Lisash
Knows all the words to 'It's
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2005
- Messages
- 1,994
Cast Members
Me: No strategy for day (first time ever)
DH: Wearing most comfortable shoes
DD: Wants to buy light up Mickey headband
DS: Concerned park may run out of Powerade by midnight
Saturday 31st December 2005
There was never any question about where we would spend NYE when we booked our trip. The only question was would we survive probably the busiest day of the year in MK. As we knew the park would close its gates when it reached capacity we arrived bright and early hoping to get a little quality time there before the crowds got really bad.
It appeared that everyone else had the same idea with the queue for the parking lot being long and the crowds at the gates as big as we had ever experienced at only 8.30am.
We quickly navigated our way through Main Street and headed for Frontierland where the crowds were considerably smaller. We managed to get onto both Splash & Thunder Mountain in under 10 minutes each and then headed off to the Haunted Mansion where again we were lucky to have a wait time of 5 minutes. Still seemingly ahead of the crowds we went off to Its a Small World and Philarmagic (wish they could bottle that gorgeous pie smell).
Inevitably the crowds caught up with us and the rest of the day was conducted pretty much at snails pace. We took a walk to Mickeys Toontown Fair then went off to Tomorrowland where we stopped at Auntie Gravitys for an ice cream sundae. I nodded off on Carousel of Progress much to DHs amusement and we had a couple of trips on the TTA Blue line to rest our feet. We got FPs for Buzz Lightyear then went off to catch the 12.30 MVMC parade.
Finding anywhere with a half decent view was practically impossible but eventually we managed to squeeze ourselves into a space and settled down to enjoy the wait in the sun & soak up the atmosphere. The parade was as wonderful as we expected with Father Christmas being particularly magical.
With queues for even the restrooms being long (about 10 mins for the ladies!) we didnt hold out much hope for finding anywhere wed be able to sit and eat lunch. We decided to try the Columbia Harbour House. Im not sure that many people realise there is an upstairs seating area in here, weve eaten there many times and always manage to get a seat even on the busiest of days. Today was no exception and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch away from the hustle & bustle.
DH called his brother who was over in MGM and planning to come over to meet us after Fantasmic in the evening. He said he had spoken to cast members who said that MK had reached capacity and closed its gates at 12 noon. They were unsure as to whether he would be able to park hop so we arranged to call him later.
We spent the afternoon strolling around soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the sunshine. Everyone was in a good mood despite the huge crowds meaning you were continually bumping into people or getting rammed by millions of strollers.
Around 4pm the atmosphere got even livelier when cast members began walking round with huge trolleys giving away black plastic top hats & gold hooters to everyone. Large queues soon formed to get the freebies and soon you could barely hear yourself think for people tooting away. We duly got ours and happily joined in (what a fantastic atmosphere, can hardly describe it) With New Year rapidly approaching at home we went off to find a quiet spot to phone our parents (practically impossible with people even blowing the hooters in the toilets)
(DS in his New Year Hat)
(DD in hers)
Again we were lucky enough to find seats in Peco Bills for dinner and a spot just outside to watch the Spectromagic parade. We headed to the castle & crammed into the circle to watch the wonderful Christmas Wishes fireworks display. After this we headed to Main Street to get DD her Mickey light up boppers & DS some Mickey hands. We stopped to watch the TV people filming the crowds for the Dick Clarke New Years Eve Show. They were spraying foam snow everywhere and the crowd were going wild waving their banners. We continued on towards Tomorrowland for our FP on Buzz Lightyear and we got stuck in a crowd of people and could not move. DH said it was like Wembley on Cup Final day. It was quite intimidating being so squashed up against everybody and a number of people got quiet shirty at being pushed along by the crowd. Eventually we got through and headed for somewhere quieter where we called DBIL who said he was unable to park hop over to us as the gates were still closed so he was staying in MGM.
At around 11pm we hit the wall. We decided to try to find a spot to see in the New Year and settled in a number of places near the castle but ended up having to move because we were getting trampled. Much of the space was taken up with strollers, many of the children were miserable & crying because they were so tired & the adults were not much happier. We were very disappointed as this was not at all the atmosphere we had imagined and we seriously thought about going back to the hotel to watch Dick Clarke with the rest of America. We decided to head towards the exit.
About halfway down Main Street a little Disney miracle happened. The crowds thinned considerably and we managed to find some steps to sit on. The atmosphere was much happier and foam snow was falling on us from the rooftops it was absolutely magical.
With midnight rapidly approaching the crowds began to get more and more excited. A little boy in the family next to us came over and asked where he could buy the hats and blowers we had from. He was really disappointed when we explained they had been given out earlier in the day but we gladly gave him a couple of ours and watched as he happily annoyed his elderly grandmother by blowing the hooter in her ear. I learned a few Spanish swear words that evening I can tell you.
The fireworks began at 11.50 with two identical huge displays (one at each end of the park) to a medley of Disney tunes. They were truly amazing. I started to cry as soon as they began and didnt stop until well after 12. At just before 12 they stopped briefly before beginning again to a countdown to midnight. At the stroke of 12 we were showered in tickertape & the whole crowd erupted (no description does it justice) and began to sing Auld Lang Syne. The fireworks eventually finished and after wishing our little Spanish friend & his family Happy New Year we headed for the gates.
As we were well up Main Street we beat much of the crowd when leaving. It was amazing how quickly the happy atmosphere disappeared though with many arguments breaking out as people were pushed and pulled in the rush to get out. Eventually we boarded the monorail and were back in the hotel for about 1.15 tired & elated. Would we do it again Absolutely!!!
