New Year's Eve - Are We Crazy?

[fallonkendra]

A little backstory - My fiance and I currently have a trip booked from January 2-13, 2018 with all 11 nights at Old Key West (rented through DVC). We are going for the 5k and the full marathon, and our Disney wedding. We have friends and family showing up January 6-7 and staying until the 13th with us, so we will not have alone time after we are married. We are viewing the 4-5 days we are there before every one else as our "pre-honeymoon", since we will not be taking a real honeymoon until the end of 2018/beginning of 2019.

We started looking at flights, and realized that direct flights to Orlando are only offered from where we live on Saturdays. Adding a few extra days to the beginning of the trip to fly on a Saturday backs up our dates to December 30th. The cost compared to flying on January 2nd is only $20/more/person, which is negligible when you look at how many hours it saves us. Plus, it would just be nice to have a direct flight since I'll be lugging my giant wedding dress as a carry-on item.

But, this now requires an extra 3 nights of hotel stay. Looking online, prices are insanely inflated due to the dates (which is not surprising). The cheapest Disney option is obviously to stay at an All-Star, but even those are over $180/night for those 3 dates (which is about $250 Canadian right now with the terrible exchange rate). However, I have found off-site hotels for those dates for under $110CAD/night. I realize we would now have taxi/Uber costs, but the savings would still be significant.

So here is my question - the only way we can justify being at Disney for those 3 extra days is by staying off site. We also have zero interest in being inside Magic Kingdom on New Years Eve - is it crazy busy at the monorail resorts (we thought about doing our own monorail-crawl)? Can you watch the fireworks from outside the park? What is the best plan of attack to be not be completely overwhelmed on NYE?

Also - I imagine it would be crazy difficult to get back to our hotel afterwards. Are we crazy for trying to make this plan happen?

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

The thing is... staying off-site works for some people, but not for others. Like you said, when you stay off-site you need to factor in the cost of Uber/taxi or renting a car and parking. So it could wind up equaling out a bit. For instance, we visited Gaylord Palms the last trip. The resort is really nice and costs right around the same as a moderate. We've even considered S&D. But when it came down to it, we wouldn't get the Magical Express, you need to pay for parking at S&D and if staying at Gaylord Palms, you need to take into consideration getting to and from the parks.

To add to this, I wouldn't recommend staying off-site during NYE. First off, staying off-site puts you at a severe disadvantage when it comes to the parks. Magic Kingdom for SURE will see a Phase 2 or 3 closure. We always stay on-site and have never had a problem going to the park on 12/30, 12/31 or 1/1 at ANY time of the day. Wherever you go, you'll need to get there early and prepare to stay a while.

Second, staying off-site affects getting around the park. When MK hits a certain closure, those staying off-site cannot get the monorail from EPCOT to MK. They will check your MagicBand for a resort reservation and deny you access. To add to this, traffic on I-4 and around WDW is UNREAL. Resort buses can take 45 minutes to 60+ minutes longer to get around property. Cars are at an even BIGGER disadvantage. On top of this, Uber can and will see an upcharge. I saw as much as 12x when I opened the app last year. Finally, the new security measures will make it more difficult to go monorail hopping. You are now checked at each resort before boarding the monorail. It's not to the point where you won't be able to go hopping, but I'm sure lines will be longer and will take much longer now than in years past.

As far as your other questions:

We also have zero interest in being inside Magic Kingdom on New Years Eve - is it crazy busy at the monorail resorts (we thought about doing our own monorail-crawl)?

Tough to say this year. Like I said, new security measures can add a headache to doing it. Plus, getting to the monorail resorts is a task in and of itself. That highway to Magic Kingdom is absurd. It was a parking lot last year. Locals get there early and stay late. If you go, Magic Kingdom does do its NYE show on 12/30 as well as 12/31. Literally the only thing that changes on 12/31 is the year. It could be fun to experience this (with a far smaller crowd) and do something different on 12/31.

I'll let you in on a secret. I hate giving this one away, because we discovered it last year and I'd love to keep it quiet. We stayed at Beach Club this past year and went to EPCOT. It was too packed for our liking and we left. Instead, we watched the fireworks from the boat dock at Yacht Club. The music wasn't piped in, but we saw the fireworks from there, as well as DHS... then we saw the Star Wars fireworks after. Really cool experience with a small crowd.

