It's Official, Jellyrolls Is Closing. But We Are Sharing Our Team's Favorite Stories!

It’s the end of an era at Disney World.

Jellyrolls

Jellyrolls announced earlier this month that it will be leaving Disney’s BoardWalk after 30 years of operation. The boisterous dueling piano bar will have its final day of operation on April 19th, and while it will be reopening somewhere not on Disney property, we can’t help but feel the sting. So, we’re sharing our favorite stories from Jellyrolls over the years!

Jellyrolls isn’t your typical Disney World bar. It’s known as a boisterous bar on Disney’s BoardWalk that hosts non-stop dueling pianos and a drink special each night (the “Jellyroll of the Day”). Talented performers entertain each night and play anything and everything upon request. The two baby grand pianos are a fixture of the bar. Many of our team members here at DFB have some incredibly fond memories of Jellyrolls, so we’re sharing some of our favorites.

Crowd at Jellyrolls

One of our team members said:

I’ve only been a handful of times — the first being when it reopened after the closure. Everyone was so excited to see it reopen and the lines wound around the building. I think the only other time I went with my husband, and was one of the first “date nights” we’d had after moving to Orlando. It was a fun atmosphere and it wasn’t too crowded then for comfort, and it was super easy to dip out if we got a call that one of the kids was getting a little too antsy for us to make a quick and easy exit! So, very low pressure.

The bar

And, we HAVE to mention the time that our friends over at AllEars spent several hours there during the filming of a couple of their videos. If you’re an AllEars fan, imagine Quincy drinking a cocktail while Fry Bucket drinks a Red Bull because she’s doing a “No Sleep” challenge, where she can’t sleep until she rides every ride in Disney World. It was a busy night, and the vibes of Quincy and Fry being exhausted at the bar next to people having the time of their lives was too hilarious not to remember fondly.

Jellyrolls musicians on stage

Of course, we wouldn’t be here at DFB without AJ, and she had some seriously fond memories to share:

When I first started DFB and I was doing the EPCOT festivals all by myself (e.g. going to every booth by myself on the first day and buying everything there, photographing it, etc.), I knew I would pass out if I went back to my hotel room to work on the festival blog posts. So, I would go to Jellyrolls with my computer, camera (because this was back before cell phones had good cameras so I had to use my DSLR), and little toggle to transfer my photos into my computer. I’d get a back high top table in the corner so that I didn’t bother anyone with my computer light, and I’d work and work and work. I’d order Tito’s Vodka and soda with lots of cherries and limes, and spend the next five or six hours uploading hundreds of photos, editing hundreds of photos, and writing all of the blog posts needed to cover the festival…

As DFB grew and my team expanded, I still spent most of my Disney World nights at Jellyrolls, because after a full day in the parks, I had plenty of work to do and I was still so exhausted that if I went back to my hotel I would definitely fall asleep. So, I got to know the Jellyrolls staff pretty well, met one of my best friends who was a manager there, and also got to enjoy the best live music on property!

Piano battle at Jellyrolls

While we’re sad to see Jellyrolls leave Disney’s BoardWalk, we’re happy to know that it’s not gone for good! We’ll let you know once reopening details are announced for this spot in its new location. In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye out for more updates from Disney’s BoardWalk. Make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest Disney news!

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What’s your favorite Jellyrolls story? Tell us in the comments.