‘Tis the season for Disney Christmas parties! Want to attend Jollywood Nights or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party? Well, you’ll have to pony up: these are hard ticket events.
WAIT, WHAT’S A HARD TICKET EVENT?
If you’re not familiar with the term, a Disney hard ticket event is a park function not included in regular ticketed admission, Annual Pass or otherwise. You may have the means to enter a park during regular operating hours, but you’ll be kicked out when the party starts unless you purchase a separate event ticket.
As such, we must once again revisit my favorite question – namely, is it worth it? If you’re already taking a Walt Disney World vacation during the holidays, does it make sense to splash out for a Christmas party ticket too? The answer, as always, is that it depends. Why? That’s right! Because value is subjective!
Knowing this, I still get a kick out of trying to make the qualitative quantitative. Therefore I thought it would be fun to throw together a little money diary detailing what I spent to attend a Jollywood Nights event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Yes, there will be math at the end a la my Disneyland ticket value post!
But before we can truly tackle this particular value question, we must first ask another. Specifically,
WHAT’S THE REAL COST OF JOLLYWOOD NIGHTS?
You might wonder why I am posing such a simple question in the first place. What’s the price of a Jollywood Nights ticket? There ya go. That’s your answer.
Well, not so fast. It’s certainly possible to attend a Disney Christmas party and spend $0 if you don’t eat or drink anything the entire time. Yet I would argue that the vast majority of people will not do that. Not because they aren’t frugal people who know the value of a dollar. Rather because this is vacation. Just being at Disney is something of a splurge, and that mentality encourages guests to indulge a little.
I try to be thoughtful in my purchases, but I’m certainly not immune to a little treat here and there. As I guide you through my expenditures, you can mentally compare your own behaviors to mine. Hopefully you’ll walk away with an understanding of how much you would likely spend at Jollywood Nights.
FIRST YOU’LL NEED YOUR JOLLYWOOD NIGHTS TICKET
Let’s start with that ticket. Disney employs variable pricing for its hard ticket events; certainly dates are more expensive than others. Typically weekends and dates closer to the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas itself) are more expensive.
In 2025, Jollywood Nights pricing starting at $159 per ticket and went up to $199. However, note that this does not include tax. I attended my party on Monday, December 1, for a ticket price of $179… which after taxes came out to $190.64.
I suppose by the time you’re shelling out close to $200, why not get a little closer still? But I do wish Disney was a bit more up front about it.
Annual Passholders get $10 off per ticket, which is not nothing. For a whole family, ten bucks a pop could add up.
ARE YOU PLANNING TO WEAR YOUR PARTY BEST?
One Jollywood Night’s unique features is the Old Hollywood theme. Party goers are actively encouraged to dress up, further spurred by the promise of copious photo opportunities.
While at the party, we saw guests in every type of outfit. Everything from sweatshirts and jeans to costume-y Christmas party kitsch to flapper finery – so there’s no pressure! You can wear whatever you already have at home and no one will blink an eye. But Walt Disney World is my runway, and I wanted to pick up something better suited to the retro ’30s theme I love.
I managed to track down a secondhand Bronx & Banco gown with strong ’30s energy (shoulder pads and mutton sleeves!) on The RealReal for a grand total of $99 after shipping. Given the dress retails for $550, I was pretty pleased with myself.
Yes, technically I could’ve shopped my own closet and spent $0, but I gotta say: no regrets. I felt fabulous in it and fielded many a compliment. Cookie Fitzgerald herself told me I looked like a movie star!
DISNEY DOESN’T DO FOOD FREEBIES AT JOLLYWOOD NIGHTS
A popular selling point of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is the free snacks and drinks. Locations all over the Magic Kingdom mete out gratis cookies and holiday drinks like hot chocolate and eggnog.
Meanwhile, over the at After Hours hard ticket events, your admission includes a host of unlimited concessions. Popcorn, ice cream novelties, and bottled water and soda are all yours for the taking.
If you were expecting something similar at Jollywood Nights, well, don’t. Disney doesn’t provide edible handouts at Jollywood Nights. If you wanna eat, you’re gonna have to open your wallet.
… BUT THEY DO OTHER FREEBIES
That doesn’t mean you’ll walk away completely empty-handed, however. We received a free ornament at the end of the night (which you also get at MVMCP) as well as an unexpected tube of mini M&Ms…? I guess you do get ONE free snack. When you’re leaving.
More valuable is the free use of PhotoPass photographers during the length of the party. That’s right, you can download all your shots without throwing down for a Memory Maker photo package! That’s a solid but also logical perk considering they advertise photo ops as a party attraction. Some people report you can even get your PhotoPass pictures taken during the mix-in period, before the party starts.
One last kinda-sorta freebie: the 1939 Royale and Top Floor Daiquiri alcoholic beverages at the Tip Top Club come in a souvenir plastic champagne flute emblazoned with a Jollywood nights graphic.
Either drink will run you $11.50 plus tax. When you consider how gosh darned expensive Disney cocktails tend to be, that’s not a bad deal.
Just have a plan for carrying your new souvenir around with you. You could circumvent this by buying yours at the end of the night, but Disney does add a little “while supplies last” fine print to their glass promise. It’s probably more to cover than butts than anything else, but keep that in mind if it a little jazz flute is important to you.
WHAT I BOUGHT AT JOLLYWOOD NIGHTS
All right, if food and drink is not included in the price, that means I must have splashed out on some. Full disclaimer: I used Disney Rewards points for all but the Brown Derby bill, so if you want to split hairs all the addition sampler cocktails cost me zero dollars. That’s not particularly instructive, though, so we’re going to proceed as though I did in fact throw down cold hard cash. Or plastic, because credit cards. You get it.
