This holiday season at Orlando’s theme parks is a bit like that comfy cardigan you’ve had stowed away for several months. It’s totally familiar, full of memories and, oh, there are a couple of things in the pockets you’ve completely forgotten about.
Let’s unpack the proceedings at SeaWorld Orlando and the Disney Jollywood Nights after-hours event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park as examples.
SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration features multiple activities throughout the day, including “O Wondrous Night,” a stage show with carols and puppets surrounding the birth of Jesus story, and the “Sesame Street Christmas Parade.”
Returning to its holiday entertainment lineup after a seven-year absence is “Clyde & Seamore’s Countdown to Christmas.” The stage show starring a pair of sea lions has been reworked but kept a humorous approach and a few local jokes. This year, there’s an unexpected nod to The Villages, although it feels like maybe there was more snark in previous editions.
The plot revolves around the attempts to get Santa to visit our two heroes, who are forced to go shopping at the mall. It’s all facilitated by a rhyming elf named Elffred.
Also back is a crowd-pleasing mime, a longtime SeaWorld staple, who works the audience during the pre-show and also has a role with the animal actors and the on-stage trainers.
The production is a little rusty, one trainer explained. Although Seamore and Clyde pretty much took their cues, Opie the Otter didn’t completely buy into his role and demanded more rewards. But if we’ve learned anything from social media, animals just being animals remains entertaining, even off script.
Other SeaWorld options include the shimmering Sea of Trees presentation on the central lagoon, “Elmo’s Christmas Wish” show, “Winter Wonderland on Ice” skating presentation, street performers (stilt walkers, characters, jumping-rope toy soldiers), a “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” walk-through exhibit and “Holiday Reflections,” the fireworks finale.
The bulk of SeaWorld’s holiday offerings are included with regular park admission, plus there are specialty food items for purchase. SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration is held on most days through Jan. 5. (Double-check your dates on a calendar at seaworldorlando.com.)
It’s the third year of Jollywood at Hollywood Studios, and Disney continues to tweak the event, which is held on select nights through Dec. 22.
On an early evening of the event, folks seemed to be delighted by new characters, including Bing Bong from “Inside Out,” Miguel from “Coco”, Chewbacca in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Partysaurus Rex over in Toy Story Land.
Chewbacca and friends pose in front of the Millennium Falcon during Disney Jollywood Nights. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)
Chewbacca appears in his red Life Day robe, and official Disney PhotoPass images include guests with Chewy and the Millennium Falcon as backdrop. His queue was long, but Chewy waved to us bystanders frequently. That didn’t feel like “Star Wars” canon, but no one called the Lucasfilm police. The photo line was also long for P. Rex, partially because the character often broke into dance, sending the cuteness factor skyrocketing.
Music is still a driver at Jollywood, some in the streets, some in shows like the “Nightmare Before Christmas” singalong and the “Disney Holidays in Hollywood” stage show featuring Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, who received a ton of applause – more than Mickey?
Jollywood visitors seem to be buying into the dressing-up aspect of the event. There were lots of costumes and sequins walking the streets of DHS, and that mixes well with the music and liquor options, which differentiates this event from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party event at Magic Kingdom.
Event-specific food options have been rolled out, including macaroni and cheese with burnt ends and the Jolly Jam Slider at the new Backlot Express installation. (We said no to figgy pudding martini.) This place has “definitely like a gastropub type of vibe,” said John Prieto, executive chef for Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Visitors “wanted something that was very relatable, something comforting and something that was very approachable,” Prieto said. “So we took that concept, and we try to make it look more elevated.”
The Gertie cookie, modeled after the iconic Echo Lake dinosaur at Hollywood Studios, is a best-seller during Disney Jollywood Nights. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)
Other new items – there are 35 newbies, Disney says – include eggnog with whisky, jolly gingerbread mini churros, arepas de choclo and the “Monsters, Inc.”-inspired Mike-aroon, a toasted coconut cookie with white chocolate that’s green and topped with a sugar eye.
But we now know the No. 1 seller is the Gertie cookie, Prieto said. It’s sold in the shadow of the Echo Lake dinosaur. The treat looks like the Santa-capped structure.
“We know we eat with our eyes first. So we definitely want to make it as approachable as possible and as beautiful as possible,” Prieto said.
“The Gertie cookies, we hand-dip ourselves, we cut ourselves. We decorate each one by hand,” he said. “A lot of love and effort goes into them, and I think the guests can really tell that.”
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