Is going for New Year's Eve a terrible idea?

[otten]

My family is going to WDW in January. We have 4 day tickets with the Canadian resident deal. The plan right now is to fly to Orlando on the 30th and head to Homossassa to visit family then go to Disney World where we are staying at Kidani on rented points.

Recently we started thinking about maybe doing a day at the start of the trip (which would probably be NYE) then having a resort only day for 1 of our days during the AK stay. If we went NYE we would go for the entertainment and atmosphere not attractions but is it a terrible plan? I'd love to see the fireworks at Epcot or MK.

 

[HopperFan]

Went last NYE to Epcot, expected a cluster but it was a bucket list that I wanted to do once.

HAD A GREAT TIME!!!! and would absolutely do it again.

 

[CAS239]

NYE is the busiest day of the year but it is a lot of fun. We enjoy watching the MK NYE fireworks on the 30th (They shoot off their NYE fireworks on the 30th and 31st), and then heading to Epcot on the 31st. Both firework shows are the best shows I've ever seen. The Epcot one is amazing.

 

[DVC4US]

We love going to WDW and especially Epcot for New Year's Eve but you definitely need to know what you might be getting into. We have been several times - some not so bad and some you couldn't even walk between Mexico and Norway around 6pm because it was a stand still. We generally plan a dinner in one of the WS restaurants and then grab a table somewhere (it was Italy last time) have drinks, people watch, and listen to the DJs until the fireworks at midnight.

Even though it was packed at 6pm, when we left after midnight it wasn't too bad.

 

[otten]

Thanks for the advice and experiences.

If it makes a difference, we'll have two kids with us, 5 and 3. They both love fireworks. I think I would plan on bringing carriers so that we can wear them versus trying to deal with a stroller in the crowds. They nap well in them too (and they're both small and not all that heavy).

 

[SgtTibbs]

I would not have done it with kids that age, they are going to want to do it all. Attractions/shows/fireworks and you just can't do all of it on NYE. Too many people.

 

[otten]

I would not have done it with kids that age, they are going to want to do it all. Attractions/shows/fireworks and you just can't do all of it on NYE. Too many people.

I'm not really concerned about them wanting to do it all because we'll be back the next week for attractions. We wouldn't do MK. I'd love to hear the experiences of anyone that has taken kids though.

 

[CAS239]

Since you're going with kids I'd go to Epcot later in the day and have your 3 FP's set up toward the nighttime.

Epcot also has a good firework show at 6:30, but the midnight show is a must

 

[FelisLachesis]

NYE is a madhouse, as everyone else has said. Moving around will be difficult, but not impossible. Definitely be prepared for a long day, or just avoid MK altogether, as that is, by far, the worst of the four parks on that day. If you are going to use fastpasses, and you might as well, as @CAS239 said, try and make them for later in the day.

If you are going to go to Epcot, I'd say keep it more towards World Showcase and not Future World. Even so, Frozen Ever After will have at least a 3 hour wait. Don't be surprised if it gets to 5 hours on NYE.

Unless you have ADRs, don't expect to eat any any TS restaurants. Walk-ups are darn near impossible.

Just remember on NYE to bring a LOT of patience with you, and you'll do fine!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We spent part of NYE at Studios 3 years ago. We were arriving that afternoon and I thought our chances of getting into Epcot or MK would be pretty slim at 3:00 or later on NYE, so we opted for Studios. I had booked FP+ for late afternoon so we were able to ride several things with minimal wait - even TSM only took about 20 minutes. I made an ADR for 50's Prime Time Café, and we enjoyed our meal there, but afterwards when we started over towards the Streets of America and the Osbourne Lights, it was a madhouse. CMs handed out hats and horns to everyone and it was a cacophony of blaring horns. We enjoyed the lights for awhile, then about 9:00 we decided to head back to our resort. Our kids weren't as young as yours (I guess they were probably 11 and 7?) but it was definitely hard to enjoy much of anything since you could barely move. We took advantage of getting to bed earlier than most of the other guests and were at MK the next morning at rope-drop. I don't regret spending that time at Studios, as it was our only chance on that trip to see the Osbourne Lights, so I'm glad we did. But I'm also glad we weren't there until midnight.

