New Year's Eve Fireworks

[katmittens]

We have a 2 bedroom booked for Jan1 to Jan 8 2010 at OKW, but i am now thinking of arriving on Dec 31. It will be in the afternoon some time and i dont have alot of points, but i do have enough for a studio. Should I stay at OKW in a studio or if available WLV, or AKV. If i wanted to see the fireworks at MK would it be easy to get to the Poly and watch from the beach? We have been to the parks on NYE and do not want to fight the crowd, but would like to see some fireworks that nite, any suggestions would be of great help? Thanks.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I would stay at WL or BLT if I could, so you don't need to drive anywhere. After the fireworks, the roads are so crowded that you almost might as well be off-property, if you have to drive. We found a great place to see the fireworks this year--from Contemporary, you take the walkway across to MK, but stop after you cross the street. We sat on the grass there, and could see everything. We were surprised to see that the fireworks are actually set off miles away from the castle, instead of right behind it. I've been going to MK since 1976, and I always thought the fireworks went off directly behind the castle!

 

[katmittens]

I am going to call tomorrow to try to get a studio at VWL for Dec. 31. Thanks for the idea on where to watch fireworks. I hope I can get the studio for one nite, oh well if not on the waitlist.

 

[BroganMc]

We're inside the 11 mos booking window so availability may be nonexistent the smaller the resort. If you do end up at OKW, don't be too disappointed. There are several strategies those of us who go for NYE employ to watch fireworks.

Magic Kingdom is usually jammed and closes early due to overcrowding, so you're better off watching from outside. I prefer viewing from Poly as you get a dead center view. Contemporary and GF are off to the sides and the fireworks appear off the sides. But the entire lake lights up as they fire panoramic fireworks for the event.

If you have BLT points, you may get better availability this weekend when bookings open there. (I would prefer BLT to VWL for a NYE stay, mostly because you can walk home to your bed and don't have to rely on busy public transportation. Just be mindful of crossing that back road to MK. I don't trust drivers on NYE.) Otherwise you can take a bus to MK and either walk, ferry or monorail to one of the resorts. Taking a bus back to OKW is only hardest in jumping the queue for the busses as they park closes. They take the side (Fort Wilderness) route back to OKW and SSR. This avoids much of the traffic on World Drive.

The big bottleneck is World Drive. And that includes traffic from/to MGM and MK.

MGM is usually open late with EMH on 31st. We found just waiting an hour or so after midnight (between 1-2am) meant a quicker, less crowded ride home to SSR. Same difference if you're trying to get to MGM for EMH after midnight.

Now if Disney would just reinstitute the fireworks at Pleasure Island, you'd get the best NYE display ever at SSR. We were very disappointed to find those went away this year.

Oh and don't forget the early bird fireworks at EPCOT. We usually do those at 7:30pm and then hop elsewhere for midnight. In our trips, we tend to see fireworks a lot. This year it was 5 times in 3 days.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I would think studios will be hard to come by for Dec. 31 already. If you can get one at OKW it will certainly be fewer points, but if you can't you might want to hold out foor BLT. Frankly, I prefer Epcot for NYE, so where I stay isn't so much an issue. We LOVE the Epcot celebrations at all the countries.

 

[katmittens]

I called today and did get a studio for NYE at OKW. I may call back at the 7 month mark to stay at VWL, but I'm not sure, since we have a 2 bedroom at OKW for Jan1-8. I will have to change rooms anyway because I have a dedicated 2 bedroom booked. We have done the early fireworkd at Epcot before, but I don't want to fight the crowds, so I think I will do the Poly and watch from the beach. My only concern is getting to the Poly. I thought of driving and eating dinner at the Poly, but I'm afraid of leaving afterwards so I guess we would have to use transportation from Poly to MK and then get a bus to OKW which would be crazy either way, which is why i may try to change to VWL at 7 months.

 

[SunnieRN]

I have never been to disney world during a holiday, but what about watching from the poly, catching a bus to DTD and then the boat to OKW?

