New Year's Crowds??

[meuseman]

I noticed that value season started this year on 1/1. was anybody at the world for those days including and just after new year's? what were crowds like?

FYI - debating a trip 1/1/04 (thursday) thru Sunday

thanks

 

[Pat_Elliott]

Can't speak for anything past 1-2. And know that this comes from someone who abhors crowds, so it's biased (see my book, "Why they should close Disney for me when I visit").

That said, lemme tell ya. I've never, ever seen anything like NYE at Disney. We absolutely hated it. I should point out we were with friends who thought we were nuts (note, they also talked me into Times Square eight years ago). We managed to get into MGM around 10:30. I'd had it by noon. I think MK was closed by maybe 2 PM? And Epcot, which is my fallback (never have I not found room to breath in Epcot) was open, but packed. We left at 6 PM when the line to get a Beaver Tail was over fifty people deep. And that was the shortest line we saw.

We then made a really bad mistake (because the tickets were free) and went to PI. I mean, if you're not into crowds (and I know some people dig them), just don't go there. It's nasty. Only time I've ever been to PI and never made it to the AC.

To make matters worse, we were there to see the Nittany Lions in the bowl game, and we got our butts ground into sausage.

But after the game, we went to Epcot. On January 1, the crowds seemed very, very light. The next day we were in MGM and Epcot and it was barren. Made me wish we had time for another day.

So, if you can get into crowds, enjoy NYE. If not, stay at the hotel. But after that, you should be ok. A "first week of January" trip should yield you a good trip.

Pat

 

[tc]

We were there 12/31 to 1/7 this year. Out of control crowds for NYE. We did not go to the parks New Year's Day. The crowds definately dropped by Saturday. Ghost town by Sunday. We were at IOA 1/3 and it was pretty empty. Did the whole park by 4. The weather was cold and rainy, so that may have had something to do with it.

 

[tinaw]

We arrived on 12/31 and had to go directly to the park at 11:00 a.m. as it was already almost filled to capacity. I have to say it was one of the worst experiences we ever had! I have NEVER seen so many people in my whole life in one place. Let's put it this way, there were so many strollers parked outside It's a Small World my husband thought it was a place to rent them and It was cold (colder than it was in MICHIGAN!) I was so sick and tired of the crowds by 10:00 p.m. We skipped the fireworks and went back to our hotel. I don't remember the crowds getting any better the next few days. This was 5 years ago but I can't imagine it's gotten any better. We have agreed to never go again for a holiday. We strictly go during the off season now. September this year. 93 days!!! Having said all that it's still better than staying home! IT"S DISNEY!

 

[meuseman]

thanks for all of your input everyone!!

 

[Geoff_M]

We were at WDW from 12/31 to 1/3(?) this year. At first we were going to do the parks on NYE... and then we thought "Are we nuts?!?!?" We have three kids that were 3 to 11 years old at the time. The thoughts of wall-to-wall people, mixed with a few drunks, and the mad house traffic at 1 AM was enough to get us to change our plans. We did MGM in the AM until it got crowded and then moved to AK. AK closed at 6 PM and we thought, correctly, that it wouldn't be busy because most of the masses would be at the other three parks to enjoy the midnight celebration. AK was great.

Our plan worked out even better because a "monsoon" hit WDW around 7 PM and lasted until well past midnight. We were nice and dry back at the hotel and watched a constant stream of "drowned rats" march back to their rooms after throwing in the towel. We celebrated the new year, clicked off the TV, and went fast to sleep. Another "reverse psych" trick that worked was to get to MK for EE the on New Year's Day. It was a "late house" as most of the party crowd "slept it off". The crowds were light until mid-afternoon.

Overall the crowds were very managable during the couple of days post-1/1 that we were there. Each day it got a little lighter.

 

[kem330]

We have gone the last three years and love Epcot for NYE. It was a little crazy as it poured rain last year. NY day is light in the am, The 2nd can be a little busier than you'd think- lots of people still down in FL for bowl games. We stay at BW or BCV so we go in the am get a hand stamp and come out for a break in the afternoon. If you're not onsite its a different story and MK is a zoo!

 

[wdwguide]

NYE at Epcot is fantastic.... if you can enjoy being in a Disney park without doing much in terms of rides. Test Track had a 3.5 hour wait at one point NYE 2001...
Basically, you'll want to do any rides you wish to do that day right after park opening and use FastPass otherwise, keeping in mind that Test Track will have depleted its daily supply well before noon. For the rest of the day, just enjoy the atmosphere and listen to the bands and live entertainment, who really do a great job because of the much larger than usual audience they get.

 

[Muffy]

Yes, NYE at WDW is crowded. With some careful planning you can manage just fine though. You do need a CC to make a PS for NYE at WDW through CRO.

 

[debbiebutcher]

We too were at Epcot NYE past and got caught in the monsoon. I have never seen anything like the crowds...over an hour to wait to be served burgers!!! However the atmosphere was electric...our first visit to WDW from England and we thought what the heck! even the rain was fantastic...the whole park was dancing in the downpour!! You must rule out any rides unless you are prepared to wait a long time...but we DH and 2 DS ages 12 and 10 wound plenty to do without long waits. Now it was all worth it for we then had 10 days in the parks thereafter...Universal and IOA ghost towns..rode spiderman 5/6 times with no wait at all... at MGM...tower of terror too many times to remember ...so depends on what you want to achieve..the lack of people after NYE made it all worthwhil.