ArchOwl
The Highly Educated Owl
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
Hey everyone! I just returned from a great visit spanning the NYE holiday (afternoon of the 30th, all day the 31st and 1st). I have some tips and pics to share and wanted to let you all know that it is completely possible to have a good time over this busy holiday.
First tip: don't confine yourself to ringing in the New Year at DL! I understand that some people want to be in Disneyland Park for NYE. But you can have a great time at DCA complete with fireworks with far fewer people. I was on Paradise Pier and was watching the DCA fireworks and the DL fireworks. They were exactly the same in length (which is to say not very long at all) and I thought they were comparable in style. And I wasn't surrounded by thousands of my closest friends at DCA!
In fact here is the area I was in on Paradise Pier, this was a few minutes to midnight:
Second tip: DL in the morning is absolutely fine! Arrived before opening and the walkways were clear and the ride times short in the morning.
Here is the NOS area between 8 and 9am:
Fantasyland was crowded by 10am, but to be expected especially since there was early entry that day:
There were campers in the DL hub in the morning. I took this picture around 10am and I couldn't imagine waiting here until midnight!
Third tip: avoid the locker line at DL! This line was one of the longest I saw in the morning at DL. Either pack light or maybe use the lockers outside the park or at DCA.
The line for lockers around 10:30am:
After a nice breakfast at Carnation Cafe, we hopped over to DCA and had no wait to get in the parks at all. We walked right up to a turnstile.
Wait times were what I would expect for a busy summer day. RSR was very busy in the morning, with wait times of 180+ minutes. The funny thing was as the day went on, the wait times decreased. I guess everyone was heading to DL. Late at night, the wait time for RSR was about 90 minutes! TOT was at 25 minutes, Screamin was at 25 minutes. Pretty darn good!
After riding a few rides, we decided to take a chance and go back to the hotel for a break. We left the resort around 1:30pm. Here was the esplanade:
Honestly, I have seen worse during summer!
We returned to the Resort around 4:30pm and tried for M&F parking lot, thinking we would mostly likely have to go to Toy Story. But surprise! The M&F lot was open and with minimal waits.
This was a 5-10 minute wait:
We headed towards the GCH for dinner at Storyteller's. We had a great dinner, very relaxing! We decided to use the GCH entrance, expecting long lines. Uh, no. We waltzed in with no wait! DCA was not busy at all.
We were able to use some FPs from earlier and enjoyed the parks for a few hours. Around 8pm we used the single rider line for RSR. It was 10 minutes!
Here is the FP line for Screamin' in the evening (sometime between 7 and 8pm). It was 25 minutes standby, faster for FP (obviously):
After a dessert stop at Ghiradelli's, we decided we would like to sit for awhile and have a nice drink. We went to Hearthstone Lounge at GCH. It was busy, but we got a table around 10pm. We asked the CM before we left the park if we would be able to get back in. She laughed and said yes, DCA was no where near capacity. They weren't even having APs get handstamps.
We enjoyed our drinks and about 45 minutes to midnight, we went back into DCA. No line to get it in at all. We decided to head to Paradise Pier. It was deserted. There were quite a few people in the WOC viewing area, but I have already seen WOC a number of times and didn't feel the need to see it tonight.
I showed you how deserted it was in the Paradise Pier area above. Almost no one there at all. We hung out and waited. About 10 minutes before midnight, a DJ came out and entertained until midnight. They used California Screamin' as the countdown clock. Then fireworks! They went off right on top of us and it was very cool.
The fountains from WOC "danced" along with the fireworks and I could also see the fireworks from DL. I think this is an edge for the DCA NYE show, since it used the WOC fountains along with the fireworks to create a very cool spectacle.
Fourth tip: when a giant ball of fireworks comes out of the sky, do not run away from them leaving your child in the stroller in harms way! About 10 feet from where we were standing, a chunk of fireworks fell. The Dad ran away, leaving the stroller with a sleeping child in the direct path of the firework! Fortunately, they had the cover on, so the kid was fine. The Disney swarm arrived in seconds and soon there were 10+ employees surrounding the area and the Dad. The Mom was there too and let the Dad have it! What a way to ring in the New Year for that family!
