Disney Jollywood Nights 2026 Preview & Expectations: Muppets Holiday Coaster, New Festive Lounge
Disney Jollywood Nights opens its 2026 season at Disney’s Hollywood Studios tonight, and we’ll be there for opening night. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster now stars the Muppets, complete with a holiday overlay, and that could be a big factor this year. Before we head over, we went through everything Disney has announced for this year, along with three seasons of wait times and experience from attending past parties. Here’s our preview of tonight and what we expect once the party starts.
Disney Jollywood Nights 2026 Preview: Shows, Rides, and What We Expect
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- What Jollywood Nights is and what tickets cost this year.
- Tonight’s showtimes and what’s new for 2026.
- Three seasons of wait time data and our predictions for tonight.
What Is Disney Jollywood Nights?
Jollywood Nights is Hollywood Studios’ after-hours Christmas party, and its 2026 season starts tonight, Saturday, November 7th. It has come a long way since its first year.
Disney sells party tickets separately from regular admission, and the event takes over the park on select nights after day guests leave. It debuted in 2023 as the counterpart to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, and the two could not feel more different. Very Merry is built around its parade and fireworks. Jollywood Nights is stage shows, dance parties, and cocktail lounges, with Disney encouraging guests to dress up in old Hollywood style. It’s the closest thing Walt Disney World has to a “Disney Adult” Christmas party, although kids are welcome too.
The first season was a work in progress, to put it kindly. Disney has added more every year since, and guests have rewarded that effort with more sold-out dates. Last year was the most successful season yet, with eight sold-out nights. Our Disney Jollywood Nights guide has every season’s dates and prices in one place.
Event Hours & Ticket Prices
Party hours are 7:30pm to 12:30am, and ticket holders can walk in as early as 5:30pm. I’d strongly recommend using every minute of that early entry. Day guests have to be out by 7:00pm, and that window is one of the least crowded times of the night, as the wait data further down shows.
There are 15 party nights this year, from November 7th through January 5th, and the January dates are a first for the event. Tickets cost $169 to $199 plus tax. Kids ages 3 to 9 save $10, and Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members get $10 off every date. Your party ticket is your park admission for the night, so you don’t need a separate ticket or park reservation.
Tonight sold out back in October, earlier than opening night did last year. November 14th went next, and November 28th sold out on November 4th. Every other date still had tickets as of that third sellout.
- November 7 (SOLD OUT): $179
- November 14 (SOLD OUT): $179
- November 16: $169
- November 21: $189
- November 23: $194
- November 28 (SOLD OUT): $199
- December 5, 7: $194
- December 12, 14, 19, 21, 23: $199
- January 3: $194
- January 5: $189
Three nights gone before the party has even opened puts 2026 ahead of last year’s pace. With that said, it’s still relatively early and I’m cautious not to read too much into it yet. Half of last year’s sellouts came in December, and every December date is still available right now. Our expectation is that Thanksgiving week and the last few nights before Christmas go next.
Shows and Entertainment
In my opinion, entertainment is the main reason to buy a Jollywood Nights ticket. You can treat the party as a low-wait ride night, but exclusive shows are rarer than rides that are open every day of the year, even with lower waits.
Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy host Disney Holidays in Hollywood at Theater of the Stars, with Tiana, Belle, Minnie Mouse, and Mickey Mouse joining them. Disney’s posted showtimes for Jollywood Nights 2026 are the same tonight as for most of the season, and Glisten! is now listed in the My Disney Experience app too:
- Disney Holidays in Hollywood: 7:00pm, 8:15pm, 9:15pm, 11:00pm, midnight
- Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along: 6:30pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm, 9:30pm, 11:30pm
- Sunset Seasons Greetings: 6:00pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm, 8:45pm, 9:45pm, 10:45pm, 11:30pm
- Glisten!: 8:05pm, 9:05pm, 10:30pm, 11:15pm, 12:15am
- Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!: 10:00pm
- Fantasmic!: 6:30pm
Fantasmic! plays only once on party nights, at the same time as the first Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along, so you’ll have to pick one or the other. I’d go with the sing-along to get a head start on the exclusive entertainment for the night.
Glisten! adds Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and Genie to the skating show this year. Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! is the party’s exclusive nighttime show on the Chinese Theater, with fireworks, lasers, and projections. If you’ve seen this show before, even back when it was presented for regular guests, you’d be ok to skip it if there’s something more important.
Between shows, the party zones do the heavy lifting. Echo Lake Holiday Celebration is a 1990s and 2000s nostalgia “party” with Baloo, King Louie, Max Goof as Powerline, Phineas and Ferb, Chip ‘n’ Dale, and Santa Stitch. Those are all meet-and-greets, so you’ll have to join a queue.
Pixar Disco has Edna Mode, Frozone, Joy, and Mike Wazowski. This is a proper dance party, so there’s no traditional queue to meet these characters. Likewise, The Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club is exactly what it sounds like: a live band and cocktails in the Tower of Terror courtyard.
