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Jollywood Nights: Day Guests Out of Hollywood Studios at 7pm

November 9, 20267 min read|By Park Autopilot
Jollywood Nights: Day Guests Out of Hollywood Studios at 7pm

Disney Jollywood Nights returned to Disney's Hollywood Studios on November 7 and runs on select nights through January 5, 2027 (Disney Parks Blog). On those nights, regular day guests have to be out at 7:00 PM (Ziggy Knows Disney). That is the single worst hour you could be asked to leave on: 7pm is Hollywood Studios' highest wait of any hour from 2pm onward, at 32.9 minutes — and the two hours it takes away from you, 9pm and 10pm, are the second- and third-cheapest hours of the park's entire day.

What is actually happening, and when

The event runs 7:30 PM to 12:30 AM, and ticket holders can start checking in from 5:30 PM (Walt Disney World). That leaves a two-hour overlap window in which the park is filling with party guests while day guests are being moved toward the exit.

Fifteen nights are on the calendar — November 7, 14, 16, 21, 23 and 28; December 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21 and 23; and January 3 and 5 — which makes this the first Jollywood season to run into January (WDWMAGIC). Opening night sold out back on October 11, and Saturday dates have been going first (The Main Street Mouse).

A park-hours tracker currently lists a 9:00 AM open and a 7:00 PM day-guest close on five of the November dates — the 7th, 14th, 16th, 21st and 23rd (Ziggy Knows Disney). Another guide shows an 8:30 AM early-entry open on the 7th and the 14th (WDW Prep School), so the two do not agree on the morning. Disney's own calendar is the authority for the date you are going, and the December and January hours are the ones most worth re-checking.

Why a 7pm exit costs more here than at other parks

Hollywood Studios does not cool off at dinner. It builds to noon, eases slightly through the afternoon, and then climbs into a second evening wave that peaks at 7pm before collapsing for the last two hours.

Hour Park-wide avg wait (min)
8am 18.4
9am 24.8
10am 31.9
11am 36.1
12pm 37.1
1pm 34.1
2pm 32.8
3pm 30.6
4pm 29.5
5pm 30.6
6pm 31.9
7pm 32.9
8pm 28.4
9pm 20.9
10pm 20.8

A 7:00 PM close ends the day at 32.9 minutes and hands back nothing. Stay to a normal close and 9pm averages 20.9 — 12.0 minutes lower than 7pm, or put the other way, 7pm runs 57% above 9pm (32.9 ÷ 20.9 = 1.57). The 10pm reading, 20.8 minutes, is the second-cheapest hour in the park after 8am.

The four rides whose best hour disappears

Four Hollywood Studios attractions post their single shortest average wait at 10pm. On a Jollywood date, none of them is reachable for a day guest.

Attraction Avg wait (min) Best hour (10pm) Worst hour
Slinky Dog Dash 60.3 39.4 12pm (74.9)
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance 40.4 20.5 12pm (51.8)
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run 22.2 11.1 11am (34.4)
Alien Swirling Saucers 17.8 5.6 12pm (30.8)

Slinky Dog Dash at 10pm averages 39.4 minutes against 74.9 at noon — a 35.5-minute difference on one ride. Rise of the Resistance swings 31.3 minutes between the same two hours (51.8 at noon, 20.5 at 10pm). Those are the two biggest single-ride savings available at this park, and a 7pm exit puts both out of reach.

What to do instead on a party date

The whole value of a Jollywood date sits in the morning, because the park's cheapest hour is 8am at 18.4 minutes, and five attractions bottom out there at once.

Attraction Avg wait (min) Best hour (8am) Worst hour
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets 43.5 22.2 12pm (52)
Toy Story Mania! 33.3 14 12pm (44.1)
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway 32.8 16.1 11am (44.3)
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 32.7 13.1 12pm (39.9)
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue 5.7 4.5 11am (8.1)

Three things follow from that:

  1. Treat a party date as a morning park day. Be at the tapstiles for open, take Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror first — both are cheapest at 8am and both peak at noon — and accept that the back half of the day is not yours.
  2. Do not save Slinky Dog Dash for the evening. Its late-night floor is the thing you are giving up. If it matters to your group, it has to happen before the noon peak, not after dinner.
  3. Put the evening somewhere else, or buy the party. If you want a Hollywood Studios night, pick a non-party date; the 9pm and 10pm readings are the reason to stay to close. If you want Jollywood itself, the ticket buys you the park from 7:30 PM to 12:30 AM with party crowds instead of day crowds, which is a different trade entirely.

If you are stacking this into a holiday week, note that Magic Kingdom is doing the same thing on its own schedule — Magic Kingdom closes at 6pm on 12 November nights — so it is possible to book two parks and lose both evenings without noticing.

For the hours this post is about, see Hollywood Studios after dark, which covers the 7pm trap and the 9pm payoff in full. For the morning you now have to lean on, see Hollywood Studios rope drop and the full Hollywood Studios touring plan. For the rest of the season, see our Disney World Christmas guide.

Check live and typical waits any time on the Hollywood Studios wait times page.


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