As soon as the fireworks were over and WOC began, DH and I booked it over to Toy Story. No line! Walk-on! Score! I didn't even take a picture I was so excited. DH beat me, though. 
We rode it again with a 10 minute wait. We took our time on our way out of the parks, stopping to shop and get another snack. On NYE, Disney had offered the Glow With the Show Ears, Buy One Get One Free! There were so many in the WOC area, it looked cool.
Now, the hard part, getting out of the Resort area! I was expecting the worse and it was crowded. It was about 1am by the time we arrived at the M&F tram pickup. They had all 4 areas setup for pickup. Of course, most people went to the normal side and it was easily a half hour wait there.
Fifth tip: Don't go where everyone else is going! We were thinking of just walking back to the structure, but we checked out the other side of the tram area. There were people, but we got on the second tram on that side. We waited about 10 minutes to get out of the structure. Honestly, I have had summer nights easily WORSE than this.
Sixth tip: Don't leave the park right at midnight! I am sure that the tram area was MUCH worse at 12:30am. By waiting just a little longer, we were in our cars around 1:30am.
Overall, you CAN have a great time at the DLR during this busy time if you know how to navigate. If you are ok with being in DCA, I would definitely recommend heading there as DL gets busier. Unless you are dead set on watching WOC that night (it is the same WOC as any other night), catch the show from Paradise Pier with no crowds at all and a great view. The hardest part is getting out of the Resort, but it is doable. You can always walk back to the structure if all else fails, which is why I preferred to park there. I think I am getting addicted to spending NYE at the DLR. Such a fun night!
First tip: don't confine yourself to ringing in the New Year at DL! I understand that some people want to be in Disneyland Park for NYE. But you can have a great time at DCA complete with fireworks with far fewer people. I was on Paradise Pier and was watching the DCA fireworks and the DL fireworks. They were exactly the same in length (which is to say not very long at all) and I thought they were comparable in style. And I wasn't surrounded by thousands of my closest friends at DCA!
In fact here is the area I was in on Paradise Pier, this was a few minutes to midnight:
Second tip: DL in the morning is absolutely fine! Arrived before opening and the walkways were clear and the ride times short in the morning.
Here is the NOS area between 8 and 9am:
Fantasyland was crowded by 10am, but to be expected especially since there was early entry that day:
There were campers in the DL hub in the morning. I took this picture around 10am and I couldn't imagine waiting here until midnight!
Third tip: avoid the locker line at DL! This line was one of the longest I saw in the morning at DL. Either pack light or maybe use the lockers outside the park or at DCA.
The line for lockers around 10:30am:
After a nice breakfast at Carnation Cafe, we hopped over to DCA and had no wait to get in the parks at all. We walked right up to a turnstile.
Wait times were what I would expect for a busy summer day. RSR was very busy in the morning, with wait times of 180+ minutes. The funny thing was as the day went on, the wait times decreased. I guess everyone was heading to DL. Late at night, the wait time for RSR was about 90 minutes! TOT was at 25 minutes, Screamin was at 25 minutes. Pretty darn good!
After riding a few rides, we decided to take a chance and go back to the hotel for a break. We left the resort around 1:30pm. Here was the esplanade:
Honestly, I have seen worse during summer!
We returned to the Resort around 4:30pm and tried for M&F parking lot, thinking we would mostly likely have to go to Toy Story. But surprise! The M&F lot was open and with minimal waits.
This was a 5-10 minute wait:
We headed towards the GCH for dinner at Storyteller's. We had a great dinner, very relaxing! We decided to use the GCH entrance, expecting long lines. Uh, no. We waltzed in with no wait! DCA was not busy at all.
We were able to use some FPs from earlier and enjoyed the parks for a few hours. Around 8pm we used the single rider line for RSR. It was 10 minutes!
