Disney Jollywood Nights will take over Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World this holiday season with snow flurries, live Muppets, exclusive lounges, and short wait times for rides. As this year’s Jollywood Nights approach, Disney made some announcements for the party, along with revealing other holiday season news.
7 changes are coming for the 2026 season of Disney Jollywood Nights, the after-hours Christmas party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We have details on everything new for this year. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including Disney recreating vintage T-shirts and pricing for Disney World’s next hotel with Bambi and Brother Bear rooms.
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Disney Jollywood Nights Overview
Disney Jollywood Nights is a 5-hour event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios taking place after the park closes to daytime guests. The event requires a separate ticket to attend. We’ll break down ticket prices below.
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Highlights of Disney Jollywood Nights include:
- short waits for Disney’s Hollywood Studios rides, including Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog Dash
- a fireworks spectacular that’s only performed during the party called Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!
- exclusive live entertainment, including a variety show hosted by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, and a Nightmare Before Christmas sing-along show
- an outdoor lounge themed to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror with live music
- meet-and-greets with rare characters, like Duffy the Disney Bear
- digital photos from Disney PhotoPass for rides and character greetings included with event ticket
Compared to the more classic feel of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, Disney Jollywood Nights heightens the glamour of its park’s romanticized Hollywood vibe. See our advice for helping you decide which party to attend.
Now that we’ve established the basics, let’s get into what’s changing at Disney Jollywood Nights for 2026.
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Party Dates Past Christmas Day
Disney World’s after-hours holiday events typically conclude several days before Christmas. This makes sense, as Disney doesn’t want to close parks early for the general public on some of the busiest operating days of the year.
This year, though, Disney is hoping that guests will still be in the holiday spirit a little while longer as Disney Jollywood Nights continues with dates coming after Christmas and even into the New Year for the first time.
The last date for Disney Jollywood Nights before Christmas will be December 23. After that, the event takes a 10-day pause as huge quantities of guests flock to the parks for Christmas week. Once things slightly settle down, Jollywood Nights will take a final bow on January 3 and January 5, 2027. All of the same entertainment and offerings will be in place.
This is new territory for Disney, and it will be interesting to see if these dates repeat next season, and even whether Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party would follow this pattern if it proves successful for Jollywood.
First-Ever Minimum Ticket Price Increase
Pricing for Disney Jollywood Nights tickets fluctuates depending on the date. The maximum cost has increased since the event debuted in 2023, but the minimum ticket price remained the same until this year.
For 2026, the minimum price of a Disney Jollywood Nights ticket is $169, an increase of $10 from previous years.
Here’s a breakdown of the event’s ticket prices year by year:
- 2023 price range: $159 to $179
- 2024 price range: $159 to $179
- 2025 price range: $159 to $199
- 2026 price range: $169 to $199
Walt Disney World annual passholders can save $10 on tickets to any night of the event.
See all dates and pricing for Jollywood Nights.
Gertie the Dinosaur Merchandise
Gertie the Dinosaur has become a fan-favorite character at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in recent years. She’s been at the park since the beginning, standing tall next to Echo Lake as a tribute to a landmark 1914 non-Disney animated film. During the holidays, the huge Gertie statue wears a Santa hat and carries an ornament with her mouth.
Gertie has already been the star of her own cookie at Disney Jollywood Nights in previous years. This year, she’s getting lots of new merch, all of which we expect to be very popular.
Some of the new Disney Jollywood Nights merchandise featuring Gertie includes a Loungefly bag, a Spirit Jersey, and a Christmas tree ornament. On a new mouse ear headband, Gertie shares the spotlight with Duffy the Disney Bear and Ollie the Gingerbread Man.
New Themed Lounge
Among the highlights of Disney Jollywood Nights are several pop-up party zones and lounge spaces throughout Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
A new area called the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge will debut at Jollywood Nights for 2026. Disney describes the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge as a “stylish hideaway” with a live DJ and specialty drinks.
Disney announced the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge will be located in Animation Courtyard, but hasn’t said exactly where. I’m guessing it will be inside the soundstage normally home to Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live! during the daytime.
