2 Days at New Year's

[LisaT91403]

Disneyland AP holder here...venturing to the WDW boards for the first time!

We are planning a Disney Cruise that leaves on January 3, 2015. We need to fly into Orlando no later than Jan 2nd in order to make it to the ship on time. But now I'm thinking...it seems a shame to fly all the way from Los Angeles to Orlando and not set foot in WDW.

If we flew in a day or two earlier, we'd be looking at being in the park(s) on 1/1 and/or 1/2. I'm sure the crowds will be brutal, and it will be cold. So my questions are:

- Is it even worth visiting, given the crowd situation?
- Where should we visit if we only have those day(s)?
One thought is to go to MK to see how it's different, but then we'd be seeing things that we can mostly see here at home. So maybe AK would be best, as it's completely different? DS(6) is a ride junkie, and EE looks like it would be exciting for him.

Any advice would be appreciated, and I promise to return the favor if you ever make a trip to Walt's Park

 

[Indio]

I would add the 2 days on to the end of the cruise instead of before. Jan 1 and 2 will be awful - full to capacity closing. I think you'd get more bang for your buck at the end. You should do Epcot and Animal Kingdom since MK and DHS are similar to DL.

 

[Itinkso]

If you can't add on a park visit after your cruise, planning on DHS or AK for the 1st or 2nd would work. Ideally, a Parkhopper ticket would be best. If your son has never participated in JTA and enjoys Star Wars, he will be guaranteed a spot in a JTA session if you sign him up as soon as the park opens. After that, you can check out the park and ride Rockin' Roller Coaster and ToT to note the differences from what DCA has and then hop to AK. If you hop back to DHS, go see the Osborne Lights... it really is worthwhile to see as DLR has nothing like it.

We were in DHS on January 1, 2013 and it was crowded, but, still not as bad as a crowded day at Disneyland. When-if you are used to the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds at night at DL, you should be able to handle January 1st at a WDW park.

 

[jfeasel]

We go to WDW every other year the week between Christmas and New Year's and usually leave Jan. 2. Our experience is that Jan. 1 has been a great day in the parks. While the parks have closed on days between Christmas and New Year's due to crowd sizes, we haven't had that experience on Jan. 1. I think a lot of people fly home that day to get the kids back to school. In fact one year, we just kept riding Yeti over and over at Animal Kingdom because the line was so short.

Also, we've done the parks before a cruise and after a cruise and I recommend the parks before the cruise that way you can rest on the ship!

 

[LisaT91403]

Unfortunately, we can't extend our stay after the cruise because my son goes back to school then. We will already be at the end of his having 3 weeks off

DS is quite small for his age, so he won't be able to ride the Rockin' Roller Coaster. I'm guessing he will be 46-47" when we visit.

He's really interested in the new Mine Train ride. But if we go to MK, most of the rides will be the same as/similar to Disneyland. I think Epcot is too big to tackle in a short visit, and I'm not sure DHS has anything to really draw us over there. So if we were to hop, it might be MK and AK.

I will have to research how difficult/time consuming it is to park hop, as I know it's different than DLR where you just walk from one park to the other.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Ksquared]

I definitely suggest going to Animal Kingdom since the park is completely different.

Having gone to Disneyland once, I will say that what we enjoyed when we went there was not only the things that were completely new to us like Matterhorn, but also seeing the slight differences in the rides that are the same.

For instance, Pirates of the Caribbean is my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom and yet it's different than the one at Disneyland. At the time, I decided I even liked the one at Disneyland a little better.

If that's not something you want to do, then why not try Animal Kingdom and the water park that's open (one is usually closed for refurb). Or explore some of the other things like the Winter/Summer mini golf at Blizzard Beach or Fantasia mini golf. You can also spend a day at Downtown Disney as well.

I'd definitely fly in a day or two early and explore some of the area before your cruise.