Me: No strategy for day (first time ever)
DH: Wearing most comfortable shoes
DD: Wants to buy light up Mickey headband
DS: Concerned park may run out of Powerade by midnight
Saturday 31st December 2005
There was never any question about where we would spend NYE when we booked our trip. The only question was would we survive probably the busiest day of the year in MK. As we knew the park would close its gates when it reached capacity we arrived bright and early hoping to get a little quality time there before the crowds got really bad.
It appeared that everyone else had the same idea with the queue for the parking lot being long and the crowds at the gates as big as we had ever experienced at only 8.30am.
We quickly navigated our way through Main Street and headed for Frontierland where the crowds were considerably smaller. We managed to get onto both Splash & Thunder Mountain in under 10 minutes each and then headed off to the Haunted Mansion where again we were lucky to have a wait time of 5 minutes. Still seemingly ahead of the crowds we went off to Its a Small World and Philarmagic (wish they could bottle that gorgeous pie smell).
Inevitably the crowds caught up with us and the rest of the day was conducted pretty much at snails pace. We took a walk to Mickeys Toontown Fair then went off to Tomorrowland where we stopped at Auntie Gravitys for an ice cream sundae. I nodded off on Carousel of Progress much to DHs amusement and we had a couple of trips on the TTA Blue line to rest our feet. We got FPs for Buzz Lightyear then went off to catch the 12.30 MVMC parade.
Finding anywhere with a half decent view was practically impossible but eventually we managed to squeeze ourselves into a space and settled down to enjoy the wait in the sun & soak up the atmosphere. The parade was as wonderful as we expected with Father Christmas being particularly magical.
With queues for even the restrooms being long (about 10 mins for the ladies!) we didnt hold out much hope for finding anywhere wed be able to sit and eat lunch. We decided to try the Columbia Harbour House. Im not sure that many people realise there is an upstairs seating area in here, weve eaten there many times and always manage to get a seat even on the busiest of days. Today was no exception and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch away from the hustle & bustle.
DH called his brother who was over in MGM and planning to come over to meet us after Fantasmic in the evening. He said he had spoken to cast members who said that MK had reached capacity and closed its gates at 12 noon. They were unsure as to whether he would be able to park hop so we arranged to call him later.
We spent the afternoon strolling around soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the sunshine. Everyone was in a good mood despite the huge crowds meaning you were continually bumping into people or getting rammed by millions of strollers.
Around 4pm the atmosphere got even livelier when cast members began walking round with huge trolleys giving away black plastic top hats & gold hooters to everyone. Large queues soon formed to get the freebies and soon you could barely hear yourself think for people tooting away. We duly got ours and happily joined in (what a fantastic atmosphere, can hardly describe it) With New Year rapidly approaching at home we went off to find a quiet spot to phone our parents (practically impossible with people even blowing the hooters in the toilets)
(DS in his New Year Hat)
(DD in hers)
Again we were lucky enough to find seats in Peco Bills for dinner and a spot just outside to watch the Spectromagic parade. We headed to the castle & crammed into the circle to watch the wonderful Christmas Wishes fireworks display. After this we headed to Main Street to get DD her Mickey light up boppers & DS some Mickey hands. We stopped to watch the TV people filming the crowds for the Dick Clarke New Years Eve Show. They were spraying foam snow everywhere and the crowd were going wild waving their banners. We continued on towards Tomorrowland for our FP on Buzz Lightyear and we got stuck in a crowd of people and could not move. DH said it was like Wembley on Cup Final day. It was quite intimidating being so squashed up against everybody and a number of people got quiet shirty at being pushed along by the crowd. Eventually we got through and headed for somewhere quieter where we called DBIL who said he was unable to park hop over to us as the gates were still closed so he was staying in MGM.
At around 11pm we hit the wall. We decided to try to find a spot to see in the New Year and settled in a number of places near the castle but ended up having to move because we were getting trampled. Much of the space was taken up with strollers, many of the children were miserable & crying because they were so tired & the adults were not much happier. We were very disappointed as this was not at all the atmosphere we had imagined and we seriously thought about going back to the hotel to watch Dick Clarke with the rest of America. We decided to head towards the exit.
About halfway down Main Street a little Disney miracle happened. The crowds thinned considerably and we managed to find some steps to sit on. The atmosphere was much happier and foam snow was falling on us from the rooftops it was absolutely magical.
With midnight rapidly approaching the crowds began to get more and more excited. A little boy in the family next to us came over and asked where he could buy the hats and blowers we had from. He was really disappointed when we explained they had been given out earlier in the day but we gladly gave him a couple of ours and watched as he happily annoyed his elderly grandmother by blowing the hooter in her ear. I learned a few Spanish swear words that evening I can tell you.
The fireworks began at 11.50 with two identical huge displays (one at each end of the park) to a medley of Disney tunes. They were truly amazing. I started to cry as soon as they began and didnt stop until well after 12. At just before 12 they stopped briefly before beginning again to a countdown to midnight. At the stroke of 12 we were showered in tickertape & the whole crowd erupted (no description does it justice) and began to sing Auld Lang Syne. The fireworks eventually finished and after wishing our little Spanish friend & his family Happy New Year we headed for the gates.
As we were well up Main Street we beat much of the crowd when leaving. It was amazing how quickly the happy atmosphere disappeared though with many arguments breaking out as people were pushed and pulled in the rush to get out. Eventually we boarded the monorail and were back in the hotel for about 1.15 tired & elated. Would we do it again Absolutely!!!
What a lovely way to spend New Year's Eve. Not sure how I'd cope with those crowds though 
