Jollywood Nights-Hearing Some Negative Feedback...

[gottalovepluto]

Actual refunds or “credits”? We have tickets for December 4th. My DIL was so enthused about this, but now even she is not happy about going. She had a thought to change to the Christmas party, but it’s sold out the whole week we’re there. I know they’ll always let you get a credit to a future special ticket event if you can’t use it. But I just bought tickets for 2 after hours events during our February trip. So I don’t have need for a credit for quite awhile. A refund would be much better.

Just call and see what you can get, but I’d do it sooner rather than later.

 

[focusondisney]

Sorry about that, discussion of the refunds start around this page of the thread: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...-holiday-season-ticketed-event.981252/page-37

Thank you!

 

[Flash_Sloth]

I’m hoping with all the negative feedback that Disney is doing all they can to make some positive changes, especially for those who have tickets for future events.

We have tickets for Jollywood in a couple of weeks; we're planning on keeping them and hope they make some improvements. We'll be there for Dapper Day weekend. Maybe we'll just call this our Dapper Night.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I have heard overall pretty good things about the shows.

I agree, it sounds like HBD and the Tip Top Soiree need a lot of improvement. HBD may have been better if the initial seating situation hadn't been so f'd up.

Reviews on the shows are mixed, but yeah, not as terrible as everything else. That said, if you’re ok with paying $160-$200 per person for a singalong stage show (where a decent chunk of the show is staring at a screen doing karaoke) and a muppets show, then this might be worth doing. Otherwise, it’s probably not.

I think these shows would have been perfectly fine as part of DHS’s regular entertainment.

 

[tx911]

Reviews on the shows are mixed, but yeah, not as terrible as everything else. That said, if you’re ok with paying $160-$200 per person for a singalong stage show (where a decent chunk of the show is staring at a screen doing karaoke) and a muppets show, then this might be worth doing. Otherwise, it’s probably not.

I think these shows would have been perfectly fine as part of DHS’s regular entertainment.

I don't find it surprising that there were issues on this first night.

This is a major event (when is the last time there was a brand new event like this) with lots of moving parts. Things don't always work out like you have them planned on paper when there are real people involved.

I think Disney will learn from the first night and make some tweaks. I'm looking forward to it, and feel like those who are rushing to cancel or switch to MVMCP may be doing themselves a disservice, and depriving themselves of experiencing something unique.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I don't find it surprising that there were issues on this first night.

This is a major event (when is the last time there was a brand new event like this) with lots of moving parts. Things don't always work out like you have them planned on paper when there are real people involved.

I think Disney will learn from the first night and make some tweaks. I'm looking forward to it, and feel like those who are rushing to cancel or switch to MVMCP may be doing themselves a disservice, and depriving themselves of experiencing something unique.

Recent major new events? All of the new after-hours parties, Boo Bash, the Christmas Bash. None of them had these kinds of issues. The problem isn’t that this thing needs some tweaks. The problem is that, even if everything ran perfectly, it still seems like it was extremely lackluster. Yeah, I agree they could solve some of the crowd issues by staffing up more (although that will cost them more money so they probably still won’t staff up enough), but at the end of the day, this isn’t close to what they marketed and sold. The “tip top club” which is on most of the marketing and gives the allure of a swanky 1920’s nightclub overlay somewhere in the tower of terror (or at least indoors somewhere so it looks like it), ended up being an outdoor drink cart. Come on.

I mean, they recycled a decades old fireworks show (with major pyro cutbacks compared to the original) to be the keynote of this event.

 

[Disneylover99]

I don't find it surprising that there were issues on this first night.

This is a major event (when is the last time there was a brand new event like this) with lots of moving parts. Things don't always work out like you have them planned on paper when there are real people involved.

I think Disney will learn from the first night and make some tweaks. I'm looking forward to it, and feel like those who are rushing to cancel or switch to MVMCP may be doing themselves a disservice, and depriving themselves of experiencing something unique.

It really will be interesting to see what (if any) changes are made to the second party.
Having more staff to give out wristbands in and out of the park should be an easy fix.

But if nothing is done to address the food/drink lines and if the highly anticipated twilight soirée is not seriously overhauled - it probably needs a location change and lots more offerings, I figure Disney really doesn’t care.

 

[tx911]

It really will be interesting to see what (if any) changes are made to the second party.
Having more staff to give out wristbands in and out of the park should be an easy fix.

But if nothing is done to address the food/drink lines and if the highly anticipated twilight soirée is not seriously overhauled - it probably needs a location change and lots more offerings, I figure Disney really doesn’t care.

I have heard the band at the twilight soiree was actually pretty amazing, to some. The bar situation there hopefully can be addressed with a second station somewhere.

I feel like a few changes can drastically improve this. I'm not interested in a copy of MVMCP at HS. I love the idea of a more adult-focused holiday event, and really hope this can succeed going forward.

 

[tx911]

Recent major new events? All of the new after-hours parties, Boo Bash, the Christmas Bash. None of them had these kinds of issues. The problem isn’t that this thing needs some tweaks. The problem is that, even if everything ran perfectly, it still seems like it was extremely lackluster. Yeah, I agree they could solve some of the crowd issues by staffing up more (although that will cost them more money so they probably still won’t staff up enough), but at the end of the day, this isn’t close to what they marketed and sold. The “tip top club” which is on most of the marketing and gives the allure of a swanky 1920’s nightclub overlay somewhere in the tower of terror (or at least indoors somewhere so it looks like it), ended up being an outdoor drink cart. Come on.

