Which Holiday Party is Right for Your Family? Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party vs. Jollywood Nights

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Hey traveler, welcome back to Talk Travel to Me. This week I'm joined by two of our fabulous professional travel advisors, James Dolan.

Hello.

And Sammie Fay.

Hi.

And we're answering the question, which holiday party is right for your family? Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party or Jollywood Nights? Let's talk about it.

I mean, I'm a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party person, if I do say so myself, because snope on Main Street is just everything I need at Christmas time.

I like both of them, and I know we all do to a certain degree. I don't get the appeal of snope, I'll be honest, because we live where it snopes all the time. So like, it's cute and all, but as someone that wears glasses, it all lands on my face and I can't see five minutes in. So like, I just. don't find the appeal. It reminds me of bubbles, and I hate bubbles. That could be a whole other podcast. But anyway, I love the, I just love the ability to go walk around Magic Kingdom and see all the decorations. But when we did Jollywood Nights, it wasn't last year, the year before. I really love that too. So I have a hard time choosing.

Okay. I am a fan of both. I really love Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. But to me, that's like a Christmas card and Jollywood Nights. That's the place I want to go to. The vibe of, it's like being in an old time Christmas movie to me. And that, to me, that's what kind of sets that apart. There's lots of things I love about both, and we can get into that. But I'm just going to go with the vibe and the atmosphere. The variety of Christmas decorations, depending on where you are in the park. I would say that to me, it's Jollywood Nights.

Darn it, James.

The way that you called it a Christmas card though. Come on.

It is.

No, I know you're not wrong. You are not wrong. And I'm annoyed that you're not wrong.

The vibe at Disney's Jollywood Nights though, I have to agree. I hadn't thought of it that way, but what they have, the jazz music, it definitely always has had a more upscale feel to it.

For sure.

But I like the cozy of the Christmas party. Both times I went to Jollywood Nights, I wore inappropriate shoes. I know that has definitely affected my memories of the night.

But with the Christmas party though, the food is better than it is at Jollywood Nights. But the last time I did Jollywood Nights, I didn't love the food. Everything was cold. There was something really rubbery and some weird pot roasting that Ryan got. I'm not a pot roast person. That is not my forte. But I was like, why are you eating that? I will say the Christmas cookie martini with the biscotti, that was a 10 out of 10. I did enjoy that. I loved the party food at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, except for the red and green cake at Plasmic Rays. that just tasted like straight food, Doug.

Okay, I'm going to flip this one around. I love. the cookies and stuff at the Magic Kingdom for the Christmas party there. And that's all great. But to me, the food at Jollywood Nights is where it's at. It's not free. You have to pay for it. But to me, it's worth it. At each location, they have different things. It's kind of like a mini food and wine festival. You have to kind of look at the menu in advance. You kind of decide what you want and find out where to get it. And you kind of plan as you walk around, okay, we're going to go past here. So I'm going to get the Duffy Brownie. Kristy, you were with me at that party. Yeah, that was fantastic. With the Coca-Cola fudge icing and stuff. And it was like, oh, it's only going to be okay until you get into it. And then it was like, oh, wow, this is next level.

He definitely enjoyed that brownie. I do remember that.

And then you can go to the Dockside Diner and they have the different hot chocolates there. And I think they had like a Christmas tree cookie that was available there. And then they've got. the savory stuff in the different locations over at like Baseline Taphouse. And that's a great place to go to eat anyway. And now they have that special... What the heck was it called? I don't remember the name of it, but it was just available for the party. So it's a bump up to me because it's like a mini food and wine festival over at Jollywood Nights.

See, but here's the thing. I like the fact that the cookies are included at the Magic Kingdom, but they're also not great cookies. Most of them are just...

No, you can buy them anywhere.

Right. And it's like they're pre-packaged. None of them are fresh, like made cookies. They're in cellophane and stuff. And the eggnog was good. But the way I judge the food there is that I can go to Liberty Tree Tavern first and have a nice Thanksgiving slash Christmas dinner. And then do the party because that's my favorite restaurant in all of Walt Disney World. And yes, Ryan Fay, if you're listening, I am still talking about turkey dinners.

