EPCOT for NYE '13? Sure! Why not?

[Keels]

After many cocktails over Christmas here in Orlando with family, I convinced my husband we should an extra day to our eventual long-weekend Disney trip in the middle of January with visiting friends.

That day?

NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!

I'm a HUGE holiday person - my birthday lasts two weeks, I start planning Thanksgiving in September, and my Christmas tree goes up before Thanksgiving. Dear old hubs? Not so much. Short of the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, he could do without all of 'em.

We will be hitting Rope Drop in the morning and staying through until park close. Are we up for the challenge?? Heck yes!!

 

[Disneylover99]

Well ya better get to bed now or you'll never make it.... Good luck!

 

[Keels]

A little bit about us and this whole mission!

Who we are: It's me, Keels. I'm 32. Texas born, but I grew up here in Orlando (and worked at Magic Kingdom in Parades/Shows in the 90's). My husband, Garz, is 40. I introduced him to Disney 14 years ago with F&W and he has loved EPCOT ever since.

Where we're staying: We're with my parents (it's like I'm back in high school!! Except a boy gets to sleep in my bed and my Dad isn't allowed to get mad .. ). My parents live roughly 6 miles from EPCOT.

Tickets: We have 1-day, 1-park tickets. I purchased them today at DTD to avoid extra wait upon arrival at the park.

NYE Strategy: I like to think we're hardcore. Our last trip to EPCOT we did Rope Drop until 11 p.m. Illuminations. Without an ADR, or TS meal. So what's a few extra hours? We will be there for RD, but this time we have an 8 p.m. ADR at Chefs de France.

Our plan is to knock out as many rides in Future World as we can and then head to World Showcase and start partying. We love drinking and snacking around the World, but I also hope to take notes on the different parties in the countries as the day/evening progresses.

Transportation: We will not be driving ourselves to EPCOT, so I'll go ahead and say I won't be able to tell you about leaving the park after midnight. We will be dropped off and will cab back home.

Attire, Etc.: I know this comes up a lot on the boards - what should you wear and what should you take? We will take two bags - 1) backpack cooler with bottled water, juice, V8 and Red Bull; 2) my large purse with two iPads, two charger packs, MiFi, an extra shirt and flip flops for me (I like a wardrobe change) and room to store the two Patagonia fleeces we're wearing to the park in the a.m. for later. The weather says the high will be roughly 70 and it will be mostly cloudy, but Disney seems to have different weather than Orlando.

 

[Keels]

Well ya better get to bed now or you'll never make it.... Good luck!

Ha! I'm a night owl and I'm watching my Texas Tech boys in the Holiday Bowl! Soon enough, though!

 

[Keels]

So, I planned to buy my tickets online and then just redeem them at the gate or at DTD, but decided to see what the purchase process was like at DTD.

Warning:Most of the West Side parking is gone for the new bus loop and construction of the parking garage.

We parked on the far, far West Side, but as we were leaving, we drove through the Team Disney lot across from the old Pleasure Island sign. They advertise "quick parking" for DTD and yes - it would be EXTREMELY quick. You would be at the bus loop when you cross the street. So, keep in mind that parking is available across the street at the Team Disney building.

There are two Guest Relations locations at Downtown Disney - we went to the original location in the Marketplace. It is to the left of World of Disney, before Ghiardelli. The line was out the door and took me roughly 35 minutes. The transaction? Took less than 5. My delightful CM even said she wished she had some candy or something to give me because I was the easiest person she had to deal with so far that day! Yay!!

There are more Guest Relations at DisneyQuest - half of their ticket windows are split between DisneyQuest and normal WDW Guest Relations. There is no signage denoting this other than above the windows, so the line is extremely short. Just be aware!

But anyway, I got our two 1-day tickets that are RFID tickets (yay! Our first time trying these! We've always had the paper tickets!). They also feature the code on the back to link with MDE (which I did). I was also told that I could have our extended day tickets added to them when we purchase those for our trip with friends in a couple weeks.

 

[Keels]

We're in!

Parking attendants are clearly ready for the crush as they were directing people to park on the grassy are between the entrance and the parking lot.

Bag check was quick and painless, and picking up tickets definitely saved time. Mickey turned green and we were in line for Test Track at 8:07 a.m. with a 20-minute wait. Crowds definitely went to the right as Soarin' is already at 60 minutes, but with 9-10 FP return times. We'll head there next!

 

[Disneylover99]

Have fun!!! Drink a margarita for me in Mexico!!!