Jollywood Nights is full of many different opportunities to explore, and we’re trying to hit them all tonight!

There are multiple different shows to enjoy, too many snacks and drinks to count on two hands, and not to mention all the rides you can do, characters you can meet, and merchandise you can buy! But is this ONE experience, which often takes up a good bit of time during the party and can be very difficult to get into, really worth the time and money? We found out!

Jazzy Holidays is a returning offering from last year’s event. It takes place at the Hollywood Brown Derby and is a speakeasy-inspired jazzy lounge where Advance Dining Reservations are highly encouraged due to its popularity and limited capacity.

We were lucky enough to get to experience this party exclusive last year, and with so many new offerings on the menu this year, we knew we had to try it out again!

Atmosphere

Similar to the regular Hollywood Brown Derby, this restaurant has a more elegant feel to it without being too over-the-top. There’s festive holiday decor all around, and the jazzy music really elevates the scene. The restaurant has various Christmas decorations up including garlands and lights.

The ambiance is elevated and cozy, and it could be easy to spend a lot of time enjoying the atmosphere. The music is lovely and just adds to the overall feel of the restaurant.

Now, let’s take a look at what we got to eat!

Menu

We got quite a few things to try out and we are excited to dig in!

First up on our list was the Chorizo Arancini with parmesan dust and salmorejo tomato sauce. This dish costs $14. 

These were tasty and we thought that the addition of the chorizo made these arancini more exciting than your average ones. The chorizo added a great amount of spice and complexity to the arancini. The tomato sauce tasted light and fresh. Overall, though, it wasn’t a huge standout on the menu. It was yummy, but it wasn’t anything special.

The Hamachi Crudo was also on our list — it’s made with caper aïoli, Dijon-avocado mousse, and citrus-champagne vinaigrette. You can get it for $17. This dish was light and did not taste too fishy at all. It was very salty, but the avocado mousse helped cut through that saltiness. We thought the vinaigrette was too salty for this dish and overpowered all the other flavors.

The Jazzy Holiday Slider caught our eye as well. It’s made with Bison and pork, onion jam, dulce gorgonzola, bibb lettuce, and a brioche roll.

We thought these sliders were perfectly cooked and had a warm pink in the center. We do wish there would have been some more onion jam on the slider as it was tasty, but there wasn’t enough. The gorgonzola came through in the perfect amount. These burgers were tender, and we overall really enjoyed them!

The Sticky Chicken Wings with sweet-and-spicy soy were also on our radar, so we knew we had to give them a try. These guys cost $15.

These chicken wings were one of our favorite dishes we tried. Our only complaint with these is that they were more like chicken lollipops than drums, and we would have rather had drumsticks. The sauce was really tasty. It was sticky and savory with some smokiness to it. The house made ranch was absolutely delicious and it is what really won us over on this dish. This dish could have been smothered in the ranch and we would have been perfectly content. The pickled veggies were not our favorite, but the ranch more than made up for it!

Our first drink of the night here was the Spiced Pear Martini. It is made with Grey Goose Vodka, spiced pear syrup, and lemon juice and costs $17.50. The martini was a sweet martini with a slight tartness and some acidity to it. You don’t really taste the alcohol in this drink, but it definitely has a strong spiced flavor to it. 

We also tried the Peppermint Schnapps Sipping Chocolate, which is made with Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Peppermint Schnapps. This drink costs $17.50.

We thought this was a very delicious alcoholic hot chocolate. The liquor in this drink gave you a good amount of burn that helped to balance out the sweetness of the hot chocolate. The hot chocolate itself was also tasty, and it tasted like it was made with higher quality chocolate. The drink was creamy and had just the right amount of sweetness.

One of the non-alcoholic options here is the Holiday Mickey Hot Cocoa, which is house-made hot cocoa topped with whipped cream, caramel-chocolate brownie Mickey ears, and holiday sprinkles. If you’ve got kids with you, this very well may be the one they’re most excited about. This drink costs $5.49.

The hot chocolate tasted like it was made with high quality chocolate and had a lovely, deep chocolate flavor. This drink is so much fun with the brownie Mickey ears, sprinkles, and whipped cream.

Overall

We really enjoyed our time at Jazzy Holidays and the ambiance is fantastic. While it is such a great experience, it is a bit hard to justify doing a table service experience during Jollywood Nights. You only have a limited time to see everything that the event has to offer, and this experience will take a bit of time. Knowing what you want to order ahead of time and letting your waiter know that you would like a quicker experience can definitely help move things along, but it is hard to say that this is a must-do when there is so much else to see at Jollywood Nights.

We really enjoyed the food and the ambiance but hesitate to say it is worth your time when you only have five hours at Jollywood Nights. Be sure to stay tuned to DFB tonight — we’ll be bringing you our latest party updates as they happen!

Check out ALL the food we tried at tonight’s event!

Which of these options are you planning on getting? Tell us below!