New Year's Eve and Day strategy

[ladyjayhawk]

We don't plan on being in a park late on NYE because we have three young children. The thought of being stuck in a sea of people with our double stroller, a nursing baby and a newly potty-trained 3 yo, scares me. So we thought we would go to AK, since it closes early and all the late-night park goers would be at the other parks to keep from being shut out. However, the touringplans website says to avoid AK (it has morning EMH). Would this still be a good plan? We don't need to go on all the rides because we will be returning to AK later in our trip. We would just like to see the Christmas decorations, the holiday parade and the characters all dressed up.

Since we won't be up late on NYE, we thought on New Year's Day we would go to the MK early. I remember reading somewhere that it is pretty empty in the morning since everyone is still in bed! Once it does start to get busy (and I am sure it will since the park is open to midnight and has nighttime EMH), we plan to head over to Epcot.

So how does this strategy sound? Anything I should change? Thanks!!

 

[gilld]

I think that sounds a great plan. Hope it all works out for you.

 

[disnut8]

Excellent plan! This is exactly what we did last year. Well, not the Magic Kingdom part. We did Animal Kingdom on New Year's Eve and it was pretty good. People were leaving to go to the nighttime stuff. Make sure you see Flights of Wonder, though.

We did go to Epcot on New Year's Day and my daughter-in-law wanted to know where all the people went. It was like a ghost town.

 

[3xthecharm]

This is our plan, too!

 

[AUTUMN SUN]

We plan to do AK on New Years eve day as well. I hope its not in a whole bunch of plans!!

 

[ladyjayhawk]

Excellent plan! This is exactly what we did last year. Well, not the Magic Kingdom part. We did Animal Kingdom on New Year's Eve and it was pretty good. People were leaving to go to the nighttime stuff. Make sure you see Flights of Wonder, though.

We did go to Epcot on New Year's Day and my daughter-in-law wanted to know where all the people went. It was like a ghost town.

I know that no matter where we go it will be busy, but were the crowds bearable at AK? I just don't want to be in a situation where we get stuck in wall to wall people.

Was Epcot like that all day? I wonder if we should skip MK, a "ghost town" sounds nice.

Thanks to everyone for your replies!!

 

[owtrbnks]

Your plan is a smart one with small kids. MK is PACKED on NYE!! It is not uncommon for 1 or more parks to reach capacity and not allow further entry until some guests exit. We spent NYE in MK once - just for the experience! Spent just over 2 hours in line to get out! Listened to both kids and adults whine about everything. One family was yelling that they had to be at the airport for a 2AM flight! We just laughed and made the best of it. We were back at CSR by 2:45 am. So, IMHO, AK on NYE with small kids is the way to go!

 

[ladyjayhawk]

Spent just over 2 hours in line to get out! Listened to both kids and adults whine about everything. One family was yelling that they had to be at the airport for a 2AM flight! We just laughed and made the best of it. We were back at CSR by 2:45 am.

Yikes!! That is exactly what I want to avoid. Thanks for the info!

 

[joanjett1976]

Eeek! I will be at the Studios on NYE. Planning on hitting a few shows/rides early on in the day. We have ADR's for Lunch at Sci Fi Dine In and a late dinner at Brown Derby. Plan on taking in the sights and taking a 'crowd bath' (there is a french expression 'prendre Un Bain De Foule' which means exactly that!). The following day will be spent at MK & Epcot.

 

[jade1]

MK on NY Day is awesome. We went at opening which was EE (I think on Thursday) Jan 1 a few years back and did 7 major attractions (all the mountains, P Pan, H House, Phil, Buzz, Tea Cups) by 10AM and left for the day-it was starting to get busy. Totally recommend it and will do it again one day. By the way we stayed at BWV and watched EPCOT fireworks the night before while some of the kids slept-it was great.

 

[Kande]

I have worried about NYD for weeks, and decided to not go to a park that day and just go the the resorts and see the Christmas decorations. I want to do all the monorail hotels and take the boat to WL. then go to AKL and if we want to, or have time maybe Downtown Disney.

 

[ladyjayhawk]

I have worried about NYD for weeks, and decided to not go to a park that day and just go the the resorts and see the Christmas decorations. I want to do all the monorail hotels and take the boat to WL. then go to AKL and if we want to, or have time maybe Downtown Disney.

That is a good plan too. If the parks we try (MK then Epcot) are too crowded we may end up doing this as well. I've heard the hotels are really worth seeing.

 

[disnut8]

Eeek! I will be at the Studios on NYE. Planning on hitting a few shows/rides early on in the day. We have ADR's for Lunch at Sci Fi Dine In and a late dinner at Brown Derby. Plan on taking in the sights and taking a 'crowd bath' (there is a french expression 'prendre Un Bain De Foule' which means exactly that!). The following day will be spent at MK & Epcot.

New Year's Eve at the Studios probably won't be a big deal. My son and his family and my mother-in-law headed over there after the Animal Kingdom. My son (Disney savvy) said he thought the crowds headed over to Magic Kingdom and Epcot because of the coverage on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve Show. The Kids and Grandma got plastic top hats, lais, and party favors around 6:00 for the big New Year's celebration. Bands playing and not crowded at all. They didn't want to leave but tore themselves away to meet back up with us at All Star (yeah, right!).

ladyjayhawk - went back to my trip report. On New Year's Eve Day at Animal Kingdom - had plenty of table space at Flame Tree BBQ, walked into Flights of Wonder, walkons at Primevil Whirl and Triceratops Spin. Walked onto Dinosaur. Got to the park around noon and were back at the resort by 4:30. Epcot was a ghost town all day long on New Year's Day.

 

[Kala]

On our first trip to WDW, 12/26/96 - 1/3/97, we decided to brave the crowds at Magic Kingdom on New Years Eve. All our kids were teenagers and they wanted to be in the most exciting place, and it was easier since they were all older. The hardest part was to stay together (party of 8) by holding on to each other as we snaked our way through the crowds. We managed to ride a few rides, but our major objective was to just "be there" and take in the sights and sounds and atmosphere. We had SO much fun! They were giving out party hats and we all "personalized" them in various ways, the kids were really creative! At midnight the only place we could find to stand was in the courtyard just outside Pinocchio Village Haus in Fantasyland. I still have wonderful memories of all of us hugging each other and watching the fireworks together going off all around us. It was definitely a moment. Afterwards the crowds trying to leave were absolutely crazy, so we decided to just have a seat and "people watch" while waiting for the crowds to thin out. It was so crazy that they opened up a secondary exit in Tomorrowland, near where Stitch is now, to allow more people to exit. There were cast members stationed along Main Street directing people to that exit for a quicker "escape". We walked past it but just waited for Main Street to clear out to leave. With smaller kids it might be as much fun, but for us it was definitely a New Years to remember!

 

[jdonat]

Excellent plan! This is exactly what we did last year. Well, not the Magic Kingdom part. We did Animal Kingdom on New Year's Eve and it was pretty good. People were leaving to go to the nighttime stuff. Make sure you see Flights of Wonder, though.

We did go to Epcot on New Year's Day and my daughter-in-law wanted to know where all the people went. It was like a ghost town.

Yup. We always do EC on NYD -the first character greeting by the World
Showcase promenade is EMPTY! We got Minnnie and Mickey in a pic at the
same time, because we were getting our pics with Minnie, and Mickey was
lonely! Incredible!

John