Disneyland NYE Question

[MyWndrlnd]

Hi everyone, I am a long time Disboards lurker, first time poster.

I am sure this has been asked a million times but I am getting a little anxious over this so I am hoping someone will answer it a million and one times

Question:
How bad are the crowds on NYE or the day before? Are they too much of a deterrent to take a reluctant Disneyland first timer?

A little background info:
My best friend and I are Disneyland vets. We go every year for at least 3 days- opening and closing the park each day- and never have any issue navigating crowds and fast passes in order to maximize our ride time at the park. Our trip is generally in July, when crowds are by no means small but they aren't overwhelming either. This year we decided to go during the holidays so that we can see Disneyland in all its winter splendor, I haven't been during the holiday season since I was a kid and she has never been so this is very exciting for us. We decided to tie this into going down to see my family for the holidays during the last week of December and my birthday, which happens to be on Dec 31st.

My boyfriend of almost 2 years has agreed to come down with us to celebrate the holidays with my family and to spend my birthday with me!!! This is kind of a big deal since it requires him to fork up a few hundred $ for a plane ticket and travel expenses and I am very excited to have him come to these events with me. He even said he would go to Disneyland with us- one day only- if I really wanted him to. The issue I am facing is exposing him to Disneyland for the first time in a way that will allow him to have a good time and want to go back.

He is not a Disneyland fanatic. At all. He has no desire to go and is only willing to go because it makes me happy. He also hates crowds and gets frustrated when he has to deal with them for extended periods of time. Can you see where this is going...?

Because of family holiday schedules as well as his inability to stay as long as my friend and I are (he has to get back home by the 1st and we are staying through the 3rd), our only possible Disneyland days are 12/30, 12/31, 1/1, 1/2. My friend and I want to at least do 3-days since it will be 1.5 years since we last went so at least one of the days will be when he is with us. Are 12/30 and/or 12/31 too crowded to make a successful trip with this Disneyland first timer or will we still be able to reasonably navigate the crowds and fast pass system to give him a good experience? As I mentioned before, we are pretty good at doing this normally but I am wondering if the parks will be prohibitively crowded.

Thank you!

 

[Malcon10t]

The park will be packed. As in Wall to Wall people. There is a possibility each day of turnstile closures. This will make July feel like a breeze. I would not subject someone who doesn't like Disneyland to those dates and expect them to even consider coming back.

That said, we do it every year. Our plan is to enjoy the sights and smells and sounds. If we get on a few rides, that is just added enjoyment. We have been known to bring a deck of cards (Phase 10 was our most popular game) and enjoy an area.

We will be there this year from Dec 21- Jan 3. I would hate to try and predict a good day of those days. They are all going to be pretty rough.

 

[Girimama33]

It will be very busy...the busiest time of the year at the Resort, in fact. If you are worried the crowds may affect your BF's experience, you may want him to join you during the summer...it is much less crowded then.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

Sigh, I was afraid of that. I am not worried about my friend and I, we are just going to be happy to be there and excited to absorb the Disneyland amazingness But I am really trying to avoid truing my boyfriend off of Disneyland forever because he might experience it at the busiest time of the year.

So is there no notable difference between 12/30 and 12/31?

 

[Girimama33]

The 31st will be the busiest day/night. The days surrounding the 31st will be close crowdwise.

 

[ArchOwl]

Well, I would probably never take a first-timer to DL on NYE or the days surrounding it. Especially if the first-timer was not exactly a fan of crowds or of Disneyland. You will probably confirm all of their worst fears about DL.

That being said, I have visited the Resort during NYE and have had a great time. But my expectations about what I could do were very realistic. I spent most of the day in DCA last year and while it was very, very busy, it was nowhere near as crowded as DL. But if I was bringing a first-timer, I would want to spend lots of time in DL, so I just don't think that is a good strategy.

Here is my trip report from last year: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3040808
You can see that DL at rope drop on NYE is not crowded at all. But around 10-11am, things start getting crowded. The line for the lockers was down Main Street and people started camping in the Hub. It gets crazy there.

DCA was manageable, but we didn't wait in line for WOC or anything like that.

DL did experience closures during the afternoon and early evening. DCA did not. DL was wall to wall people and DCA was quite busy.

