Hollywood Studios Christmas Guide: Jollywood Nites, Holiday Decor, Seasonal Food

Hollywood Studios celebrates Christmas at Walt Disney World with seasonal decorations, festive food, and a new ticketed event called Jollywood Nites. Most of the holiday decor at Hollywood Studios embodies the retro, Hollywood charm that the rest of the park tends to embody. Hollywood Studios is always one of my favorite theme parks at the holidays, especially with the fun decorations in Echo Lake. We also experienced the new ticketed party Jollywood Nites which is a fun addition to the park and hopefully will continue to grow each year.

Let's go over all the things for Hollywood Studios Christmas including the new Jollywood Nites, holiday food, and decor. Plus, we will share details below on the three new holiday entertainment acts that will be featured this year for the Hollywood Studios Christmas celebration!

NEW Hollywood Studios Christmas Entertainment 

This year for Christmas at Hollywood Studios, there will be three new entertainment acts starting November 12. 

Juggling Elves will be one of the new entertainment offerings featured as they “show off their skills of juggling, comedy and more.”

Another new offering is the Holiday Spirit Band, a brass group that will be performing at Hollywood Studios this holiday season.

Seasons Jukebox will play holiday classics and more, with the “performance and pep of a collegiate marching band.” This new entertainment offering will feature “hard-hitting horns, rocking drummers, and dazzling dancers.” 

When the Christmas celebration begins on November 12, visitors can also enjoy returning offerings like the holiday overlay of For the First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration and meeting Santa in It's A Wonderful Shop.

We will share more details on the Hollywood Studios Christmas offerings and decorations below…

Hollywood Studios Jollywood Nites

The 2024 holiday season at Walt Disney World includes the new ticketed holiday party called Jollywood Nights. This party takes place on select nights in November and December featuring party-exclusive entertainment, pop-up bars, and rare character meet and greets.

 2024 Disney Jollywood Nights event dates:

• November 9, 13, 16, 18, 23, 25 and 30
• December 2, 7, 11, 14, 18 and 21

Jollywood Nites takes place from 8:30PM to 12:30AM and guests with tickets can enter Hollywood Studios as early as 7PM for the event. Since this party takes place after Hollywood Studios typically closes, this won't impact guests visiting the theme park without party tickets. This means that all regular daytime shows, including those of Fantasmic!, will still run on event nights.

This new holiday party features the return of “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!”, a Muppets-focused holiday special at Theater of the Stars and a Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-A-Long.

Read all the information including how to buy tickets in our Disney Jollywood Nights event guide.

You can also read our full review of the first party night in our Jollywood Nights review as we cover recent updates to the party along with our answer to the question: is it worth it?

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Sunset Seasons Greetings

Hollywood Studios features a projection show on the Tower of Terror called Sunset Seasons Greetings. This projection show includes lights, scenes on the tower plus snowfall.

Sunset Seasons Greetings takes place nightly from 6PM to 9PM on the Tower of Terror. The holiday scenes included in this projection show include:

• Mickey and Minnie thinking about a hometown Christmas before the scene shifts into a romanticized, Norman Rockwell-inspired town that goes from black and white to color.
• Toy Story characters wondering about the new toys coming for Christmas with the scene changing to wrapping paper.
• The Swedish Chef from the Muppets before changing into gingerbread houses.
• Olaf thinking of his holiday wish before music plays and the scene turns into a Frozen winter wonderland with dancing Aurora Borealis lights and the falling snow.

This show is pretty easy to fit into your holiday itinerary, just make sure to take the time to head to this corner of the park after 6PM. Since the Tower of Terror is so large, there is no need to worry about getting a good spot. Everyone will get a good view from the street.

Minnie's Holiday Dine

Hollywood & Vine at Hollywood Studios has seasonal character dining that changes throughout the year to match the current Walt Disney World celebrations. If you experience Minnie's Holiday Dine you can expect to see Santa Goofy plus Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Pluto in their holiday outfits.

The pre-fix menu for this character meal will offer traditional holiday home-cooked food, which is in line with the type of dining options at Hollywood & Vine, and this often includes holiday dessert options.

