New Years Eve at M.K.

[cyberbox2]

I'm planning on taking my family to M.K. on New Years Eve. Does anything special happen there that day. Are their fireworks at midnight? anything else you can think of will help me decide on what to do. Thanks

 

[KCMiller]

Hi, and welcome to the DISboards! You should do a search using the keyword NYE or New Years Eve - there are lots and lots of trip reports, discussions and general posts about going at this time of year, and if there's one thing I can tell you about WDW the week between Christmas and New Years is that planning is crucial!

Oddly, there seems to be MORE going on at MK the night before NYE than there is on NYE itself. According to the WDW website, the schedule at MK for 12/30 is as follows:


Fantasy In The Sky Fireworks - 12:00am
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade - 12:30pm, 3:30pm
"SpectroMagic" Parade - 7:00pm, 10:30pm
Wishes™ Nighttime Spectacular - 8:30pm

That's some schedule, and there is also an AM AND a PM EMH scheduled that day, making the operating hours 7am to 3am.

On the 31st, New Year's Eve, there is an AM EMH, but no PM EMH (but the park is open until 1am). Here is the schedule of events for 12/31:


Fantasy In The Sky Fireworks - 12:00am
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade - 12:30pm, 3:30pm
"SpectroMagic" Parade - 9:00pm, 11:00pm

so it looks like Wishes will be shown on the 30th, but not the 31st - I'm guessing that the NYE fireworks MAY be more spectacular than the ones the night before, but I could be wrong. In any case, I will be at MK on the 30th, not NYE !


KC

 

[robinb]

There are *great* fireworks at midnight! The downside is that it will be packed.

I would recommend that you call TODAY and book an ADR for lunch and or dinner for New Year's Eve itself. It's really worth it to be able to sit down for a bit out of the fray. Here is my trip report from 2003/2004: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=490243 .


Are you planning to stay on-site or off-site?

 

[Minnie's Mate]

anything else you can think of will help me decide on what to do. Thanks

Yes, crowds, crowds, crowds, crowds, crowds, and more crowds.

If you want in the gate, you'd better be there early. They often reach capacity before 10:00 AM! Sometimes earlier. If you don't make it in, you can try back later in the day...sometimes, they will let more guest in in the afternoon around 3:00-3:30 pm, but that has been spottie in the past the years I have been.

 

[AmyBWV99]

We're arriving on Christmas and staying thru the 2nd. We're planning on going to the MK on the 30th and seeing the fireworks and spending the 31st in Epcot. Epcot is more spacious and *should* seem less crowded and I can't imagine NYE without a cocktail at midnight!

 

[TSM1993]

Definately will be packed we were there last year for New Years Eve and were stuck in one area for 4 hours. The CMs told us there were over 90,000 people there on New Years Eve. Normally the park only has about 50,000 people. But the fireworks at midnight were fantastic and well worth it.

 

[tiberius]

To say that the NYE fireworks were great last year is truly an understatement. You really have to experience it, since I do not think anyone can really do it justice by describing it them here.

Enjoy!

 

[Minnie's Mate]

We were there for NYE '05 also and stayed at the Swan. We had a Club Level room with a "parking lot" view on the top floor. But, we could see the fire works at Epcot, MGM, and DTD. In the distance we could see the fireworks at MK, Universal, and dowtown Orlando plus on fireworks show we never identified. The longest show was from MGM. It would be the show I would recommend. The best place to view would be in front of the Sorcerrer's Hat about 2/3's back toward the end of the main street shops. This way you could see them in surround.