Walt Disney World can be a great place to visit and explore in the months leading up to Christmas time, even if the usually warm weather doesn't match the wintery holiday vibes. Unfortunately, spirits were lower than bottom-branch ornaments amongst parkgoers who attended Hollywood Studios' new Christmas-themed party event, "Jollywood Nights," and a lot of what's being said about it isn't very flattering for the House of Mouse.
Jollywood Nights had a lot of hype surrounding it, with CinemaBlend's own Dirk Libbey predicting it would be his favorite event when it was initially announced. He might be re-thinking that optimism after seeing the first batch of attendees sharing their less-than-pleased reactions about the holiday festivities. For example:
Jollywood Nights Is One Of The Worst Events Ever Put On By Disney. It’s A Complete Shitshow That Will Cost You $.83 A Minute.November 12, 2023
The above tweet drives home the complaint-worthy point that Jollywood Nights costs a pretty penny, with tickets hovering around $159 to $179 plus tax per person. Thus, expectations for fun and merriment are high, and unfortunately don't seem to have been met. Stopping by the Grand Floridian's gingerbread house may itself spread more holiday cheer than the hard ticket event.
There was much chatter about patrons being unable to take advantage of the special food and drink menus throughout the evening. After seeing the lines for what was available, it's not surprising to hear that a lot of people didn't join in waiting. Check out the video below, which showcases the immense line to buy a single holiday dinosaur cookie:
What do you think this line is for? Wait for the big reveal… #jollywoodnights pic.twitter.com/LPiNpDmANBNovember 12, 2023
People rarely speak super-positively about events like this where food isn't readily accessible, especially when it's also an additional expense beyond the entry fee. As such, the tweets began flowing in from disgruntled Walt Disney World guests, many of which echoed the sentiment shared in the tweet below:
Having a truly terrible time at Jollywood Nights 😂🎄November 12, 2023
The high price and difficulty to get food may have already encouraged some would-be attendees to stay home and stream the best Christmas movies on Disney+ instead, but there are still more issues that sparked ire from those in attendance. In general, it seems like the layout of Hollywood Studios was poorly utilized to cater to an event of this size, which @AestheticPuppet summed up as a "logistical headache" below:
Jollywood Nights! I wanted to get my thoughts out there. Did I have fun in moments? Yes! Was the event a logistical headache? Yes!Would I recommend you spend your money on the event? Not in its current state. Read on 🧵November 12, 2023
So, what were the positives of Jollywood Nights? While not even the most jubilant tweets wholly avoided criticisms, not every single reaction was fueled by disappointment, and some bright spots could be found in the haystack. While the offerings at the event were hard to access in a timely manner, apparently the event functioned fine if you weren't solely there for the holiday flair, as indicated by the tweet below:
Disney Jollywood Nights is…A great idea, w/ poor execution. Great if you want to treat as an After Hours to walk on rides. Other than that, I don’t recommend it. This pic was a highlight and fun to create. Not worth almost $500 though. #disneyjollywoodnights #JollywoodNights pic.twitter.com/qvj0SBzKr0November 12, 2023
Reading all this, one might assume that Jollywood Nights is prepped to be one of the biggest missteps Walt Disney World has delivered in a while, even if course-corrections are made for the future. Of course, there are park veterans who were quick to step in and point out that Disney has dropped the ball on events like this before:
I see a lot of people talking about Jollywood Nights like it was the worst thing they’ve ever attended. That’s still reserved for “Villains Unleashed” from a decade ago in our book. Jollywood Nights doesn’t belong in the same breath as that nightmare.November 12, 2023
Let's also not forget that while Jollywood Nights may have struggled in its first run, there's always room to improve and switch things up over time. In a year where something as expensive as Galactic Starcruiser shut down completely, I would take solace in knowing that logistics can always be tweaked and made better for future patrons, and this isn't some permanent feature that is inflexible. Until some changes are made, however, parkgoers may be best served with a night watching movies with a Disney+ subscription from the resort.
Jollywood Studios is set to run at Disney World from now until December 20th. CinemaBlend is a great resource for tracking the various changes occurring at Disney parks, which are now prohibiting particular groups admist other changes.
