen and my daughter has a thing for goats so she was over the moon (fifteen minutes and one happy kiddo later).

I cannot fathom for the life of me, why people stood for HOURS waiting for food or a single cookie (and apparently by the waits, Disney was not expecting it either). Wayyyy before any videos of the madness regarding food were released, I had already made reservations at Mama Melrose.

We like it there! The food is consistent, the staff is always super friendly and accommodating and it is a comfortable restaurant to just chill out and relax to have some dinner. You can judge me here also, but I take out the kid's tablets when dinner is done so that Sean and I can enjoy some he and I conversation and we can comfortably finish our cocktails without feeling we need to book it to the next thing.

I made the reservations about two hours before Jollywood Nights would officially begin/open since they always run late with seating and it can get crowded (dinner is sometimes a little bit delayed as well). Nothing that we mind, but we do plan for this if we have other things that are happening around that time. Let's just say once the food debacle was released, reservations to the other restaurants went REALLY fast and the walk-up lines were impossible to get on. I can understand why the specialty foods are a big thing for some people and if you are one of them, this is probably going to be a huge reason for you to avoid this event altogether unless they pull themselves together this year. With our contingency plan, we got out about twenty minutes before the start of the event (winner winner). We were able to pick up our lanyards and wristbands early (having to wear both was a little excessive if you ask me), so we just milled around and got a lay of the land.

Also, plan that Florida weather is nothing if not bananas. This particular night was really really cold, so if you have adorable Christmas outfits planned, plan equally adorable things to cover your kiddos in too.

If you are a ride person, the price of these events and with it being during the week is something that might be worth it for you (I felt this way at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party as well), we walked on EVERYTHING including all the rides in Galaxy's Edge (several times over) and were able to hop on the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance. It did break down and we had to wait, but did get a call back. This was my favorite part of the evening. The Commodore has just hit 40 inches and is a ride enthusiast, so this was his first REAL big ride. The kiddos are huge Star Wars fans, EV loves everything immersive with a storyline, so she was really into being captured and taken by the Order LOL. I had forgotten to take a picture of Danny getting measured for the first time, but luckily they do it several more times inside and the last one is done by the Order and the CM was kind enough to do it REALLY slow so that I could capture it (the real MVP).

So much to look at so having both kids look at Mama's camera was clearly impossible lol.

The cast members are ALWAYS so nice and willing to take a photo of us in the Millennium Falcon when we are commemorating special days (first rides, birthdays, etc.).

Albeit blurry but the kiddo's first time on Rise of the Resistance! Again, EV loves any ride that involves an adventure where we can save people.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-A-Long was super interesting and being a theater lover, I loved how different from traditional Disney it was. My kids appreciate NBC, but I could also see the other side of the coin why this would not be enjoyable to many. I understand the space for a production like this and this theater being the best setting, but I think having both the Frozen and the NBC show just for the Christmas theme-ing alone would have made sense. For myself, I was there for Jack and Oogie Boogie both of which delivered. Keep in mind that we did not wait in line (walked right in), got in by the skin of our teeth, and were also pixie-dusted by an amazing CM so I am speaking from this experience alone. I think if this movie was never your thing and you also waited several hours for it, you might be begging to have your time given back to you.

So going back to the was the event worth it question. If Disney ramped this up next year with a lot more things to do, guaranteed shorter wait times, a bit more of the rare Halloween-inspired characters, and a lot more decorations I would consider it again.

With not expecting very much or more honestly expecting to hate it, we all actually had a great time, do I think it was worth the money....meh!

Bringing fuzzy blankets and snoap for the win!