He did ask the other day when you were coming. I said, I don't know, when. am I going to be home for dinner? That's the first question. Yeah.

Yep. So that to me is where it's at. But I do think the food over at Jollywood Nights felt a little... You're right, James, it's elevated. It also wasn't really my cup of tea because it was elevated. Like I would like just... How about just mac and cheese? Like, how about that? No, they don't have that. So they do have a lot of up-level drinks, cocktails and mocktails, which is great. And obviously you don't walk around the Magic Kingdom with a Piscati Martini. that's not allowed there. So the vibe is different in that regard, too. What if it was allowed?

At the Magic Kingdom?

I wish it was. At Liberty Tree, you could have a couple cocktails, but yeah.

I will say that I've never seen... Where it's not like the Food and Wine Festival, I've never seen anyone walking around Jollywood Nights completely sloshed. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's true. We'll clarify that there.

What about the character differences? Because there's a distinct difference in the feel when it comes to characters between the two parties, too.

Okay, I'm definitely team Jollywood. Nights on this because they have the rare characters that are out there. You know, you could meet Max.

Phineas and Ferb.

Oh, yes, Phineas and Ferb. That was fantastic. Who else they got? Who else?

Chip and Dale from Rescue Rangers? Like in all of his outfits? It's like a 90s kid kind of thing, which it felt awesome to go see all those things.

You can go over to Galaxy'Edge and meet the Mandalorian. They usually have him out. Is it Grogu? Oh, I don't know if he has Grogu now or if he doesn't.

I don't care about the Mandalorian, but that baby Yoda is like worth a preface.

But listen, for Star Wars fans, the holiday is Life Day.

Oh.

Yeah, you don't remember the Star Wars holiday special. No. You don't want... Listen, Bea Arthur singing. Oh. Yeah, Bea Arthur was in it. Don't get me started. But Life Day is the Star Wars version of Christmas. So if you're a Star Wars fan, that's the place to go.

They do have Pinocchio, which is not something you see very often too.

Plus the Muppets. The Muppets in the show that they do in. Hollywood Boulevard. Gosh, what was it called? It was like the vintage TV style holiday show. Disney Holidays in Hollywood, I think is what they called it. And we need more Muppets in our lives. As we could tell by yesterday at the... As we're recording this, yesterday was the World Cup final game, and they had the Electric Mayhem during the halftime show. That's the only part of the entire saga of World Cup I paid any attention to. But I'm here for the Muppets. So knowing that they have the Muppets versus Magic Kingdom doesn't have that. They have Duffy. Who cares?

But my thing with Magic Kingdom though is I just... I know they have the trees too, that Echo Lake, but the big tree with the castle behind it, the coy soldiers in the parade, and the gingerbread men. I am a Christmas crazy person. So I go more for that Christmas card feel. And I'm a foodie with fancy food and the fancy drinks. Part of my issue with the food though is those lines are so godforsakenly long that I spend the majority of the party waiting for it. And also I spent however. much money on this ticket and you're thinking of champagne flavored marshmallow.

that sucks.

Where I could go to the Christmas party and get an ornament for my tree. I want an ornament. I don't want a yucky marshmallow.

I will concede on the marshmallow versus the Christmas ornament point. I was kind of disappointed with the marshmallow.

And he's like glittery. I had glitter on my hand for days and I hate glitter.

Oh. Don't go heat at the cake bake shop then.

Oh. That's a whole other episode we have to do.

I'll talk at the cake bake shop, but for another time.

