Our 1-night itinerary for Disney Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios offers a step-by-step Christmas party plan for minimizing time waiting in lines for character meet & greets, seeing fireworks, all three stage shows and entertainment acts, and avoiding crowds during Walt Disney World’s hard ticket holiday season event.
For those who are unfamiliar with it, Disney Jollywood Nights (DJN) is held on two evenings per week at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS) during the holiday season. It starts in mid-November and runs until the week before Christmas, and is a 5-hour holiday party from 7:30 PM to 12:30 AM–guests with Christmas party tickets may enter DHS as early as 6:00 PM. DJN is a limited-capacity, separately ticketed event that occurs after hours, and features family-friendly fun for guests of all ages.
In fact, Disney Jollywood Nights is a lot like an After Hours event, minus the “free” refreshments but with a lot of entertainment added. While we’re going to focus on what’s unique to the Christmas party here, just know that you could also opt to do rides instead–most will have waits of under 10-15 minutes. Slinky Dog Dash might be the one exception–we’d recommend saving that for later in the evening to minimize waiting.
If you want the event info and our review of whether it’s worth the money, see our Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party 2024 Review: Wow, What a Difference a Year Makes! This is a party plan or itinerary, focused solely on maximizing time at the event for attendees.
Something we should disclose up-front is that this Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas party plan is very much tentative. We’ve only attended DJN twice ever (with a third party booked for December). And honestly, what we learned from party #1 is almost entirely irrelevant, since the event changed so much from last year to 2024. So really, this 1-night itinerary is based on only one night. Normally, I like to do a lot of field testing and research before releasing itineraries and strategy guides, but that simply isn’t possible (yet) here.
This is also a sharp contrast to our planning resources for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). We’ve been attending that event annually since 2007, and in some cases have gone 4-5 times in a single year. (It used to be a much cheaper event and we love Christmas…don’t judge!) Not only that, but MVMCP doesn’t change much from year to year, so what we learned a decade ago still more or less applies.
The one saving grace with this DJN party plan is that we’ve done a lot of Walt Disney World special events over the years, and many of the planning principles are portable. The lessons we’ve learned from MVMCP apply here at least in part, which is something for you to also keep in mind if you’ve done that but are a newcomer to Disney Jollywood Nights. With that out of the way, let’s start the evening at DHS!
Arrive Early – Purchasing an event ticket to Disney Jollywood Nights gives you access to DHS starting at 6 PM. This overlap with regular park hours, known as the event mix-in, is scaled back as compared to MVMCP, but it’s still bonus time and you should take full advantage–it’s a good opportunity to do things that are not unique to the Christmas party itself.
We recommend planning to get to DHS by 5:45 pm. If you already have admission for this day in the park, you can enter even earlier through the non-event turnstiles and get your wristband inside rather than the front of the park. Unlike at MVMCP, this is not critical. Even on the sold out DJN date we attended in 2024, the check-in and wristband process at the front of the park was seamless. It’s possible that’ll change in the future, but we were surprised by just how smooth it went.
Also unlike MVMCP, the mix-in time during Disney Jollywood Nights isn’t particularly busy. Ride wait times are already starting to decrease, likely owing to guests–both day and party attendees–being pulled to the lone showing of Fantasmic. If you’ve never seen that show and this is your only (partial) day in DHS, we’d highly recommend it. Otherwise, consider doing something other than Fantasmic–it’ll be busier than normal.
This is all subject to change as Walt Disney World ‘tweaks’ the attendance cap for Disney Jollywood Nights, but that still requires higher demand for the event (which hasn’t been the case yet). This is probably the difference between a Christmas party at Magic Kingdom vs. Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Suffice to say, this is pretty much an After Hours event–unlike MVMCP, which no longer promises low crowds.
Eat Early – We found that counter service restaurants around Disney’s Hollywood Studios began serving the special Disney Jollywood Nights menus prior to the event beginning. I was able to eat the above spread (lucky me) at PizzeRizzo as of ~6:30 pm. I also saw other restaurants and snack stands ready to roll well before 7:30 pm, making mix-in a good time to eat.
Another option, and probably a better one, would be eating a regular meal before the mix-in starts. I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend one of my personal favorites, Sebastian’s Bistro, which is a great value (better than ‘Ohana) and a short Skyliner ride away from DHS over at Caribbean Beach Resort. I’d recommend the earliest possible reservation for Sebastian’s Bistro if you opt to do that.
