Hurly-Burly brings live entertainment, shareable bites, cocktails, family-friendly games, and plenty of hidden details to Disney’s BoardWalk.

There’s something wonderfully nostalgic about spending an evening on Disney’s BoardWalk. Inspired by turn-of-the-century coastal destinations like Atlantic City and Coney Island, the area has always been designed to feel like a seaside escape — somewhere you can grab a snack, watch a performer, and simply see where the night takes you. Now, there’s an entirely new place to do exactly that.

We recently got a sneak peek inside Hurly-Burly, Disney’s newest dining and entertainment venue at Disney’s BoardWalk, opening October 1. Taking over the former Jellyrolls space, Hurly-Burly combines live entertainment with shareable food, creative cocktails, and a surprisingly detailed Imagineering backstory. The experience also changes dramatically depending on when you visit: Families can stop by for games and activities earlier in the day, while after 9 PM the space becomes a 21-and-over live music venue.

Hurly-Burly Has a Whole Backstory

Like so many of the best Disney spaces, Hurly-Burly isn’t simply a new bar with some vintage decorations thrown on the walls. Walt Disney Imagineering has created an entire history for the venue, beginning with its supposed heyday as one of the BoardWalk’s most celebrated theaters.

Photo by CJ Ayd

According to the story, the Hurly-Burly Theatre once entertained crowds with a rotating cast of vaudeville performers, including resident headliner Polly Delmar. Guests came for ocean-themed acts, maritime melodrama, and what Disney describes as plenty of “pearl clutching performances.” Eventually, the theater closed, and many of its performers left their costumes, props, and other personal belongings behind, dreaming that Hurly-Burly might one day get its encore.

Photo by CJ Ayd

Nearly a century later, that’s exactly what has happened. The newly restored theater is filled with remnants of its fictional past, and this is one of those Disney spaces where it pays to actually look at the walls. The story unfolds chronologically as you move throughout the venue, with old programs, tickets, telegrams, costumes, and props scattered around the room. Several objects depicted in vintage performance posters can even be found “preserved” elsewhere inside the theater.

One of the details to look for is Pearl, a puppet who once performed alongside veteran ventriloquist Mother Muriel in Mother Muriel and the Illustrious Pearl. When Muriel retired to her cottage by the sea, she apparently left Pearl behind to keep an eye on the next generation of performers. Elsewhere, you can find notes exchanged between Polly and the Siren Sisters, who were friends despite having some serious disagreements about sharing a dressing room.

None of this backstory is necessary to enjoy a drink, a bite to eat, or the entertainment, but it gives Hurly-Burly the layered storytelling that makes it feel like it has been sitting on the BoardWalk for much longer than it actually has.

Inside the New Hurly-Burly

Anyone familiar with the former Jellyrolls will recognize the footprint, but the interior has been completely reimagined around the historic theater concept. Imagineers raised the floor to create one level throughout the space, while tiered seating helps give guests better views of the stage and brings the audience closer to the entertainment.

Photo by CJ Ayd

The color palette expands on the BoardWalk’s coastal setting, with rich jewel tones and teals contrasted by coral accents. Brass details appear throughout the space on frames, handles, and lighting fixtures, adding a more refined feel appropriate to the theater’s fictional time period. Even the exterior has been refreshed to continue that coastal design out onto the BoardWalk.

The result fits surprisingly naturally into its surroundings. Rather than feeling like Disney is trying to reinvent the BoardWalk, Hurly-Burly feels like another piece of its existing seaside story — albeit one that has supposedly been hiding there for nearly a century.

Hurly-Burly Is Two Experiences in One

One of the most interesting things about Hurly-Burly is that the experience changes throughout the day. During the afternoon and early evening, the focus is on casual, family-friendly entertainment, with a host leading games and activities inside the theater.

Photo by CJ Ayd

During our preview, we got to try Disney music bingo. Instead of simply calling out numbers, the host played Disney songs, and guests checked their cards to see whether they had the corresponding character. It was a simple but cute activity, especially for kids, and felt like the sort of thing you could casually stumble into during an afternoon at the BoardWalk rather than something requiring a complicated vacation plan.

That easygoing atmosphere is intentional. Disney describes the BoardWalk as playful and casual during the day before becoming more sophisticated and energetic at night, and Hurly-Burly has been designed to follow that same rhythm.

At 9 PM, the venue transitions to an adults-only experience for guests ages 21 and older, with live musicians taking over the stage. Disney plans to feature a variety of local talent and musical genres, ranging from modern vintage and Motown-era music to Top 40 songs and hits from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

During our preview, we watched a vintage-inspired band perform contemporary songs in a 1940s style, complete with vocals, drums, bass, and saxophone. It was one of the highlights of the experience and gave us a much better sense of what Hurly-Burly can become at night. Rather than a hotel lounge where music happens to be playing in the background, this is a space where the performance is meant to be part of the reason you’re there.

The Food Draws Inspiration From the Jersey Shore

Entertainment is only part of the Hurly-Burly experience. The food menu is centered around shareable plates rather than traditional entrées, with Italian-American influences and flavors inspired by classic coastal boardwalks.

During our preview, we sampled oven-roasted shrimp, roast beef sliders, plant-based meatballs in tomato gravy, and mini apple cider doughnuts. The Italian influence caught our attention, so we asked the team where that particular piece of the menu came from. The answer goes back to the real-life places that inspired Disney’s BoardWalk, particularly Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore.

Photo by Maria Salerno

The food is designed to be shared and paired with the venue’s cocktail menu, rather than functioning as a traditional sit-down dinner. Of everything we tried, the mini apple cider doughnuts with miso caramel were a particular standout. They’re sweet, nostalgic, and exactly the sort of snack that feels appropriate for a place built around the idea of a night out at the boardwalk.

Photo by Maria Salerno

The beverages play with those nostalgic flavors, too. We sampled the Caramel Corn Old Fashioned, which takes obvious inspiration from the classic boardwalk snack, as well as the nonalcoholic Overture in Orange. It’s another way the menu ties into the larger concept without simply recreating the types of food and drinks you might find at an actual boardwalk concession stand.

Our First Impression of Hurly-Burly

What surprised us most about Hurly-Burly is how many different purposes Disney has managed to fit into one relatively intimate space. It can be a place for families to spend part of an afternoon, somewhere to play a game and split a few snacks, or a destination for adults looking for cocktails and live music later at night. Somehow, those different identities don’t feel particularly at odds with one another.

Photo by CJ Ayd

In fact, the combination makes sense for the BoardWalk. The best real-world boardwalks aren’t defined by one attraction or restaurant; they’re places where you wander, eat, listen to music, play a game, and stumble across something you weren’t necessarily planning to do. Hurly-Burly taps into that idea particularly well.

Between the vintage performances, Italian-American food, boardwalk-inspired flavors, and all those theatrical details hiding around the room, Hurly-Burly feels like a natural continuation of the BoardWalk’s story — and a new reason to spend a little more time exploring it.

Thank you to Disney for hosting us for a preview of Hurly-Burly at Disney’s BoardWalk.