Artwork for the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge seems to include a familiar face to Disney theme park fans. An elf checking “The List” at the door bears a striking resemblance to Tally the Elf, a character from Magic Kingdom’s Christmas parade who went viral in 2024 and was changed in 2025. It remains to be seen if the Tally lookalike is a simple flourish of the artwork, or if the character will be part of the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge in an official capacity.
Holiday Party Zone Removed
A party zone called Holiday Fiesta en la Calle has been part of Disney Jollywood Nights since 2023, bringing a Latin-inspired holiday street fair to the event. Disney has moved this around every year, hopping the zone from Commissary Lane to Animation Courtyard to the plaza outside of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
In its various forms, Holiday Fiesta en la Calle has included live music, desserts, beverages, and character appearances by Panchito and José from The Three Caballeros, and Miguel from Coco.
Disney has not mentioned Holiday Fiesta en la Calle in any of its announcements about Disney Jollywood Nights 2026, so we are assuming it will not return this year.
Characters Join Ice Show
An ice show called Glisten! is performed on a specially constructed rink in front of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway during Disney Jollywood Nights.
In previous years, the cast of Glisten! didn’t include any Disney characters. New for 2026, the talented ice skaters will be joined by Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and the Genie from Aladdin. We’ll have to wait and see whether the characters will be wearing skates themselves, or if they’ll be part of the show in some other way.
Monsters, Inc. Characters
Guests can see quite a few rare characters during Disney Jollywood Nights, including Bing Bong from Inside Out and Lotso from Toy Story 3. More frequently seen characters wear special costumes, like Chewbacca in his Life Day robe, and Chip and Dale in their Rescue Rangers gear.
For this season’s Jollywood Nights, George Sanderson and Needleman from Monsters, Inc. will join Mike Wazowski at Pixar Disco, the party zone near Walt Disney Presents. These are pretty deep cuts, so you’d be forgiven if you don’t recognize their names. George Sanderson is the orange monster who ends up with a sock on his back, prompting the infamous “2319” emergency protocol. Needleman is part of the factory’s custodial crew and, with co-worker Smitty, is often overwhelmed by his jobs and shouts with frequent voice cracks.
It’s not yet clear if the monsters will hold a traditional meet-and-greet, in which guests wait in a formal line for individual photos, or if the characters will be on the dance floor, which would be less structured and more casual. One would assume the latter, but Disney’s announcements said guests can “meet” the monsters, which would indicate the former, so we’ll see.
New, But Not Exclusive
In mapping out what’s new at Disney Jollywood Nights, we’d be remiss not to mention Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets: Obligatory Holiday Overlay. This festive new version of the coaster will debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during regular park hours on November 4, 2026, and run daily through January 6, 2027.
While the holiday takeover of the ride is not exclusive to Jollywood Nights, it will be open during the event. If the party will be the only time during your Disney World trip at Hollywood Studios, this will still be a new experience and a must-see.
After a new preshow featuring callbacks to The Muppet Christmas Carol, the Obligatory Holiday Overlay will replace Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster’s usual setlist with 1 of 4 newly recorded cover songs in a random rotation:
- “Holiday Road” – The Electric Mayhem ft. Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear
- “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by The Electric Mayhem featuring Jennifer Hudson
- “Silver Bells” by The Electric Mayhem featuring Cyndi Lauper
- “Little Saint Nick” by The Electric Mayhem
Over in Toy Story Land, Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams will also play holiday music for the season, including during Jollywood Nights.
See more details about these ride overlays and another for a different Disney coaster.
New Food Still to Come
Food has become a bigger component of Disney World special events over the past few years, and Disney Jollywood Nights is no exception. The party debuts a huge list of new menu items each year. 2026’s food hasn’t yet been announced, but the collage above shows you a glimpse of what some of 2025’s food looked like, including the Santa Gertie cookie.
What’s Staying the Same at Disney Jollywood Nights in 2026
Much of Disney Jollywood Nights will feature the same programming as previous years. This includes the following.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios rides open:
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
- Toy Story Mania!
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Fireworks Spectaculars:
- Fantasmic! (performed while the park is still open to daytime guests)
- Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!
Live Shows:
- Disney Holidays in Hollywood, a variety show at the Theatre in the Stars
- Glisten!, an ice skating show
- What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along
Themed Pop-Up Spaces:
- Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club
- Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby
- Pixar Disco
Top photo via Olga Thompson / Disney.
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