 

[Accident]

You have to do it at least once, just don't expect normal crowds or atmosphere.. it's NYE!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

NYE is the busiest day of the year but it is a lot of fun. We enjoy watching the MK NYE fireworks on the 30th (They shoot off their NYE fireworks on the 30th and 31st), and then heading to Epcot on the 31st. Both firework shows are the best shows I've ever seen. The Epcot one is amazing.

+1 . The fireworks at EPCOT almost brought me to tears they were so amazing.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Thanks for the advice and experiences.

If it makes a difference, we'll have two kids with us, 5 and 3. They both love fireworks. I think I would plan on bringing carriers so that we can wear them versus trying to deal with a stroller in the crowds. They nap well in them too (and they're both small and not all that heavy).

Epcot was WALL to WALL people, so you definitely don't want to have a stroller there.

 

[otten]

Since you're going with kids I'd go to Epcot later in the day and have your 3 FP's set up toward the nighttime.

Epcot also has a good firework show at 6:30, but the midnight show is a must

Yea I think we would plan on taking early naps and going to Epcot in the afternoon as my understanding is that Epcot does not normally have capacity closures. I don't expect to do much or even anything in terms of rides as we'll be back the following week for that. The point of going NYE would be to have the experience of NYE at Disney.

 

[otten]

I hate strollers in crowds, or anywhere that I might encounter stairs. Which is probably how I wound up with a collection of babywearing devices.

 

[bryanb]

You need a completely different mindset to experience NYE at the parks. You have to like the fact that it's crowded, and perceive the high energy, noisy atmosphere as fun. You have to embrace the shared experience of being with tens of thousands of your closest strangers.

This cannot be the vacation where you hope to get on all your favorite attractions over and over, meet all your favorite characters, and stretch out and relax. Patience, flexibility, and positivity will make it a fantastic experience.

 

[otten]

You need a completely different mindset to experience NYE at the parks. You have to like the fact that it's crowded, and perceive the high energy, noisy atmosphere as fun. You have to embrace the shared experience of being with tens of thousands of your closest strangers.

This cannot be the vacation where you hope to get on all your favorite attractions over and over, meet all your favorite characters, and stretch out and relax. Patience, flexibility, and positivity will make it a fantastic experience.

If we go NYE we'll be saving the attractions and traditional park touring for the following week after we have done our family visit. That's what has me thinking this might be a good time to try NYE (which is a bucket list item for us) since there won't be any pressure to get on rides or meet characters.

 

[dclpluto]

I did it one time it was very very bad crowded. Than it started pouring and 90 percent of the people left. Rides were maybe 5 minutes long. Stayed the whole night I'm not a weather person but my wife is but she stayed anyway.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I did it once, and that was enough for me. Saw the MK fireworks on the 30th (very crowded). Plan was to go to EPCOT for lunch at Teppan Edo, then go back to the GF and shower/change for Le Cellier special NYE dinner. EPCOT was so packed that I was afraid we would get back in and we would miss our non refundable dinner, so we showed up at Le Cellier in our sweaty park clothes. Not fun. Dinner was fine, and we got a glass of champagne and we got to see the fireworks from the private terrace of Canada. That was worth the cost of the dinner package.

 

[jvz82]

I did NYE at MK once and it was amazing. But that was before kids. Honestly, I don't think I'd have the patience to do it with kids that age. It truly is wall to wall people. I'm used to crowds because we almost always go at Christmas time, but I wasn't prepared for how many people were there on NYE. The fireworks are spectacular but I don't know if I'd be able to enjoy it with preschool age kids. I mean, it was really too busy to do anything all evening long so I feel like my kids would be extremely whiney and impatient waiting for fireworks until midnight.