Skip Characters – Another way that Disney Jollywood Nights is unlike MVMCP is that none of the marquee characters start meeting early during mix-in. At least, not materially early. I can’t be everywhere at once, but in doing laps of the park, I saw long lines but no characters between 7 pm and 7:20 pm.
This leads to one of the biggest pieces of advice this Disney Jollywood Nights 1-night itinerary has to offer: skip characters early on during the event. During the Disney Jollywood Nights that I attended, all of the meet & greets–every single one–had longer lines during the first hour than later.
Of course, if you’re one of the first to line up, you won’t wait as long once the characters do appear. But you will still be waiting–it’ll just be that you’re pulling that forward to the mix-in. Whether this is the right decision for you really depends on how many characters you want to meet. At some point, it becomes a math problem–you can only meet so many during the final couple of hours, and it’s not possible to get to them all then.
What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along – This is a chance to join Jack Skellington at Hyperion Theater for a stage show inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Sing along with the Pumpkin King to beloved songs from the film as you follow two friends on a larger-than-life journey.
“What’s This” is a must-see, and it’s the piece of marquee entertainment with the earliest showtime: 7:30 pm. We found demand for this stage show to be lower than just about anything else at the 2024 Disney Jollywood Nights, which is precisely why we recommend doing it first. You won’t want to allocate valuable party time later in the event to this when crowds are starting to thin out.
We’d recommend sitting on the far side of the theater. (If people are stopping in the middle, you can always go around the front row and loop back to the end.) Not only does this give you a better view of Jack Skellington, but it makes for a faster and easier exit. That might be important with the next step.
With that said, if characters do really matter and you want to meet over a half-dozen, consider prioritizing one or two of those (getting in line for a popular one before 7 pm) and slotting in “What’s This” later. If you opt for characters, you should do the very last showing of “What’s This” at 12:30 am. This is a good approach for extending the event.
Disney Holidays in Hollywood – Hosted by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, this star-studded holiday extravaganza includes appearances from Characters such as Tiana, Belle, Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse—accompanied by a talented cast of singers, dancers and jazz musicians.
This is the other marquee stage show during Disney Jollywood Nights, and my favorite part of the event, period. The first showing of Holidays in Hollywood is at 8:15 pm, which is 45 minutes after What’s This? The previous stage show ends at 7:52 pm, which gives you a rather slim window to make it to Theater of the Stars on Sunset Boulevard. It should take you less than 8 minutes to walk between the two, which is a 15-minute (give or take) buffer. We found that to be more than sufficient, but your mileage may vary.
Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club – This is a swingin’ celebration in the courtyard of The Hollywood Tower Hotel. Here, you can sip cocktails and unwind in style while a live band swoons and croons holiday tunes. The next showtime is 8:50 pm.
While the window is a tad tight between What’s This and Holidays in Hollywood, this should be easy. In fact, you should have plenty of time to grab drinks from the bar before the band comes on–or mingle with the old Hollywood characters in the crowd.
Characters & Dance Parties – Between the Twilight Soirée and Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!, you have almost an hour to do whatever. I’d recommend taking this time to knock out a couple of characters and/or check out the other ancillary dance parties (Pixar Disco and Holiday Fiesta en la Calle). You can even kill two birds with one stone, doing both at the same time–it’s easy to enjoy Holiday Fiesta en la Calle while in line for José Carioca or Panchito, and you can snag selfies with Pixar pals at that disco.
After about 9:30 pm is also a good time to meet Santa Duffy. During the party I attended, he had a 70 minute posted wait at the beginning of the event, and was a literal walk-on only a couple of hours later. My working theory is that there’s a relatively limited pool of Duffy diehards that prioritize him as #1, but most other guests don’t care. Once that initial rush is worked through, there’s only a trickle of guests throughout the rest of the event.
Following Santa Duffy, consider knocking out a meet & greet or two (time permitting) around Echo Lake. Again, this is what I did and it worked well to meet Disney Afternoon characters with ~10 minute long lines. You don’t have to worry about staking out a spot for Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM with this plan.
Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! – This is a nighttime spectacular that will make spirits bright. Watch in awe as heartwarming holiday moments from favorite Disney films are brought to life on the façade of the park’s iconic Chinese Theater. It’s a display of fireworks, lasers, lights, projections and merry music.
Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM is not my favorite nighttime spectacular at Walt Disney World, to be perfectly honest with you. Still, it’s seasonal fireworks and I never pass up the opportunity to see it. I do not, however, put in a ton of effort. My favorite spot for watching is around Echo Lake. This is a great view for the pyro and other effects, and is the very best photo spot (10/10 Disney photographers agree).