Here is the FP line for Screamin' in the evening (sometime between 7 and 8pm). It was 25 minutes standby, faster for FP (obviously):
After a dessert stop at Ghiradelli's, we decided we would like to sit for awhile and have a nice drink. We went to Hearthstone Lounge at GCH. It was busy, but we got a table around 10pm. We asked the CM before we left the park if we would be able to get back in. She laughed and said yes, DCA was no where near capacity. They weren't even having APs get handstamps.
We enjoyed our drinks and about 45 minutes to midnight, we went back into DCA. No line to get it in at all. We decided to head to Paradise Pier. It was deserted. There were quite a few people in the WOC viewing area, but I have already seen WOC a number of times and didn't feel the need to see it tonight.
I showed you how deserted it was in the Paradise Pier area above. Almost no one there at all. We hung out and waited. About 10 minutes before midnight, a DJ came out and entertained until midnight. They used California Screamin' as the countdown clock. Then fireworks! They went off right on top of us and it was very cool.
The fountains from WOC "danced" along with the fireworks and I could also see the fireworks from DL. I think this is an edge for the DCA NYE show, since it used the WOC fountains along with the fireworks to create a very cool spectacle.
Fourth tip: when a giant ball of fireworks comes out of the sky, do not run away from them leaving your child in the stroller in harms way! About 10 feet from where we were standing, a chunk of fireworks fell. The Dad ran away, leaving the stroller with a sleeping child in the direct path of the firework! Fortunately, they had the cover on, so the kid was fine. The Disney swarm arrived in seconds and soon there were 10+ employees surrounding the area and the Dad. The Mom was there too and let the Dad have it! What a way to ring in the New Year for that family!
As soon as the fireworks were over and WOC began, DH and I booked it over to Toy Story. No line! Walk-on! Score! I didn't even take a picture I was so excited.
DH beat me, though. We rode it again with a 10 minute wait. We took our time on our way out of the parks, stopping to shop and get another snack. On NYE, Disney had offered the Glow With the Show Ears, Buy One Get One Free! There were so many in the WOC area, it looked cool. Now, the hard part, getting out of the Resort area! I was expecting the worse and it was crowded. It was about 1am by the time we arrived at the M&F tram pickup. They had all 4 areas setup for pickup. Of course, most people went to the normal side and it was easily a half hour wait there.
Fifth tip: Don't go where everyone else is going! We were thinking of just walking back to the structure, but we checked out the other side of the tram area. There were people, but we got on the second tram on that side. We waited about 10 minutes to get out of the structure. Honestly, I have had summer nights easily WORSE than this.
Sixth tip: Don't leave the park right at midnight! I am sure that the tram area was MUCH worse at 12:30am. By waiting just a little longer, we were in our cars around 1:30am.
Overall, you CAN have a great time at the DLR during this busy time if you know how to navigate. If you are ok with being in DCA, I would definitely recommend heading there as DL gets busier. Unless you are dead set on watching WOC that night (it is the same WOC as any other night), catch the show from Paradise Pier with no crowds at all and a great view. The hardest part is getting out of the Resort, but it is doable. You can always walk back to the structure if all else fails, which is why I preferred to park there. I think I am getting addicted to spending NYE at the DLR. Such a fun night!
Ive never done the NYE thing (or any summer/busy season really), but we were there for the Leap Year Event last year. We also spent 90% of the day in DCA and DTD. Sadly, DCA had closed at 8 or 9 that night and DLR was PACCCKKKED. It was definitely an experience. I wonder how many people realized that there were fireworks at DCA as well as DL.
And the area between DL and DCA was wall to wall people. I wish I had a picture of that. It was cold so it looked like a sea of black coats. At DL whenever we walked anywhere in the afternoon all we could do was shuffle along (like you would when leaving the park after fireworks). It was close to capicity and APs had to get hand stamps. The lines were all very long and the FPs were gone early. Don't know if those two days have gotten better over the years, but I'll take busy summer over those crowds! 