Okay, pause. I need you to think of someone in your life right now. A friend, a sister, a coworker, that one person in your group chat who plans every trip and takes it very seriously. Got them? Good. I need you to send them this episode. Not later. Now. Well, wait, wait until we're done. When you're done listening, then you could do it. But soon, okay? Word of mouth is how little podcasts like this one grow. And I would love nothing more than to be the show that your whole travel squad. is listening to. So if Talk Travel to Me has ever saved you from a bad hotel, helped you survive a theme park, or just made your commute a little more fun, pass it on. Your people will thank you. Probably. I mean, I can't guarantee it, but I feel pretty good about it. Okay, back to the good stuff. So let's talk about entertainment. I mentioned the Muppet thing a little bit at Jollywood, but they have distinctly different entertainment offerings, too. Oh, by far. What do we like better?

Okay, so this is once again, it's hard to argue with the Christmas parade in the Magic Kingdom. That is fantastic. There's nothing even comparable to it at Jollywood Nights. But Jollywood Nights has such a wide variety of stuff. The ice skating.

Oh, God, I was afraid you were going to bring that up, James.

Why? It was fantastic.

It was. No, it is not.

It's so bad.

It's.

And the poor soul that was ice skating when I went to Jollywood Nights fell multiple times. It felt so bad. What? For this poor woman. Yeah, she bit the dust like two or three times.

I'm looking at that. I'm like, these are like Olympic level ice skating performances. It was great. And yeah, the music was cheesy and stuff like that. But the artistry that was on display and you don't see that anywhere. And it's right out in front of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. They created ice skating rig right there. How cool is that?

Yeah. Yeah. And I think I'm not a ice skating connoisseur. Like, I don't study it, but there are skating on basically plastic because it can't be real ice. So I got to think that that's why we see them fall more often than they probably would doing it at like the ice capades in an arena or something. But I remember actually, were you eating that brownie during that show? I think you were. Because I was. Jen Bauer and I were sitting there with you in Chalon, and we were looking at each other like, what in the heck did we just sit down to watch? Like we were sitting on the ground. It was a little cold. And the three, well, I won't speak for Chalon because I don't know 100% sure what she thought about it, but Jen and I both were looking at each other going, how long do we just sit here before it's acceptable to get up and leave? Like.

Oh, I loved it.

I think this is approving a point though that there is something for everybody.

Right.

There are people like you that love it, people like me who don't. And it's some people really, really do enjoy it.

Oh, and the Nightmare Before Christmas show? Oh, come on.

That was fantastic. Yeah. Did you like that, Sammy? So I skipped it.

She skipped it. I knew you were going to say that. How could you diss the Nightmare Before Christmas?

I have a confession. I've never watched the full movie.

What?

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Okay. This is feeling like the time I admitted that I had never seen Robin Hood during COVID. Yeah. I upset people very much during COVID by saying that I had never seen Robin Hood. And so then I watched it and I didn't like it. So I will say I don't love the Nightmare Before Christmas, the movie. I don't. It's okay. The music is good. But that live show that they did was so well. done. It was a lot like the Frozen show that they do where there's like the people comedians mixing with the lore from the movie. And it was just so well acted. And the sets were beautiful. Yeah.

It had some great effects in there. Yeah. Yeah. But that live entertainment, that was something. Other things, which we didn't go the time we went, Christie, but the Twilight Soiree with the Christmas jazz music and stuff like that. That's just like I said, that old Hollywood type feel. It gives a different atmosphere. You're not going to find that in the Magic Kingdom. Anything even close to it.

Right. And I think for something like that, if you don't have your kids, that's great. That's a great adult level thing. Do you appreciate that music? My kids don't appreciate it. So that's a lot of money to spend to go in there.

I'll complete on that point because yeah, if you're going to go with kids, then Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. If you got especially younger kids, that was out. You get teenagers. If you're going to go with kids, then it's, you know, or adult kids in my. case now, then Jollywood Nights is really, I'm still leaning towards that.

Well, and I think it over at Magic Kingdom, like Sammy, you kind of like what you were saying is we have like Minnie's Christmas Parade. We have the Christmas fireworks, the most serious, most merriest celebration, which is like all the Disney Christmas songs. and then like Anna and Elsa are there and all of that, which I'm still mad that they don't make the castle into ice anymore. That's the thing.

Club Tinsel?

Yeah.

I could spend the whole party dancing at Club Tinsel.