It is not, however, a good view of the projections on the front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. If those are a must-see for you (they absolutely are not for me), head to Hollywood Boulevard. It’s still fairly easy to get a decent spot last-minute.
More Echo Lake Characters – The other reason I like watching Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM from Echo Lake is because it puts you in a prime position to jump in line for a character once the fireworks end and before the rush arrives.
Some of these characters continue meeting during the fireworks, so you could technically multi-task and wait in line while watching the fireworks. (Just be sure whichever one you do has a clean view over the water towards the theater/Runaway Railway. Otherwise, your view might be blocked by trees.
More Characters Around the Park – Following that, it’s a good time to meet remaining characters on your list. This includes higher-priority ones like Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy or Pluto on the walkway between Pixar Place and Toy Story Land, or Phineas and Ferb or Max Goof as Powerline in Echo Lake.
Note that many of the characters do their final sets well before the end of the event, so you cannot wait until 11:30 pm or later to knock them all out.
Glisten – This is a stunning ice skating show on Hollywood Boulevard where international champion skaters perform breathtaking routines set to a vibrant holiday soundtrack—including original songs and Disney favorites like Be Our Guest and When You Wish Upon A Star.
As the big new thing for 2024, Glisten drew larger crowds during the earlier showings at the Disney Jollywood Nights we attended. By the final two performances, it was fairly empty. You could technically see it whenever–it’s not drawing truly huge crowds at any performance–but the views get a lot better with the final two performances. I recommend seeing it at 11:15 pm to free up the end of your evening.
Last Call for Characters – Expect character meet & greet sets to end around midnight at the latest. At the Disney Jollywood Nights that I attended, this was the official last call for both Santa Stitch and Minnie & Mickey (meeting together) at Red Carpet Dreams.
If you book it from Glisten over to Santa Stitch, you might be able to meet him and jump into line for Mickey and Minnie (right around the corner) before the clock strikes midnight. It really depends upon attendance (is the DJN you’re attending sold out?). Focusing on whichever meet & greet is higher-priority to you is probably the smarter approach.
Free Time – This leaves about the last 15 minutes as free time. If you really enjoyed Holidays in Hollywood, you should have time to catch the final (12:15 am) performance. If you skipped What’s This? earlier, that shows at 12:30 am.
This might also be a good time to grab PhotoPass Magic Shots, of which there are several at Disney Jollywood Nights.
Ultimately, you should be able to have an efficient evening with plenty of fun and lots of entertainment (perhaps too much) by following this Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party plan. We really enjoy this special event and had a blast during its sophomore season. There’s enough to do that leaves you wanting more, but the crowds are also sufficiently low that you should have a satisfying night even if you don’t strictly follow this 1-night itinerary.
That’s probably worth underscoring. Unlike Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which almost “requires” savvy strategy to avoid crowds and have a good time, Disney Jollywood Nights is much more laid back. You don’t need to approach this party like a military incursion in order to have fun.
You don’t even need to strictly stick to the step-by-step strategy laid out here! While I’d personally not recommend waiting in line 70 minutes for Santa Duffy when you can see him later in under 10, what you can do is take the broad contours outlined here and fit them to your own needs.
As you can probably tell by our preferences and recommendations, what we really love is the party-specific entertainment. Hopefully this Christmas Party plan presented a balanced evening, with time for character meet & greets, exploring the park, getting photos, and enjoying the atmosphere. But if this strikes you as “too much,” then simply skip steps or change things up! Ride a couple rides, grab a few drinks and bites to eat. There’s a good amount of flexibility, especially if you’re going on a night that Disney Jollywood Nights doesn’t sell out–or if you don’t really care about rare characters.
In the end, Disney Jollywood Nights is expensive, but can offer a lot of bang for your buck. Go in with realistic expectations, but try to do as much as you can–characters, fireworks, both stage shows. This itinerary should also demonstrate why we don’t recommend doing regular attractions during the Christmas Party, but if that’s all you care about, more power to you. A ticket to Disney Jollywood Nights is cheaper than Lightning Lane Premier Pass and you’ll get more attractions done! In which case, everything else is icing on the cake.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you attended this year’s Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party? Which character meet & greets and other entertainment are your top priorities? Did you meet Santa Stitch/Duffy, Disney Afternoon characters, or Fab Five friends in their holiday finery, or were the lines too long for you? Do you disagree with anything in our 1-night DJN plan? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
