Will it be stupid busy at WDW from New Year's Eve til Jan 4?

[cutielulu593]

My family just booked a cruise on the Fantasy for Jan. 4 2014!! We chose that date because its the only time my brother who's in college will be able to go with us. We were planning on going to WDW after the cruise, but he has to be back at school the following day. So, our only other options would be to go to WDW before hand or go after without him. We are thinking of flying in on the 30th or 31st, renting a car and spending 4-5 days at Disney then driving to the port Sat. morning. We don't mind it being a little crowded (When is it not?) However, we went to WDW once in early January (I can't remember the exact date) and it was EXTREMELY crowded to the point where it wasn't that enjoyable.

I would expect it to be busy during New Years Eve and Day, but shouldn't the crowds taper off after that?

When do kids go back to school in FL?

If anyone has traveled to WDW during this time, could you share your experience?

What kind of activities/events do they have on New Year's Eve/Day?

 

[tajz90]

We were just there, exact time, exact reason and it was BUSY. Yes, it tapered off, but not a lot. We managed. You will too

Great fireworks show! And you get the benefit of Christmas decorations!

 

[mmouse37]

Yes..I was there for NYE and a few days after and I swore I would never, ever go again at that time. I even cancelled my then upcoming NYE visit 2000 which I had the reservation for years because I was uneasy it was so packed. You could not move at all from place to place, lines were 3 hours long. Never again. Others may feel differently but it was my worst vist to WDW. I just thought to myself how is anyone in a wheelchair or stroller managing.

MJ

 

[floridaminnie]

It is THE busiest time of year.

 

[River Country]

The week between Christmas and NYE is the busiest of all seasons. For 3-4 days consecutively ALL the parks will reach capacity. The next busiest time of the year is Easter then Presidents week, then 4th of July.

 

[neg58]

I will be next year because of where Christmas and NY fall. This year many schools returned to school on Jan 2. Next year, because Jan 2 is a Thursday, most will probably give the entire week off.

The Florida passes will probably be blocked off for those days, so at least you won't have to deal with some locals!

Nancy

 

[cutielulu593]

Oh boy! It doesn't sound good! My brother might be skipping WDW!
Although, for work it would be better to go down during New Year's week as we would have only missed a couple days of work. But we will have 10 people including a 3 year old and my 76 year old Grandmother, who although is in good shape for her age, needs to rent a scooter for getting around WDW. It is already pretty difficult to navigate around WDW with a large amount of people. It's definitely something to think long and hard about.

 

[Weedy]

We went to Downtown Disney January 5th and it was still crazy busy. Most people vacation the two full weeks between Christmas and New Years. Plan on it being busy until the week after New Years week.

 

[jjje]

There are certain times of the year you could not pay me to visit Disney World. That is one of them. That said, obviously a lot of people go during that time so there must be something appealing about it. I'm just not sure what it is.

 

[joelnkelly]

I live in Orlando and I would highly suggest to stay away from Disney two times of the year

1st) All summer long - 07/01-09/01 summer is crazy busy
2nd) Christmas and New Years week - stupid busy

Decorations are cute and all but not worth the hassle of dealing with that many crazy people.

 

[Pumpkingirl7]

We went this January-- the 1st-5th-- it was busy but we managed just fine with a 5yr old and 18month old. If this had been our first time to the world I might have been disappionted but we had a great time and still rode everything we wanted to...just couldnt ride somethings more than once.

 

[darkwing818]

We just spent 2 days before & 2 days after at WDW; to go along with our Jaunary 2nd four night Dream cruise. We didn't even bother hitting the parks, our "WDW Wait Times" phone app showed all the parks had long wait times for all rides. As a previous poster noted Downtown Disney was packed, but that's where we spent most of our time though. That being said we did book a 4 night cruise for next New Years Eve, we'll just not do the parks again I guess.

 

[kalc12345]

Several years ago we went during that time frame. We arrived at WDW on Jan 1st and stayed for a little over a week. It was CROWDED!!! Very crowded. We said never again would we go during that time!