What’s New for 2026
This year’s biggest addition is the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge in Animation Courtyard, with a live DJ until 12:30am. Four of its five drinks are new, according to the full Jollywood Nights 2026 food guide: the Candy Cane Cooler (non-alcoholic), Fizz the Season, the Not-So-Hot-Toddy, and the Snow-hopper. Lump of Coal, a spicy tequila drink, returns.
George Sanderson and Needleman from Monsters, Inc. are meeting guests for the very first time over in Pixar Plaza. That’s a deep cut, and we’re here for it. Especially with Monstropolis set to open next year. They join a lineup Disney bills as more than 20 character experiences.
Most of the new food is dessert, including a Kermit Chocolate-Pistachio Sundae, a Partysaurus Rex Brookie, and Cookie Butter Croissant Beignets. Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby is back with the longest menu at the event, and Disney recommends reservations.
Gertie and Duffy dressed as Santa star on this year’s event-exclusive merchandise, including a Gertie Loungefly bag and ornament, an ear headband, a pullover, and a Duffy mug. You can only buy it during the party, at a shop near Frozen Fractal Gifts.
2026 Character Lineup
The only 2026 locations Disney has given so far are a few in the rain plan and Mike Wazowski in the October announcement. Tonight is the first night, so the full layout should show up on the event map once the event starts. We’ll update this list when we learn more.
Echo Lake
- Stitch dressed as Santa (Celebrity Spotlight)
Grand Avenue
- Scrooge McDuck (near Baseline Tap House)
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
- Chewbacca celebrating Life Day (near Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run)
Pixar Plaza
- Mike Wazowski
Animation Courtyard
- Duffy dressed as Santa (Walt Disney Presents)
Location not announced
- Mickey and Minnie
- Donald and Daisy
- Goofy and Pluto
- Phineas and Ferb
- Max Goof as Powerline
- Chip ’n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers
- Baloo or King Louie (TaleSpin)
- José Carioca or Panchito
- The Mandalorian and Grogu
- Bo Peep
- Sarge
- Partysaurus Rex
- Lotso
- Bing Bong
- Joy
- Sadness
- Edna Mode and Frozone
- George Sanderson
- Needleman
Jollywood Nights Wait Times From 2023 to 2025
This is where things get interesting. Thrill Data has posted wait times for every past party night, and the numbers tell a pretty consistent story.
| Year | Average Wait | Lightest Night | Busiest Night |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 17 min | 9 min | 21 min |
| 2024 | 16 min | 12 min | 20 min |
| 2025 | 21 min | 18 min | 22 min |
The jump last year makes sense, since 2025 was also the best-selling season. Even so, no single night has ever averaged more than 22 minutes. The month doesn’t seem to matter much either, with November and December averages within a minute of each other in all three years.
Opening night hasn’t been any worse than a normal party night. It averaged 18 minutes in 2023, 19 in 2024, and 18 last year, which actually made it the lightest night of the 2025 season. I’d wager most opening-night guests are there for the entertainment and lounges, not attractions.
On an average night, the pattern is the same every year. Lines are longest in the first hour and shrink from there. Last year’s opener averaged around 25 minutes across the park at 7:30pm and just 9 minutes by 12:15am.
Over full seasons, Slinky Dog Dash has had the longest ride wait two years running. It averaged 31 minutes at the party last year, compared to 69 minutes on regular days. Rise of the Resistance has gone the other direction, dropping from 33 minutes in 2023 to 22 last year.
| Attraction | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 Regular Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slinky Dog Dash | 26 min | 29 min | 31 min | 69 min |
| Toy Story Mania! | 20 min | 16 min | 24 min | 50 min |
| Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance | 33 min | 24 min | 22 min | 57 min |
| The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror | 17 min | 14 min | 17 min | 43 min |
| Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway | 9 min | 13 min | 16 min | 49 min |
| Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith | 12 min | 13 min | 14 min | 49 min |
| Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run | 10 min | 11 min | 11 min | 39 min |
| Alien Swirling Saucers | 6 min | 5 min | 5 min | 31 min |
| Star Tours | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 10 min |
The longest line of all in 2025 was for Santa Stitch, at 44 minutes.
Our Expectations
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is the wild card. The Aerosmith version never averaged more than 14 minutes in a Jollywood Nights season, but most party guests had ridden it plenty of times. Tonight’s version is new, and its Obligatory Holiday Overlay only started on November 4th with four holiday songs from The Electric Mayhem. A lot of people at the party tonight will be riding it for the first time. I’d be surprised if it didn’t post the longest wait of the night, at least early on.
Everything else should look a lot like last year’s opener. The My Disney Experience app now lists 10 attractions open for the party from 7:30pm to 12:30am, including Toy Story Mania!, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Star Tours. Walt Disney Presents is on the list too, closing to day guests at 6:00pm and reopening for party guests at 7:30pm.