Boardwalk was pretty hopping as well. California Grill at Poly and Narcoossee's at GF will have a prix fixe menu that is very expensive. I'd assume they're gonna check guests at the Poly Beach but I'm not sure...

Why not try Disney Springs? I'm sure it'll be hopping the entire time and can be a blast. Definitely something different. No fireworks, but it'll be something to do.

I think for this time of the year, it's better to just stay at a Disney Resort. It will dramatically cut down on your stress and time getting around. But, you know best when it comes to what you prefer. Does the experience outweigh the cost? Can you save elsewhere? Maybe you don't do the parks at all during this time. You can save on park tickets and spend those 3 days at the resort, going resort hopping and hanging at Disney Springs.

 

[fallonkendra]

Thank you for replying!

What time are the fireworks on the 30th? Does the park typically reach capacity that day as well?

As far as costs for park tickets for the extra few days - I already have an annual pass, and my fiance will be purchasing a 9-day ticket for our trip anyways, so adding on a day or two will be such a small amount (I think I looked, and it would be like $20 extra). We were also planning on submitting an application to volunteer with Give Kids the World on New Year's Day, so we would have taxi costs that day regardless of which resort we stayed at.

 

[yulilin3]

A little backstory - My fiance and I currently have a trip booked from January 2-13, 2018 with all 11 nights at Old Key West (rented through DVC). We are going for the 5k and the full marathon, and our Disney wedding. We have friends and family showing up January 6-7 and staying until the 13th with us, so we will not have alone time after we are married. We are viewing the 4-5 days we are there before every one else as our "pre-honeymoon", since we will not be taking a real honeymoon until the end of 2018/beginning of 2019.

We started looking at flights, and realized that direct flights to Orlando are only offered from where we live on Saturdays. Adding a few extra days to the beginning of the trip to fly on a Saturday backs up our dates to December 30th. The cost compared to flying on January 2nd is only $20/more/person, which is negligible when you look at how many hours it saves us. Plus, it would just be nice to have a direct flight since I'll be lugging my giant wedding dress as a carry-on item.

But, this now requires an extra 3 nights of hotel stay. Looking online, prices are insanely inflated due to the dates (which is not surprising). The cheapest Disney option is obviously to stay at an All-Star, but even those are over $180/night for those 3 dates (which is about $250 Canadian right now with the terrible exchange rate). However, I have found off-site hotels for those dates for under $110CAD/night. I realize we would now have taxi/Uber costs, but the savings would still be significant.

So here is my question - the only way we can justify being at Disney for those 3 extra days is by staying off site. We also have zero interest in being inside Magic Kingdom on New Years Eve - is it crazy busy at the monorail resorts (we thought about doing our own monorail-crawl)? Can you watch the fireworks from outside the park? What is the best plan of attack to be not be completely overwhelmed on NYE?

Also - I imagine it would be crazy difficult to get back to our hotel afterwards. Are we crazy for trying to make this plan happen?

From experience:
This past NYE I had to work from the Grand Floridian ( I live stream so I was doing that on NYE) I purposely got an ADR for the Grand Floridian Cafe for an early dinner so I could park at the hotel. They have the jazz band plus the pianist alternating until midnight, the jazz band was super fun, at midnight they did a balloon drop. I did not go to any other resorts but I know that the Contemporary has a paid party, the balloon drop at the GF was no extra charge.
I am a local so I stayed until around 2am before heading out, hit minor traffic but my trip back home that usually takes 20 minutes was 40 minutes so not too bad.
The block and divert traffic up until about 2:30am so if you are not familiar with the roads I recommend staying put until then.
I have also done Epcot for NYE and that is TONS of fun, again, I don't leave right away, that's where you get stuck in traffic for a long time
EDIT TO ADD: This year I am planning on doing NYE at the Boardwalk, walking around, taking in the atmosphere, they do a dance party at Atlantic Dance Hall, that's a paid thing

 

[FelisLachesis]

I am that wierdo that actually likes being in MK on NYE. Don't ask, I like just sitting around and watching people scuttle around randomly. I'll go to the mall on Black Friday, grab a random frozen drink (used to be an Orange Julius, but they seem to all be closed), find a bench, and just watch people. I did that in MK and NYE, as well. It's definitely a different experience.

