Disney World will have a new after-hours holiday party this year in Hollywood Studios called Jollywood Nights.

You can dance the night away with live bands, see festive stage shows, and cap the night off with the Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! nighttime spectacular.

Enjoy lower wait times for your favorite attractions, meet beloved characters dressed in their holiday finest, and feast on new holiday treats.

Jollywood Nights takes place on the following nights in 2023:

• Saturday, November 11
• Saturday, November 18
• Monday, November 20
• Monday, November 27
• Wednesday, November 29
• Monday, December 4
• Wednesday, December 6
• Saturday, December 16
• Monday, December 18
• Wednesday, December 20

This special event takes place from 8:30pm to 12:30am but ticket holders can enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios as early as 7pm on the date of their ticket. No theme park reservation is needed to enter after 7pm. Ticket prices start at $159. Come dressed to impressed.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit the Jollywood Nights page below. Some dates are already sold out.

• Disney’s Jollywood Nights

This adds a new Disney nighttime holiday party to Hollywood Studios, in addition to the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom.

As always, feel free to contact me if you want to chat about adding these events to your Disney trip.

Pics ©Disney

Disney World is currently offering a Disney Dining Promo Card when you purchase a non-discounted package that includes a resort stay and park tickets on select resorts and days from late 2023 to early 2024.

The promo gives you a certain amount of dining credit on a digital gift card that can be used to purchase meals, snacks, treats, and beverages at participating dining locations across Walt Disney World Resort. The amount will vary depending on resort category and length of stay. A minimum stay of 4 resort and ticket days is required.

The offer is valid for stays that start on the following arrival dates:

• Most nights October 27 to November 1, 2023
• Most nights November 25 to November 29, 2023
• Most nights December 9 to December 25, 2023
• Most Sunday to Tuesday nights January 9, 2024 to March 5, 2024

The amount you get will be calculated approximately as such:

• Up to $200 per room, per night at most Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts
• Up to $120 per room, per night at most Moderate Resorts
• Up to $60 per room, per night at most Value Resorts

The number of packages available for this offer is limited so book soon. If you already have a stay booked on the eligible dates, you can call to see if this promo can be applied to it. Everyone in the same room must be on the same package. For more details about this offer, visit the Disney Play, Stay, and Dining Promo Card offer page.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat more about this or anything else related to planning your Disney trip.

Note: this is different from the Dining Plans, discussed in a separate post.

Heads up if you have a Disney World trip planned for January 2024. Disney just announced the following closures for the Skyliner for its annual maintenance.

• Jan. 16-21, 2024
  • The line between Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation, and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort will be closed.
  • The line between Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be closed.
• Jan. 16-27, 2024
  • The line between Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney’s Riviera Resort, and International Gateway at EPCOT will be closed.

Buses will be available for affected Skyliner resort guests to get to/from EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, which are the only parks normally accessible via the Skyliner.

If your trip is affected or if you want to chat about any other aspect of a Disney trip, feel free to contact me.

Disney announced that a new Frozen Holiday Surprise show will be coming to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World.

Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, and over 100 of his Snowgie siblings will decorate Cinderella Castle for the holidays, with Elsa transforming Cinderella Castle into a “shimmering crystallized palace” with her frozen fractals.

The show will start November 7, 2023 and will occur nightly during the holiday season. This means you can watch them light up the castle even if you’re not going to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Don’t miss the holiday events at the other parks either. The Merry Menagerie, life-size, artisan-sculpted animal puppets, will return to the Animal Kingdom, the International Festival of the Holidays will be taking place in EPCOT, and a new Jollywood Nights party will be held on select nights at Hollywood Studios. More info coming soon on that one.

Disney also shared that preparations are underway to create the beautiful gingerbread houses and displays at the Disney resorts. They should start going up around mid-November. This year, there will be gingerbread displays at the following resorts:

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s BoardWalk Resort
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

Disney Springs will join in the holiday fun with new decor and dining starting November 10th. You can also visit Santa and look for all of the incredibly themed trees on the Christmas Tree Stroll presented by AdventHealth. They are amazing!

Are you excited for the holidays at Disney? It is an especially beautiful and magical time to go.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about planning a Disney trip.

Pics ©Disney

Disney World’s Blizzard Beach water park will reopen on November 6, 2023! This winter-themed tropical wonderland is ready for another fun season!

If you don’t know, the two Disney water parks alternate closing for refurbishment in the winter months. Currently, Typhoon Lagoon is open, but it will close for a bit once Blizzard Beach reopens.

New this year, you can buy a Disney Water Park Seasonal Pass valid for unlimited visits at either park from now until May 24, 2024 for $79 (adults) or $73 (child). Considering that a one-day ticket is just a few dollars less, it’s worth it to buy the annual pass if you visit two or more times before it expires. The seasonal pass has no block-out dates and no reservations are necessary.