 

[EPCOTatNight]

It depends on the day of the week that Jan 1 falls on. We went from Jan 1-6, 2011 and it was the lowest crowds I've ever seen. I LOVED IT. New Years week is NOT the busiest week. It's the week leading up to it. The 1st was on a Sunday in 2011, therefore most kids and adults had to be back at work that Monday, the 2nd. We even had free dining. They would not offer that for a busy time.

 

[lucyem]

I will be next year because of where Christmas and NY fall. This year many schools returned to school on Jan 2. Next year, because Jan 2 is a Thursday, most will probably give the entire week off.

This.

We were there this year from the 31st to the 4th because we had the full week off from school as well. I totally thought the crowds would be horrid. Especially since we only travel at low crowd season (mid Oct & late April). It was better then I expected.

We kept out of the parks on NYE and had an early dinner at DTD. Went to MK on the 1st. Were there at rope drop and it was not as crazy as I was expecting first thing. It did pick up mid day but we were able to do all the new Fantasyland attractions and other favorites no problem. The next day we went to a water park which was slow by water park crowds but the CM's were not ready for the crowds that did show up. Thus lines were long. Thursday and Friday did start to slow down but nowhere near where Touring Plans said it would IMO. The worst crowds we saw were main street during the parade and wishes one night. But thats always crazy.

As long as you have a plan and hit rope drop you will be fine if next year is like this year.

 

[sweetlovin']

I loved the topic of the thread!! Stupid busy

 

[BonnieJG]

My family just booked a cruise on the Fantasy for Jan. 4 2014!! We chose that date because its the only time my brother who's in college will be able to go with us. We were planning on going to WDW after the cruise, but he has to be back at school the following day. So, our only other options would be to go to WDW before hand or go after without him. We are thinking of flying in on the 30th or 31st, renting a car and spending 4-5 days at Disney then driving to the port Sat. morning. We don't mind it being a little crowded (When is it not?) However, we went to WDW once in early January (I can't remember the exact date) and it was EXTREMELY crowded to the point where it wasn't that enjoyable.

I would expect it to be busy during New Years Eve and Day, but shouldn't the crowds taper off after that?

When do kids go back to school in FL?

If anyone has traveled to WDW during this time, could you share your experience?

What kind of activities/events do they have on New Year's Eve/Day?

Thanks for starting this thread! We are doing exactly the same thing. We're flying in NYE, going to DTD and will hit Universal, Epcot and MK before our Jan 4th Fantasy cruise. We, too, had no choice with the school schedule for our granddaughter. We know it will be busy, but just being there will be fun.

Are you in our Roll Call thread for the Jan. 4th cruise? It's really busy already!

 

[OrcaPotter]

No matter when FL locals go back to school/work, expect the last week of December and the first week of January to be stupid busy. You could not pay me to enter the parks at that time of year. Way too crowded to enjoy anything.

 

[Ready to go]

My family just booked a cruise on the Fantasy for Jan. 4 2014!! We chose that date because its the only time my brother who's in college will be able to go with us. We were planning on going to WDW after the cruise, but he has to be back at school the following day. So, our only other options would be to go to WDW before hand or go after without him. We are thinking of flying in on the 30th or 31st, renting a car and spending 4-5 days at Disney then driving to the port Sat. morning. We don't mind it being a little crowded


We plan on going January 2 and spending three days in park before Dream cruise also. Everything I read before this post I was under the impression crowds would be manageable (now I can see that I didn't take into account what dAte New Years fell on). Oh we'll, we are limited when we can go and just pray it won't be too bad! Good luck and maybe we'll be on same cruise!!!

 

[Itinkso]

We were just there Dec 31 through Jan. 2 before a short cruise and DHS was quite busy. Fantasmic was packed for all three shows - standing room only for the first showing. We did get good seats by going in around 50 minutes prior to showtime...this was on the 1st and 2nd - we are not fanatics, just parents of a Fant performer!
We also Resort hopped on the 1st to see the decorations at GF, BC, and YC and the resorts weren't too crowded at all but parking restrictions were in full effect. They were only letting registered guests and those with ADRs in to park in the self-park lots.
We returned Jan. 6th through the 9th, and Epcot wasn't crowded at all. Huge number of premium spots available to watch Illuminations. DH and DD had drinks in La Cava and there were only 8 other people there.