Any of the dates you mentioned are going to be the busiest you have ever seen the parks. It could be possible to enjoy the first few hours of the day, but that seems like a waste for your boyfriend. Sorry, I just can't recommend it.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

Well, I would probably never take a first-timer to DL on NYE or the days surrounding it. Especially if the first-timer was not exactly a fan of crowds or of Disneyland. You will probably confirm all of their worst fears about DL.

That being said, I have visited the Resort during NYE and have had a great time. But my expectations about what I could do were very realistic. I spent most of the day in DCA last year and while it was very, very busy, it was nowhere near as crowded as DL. But if I was bringing a first-timer, I would want to spend lots of time in DL, so I just don't think that is a good strategy.

Here is my trip report from last year:
You can see that DL at rope drop on NYE is not crowded at all. But around 10-11am, things start getting crowded. The line for the lockers was down Main Street and people started camping in the Hub. It gets crazy there.

DCA was manageable, but we didn't wait in line for WOC or anything like that.

DL did experience closures during the afternoon and early evening. DCA did not. DL was wall to wall people and DCA was quite busy.

Any of the dates you mentioned are going to be the busiest you have ever seen the parks. It could be possible to enjoy the first few hours of the day, but that seems like a waste for your boyfriend. Sorry, I just can't recommend it.

I am so discouraged. I knew this was the case, but I was hoping I was just being paranoid. Thank you for the link to your trip report, it did help me get a feel for the parks on those days. I've read a few others from previous NYEs as well in my obsessive attempt to be as informed as possible (i.e. hoping to dig up some good news).

I am wondering if we went at rope drop (or MM if we did the 31st) and got in the big rides before 10am (we generally get in Indy, SM, BTMRR, Pirates and HM in the first hour- we've perfected respectful speed walking - so I am assuming we could do so before 10am on a super crowded day...is that naive?) and then let him call the shots- stay, go, eat, sit, etc. for the rest of the time if that might make it better. If we do it that way, at least he will have experienced the "Best Of" and then we can leave if he feels the need to do so.

I know I am being stubborn even though all evidence and sage advice is saying I shouldn't. I think I am going through Disneyland withdraw and it is affecting my brain! Maybe it would be wisest to show him all the photos and news articles detailing the early closures due to crowd capacity and let him be the judge. That way if we do end up going, at least he is aware of what we would be facing and we can all just decide to enjoy exploring the park in a new way...

 

[ArchOwl]

I am so discouraged. I knew this was the case, but I was hoping I was just being paranoid. Thank you for the link to your trip report, it did help me get a feel for the parks on those days. I've read a few others from previous NYEs as well to try and be as informed as possible.

I am wondering if we went at rope drop (or MM if we did the 31st) and got in the big rides before 10am (we generally get in Indy, SM, BTMRR, Pirates and HM in the first hour- we've perfected respectful speed walking - so I am assuming we could do so before 10am on a super crowded day...is that naive?) and then let him call the shots- stay, go, eat, sit, etc. for the rest of the time if that might make it better. If we do it that way, at least he will have experienced the "Best Of" and then we can leave if he feels the need to do so.

I know I am being stubborn even though all evidence and sage advise is saying I shouldn't. I think I am going through Disneyland withdraw and it is affecting my brain! Maybe it would be wisest to show him all the photos and news articles detailing the early closures due to crowd capacity and let him be the judge. That way if we do end up going, at least he is aware of what we would be facing and we can all just decide to enjoy exploring the park in a new way...

I am sorry! And I forgot to say WELCOME! I normally tell people they can make just about anything work, but those are some challenging days, even for veterans. If you don't want to ride a lot of rides, it is a really fun atmosphere. I just don't know how open your group is to that rather than getting on rides.

And the crowds issue as well. If someone genuinely gets panicked or anxious by crowds, I would say not a good idea. If they just aren't a fan of crowds, you can do your best to mitigate that with breaks or leaving when it is too much.

Just keep in mind, that if you leave the Resort on NYE or really any of those days, you do run the risk of not being able to get back into the parks right away.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

I am sorry! And I forgot to say WELCOME! I normally tell people they can make just about anything work, but those are some challenging days, even for veterans. If you don't want to ride a lot of rides, it is a really fun atmosphere. I just don't know how open your group is to that rather than getting on rides.

And the crowds issue as well. If someone genuinely gets panicked or anxious by crowds, I would say not a good idea. If they just aren't a fan of crowds, you can do your best to mitigate that with breaks or leaving when it is too much.