That's where we were with Shalon and Mike, right? Yes.

Yes.

That was really fun. And they played a Taylor Swift song and I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was so excited. And we were dancing like we were 21 years old for sure. I felt it the next morning.

In our pajamas. It was great.

Mm hmm.

Yep. I'm not, I'm not a dancer, so I did not go to the Pixar Disco.

All right. So I think we agree that if you've got little kids, what, maybe under 10? I didn't even go 12 and under.

Yeah. Yeah. Mickey's. Yeah. Very, very. Mickey's wedding. Win's out.

Well, the thing we didn't talk about, which also factors into this, is the rides because all the rides are open even though I know we don't spend a lot of time doing rides during those parties. But the rides are all open. So if you've got a family that really loves Slinky Dog, you can go on it more times than you would normally be able to get away with during the party because the lines are shorter. And that's a thing too. But I think, yeah, I think I would say like the 12 and under set. Because it's, and Jollywood people dress up too. You don't have to.

Right.

But there were people, there were men in like tuxes and tails when I was there. Yep. And it looked so cool. I dressed up really fancy the first time. My feet were so angry.

Hence the wrong shoes.

Yeah. And it was freezing that first, it was the very first year. It was the second or third party, which if you follow Disney at all, you know that that first year of Jollywood Nights was a catastrophic. poop show. They messed the whole thing up. And it got much better a year or two. But they had a lot to learn, which shocked me because they've been doing parties for eternity now and why we can't get it right just because it's a new theme. But the, I do think that the getting dressed up for something special kind of feels cool. But we also did that dress up thing at the Christmas party. We were matching pajamas. We literally got. So fun. It was so fun.

You ladies have fun with your pajama parties.

James has tried to join our pajama parties. It doesn't work out as well for him. At least the one at Disneyland.

But yeah, well, my wife and kids said you're not wearing those pajama bottoms at all. And that was the end of it.

That was the end.

That's a story for another time.

Yeah, for sure.

Oh, my goodness.

All right. So we're saying the answer to this one is it depends on your family.

OK, so let's let's approach it from a different perspective, because a lot of people, they can only go to Walt Disney World once in. their life. They're going down there. OK, you have to choose between the two. Which do you choose if that's the only time you're going anytime soon and you can only choose one because let's say cost reasons or maybe whatever.

Yeah, because they are pretty pricey. So it's hard to do two in one trip. Sammy, what would you choose?

I think it's the Magic Kingdom because I think it's the more iconic park. You know, you got to see the castle you got. So like if they're not doing any other park days at all, you're going to the Christmas Party.

And I'm actually going to agree on that one. If you have to do one. Mickey's very Merry Christmas Party. Between getting into the park early, not having to get a ticket for the park on the other side, but you can't do that for Jollywood Nights. But. And just that Christmas card feel. That's where you go.

Yeah, I'm going to do that, too. I think the thing I like most about Jollywood Nights now is it's another experience. I've done Christmas Party so many times that it's now this other new thing. that's really fun. to do, too. But I think if you only could do it once, that classic Christmas card is what I'm going for.

At least we're all agreed on that.

Yeah. Yay. All right. Well, on that note, before we argue about anything else, that is one more question unpacked. Next week, we're going to be answering the question, is it a good idea to combine a Disney vacation with a Universal Orlando vacation? I think you're really going to love that one. So make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it. Now, if today's episode got you thinking whether you've got a travel stumper you want us to tackle, or maybe you're ready to stop crossing your fingers and let a pro handle the heavy lifting for your next getaway, we would love to hear from you. Find everything you need at mickeyguru.com, including contact info for both James and Sammy. And it's also all linked in the show notes. See you next week, traveler.

Thanks for listening to Talk Travel to Me. We hope this episode cracked open inspiration for the treasures that await you at your next dream destination. If you love the show, please review, subscribe, and share it with a friend. At Mickey Guru Travel Company, we're your trusted guides for theme parks, cruises, resorts, and more. Visit our website at mickeyguru.com to learn more and book your vacation today.