Epcot NYE Capacity question

[Lesverts]

are you referring to Millennium village? If so, what do they put in there? I thought the exhibits had long left.

At one time there was a special NYE event in there.

I have done Epcot once for NYE. I cannot find historical information of phased closures. I could find that the only time Epcot has been at hard stop closure was NYE 1999 according to a few sources.

Also it seems like Disney has gone to a more graduated closure system compared to the before times. There will always be some kind of priority phasing to allow or stop guests from entering parks.

 

[elaine amj]

They put people in there. It’s simply added space for people when needed. And best bathrooms at Disney

Totally going to have to keep an eye open for this at Epcot tonight

 

[Lesverts]

Just noticed they are not listing a midnight fireworks display at Epcot.

 

[elaine amj]

Just noticed they are not listing a midnight fireworks display at Epcot.

Yep, it’s not Luminous. It’s called Cheers to the New Year: a Sparkling Celebration. At 11:54pm.

Didn’t they use to show the regular fireworks and then the NYE tag immediately afterwards? A bit of a bummer to have a shorter show. Although that means we can get back to the dancing quicker

 

[Lesverts]

Yep, it’s not Luminous. It’s called Cheers to the New Year: a Sparkling Celebration. At 11:54pm.

Didn’t they use to show the regular fireworks and then the NYE tag immediately afterwards? A bit of a bummer to have a shorter show. Although that means we can get back to the dancing quicker

I feel like a boomer saying things like this. Back in the before times, it was Illuminations at 11:40 followed by the original version of Cheers. Now I am sad that I'll never see Illuminations and its amazing Holiday Tag ever again. Makes me sad that the only time I celebrated New Years at Disney was celebrating the coming of 2020.

 

[elaine amj]

I feel like a boomer saying things like this. Back in the before times, it was Illuminations at 11:40 followed by the original version of Cheers. Now I am sad that I'll never see Illuminations and its amazing Holiday Tag ever again. Makes me sad that the only time I celebrated New Years at Disney was celebrating the coming of 2020.

I was in Epcot that same night - it was a fabulous party and an incredible fireworks show!

 

[Mle8308]

They put people in there. It’s simply added space for people when needed. And best bathrooms at Disney

The bathrooms are pretty impressive! Huge!

 

[Lesverts]

Off-Topic but, you know you're a true Disney Parks Nerd when you have a favourite bathroom location.

 

[Mle8308]

Off-Topic but, you know you're a true Disney Parks Nerd when you have a favourite bathroom location.

Guilty! I have to agree! I do like those bathrooms!

 

[ngl]

Any updates if they have closed MK or EP due to capacity today? At HS and not bad for NYE.

 

[Mle8308]

Any updates if they have closed MK or EP due to capacity today? At HS and not bad for NYE.

Have fun! Looking at the MDE app, doesn't look like any closings so far! And wait times are a lot lower than I would have expected. Happy New Year to everyone!

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Any updates if they have closed MK or EP due to capacity today? At HS and not bad for NYE.

Nope. Wide open

 

[ngl]

Yep, it’s not Luminous. It’s called Cheers to the New Year: a Sparkling Celebration. At 11:54pm.

Didn’t they use to show the regular fireworks and then the NYE tag immediately afterwards? A bit of a bummer to have a shorter show. Although that means we can get back to the dancing quicker

Will the show only be 6 minutes? We have Guardians 11pm-midnight (latest time I could book w the 7 day window which was 10 days ago due to our stay & that’s all they offered) but would love to go after midnight. Also from this post sounds like no fireworks? Thx in advance for any guidance!

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Will the show only be 6 minutes? We have Guardians 11pm-midnight (latest time I could book w the 7 day window which was 10 days ago due to our stay & that’s all they offered) but would love to go after midnight. Also from this post sounds like no fireworks? Thx in advance for any guidance!

There’s 2 fireworks shows. At 6:30 and just before midnight

They should let you in after midnight since the park close it 1. But I’d watch from that side of the park and book it there

 

[Mrs.AMC]

No issues getting in Epcot at 5:45. No park reservations either. So at I’ve suspected, they are pointless since their being unavailable meant nothing. Disney gleans nothing from the data since not having them doesn’t stop you from hopping or entering after 2.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

The only delay getting in is the line at IG. For some reason Disney made the choice to have 1 scanner open and the guests can’t figure out to keep walking. They stop again and again for some baffling reason. All Disney needs to do is open a second scanner to eliminate the long line

 

[elaine amj]

We arrived in Epcot at 3:30pm with no issues via the IG. It was busy and a more adult vibe than MK on Dec 30th. CMs do a good job keeping the aisles moving. But there are choke points.

Especially when getting into UK after the 6:30pm fireworks when CMs were gathered to ring in the New Year at 7pm (midnight in UK) and the rest of the entry into UK was taken up by a long line for the silent disco.

DD23 was pushing my mother in a wheelchair and had an impossible time getting into the UK. She was stuck in one section from 6:51pm to 7:12pm. And she is extremely good at working through crowds.

I had gone ahead (skipping the last 5 mins of the fireworks) to get in line for the silent disco and they were trying to join me in line. The line moved quick when they started the silent disco about 7:05pm. Thankfully the CM gave me 3 headsets when I asked although I still had to wait a few more mins for them to finally get through the madness. They made it inside the UK and the CMs had just started creating a human wall for the silent disco (they ran out of headsets) when they sort of barrelled through to make it to me. I think a few seconds later and the CMs would not have let them through.