You can read our full review of this holiday experience to see why we loved this special event.

Hollywood Studios Christmas Characters

Just like you'll see at the other Walt Disney World theme parks for Christmas, most of the Disney characters will be in their holiday outfits to greet guests.

Santa Claus Merry Motorcade is a short cavalcade, similar to a parade but usually only featuring a few characters, that will head through Hollywood Studios.

The cavalcade alternates between Santa or Santa Goofy and includes snowfall, elves, and reindeer.

These happen frequently throughout the day so they're easy to catch or you can check My Experience App for the most current times.

Hollywood Studios Christmas Decorations

Most Hollywood Studios Christmas decorations are focused towards the front of the park and extend out to the Echo Lake area. Unfortunately, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge does not receive any holiday decorations. I have always thought this was a big missed opportunity and you can read more about why I think Disney needs to extend the holidays to a galaxy far, far away here.

Echo Lake is one of my favorite areas of Hollywood Studios to receive holiday decorations. Gertie, the green dinosaur which is one of the symbols of Hollywood Studios, dons a Santa hat.

You will also find a large Christmas tree, the largest in the park, by Echo Lake making this a great place to take photos.

All of the holiday decor around the park captures the essence of the golden age of Hollywood which aligns nicely with the flair of Hollywood Studios. I always love the vintage holiday decorations featured each year.

And of course, the front of Hollywood Studios will feature light garlands, wreaths, and more. Notice how all the decor celebrates the flair of Hollywood with the focus on retro-style stars? I love the attention to detail Disney always displays in their holiday decorations.

Hollywood Studios Christmas Food Guide 2024

Note that the 2024 Hollywood Studios Christmas food guide has not yet been announced, but you can see last year's offerings below. 

Here is the variety of treats you can find over at Disney's Hollywood Studios plus don't forget to book the themed seasonal character dining at Hollywood & Vine! Make your dining reservations on the Walt Disney World website.

ABC Commissary (Available Nov. 11 through Jan. 1; mobile order available)

• Holiday Minnie Bundt Cake: Spice cake rolled in cinnamon-sugar with apple pie filling topped with spiced maple buttercream and salted caramel icing
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce (Non-alcoholic beverage)
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa with Cherry Bourbon topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce

Backlot Express (Available Nov. 11 through Jan. 1; mobile order available)

• Red Velvet Whoopie Pie: Red velvet cake, candy cane buttercream, and holiday sprinkles
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce (Non-alcoholic beverage)
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa with Cherry Bourbon topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce

Hollywood Scoops (Available through Jan. 1) 

• Candy Cane Milkshake: Chocolate cake doughnut, mint doughnut icing, and candy cane sprinkles

PizzeRizzo (Available Nov. 11 through Jan. 1; mobile order available)

• Melted Snowman Sugar Cookie: Sugar cookie with red and green sugar, white chocolate, marshmallow, dark chocolate top hat, raspberry-chocolate twigs, orange sprinkle, and chocolate-covered cocoa nibs
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce (Non-alcoholic beverage)
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa with Cherry Bourbon topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce

Rosie’s All-American Café (Available Nov. 11 through Jan. 1; mobile order available)

• Santa Mickey Cupcake: Chocolate cake filled with mocha fudge and topped with red almond buttercream, white chocolate, and dark chocolate Mickey ears
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce (Non-alcoholic beverage)
• Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa with Cherry Bourbon topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce

The Trolley Car Café (Available Nov. 11 through Jan. 1) 

• Mickey Gingerbread Cookie
• Red Velvet Whoopie Pie: Red velvet cake, candy cane buttercream, and holiday sprinkle

Woody’s Lunch Box (Available Nov. 11 through Jan. 31; mobile order available)

• Hot Chocolate Lunch Box Tart: Chocolate fudge filling, hot chocolate-marshmallow fondant, and mini marshmallows

Dockside Diner and Outdoor Vending Carts Near Grand Avenue, the Tip Board, and the Main Entrance (Available through Jan. 1)

• Holiday Mickey Brownie: Mickey-shaped chocolate brownie with holiday sprinkles

FAQs- Disney World Hollywood Studios Christmas