New Year’s Eve

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I’ll be traveling to California for this year’s Rose Parade. The family wants to also do 2 days at Disney and one at Universal. Our only available dates are December 29, 30 & 31.

We’ve been to Disneyland on Sundays before and it seemed to be pretty good so we’re going to slot that one for the 29th. We’ve also been there on the 31st once and it was by far the most crowded place we’ve ever seen.

Then Universal on Monday the 30th followed by California Adventure on the 31st since they will at least be open past midnight.

Anyone see better options that I’m missing?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... We’ve been to Disneyland on Sundays before and it seemed to be pretty good so we’re going to slot that one for the 29th. We’ve also been there on the 31st once and it was by far the most crowded place we’ve ever seen...

I don't think that visiting DL on a Sunday will make a difference at that time of year. The parks will just be very crowded no matter which day of the week you visit. Whichever days you decide to visit the parks, be there early for RD, get MP (and brush up on your MP skills), make good use of those early hours and stack FPs for later in the day and evening, and bring plenty of patience and a positive attitude. Use Mobile Ordering to save time in lines and try to eat at off peak hours.

 

[ImDMous]

The week between Christmas and New Year's is the busiest 5 days of the year. Usually gate closures only happen for Disneyland on the 2 or 3 days right after Christmas, but they are a possibility any time that week. Make sure you watch social media or ask at the gate before you leave if you want to take a break outside the park so you know you can get back in. Definitely get there early to get a jump on the bulk of the crowds.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We're sticking with the original plan unless anyone sees a better alternative:

12/29 - Disneyland
12/30 - Universal
12/31 - California Adventure
1/1 - Rose Parade

 

[ParkHopper1]

We do DCA almost every NYE and it is usually no worse than a typical summer weekend since everyone "thinks" they wanna do Disneyland for the countdown. While they are all packed in like sardines and miserable, everyone in DCA is having a rocking good time. You plan seems solid to me!

We did DL once and said "Nope, back to DCA for NYE from here on out!"

12/29 at DL will still be ridiculously busy.

 

[Tbella]

I don't think that visiting DL on a Sunday will make a difference at that time of year. The parks will just be very crowded no matter which day of the week you visit. Whichever days you decide to visit the parks, be there early for RD, get MP (and brush up on your MP skills), make good use of those early hours and stack FPs for later in the day and evening, and bring plenty of patience and a positive attitude. Use Mobile Ordering to save time in lines and try to eat at off peak hours.

I am going to be in Disneyland these exact dates as well. How do you stack FPs?

 

[ironband74]

I am going to be in Disneyland these exact dates as well. How do you stack FPs?

See the maxpass superthread https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...thread-an-overview-and-some-strategy.3726246/

 

[Tbella]

See the maxpass superthread https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...thread-an-overview-and-some-strategy.3726246/

Thank you!

 

[julieheyer]

We’re doing DL on NYE, and DCA the 30th. I’m sure we’ll be swamped, but hoping it won’t be awful!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We’re doing DL on NYE, and DCA the 30th. I’m sure we’ll be swamped, but hoping it won’t be awful!

As long as you have good planning and organization and bring lots of patience, realistic expectations, and a positive attitude, you can still have a great time during peak crowd times at DLR! No day at DLR has to be awful as long as you are prepared to have fun.

 

[Malcon10t]

We’re doing DL on NYE, and DCA the 30th. I’m sure we’ll be swamped, but hoping it won’t be awful!

What do you consider "awful"? We do it each year, and we have a blast, BUT we go in knowing what to expect. We aren't expecting a lot of rides, and we really are more into hanging with family. That said, lines will be long. It will be shoulder to shoulder crowded. And it will be slow moving. An example, a couple years ago, about 530p, we decided to head to tDCA from the front of HM. They had traffic flowing in one way directions. They had traffic that was walking away form HM flowing up by the train and down the back sidewalk. It took us 45 mins to get from the front of HM to the POTC exit where it finally freed up and we could walk almost normally.

Bring your patience, and plan to just enjoy what is available and you will be fine.

 

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

I went last year on NYE for the first time and it was amazing. I picked the right year to try it cause it just so happened to be one of the coldest nights in SoCal that I can remember. It was so cold that I think a lot of the people that were thinking of coming decided to stay home. I'll be going again this year but I expect it to be as crowded as people say it will be unless the weather impacts it again

 

[julieheyer]

As long as you have good planning and organization and bring lots of patience, realistic expectations, and a positive attitude, you can still have a great time during peak crowd times at DLR! No day at DLR has to be awful as long as you are prepared to have fun.

