It feels weird to be doing a review of Jellyrolls when it is closing soon. But they are scheduled…read moreto close their location in Walt Disney World, located at the Boardwalk on April 19th. I have not been here in years, probably almost 15 years, so I was excited when some friends came to visit and wanted to head over here one last time.
This is a dueling piano bar that takes music requests, and then the two piano players play and sing your song. It is located on Disney's Boardwalk Resort, on the boardwalk. There is a cost to get inside, which is $22. There are a few different discount codes that you can use, which we did, and it saved us $2 each. Once inside they have 2 bars, tables and chairs and then a lot of standing room. They open their doors at 7:00pm but music does not start until 8:00pm. I do wish it started right at 7, but the hour moved fast. And since it is closing soon, the line was long. We got in line about 30 minutes before opening, and we had almost 10-12 groups in front of us.
We also had to save seats for 7 more people. They do have a sign that says you cannot do this, but we did. The manager at one point, asked how many additional chairs we needed, and she brought them to us. I think at this point; they probably don't care. We had 2 high top tables towards the back lower section.
They do bring you your first cup of water along with popcorn. I thought the popcorn was a nice touch. If you want more water, they have big jugs on the bars, you can go and grab it yourself. The popcorn your server will refill for you.
Our server was so nice, he brought extra waters to the table right away, so it looked like there were more people sitting, while we waited for our friends. He checked on us many times throughout the night. He really was on top of everything, and we didn't have to wait very long when our drinks were empty.
Jellyrolls is very expensive. They have beer, a few wine options and then mixed drinks. They do have a full bar so they can also make you a drink not on the menu. There are a few specialty drinks on their menu along with their bucket style drinks. I will say I felt the drinks on their menu were very high, especially for Disney prices. We stuck with beer which was about $10.25 per bottle. Guiness for my husband and Corona for myself. I felt that was pretty reasonable considering being at Disney.
The piano players play what is requested and they had hundreds of suggestions. You write your song request on the napkins and then you bring them up to the pianos, or your server can bring them. As with most piano bars, if you are tipping them with the song request, they will more than likely play it. I felt that they were picking and choosing songs. For most of the first hour I did not know the song or did not care for the song. I found myself actually sort of bored. They did a lot of older songs, and not many newer songs. At one point they sang some Disney songs, but it was mostly non-Disney. Its hard to tell in my photos but they did have hundreds of requests. I'm not sure why the songs chosen were not the best, as I said I was bored and looking at my phone. That was really the only negative.
I think the excitement of this place also goes with who is in the audience. If they audience is engaged, it makes for a better experience. I will say it is extremely loud in here! It was so hard to talk to people at our table.
The night we went, again, closing this month, it was packed. Someone at one point came over and said he had been standing the whole time, could I signal him when I was leaving. It was a strange request personally. I think if you are interested in going in the next couple weeks, you need to get here early. There are no questions that this place is not going to be packed. Make the effort, and go early, especially if you want a table.
How do we get here? That is the other issue. Disney has made it almost impossible to park at the resorts without a reservation. If I am coming at 7:00 pm at night, I am clearly not trying to hop into the park and get free parking. I think they need to loosen their strings, especially for the Boardwalk. There is the Atlantic Dance Hall and Jellyrolls, open at night. If you do not have a reservation, you are not parking here. Park at Disney Springs and take a bus, just be mindful of when the last bus heads back to Disney Springs. You can also take an Uber, but I have heard, resorts are not even allowing Ubers to go in. I really think Disney needs to loosen the strings on parking especially at places with nighttime activities.
All in all, Jellyrolls is fun but be prepared to spend lots of money. They charge at the door; drinks are expensive as well. It is sad that they are closing, they have been here for almost 30 years. I am very curious what will be replacing it. Disney does not have a ton of nighttime activities and they are about to lose one more. I would say if you can, check it out in the next couple weeks before it closes.