That said, yes, getting out of WDW, no matter where you are, is going to be a test of everyone's patience. Cars were lined up at the exits all crazy. We were at the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party, and then made the mistake of leaving right after. It still took about 30 minutes to get out of the park amongst a sea of people. They even opened up a lot of the backstage walkways to help flow the mass of humanity out. Regardless of where you're going after midnight, it will take a lot of extra time. We waited at the bus stop for about 90 minutes until we got close enough to the front to get back to the hotel.

You say you want to stay away from MK, and that's fine, still, if you want to do a monorail crawl, you'll still be parked with all the MK people at the TTC.

If there is something you can do after the fireworks, maybe until 1-1:30am, then do it. Most of the park will be cleaned out by then.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Thank you for replying!

What time are the fireworks on the 30th? Does the park typically reach capacity that day as well?

As far as costs for park tickets for the extra few days - I already have an annual pass, and my fiance will be purchasing a 9-day ticket for our trip anyways, so adding on a day or two will be such a small amount (I think I looked, and it would be like $20 extra). We were also planning on submitting an application to volunteer with Give Kids the World on New Year's Day, so we would have taxi costs that day regardless of which resort we stayed at.

Fireworks on 30th are at 12am. It's literally the same exact thing. We call it the "Dress Rehearsal"

 

[Disney mac]

We were there this year and went to Hollywood studios on NYE. Perfect. It was busy, but not too busy. We saw fantasmic, fireworks, and rode everything we wanted. It did close at 11:00 this year, so we walked back to boardwalk and were able to enjoy the Epcot fireworks on walk home. Boardwalk was crazy loud and busy too. But we were good and enjoyed it.
Have fun

 

[LizGirl]

We watched NYE fireworks from the Poly beach a few years ago. It was really busy and they may crack down on that now? Anyways, we were parked in the main MK lot. As soon as the fireworks finished, we literally sprinted over to catch the parking tram at TTC and get outta dodge (the kids were small and not patient at all!). We saw traffic patrol closing exits on World Drive but made it out of there with no traffic at all.

We rang in a new year at Hollywood Studios once. It was busy but not uncomfortably crazy. We've experienced "dress rehearsal" at MK on 12/30 and that is not to be missed! That fireworks show is truly awesome.

This year we will be at MK 12/30 and are taking the plunge at Epcot for NYE. I hope we make it to midnight!

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

We've been to WDW for NYE twice. We arrived NYE day and stayed for a week.

Personally, we go to Animal Kingdom on NYE day. It's by far the least crowded since there are no fireworks. that may be different this year with people wanting to see Pandora.

We've stayed at Bay lake Tower twice for NYE, which is AMAZING!! I talekd to a couple that was staying "about a half hour" away from MK, and even though they left MK at around 12:30AM, they got to their hotel around 4:30 AM. It took them over 90 minutes just to get the parking lot tram to their car.

 

[glassslippergirl]

From what you say, for what you would be getting, the price seems very reasonable and well worth it, especially when you consider that you're adding special time to your wedding trip. I'm going to throw out the idea of renting a car just for those three days. You'd have to do the math, but the difference between $110 offsite and $180 at an All-Star is $70. Over three days, this gives you a difference of $210. Three days of car rental will be well under that price. Your AP should cover parking at the theme parks, so no added cost there. The car would provide you with greater flexibility on those three days. If you do rent a car and plan to do your monorail resort crawl on NYE, make an ADR at some restaurant at the hotel where you plan to start your crawl. Then, you'll be guaranteed parking there. But honestly, I would go to Epcot instead. It will be crowded, yes, but not like MK. Make an ADR for a leisurely late dinner in WS, then step outside when you've finished and find a place to wait for the show. If you spend NYE in a park, wait out the crowds for an hour or so after. When I went to NYE in MK a few years ago, the attractions were still open after midnight, so we went on a few, got cookies and hot chocolate, browsed some stores, etc., and left around 2:00 with no traffic problems. Enjoy!

 

[fallonkendra]

Thank you everyone for the replies! After weighing all of the options and taking into consideration everything you guys have posted above, we decided to go ahead and add the extra three days on to our trip, and deal with the surge pricing and stay onsite. We now have a room booked at Pop, and are planning on heading straight to Magic Kingdom on 12/30 in the evening after our flight lands (I looked at the phases of closures, and as long as it doesn't hit Phase 4 we'll be able to get in - we're resort guests, we have an ADR and I'm an annual passholder). We will not be going to any parks on NYE, but we made an ADR at Disney Springs for that evening