Here’s a list of all the food and drinks purchases I made over the course of the night. Jonesing for reviews? Look right here!
The prices below are listed after tax.
1939 Royale: $13.85
Jazzy Holidays at the Brown Derby Lounge: $57.13
Warm Spiced Chai: $10.12
Spiced Apple Sangria: $10.12
Gingerbread Whisky Mule: $10.12 + $2 tip because the Cast Member accidentally threw a gingerbread bite at me and then gave me two; I appreciated the interactivity
Total: $103.34
WHAT I DIDN’T BUY BUT COULD’VE
We took a spin through the dedicated Jollywood Nights merchandise area, but I personally found the offerings underwhelming. This is very much a subjective assessment, however! If you’re a HUGE fan of Ollie the Gingerbread Man, you’re in luck. The vast majority of the party merch is Ollie-centric, and you may have to remind yourself to save money for real life.
There is also an official holiday pin featuring The Muppets if you’re a pin collector. And completionists who must have EVERY ear headband, EVERY Loungefly bag, and EVERY spirit jersey will have no trouble filling their metaphorical cart.
Should you find Ollie underwhelming as a party mascot, don’t collect anything, or are otherwise quite particular about your shopping selections, you’ll probably walk out empty handed without having to talk yourself out of anything. I did! (Although if they ever come up with some Tip Top Club merch someone will have to take my credit card away.)
SO HOW MUCH VALUE DID I EXTRACT FROM MY JOLLYWOOD NIGHTS TICKET?
Value is subjective, yes – but numbers aren’t. Let’s do some math, kids!
In an attempt to generate hard data, I approached the Jollywood Nights cost-to-value question in two ways: ticket price only, and ticket price plus the additional money I spent for my holiday enjoyment.
As a reminder, the ticket by itself cost me $190.64 after tax. When you add the money I spent on my party dress, food, and drinks, I spent a grand total of $392.98. For greater simplicity, I hope you won’t mind if I round that number to $393.
IF I JUST LOOK AT THE TICKET PRICE
We’ll begin by considering the value through the lens of only the cost of my Jollywood Nights ticket. On paper, the party runs from 7:30pm to 12:30am, for a total of five hours. However, ticket holders are able to enter as early as 5:30pm, which we did, bring the total to seven hours. That puts the Jollywood Nights cost per hour at about $27.23. A bit steep, especially as compared to a regular Disney park ticket, but not totally crazy.
Alternatively, we could approach the question by way of attractions. First, there are the party exclusive I experienced during the official party hours. I saw two sets at the Tip Top Club, the What’s This? Sing-Along, Holidays in Hollywood, and enjoyed the Fiesta en la Calle, for a total of five performances. (This doesn’t include shows I caught glimpses of as I walked by.)
I also got a photo with Bing Bong, as well as photo ops at a makeshift red carpet and outside the Sci-Fi Dine-In. I’m going to include Jazzy Holidays at the Brown Derby too, as this experience featured live musicians. That’s nine attractions total at a per-attraction cost of $21.18.
But wait, there’s more! I snuck in three extras during the mix-in period before Jollywood Nights actually started. When we add the Unfairly Ever After show and two additional photo ops, we’re up to 12 attractions, with a per-attraction cost of $15.89. Now that sounds more favorable!
IF I LOOK AT MY JOLLYWOOD NIGHTS EXPENDITURES AS A WHOLE
All right, let’s make this a bit more painful. What about if I look at my grand total expenditure of $393?
Scenario one: strictly by the seven hours I was in the Studios. Looking at it that way, I paid $56.14 per hour. Oof.
Okay, let’s try it by attraction. At nine party-exclusive attractions, I paid $43.67 each. At all twelve attractions I collected while in the park, I paid $32.75 each.
Hold on a minute, though. That $393 sum includes my food and drinks. I consumed two food items and five drink items, and if we’re going to wrap in their prices I think they should count! Adding them to our nine attraction count, we’re dividing by 16 or $24.56. Using our twelve attraction count, we’re up to 19 items and down to $20.68 per item.
Not terrible when you consider we’re not even taking the $99 I spent on my dress into account.
Speaking of my dress, the number of times someone told me I looked like a movie star was priceless. Anything divided by zero is zero, which would make my Jollywood Nights ticket free. 😅
IS JOLLYWOOD NIGHTS WORTH IT TO YOU?
If you must throw down money, it is best to at least be able to say it was worth it. Regardless of how you feel about the numbers referenced above, I can tell you with great confidence that I think Jollywood Nights was worth it to me.
Is it because I’ve looked at my cost per hour and/or attraction and feel the costs were all equivalent to the products? Well, yes, but it’s more than that. As per usual with Disney, atmosphere is a bigger player than you might otherwise expect. The retro glam, jazz era, art deco, Golden Age of Hollywood theme was incredibly me, and I absolutely ate it up. If you’re interests do not track in that direction, you may find the entire thing underwhelming and consequently worth neither your money nor your time.
VALUE IS SUBJECTIVE AND YOU STILL MADE ME DO MATH???
You may wonder, then – what’s the point of all the mathematical breakdown if the answer to the question is ultimately vibes? Well, vibes do count for a lot. But the fact of the matter is that most of us only have so much discretionary income. All the vibes in the world can’t make up for a number that simply does not work within your budget. Or perhaps even more saliently, a number that could work within your budget, but at the expense of other things.
It is therefore by these powers combined – vibes and hard data alike – that I hope I can help at least a little in making the decision of whether Jollywood Nights is worth it for you. And if you decide it is, might I suggest you also buy the fancy outfit? I think that’s worth it too!
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Threads @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!