Our predictions for tonight:
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets: 30 to 45 minutes (or more) early, 15 to 20 minutes after 11:00pm
- Slinky Dog Dash: 30 to 40 minutes early, under 20 minutes after 11:00pm
- Toy Story Mania!: about 20 minutes
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance: 15 to 25 minutes
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: about 15 minutes
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway: 10 to 15 minutes
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run: about 10 minutes
Three Game Plans for the Night
There’s no way to see everything in five hours, so we put together two plans for the night. The first puts the shows first, while the second is built around rides and character meets and uses the wait data above to dodge the longest lines.
If entertainment is your priority, this is how we’d lay out the night:
- 5:30pm: Head in as soon as you can and grab dinner before the shows start.
- 6:30pm: The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along, skipping Fantasmic.
- 7:30pm: Pixar Disco or the Twilight Soirée for some vibes as the party officially starts.
- 8:15pm: Disney Holidays in Hollywood.
- 9:05pm: Glisten!, then stay put in front of the Chinese Theater for Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! at 10:00pm. You can also bounce over to the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge between shows if you just want a quick drink
- 10:30pm: The Checkin’ It Twice Lounge or Pixar Disco’s second session.
- 11:30pm: The last Sunset Seasons Greetings, then the Twilight Soirée to close out the night.
For rides and characters, flip the night around and use the shows as cover from crowds:
- 5:30pm: Slinky Dog Dash, Alien Swirling Saucers, and/or Toy Story Mania! while day guests clear out.
- 7:30pm: Meet Stitch at Celebrity Spotlight right when it opens (get in line early). Santa Stitch had the longest average wait of any experience last year, at 44 minutes.
- 8:15pm: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, then Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, while Disney Holidays in Hollywood and Glisten! pull crowds away from the rides.
- 10:00pm: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance during Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!
- 10:30pm: Echo Lake Holiday Celebration for your choice of Baloo, King Louie, Powerline, and Phineas and Ferb, then Mike Wazowski at Pixar Disco.
- 11:00pm: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, when we expect their waits to drop.
- Midnight: One last ride on whatever has the shortest line before the party ends at 12:30am.
The attractions plan gives up exclusive entertainment, which is a tough trade since you can’t see them outside the party at any time.
Here’s a final plan that tries to give entertainment more room, while allowing some time for attractions that are otherwise busy during daytime hours:
- 5:30pm: Dinner, or Toy Story Mania! / Alien Swirling Saucers if you’d rather eat later.
- 6:30pm: The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along, skipping Fantasmic!
- 7:30pm: Pixar Disco, for Mike Wazowski, Edna Mode, Frozone, Joy, and new characters.
- 8:15pm: Disney Holidays in Hollywood.
- 9:05pm: Glisten!, then stay in front of the Chinese Theater for Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! at 10:00pm. You might even have some time for the Checkin’ It Twice Lounge between Glisten and Jingle BAM.
- 10:15pm: Checkin’ It Twice Lounge for a drink and the DJ. Head start on remaining characters if you’ve already hit the lounge.
- 10:45pm: Echo Lake Holiday Celebration and Meet Stitch at Celebrity Spotlight.
- 11:30pm: Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster.
- About 11:55pm: Head to Galaxy’s Edge for Rise of the Resistance, getting in line before 12:30am. Or, head over to the Twilight Soirée for a nightcap.
Perfect “Disney Adult” Holiday Event
Jollywood Nights didn’t win us over right away. After the very first party in 2023, our Disney Jollywood Nights review didn’t mince words: “Jollywood Nights in its current form isn’t worth it.” Crowds piled up on Sunset Boulevard; food, drinks, and the stage shows all had long lines, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was the clearly better deal. Even then, the two theater shows stood out as winners.
Disney kept building on those shows. In 2024, a reworked Disney Holidays in Hollywood cut the hosts’ dialogue and gave the Muppets more stage time. The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along went on to win an IAAPA Brass Ring Award for Most Creative Winter Holiday Production. Last year added new character meets like Miguel, Life Day Chewbacca, Partysaurus Rex, and Bing Bong.
Combine those fixes with a more relaxed, enjoyable evening overall, and you’ve got a real winner. In fact, I’ve finally convinced my friend group to attend the event later this year.
In my opinion, this is the perfect “Disney Adult” holiday event at Walt Disney World. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is still the pick for families who want a parade, but Jollywood Nights is the party for guests who want to dress up, see a few great shows, and grab a cocktail between rides. This year adds a new lounge, the Monsters, Inc. meets, and January dates on top of that.
Keep Reading
- Plan your evening around every show with our breakdown of Disney Jollywood Nights 2026 showtimes and attractions.
- See every new and returning bite and sip in our full menus and food guide for Jollywood Nights 2026.
- Get a closer look at this year’s Gertie and Santa Duffy merchandise before it sells out.
- Find dates, prices, and past coverage in one place on our Disney Jollywood Nights guide.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!