Just keep in mind, that if you leave the Resort on NYE or really any of those days, you do run the risk of not being able to get back into the parks right away.

Thank you for the welcome! I love the DISboards, I've just never really had a reason to write before now

Fortunately I am the only person in our group who can get a little claustrophobic in crowds, he can just get frustrated by them sometimes. As for me, I've done my b-day/NYE in some pretty crowd heavy locations in the past so I don't think it will be an issue for me. Maybe I should start talking up the atmosphere and all the attention to detail Disneyland puts into the park rather than the rides, he is a sucker for "how does it work" info so maybe I will have more success that way.

Everyone else is fine with just enjoying being at the park and not fitting in so many rides, especially during the holidays. I remember the park being incredibly magical during that time and can't wait to experience it again, regardless of crowds. So if I can just prepare him AND entice him (a tall order to be sure!) then I might just pull it off! I figure if I make reservations for BB and CC and Fantasmic (he's a foodie), that will successfully allow us to avoid waiting for a good portion of our day during some pretty critical times

 

[aidensmom31]

I was there on New Years Eve 2011...we got there at rope drop and got all our must do rides (like IJ, POTC, BTMRR etc) done before lunch and then just hung out doing rides, shows etc as we felt like it but mainly just enjoying Disney. I would say it was busy but manageable till about 2-3pm but after that it just got busier and busier. We decided that at around 6 or 7pm it was just too packed to move and since we had my son with us it just wasnt fun for us to stay at that point. We left the park, went to downtown disney for a little shopping, visited the hotels to look around, had reservations for dinner and then just relaxed and rested up for the next day (which was an excellent idea because we made rope drop the next morning and NY day actually ended up being are least crowded day and we got sooooooo much done before 12pm because everyone else was sleeping ).

It is busy but if you go in with that idea and utilize the morning you can still have a lot of fun. We loved it so much we are going again this year. I just love the holidays in the parks.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

I was there on New Years Eve 2011...we got there at rope drop and got all our must do rides (like IJ, POTC, BTMRR etc) done before lunch and then just hung out doing rides, shows etc as we felt like it but mainly just enjoying Disney. I would say it was busy but manageable till about 2-3pm but after that it just got busier and busier. We decided that at around 6 or 7pm it was just too packed to move and since we had my son with us it just wasnt fun for us to stay at that point. We left the park, went to downtown disney for a little shopping, visited the hotels to look around, had reservations for dinner and then just relaxed and rested up for the next day (which was an excellent idea because we made rope drop the next morning and NY day actually ended up being are least crowded day and we got sooooooo much done before 12pm because everyone else was sleeping ).

It is busy but if you go in with that idea and utilize the morning you can still have a lot of fun. We loved it so much we are going again this year. I just love the holidays in the parks.

Oh that is such good news!!!!! I have a feeling that if we can get in the "Big Ones" before it gets to crowded, so we don't feel pressured to do so later, then we can just sit back and enjoy and let the day flow naturally. I am so excited to see the parks all dressed up for the holidays

 

[pjhootch]

NYE will be absolutely miserable for a first timer. It may be a great way to make sure your BF doesn't ever want to come back.

We are vets, good at crowds, FP, and have very reasonable expectations. Having said that, I've hit the wall very early in the day on NYE and left without a backwards glance or regrets. Of course... it takes FOREVER to leave because the park generally turns into wall to wall people relatively early in the day.

My advice is to not try to cram too much into this one trip. Give your BF a break and just do the trip with your friend.

 

[Disneyluvr2]

I totally agree with pjhootch. Going on NYE is a great way to ensure that a first timer will never want to go again. We were there last year on NYE. By evening you can't walk, you have to shuffle everywhere in a sea of people. If you happen to be short, you can't see anything, except for the back of the person in front of you, which is inches from your nose. Forget trying to make a plan to go from one land to another. You can't get from point A to point B, you just have to follow the stream of people shuffling along. Cast members are directing the slow traffic and it's nearly impossible break free to go another direction.

As long as you go knowing what to expect, you can still have a good time. It was an insane, crazy, experience, but we still had fun. Would I do it again? Probably not, unless we had reservations at Club 33 again to get away from the crowds and relax.

If your dates are flexible AT ALL, I'd go earlier in Dec and just celebrate your birthday early. It would be worth it to avoid the NYE crowds!