Thanks! I'm sure it’ll be great! We've got a 2 and 3 yo, so the chaos may be more challenging, but I am definitely adjusting my ambition for our park days. We’re just grateful to be going and celebrating!

What do you consider "awful"? We do it each year, and we have a blast, BUT we go in knowing what to expect. We aren't expecting a lot of rides, and we really are more into hanging with family. That said, lines will be long. It will be shoulder to shoulder crowded. And it will be slow moving. An example, a couple years ago, about 530p, we decided to head to tDCA from the front of HM. They had traffic flowing in one way directions. They had traffic that was walking away form HM flowing up by the train and down the back sidewalk. It took us 45 mins to get from the front of HM to the POTC exit where it finally freed up and we could walk almost normally.

Bring your patience, and plan to just enjoy what is available and you will be fine.

Thanks! I don’t think we’ve experienced that level of crowd.
I do worry a bit about long lines. Our 3yo son has a trauma background and he can’t regulate his emotions well. Despite lots of planning and training, his behavior is often challenging. Waiting will be hard for him, and our 2 yo, but she’s a little easier. Hopefully snacks and the wonder of all the Disney details will help him. And we just potty trained him, so frequent potty breaks while waiting may help break it up too.
ill work on extra patience and adjust my plans...the little guys help with that already and slow us down.

 

[julieheyer]

We did Disneyland the 30th. It was wonderful!! Got there for rope drop and between that and max pass got everything we wanted done and then some!! It wasn’t as crowded as I expected, but it was just a magical day!! The characters were sooo sweet with my kids, great cast members and and overall wonderful day!!!
We did DCA on NYE. It was crowded but manageable. Got on RSR twice! Good day! We left early as the crowd changed around 7:30- lots of alcohol and revelry. Not unexpected or even a bad thing, but with 2 toddlers it was not the evening we wanted. We were all tired and headed home around 8. Getting there at opening made for a long but enjoyable day!!
I would definitely do it again!!!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We did Disneyland the 30th. It was wonderful!! Got there for rope drop and between that and max pass got everything we wanted done and then some!! It wasn’t as crowded as I expected, but it was just a magical day!! The characters were sooo sweet with my kids, great cast members and and overall wonderful day!!!
We did DCA on NYE. It was crowded but manageable. Got on RSR twice! Good day! We left early as the crowd changed around 7:30- lots of alcohol and revelry. Not unexpected or even a bad thing, but with 2 toddlers it was not the evening we wanted. We were all tired and headed home around 8. Getting there at opening made for a long but enjoyable day!!
I would definitely do it again!!!

So glad you had a good time!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

DCA was a blast on New Year’s Eve. We arrived about 10 am and stayed until 10:30 pm.

Refreshing via MaxPass worked very well, as new FPs appeared continuously, even after they were long gone for the day.

Our group of 4 was able to ride RSR four time throughout the day. Those MacPasses just kept popping up. You gotta be quick though.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I don't think that visiting DL on a Sunday will make a difference at that time of year. The parks will just be very crowded no matter which day of the week you visit. Whichever days you decide to visit the parks, be there early for RD, get MP (and brush up on your MP skills), make good use of those early hours and stack FPs for later in the day and evening, and bring plenty of patience and a positive attitude. Use Mobile Ordering to save time in lines and try to eat at off peak hours.

We found Sunday 12/29 to be a very good day to visit. It was crowded and we didn’t arrive until just after 9:30 am, but we did get 5 rides on Space Mtn, 3 on Big Thunder and Matterhorn, etc.

MaxPass worked very well for us as there were lots of options throughout the day, even well after traditional distribution was done.

Thanks for all of the great advice.

 

[bcla]

We park hopped on NYE. We were waiting to ride Guardians of the Galaxy, but in the meantime we picked up the hats and horns. Actually I put those horns in my outside bag pocket and lost them on the ride.

We had a return time for Indy that was right before midnight but they let us in early and we were able to walk out via the bypass (mentioned in another topic).

I did have the stomach flu on NYE but I gutted through it. The rides actually weren't too bad. I was feeling naseous and had other fun symptoms (dry heaving in front of our hotel room sink was possibly the least severe). Lets just say that I had to get Pepto the next morning. Our kid wanted to go back, but we just decided to stay in an I slept most of the day. And I was feeling recharged for Jan 2. I think part of it was 3 days on my feet including Magic Mountain on Sunday.