I know DD tried to go get my mother’s wheelchair about half an hour later (my mother was thirsty and had left her water in it) which was in clear sight (she pointed) and the Cm refused to let her get it without giving up her headset and leaving the silent disco completely. We were smarter and brought the wheelchair into the silent disco area when we returned after the midnight fireworks.

Other than that, it was mostly okay moving around. It was challenging entering and exiting the main pathway as CMs kept people moving (rather like entering a busy main road with no entry/exit lanes lol).

Getting into the various dance parties was pretty busy. We made it to China about 8:30pm and decided to bring the wheelchair into the main dance area. That was pretty much madness as it was jam packed crowds at the tiny entrance/exit. But more fun than staying on the outside. Once in, we stayed on the edges and had plenty of space. It was easier to get into the dance floor areas in Italy and Japan.

Japan had a rather weird vibe all night. The crowds were happy but the dance floor was packed with people mostly hustling standing and watching. Not much dancing happening lol. Unlike China and Italy which were like raves with everyone mostly jumping wildly.

Our fave was the silent disco. The music suited us better (we are not big techno fans) and we could switch up between 3 different DJs so always had songs we liked. Plus it was just funny lol. I will say I preferred MK’s music to Epcot’s in general.

We danced until they shut us down at 1am. Had no issues following the crowds out via the International Gateway and boarding a friendship boat with no lines.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

We arrived in Epcot at 3:30pm with no issues via the IG. It was busy and a more adult vibe than MK on Dec 30th. CMs do a good job keeping the aisles moving. But there are choke points.

Especially when getting into UK after the 6:30pm fireworks when CMs were gathered to ring in the New Year at 7pm (midnight in UK) and the rest of the entry into UK was taken up by a long line for the silent disco.

DD23 was pushing my mother in a wheelchair and had an impossible time getting into the UK. She was stuck in one section from 6:51pm to 7:12pm. And she is extremely good at working through crowds.

I had gone ahead (skipping the last 5 mins of the fireworks) to get in line for the silent disco and they were trying to join me in line. The line moved quick when they started the silent disco about 7:05pm. Thankfully the CM gave me 3 headsets when I asked although I still had to wait a few more mins for them to finally get through the madness. They made it inside the UK and the CMs had just started creating a human wall for the silent disco (they ran out of headsets) when they sort of barrelled through to make it to me. I think a few seconds later and the CMs would not have let them through.

I know DD tried to go get my mother’s wheelchair about half an hour later (my mother was thirsty and had left her water in it) which was in clear sight (she pointed) and the Cm refused to let her get it without giving up her headset and leaving the silent disco completely. We were smarter and brought the wheelchair into the silent disco area when we returned after the midnight fireworks.

Other than that, it was mostly okay moving around. It was challenging entering and exiting the main pathway as CMs kept people moving (rather like entering a busy main road with no entry/exit lanes lol).

Getting into the various dance parties was pretty busy. We made it to China about 8:30pm and decided to bring the wheelchair into the main dance area. That was pretty much madness as it was jam packed crowds at the tiny entrance/exit. But more fun than staying on the outside. Once in, we stayed on the edges and had plenty of space. It was easier to get into the dance floor areas in Italy and Japan.

Japan had a rather weird vibe all night. The crowds were happy but the dance floor was packed with people mostly hustling standing and watching. Not much dancing happening lol. Unlike China and Italy which were like raves with everyone mostly jumping wildly.

Our fave was the silent disco. The music suited us better (we are not big techno fans) and we could switch up between 3 different DJs so always had songs we liked. Plus it was just funny lol. I will say I preferred MK’s music to Epcot’s in general.

We danced until they shut us down at 1am. Had no issues following the crowds out via the International Gateway and boarding a friendship boat with no lines.

The one in Japan is new. Think last year was the first for it. We always rotate between the 3. Italy is always our favorite vibe in general so we spend most of the time there. China next with the dragon and fire. It’s never our music type lol. Still enjoy the vibe. We try to rotate to give our eardrums a break. Last night we found a place to sit in Italy so we spent more time there than usual. By the time we missed it was like we had cotton in our ears for several minutes. DH and i joke it’s so loud we can feel the music in our soul

We were dining at rose and crown for the 6:30 fireworks and midnight in the UK. The staff told us they would all be going outside at midnight their time and they did. They were very excited for it and the chance to celebrate with home. No staff in the restaurant from 6:55 till the dance was over. We tried to go watch too but it was impossible to navigate with the crowds from the fireworks just ending

 

[ngl]

Thanks for all of your input! Great experience at EP as well. Went to HS during day and got to EP around 6pm via Skyliner. Bit of line at IG but only waited about 10 min to get in. Had Lightning Lane rides planned so did those and did Teppan Edo for dinner later and loved the DJ at Japan. Watched fireworks from near Guardians as we had single pass set up for 11-midnight and got there about 12:05 as our first act of 2025! We were out within 20 min but then saw the VQ line longer than we have ever seen it! Did some more dancing and got to monorail about 1:20 and no issues with seats. Overall, a great experience! Happy New Year to all!!