 

[kangamama]

I'm going to give you a different opinion. Last year at this time, I WAS the type of person you describe your boyfriend as being. I was Not Into It At All. I hadn't been to DLR since childhood, and I had no interest in going back. I had somehow been convinced, however, that it would be a good idea to do a family trip (complete with both sets of grandparents, and my kids' two uncles and one uncle's girlfriend for a total of 11 people traveling) for a few days starting xmas day. When this decision was made, no one knew that this was one of the busiest weeks of the year, and as the weeks wore on and our trip grew closer, I began to dread it more and more. Fast forward to our trip -- it was absolutely as crowded as I was expecting it to be. The park entrances were closed in the afternoon due to capacity issues. The crowds were insane. But I fell in love with Disneyland on that trip, and went back twice before a year was out. I think the key was going with a plan and with the willingness to be flexible. Would it be better to go when the crowds will be lower? Absolutely. But is it also possible to catch the Disneyland bug when the parks are at capacity? Absolutely.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

I'm going to give you a different opinion. Last year at this time, I WAS the type of person you describe your boyfriend as being. I was Not Into It At All. I hadn't been to DLR since childhood, and I had no interest in going back. I had somehow been convinced, however, that it would be a good idea to do a family trip (complete with both sets of grandparents, and my kids' two uncles and one uncle's girlfriend for a total of 11 people traveling) for a few days starting xmas day. When this decision was made, no one knew that this was one of the busiest weeks of the year, and as the weeks wore on and our trip grew closer, I began to dread it more and more. Fast forward to our trip -- it was absolutely as crowded as I was expecting it to be. The park entrances were closed in the afternoon due to capacity issues. The crowds were insane. But I fell in love with Disneyland on that trip, and went back twice before a year was out. I think the key was going with a plan and with the willingness to be flexible. Would it be better to go when the crowds will be lower? Absolutely. But is it also possible to catch the Disneyland bug when the parks are at capacity? Absolutely.

More good news! Did having a heads up about the crowds help you enjoy the trip? I am trying to figure out if I should:

a) Warn him, but not present it as the horrible unmanageable crowd that it appears to be during that time of year, and hope for the best.
b) Warn him just exactly how bad it will be and hope for the best.
c) Scrap the whole thing and only go 2 days with my friend after he flies home on Jan 1. This option makes me a little bummed because I am really craving Disneyland and if we only have 2 days I think I am going to feel more "pressure" to cram as much in as possible rather than just enjoying the holiday park. Plus I would love to have the experience of exploring the park with him and I know for a fact that he wont want to spend the money traveling if I ask him to go down just for a Disneyland trip in the summer.

In a related question, does anyone know if we do cut it down to 2 days and don't go until Jan 1 and 2, will the parks still have all the Holiday decorations (and HHM!) up?

 

[kangamama]

I think it was a VERY good thing that I knew what to expect crowd-wise. It helped me prepare mentally for being in that kind of setting.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

I think it was a VERY good thing that I knew what to expect crowd-wise. It helped me prepare mentally for being in that kind of setting.

Then I think I will just let him know exactly what to expect, maybe even show him a few youtube videos from previous years so that he can make an informed decision and be prepared for the crowds if he decides to still go.

Thank you for all your help everyone! Maybe with the help of a little bit of pixie dust, I will be able to go for my birthday this year

 

[Disneyluvr2]

The key is knowing what to expect, and going with the right frame of mind. We still had a great time, even though the crowds were huge. It's all about your attitude. If you expect to have a horrible time, you will. If you want to have a great time with lots of fun, you can do that too.

 

[Sherry E]

...In a related question, does anyone know if we do cut it down to 2 days and don't go until Jan 1 and 2, will the parks still have all the Holiday decorations (and HHM!) up?

Haunted Mansion Holiday is open through January 6, 2014 (which is when the season officially ends). It's a Small World Holiday will stay open further into January. The 3 hotels' decor will come down after 1/1/14. The 2 parks should have all decor still in place on your trip. Santa will be gone from the hotels, from the Jingle Jangle Jamboree and from his post at Elias & Company in DCA before your trip. The carolers will be gone.

 

[kangamama]

The key is knowing what to expect, and going with the right frame of mind. We still had a great time, even though the crowds were huge. It's all about your attitude. If you expect to have a horrible time, you will. If you want to have a great time with lots of fun, you can do that too.

Yes -- this exactly!,