I mean, they recycled a decades old fireworks show (with major pyro cutbacks compared to the original) to be the keynote of this event.

Is the Boo Bash a new event from the ground up, or a re-hashed version of MNSSHP? This is a totally unique event at a different park, geared towards adults. I don't think that happens commonly.

 

[Disneylover99]

I have heard the band at the twilight soiree was actually pretty amazing, to some. The bar situation there hopefully can be addressed with a second station somewhere.

I feel like a few changes can drastically improve this. I'm not interested in a copy of MVMCP at HS. I love the idea of a more adult-focused holiday event, and really hope this can succeed going forward.

I really loved the band at the soirée and yeah, I think the band itself got really positive reviews. They really drew a crowd. But the area, they were in just seemed way too small and narrow. I know they need to be near The Tower of Terror, but maybe they could move this to the Cars Academy Courtyard? At least they’d have more space and The Tower of Terror would be the backdrop. I don’t know. Just a thought.

 

[john7994]

I don't find it surprising that there were issues on this first night.

This is a major event (when is the last time there was a brand new event like this) with lots of moving parts. Things don't always work out like you have them planned on paper when there are real people involved.

I think Disney will learn from the first night and make some tweaks. I'm looking forward to it, and feel like those who are rushing to cancel or switch to MVMCP may be doing themselves a disservice, and depriving themselves of experiencing something unique.

Disservice and deprivation? Haha - it’s a Disney party event … it is what it is.

 

[Miffy]

Did anyone enjoy the Nightmare Before Christmas Singalong show? I'm wondering because I saw some of a video of it and it looked utterly awful. Very un-Disney.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

It really will be interesting to see what (if any) changes are made to the second party.
Having more staff to give out wristbands in and out of the park should be an easy fix.

But if nothing is done to address the food/drink lines and if the highly anticipated twilight soirée is not seriously overhauled - it probably needs a location change and lots more offerings, I figure Disney really doesn’t care.

They don’t have a lot of time to fix the Twilight Soirée. I mean, at a minimum, they could probably easily do a location change and increase the staff, but they probably won’t before the next party.

 

[tx911]

For those interested, there is a very balanced, sober review of the event on the WDW radio podcast. It has me really looking forward to going.

 

[Genie+]

Last night someone posted party pics of Galaxy’s Edge desolate. After seeing all the issues and letdowns, it was the first time I had enough optimism to think there’s any hope not regretting buying 6 tickets for my family.

If we can:
Get magic shots, ride RotR together, explore a quiet GE, do ToT twice, maybe Slinky, see fireworks and 2 new shows?

That could be success for us. Especially if getting wristbands and food items is improved.

 

[john7994]

Last night someone posted party pics of Galaxy’s Edge desolate. After seeing all the issues and letdowns, it was the first time I had enough optimism to think there’s any hope not regretting buying 6 tickets for my family.

If we can:
Get magic shots, ride RotR together, explore a quiet GE, do ToT twice, maybe Slinky, see fireworks and 2 new shows?

That could be success for us. Especially if getting wristbands and food items is improved.

That’s the way I am looking at it … if I wanted a swanky party thrown by Disney - I will hit up the California Grill NYE party and shell out even bigger bucks for that …

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Get magic shots, ride RotR together, explore a quiet GE, do ToT twice, maybe Slinky, see fireworks and 2 new shows?

You’re not going to be able to do all of that because:

1. Lines for the magic shots are crazy long;
2. Lines for the shows are crazy long and I don’t see how they’re going to be able to fix that since it’s a theatre capacity problem. You need to budget an hour for each show to take into account both the line-up and the show itself.
3. The ROTR line even with the VQ was apparently also incredibly long, and it goes down a lot;

If you nix the magic shots and nix the shows and just want to treat it like an after-hours event with low lines for attractions, and just assume you’re not going to get to do ROTR (and be pleasantly surprised if you are) then sure you’ll probably have a blast. Keep your expectations low.

 

[saskdw]

For those interested, there is a very balanced, sober review of the event on the WDW radio podcast. It has me really looking forward to going.

I don't think you're going to find many allies being the Disney cheerleader on this one.

I watched reviews from about 20 reputable Orlando Youtubers on the weekend. They all said the same negative things.
Even the ones who are usually very careful with their Disney reviews because they don't want to be excluded from the press list were ripping this event.

 

[saskdw]

You’re not going to be able to do all of that because:

1. Lines for the magic shots are crazy long;
2. Lines for the shows are crazy long and I don’t see how they’re going to be able to fix that since it’s a theatre capacity problem. You need to budget an hour for each show to take into account both the line-up and the show itself.
3. The ROTR line even with the VQ was apparently also incredibly long, and it goes down a lot;

If you nix the magic shots and nix the shows and just want to treat it like an after-hours event with low lines for attractions, and just assume you’re not going to get to do ROTR (and be pleasantly surprised if you are) then sure you’ll probably have a blast. Keep your expectations low.

When we booked this event we were hoping for an Afterhours event to go to while we were in Orlando.
We haven't been to DHS since 2016. So we want to see and ride all the new attractions, hopefully a couple times over. It seems like we should be ok with our plan.

The two biggest irritations for us at this point is only getting to do Rise once or not at all and the Skyliner not running after the event. Line-ups for food will be annoying as well, but will make sure to eat ahead of time if this isn't addressed by December.

If we actually cared about the shows and Characters we would by in the group trying to get a refund.

 

[TCRAIG]

I wonder if they’ll offer some cheap freebie snacks via the carts as an ‘improvement’ next event…