Have you ever been to the Disney water parks? It’s a good way to do a semi-rest day and cool off between multiple theme park days. We love the water slides, wave pool, and lazy river. Don’t forget about the mini donuts either! Sooo good! There will be new churros and other snacks this year too.

If you want to chat about adding the water park pass or single-day tickets to your Disney trip, feel free to contact me.

Pics © Disney

In light of the recent price hikes, there are some Disney World Resort room deals to help with your trip costs.

For trips from now until March 2024, Disney has announced room offers that will save you 10%-30% on select nights. The amount varies depending on which resort you’re staying at, what day your trip starts, and how long your stay lasts.

If you purchase a package that includes a resort stay and park tickets, you may also qualify for a Dining Card up to $1000. The amount varies depending on length of stay, type of resort, and dates of stay as well. Lots of fine print for this one.

There are also regular offers for 35% savings for Annual Passholders and 30% savings for Florida residents.

You may want to check a few resort and date combinations or work with a travel agent (like me) who can help you do that, to see if you qualify for any offers and which offer gets you the best savings for your trip.

As always, feel free to contact me if you want to chat about planning a Disney trip.

To follow up on my post yesterday about Annual Pass Price Increases, here are some other changes for park access:

• Starting Jan 9, 2024, most ticket holders, including annual pass holders and cast members, will no longer need to make park reservations on certain “good-to-go” dates. No details yet but I imagine they will be the projected lower crowd days.
• At the same time, guests with Park Hopper tickets or Annual Passes can start hopping at any time. You no longer have to wait until after 2pm to hop. If it’s a day that requires a park reservation, you still have to scan into your reserved park first before hopping.

Here are some additional price increases that occurred:

• Standard theme park parking increased from $25 to $30 ($35 for oversized vehicles), which actually matches the parking at other Florida theme parks. Preferred parking ranges from $45-$55 depending on dynamic pricing. It is still free for Disney resort guests and annual pass holders.
• The Memory Maker photo downloads increased from $69 to $75 for one-day access and $169 to $185 for length of trip access, if you buy it before your trip. If you buy it during or after your trip, it goes up from $199 to $210.
• Water park tickets increased to $74 for adults and $68 for children.
• Mini golf tickets increased to $19 for adults but still $12 for children.
• Prices for various snacks, restaurants, and dessert parties have also increased ranging from several cents to several dollars. There are way too many to list them all here but the menus on the Disney World official site and app have been updated to reflect the new prices. Each individual item increase is not too significant but they could add up so plan your food budget accordingly. Note: the Disney Dining Plan also returns in January so this could affect your calculation on whether that plan is worthwhile to you now.

Similar increases were made at Disneyland in California as well. I’ll have a post about those changes coming up next. Stay tuned…

As of today, October 11, 2023, prices for the Disney World Annual Passes have increased about $50 each.

The price for standard tickets have not changed yet but who knows if they’re coming next. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up if you’re considering buying tickets for an upcoming trip. Buy them ASAP!

Here are the new prices for annual passes. Do the math and see if they could be worth buying if you have more than two or three trips planned for a given 12 month period. They start when you make your first entry into a park with them and good for 365 days after that. There are discounts for merchandise and dining, as well as other passholder benefits too, that could all add up to make it worthwhile.

We have been passholders for many years now. Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about becoming a passholder or would like me to help you book your standard tickets.

Pics ©Disney

Not to be outdone by EPCOT’s International Festival of the Holidays, this year’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom Park in Disney World will take place on select nights from November 9, 2023 to December 22, 2023. It goes from 7pm – midnight ET, though you can get into the park after 4pm with the party ticket. No park reservations are necessary for the party.

Throughout the evening, you can:

• Delight in the amazingly festive Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks show!
• Gather to watch Disney Characters give a yuletide nod to the season during Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade.
• Head over to Cinderella Castle for a yuletide stage show, Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration!
• Get the perfect picture and Magic Shots with Disney pals dressed in their Christmas best!
• Make your night extra sweet when you explore the park searching for cookies and cocoa, plus many other holiday treats and merch. 
• Dance the night away at several dance parties with your favorite characters.
• Take in the elaborate decorations that bring the spirit of the season to life!
• Enjoy lower crowds on rides and shows, some with holiday overlays and decor.
• Meet Santa!

Tickets range from $149 – $199. Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members can save $10 per ticket.
Tickets are on sale now and the first two days are already sold out. If this is a must-do and you’re limited to certain days, you may want to buy your tickets ASAP.

If you’re not going to the party and you only have one Magic Kingdom day, you may want to go to a different park on a party day since Magic Kingdom will close early to non-party guests. If you do have multiple Magic Kingdom days, then you may actually want to go to Magic Kingdom on a party day since crowds may be lower from other non-party-goers avoiding a short day there.

For more details on the party and to buy tickets, go to:

• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

We’ve been to this party in the past and it was pretty fun. Feel free to contact me if you want to chat more about this or to help book your party tickets.

©Disney