 

[kellyf2626]

My biggest piece of advice is to take Disney transportation after the fireworks! Two years ago we attempted to drive back to OKW from Epcot....it took over 2 hours!!! The roads were a parking lot...BUT....they had lanes sectioned off for the Disney buses and they FLEW by and had no problem getting around!

 

[tomandrobin]

I have never been to disney world during a holiday, but what about watching from the poly, catching a bus to DTD and then the boat to OKW?

You could do that, but expect a long ride home. Real Long!!

 

[ClarabelleCow]

another option is to try to book a cash night at one of the resorts - Poly, GF, contemp, or even VWL. The fireworks are amazing! and it does get crazy around there! we watched from the contemp, 2 years ago and it was beautiful, sat out on the front lawn. 3 years prior, we watched from one of the outer stairwells of the CR, again worth doing! If you can splurge for the one night, I would go for it! then move to OKW the next day!

 

[puntagordabob]

Yeah I think we are going to try for 2 studios for NYE at BLT....MK view... got to see it once on NYE from there and besides would be a nice way to celebrate our BLT purchase this year

 

[Cinderella1122]

Has anyone seen the NYE fireworks at DHS? I'm thinking of spending my NYE there to avoid the masses at MK and Epcot.

 

[Plutofan]

This past NYE we had a grand villa in the hospitality section of OKW and had a great view of the Epcot fireworks from our balcony. I would think that you may be able to walk over to that area near the golf course and see the Epcot fireworks.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Has anyone seen the NYE fireworks at DHS? I'm thinking of spending my NYE there to avoid the masses at MK and Epcot.

We were at Epcot, on the bridge that leads to the WS exit, and after Epcot's NYE fireworks were over, the DHS's were still going, for at least 5 minutes more, and from that vantage point, they looked excellent. I think you won't be avoiding masses if you go to DHS, however.

Bobbi

 

[BroganMc]

Wanna see DHS NYE fireworks? Here ya go:



There are more videos and pics from NYE in that PhotoAlbum and my travel blog. Just look up NYE 08.

DHS is what I'd call "organized chaos". Live band, big crowd, lots of noisemakers and flashing lights. It's what I would call more of the College Age crowd celebration. The best thing about being there was that the park is open for EMH after. So while you wait for the roads to clear, you can take in a few rides and attractions. Or just take a long stroll down Osborne Lights. The crowd is almost nonexistent in that part of the park after midnight.

We stayed till about 2am and had pretty much no traffic home to SSR. Meanwhile people staying offsite got stuck in traffic for over 4 hours the same night.

 

[vicki_c]

BroganMc - you were there? I'm not sure I knew that -- me too!

We watched from the pathway back to BWV with our kids and it was a great viewing area -- removed from the crowds of course (we were alone!) and we weren't staying for EMH -- and we got the whole panorama of the fireworks. Then we turned around and walked back to the Boardwalk and hopped the ferry for BCV.

I really wanted to stay for the dance party at the BW Village Green, but had to put the kids to bed!

 

[Cinderella1122]

DHS is what I'd call "organized chaos". Live band, big crowd, lots of noisemakers and flashing lights. It's what I would call more of the College Age crowd celebration. The best thing about being there was that the park is open for EMH after. So while you wait for the roads to clear, you can take in a few rides and attractions. Or just take a long stroll down Osborne Lights. The crowd is almost nonexistent in that part of the park after midnight.

We stayed till about 2am and had pretty much no traffic home to SSR. Meanwhile people staying offsite got stuck in traffic for over 4 hours the same night.

Awesome! Thanks Brogan. It will be just my sister and I for this trip. I am 25 (hopefully starting my MBA in the fall) and my Sister is 22 (going into her senior year of college this fall), so the "college age crowd celebration" is just what I am looking for!

 

[puntagordabob]

Wanna see DHS NYE fireworks? Here ya go:

Hey thanks... its a tough choice to pick one! This year though itll likly me MK for us from BLT

 

[BroganMc]

Hey thanks... its a tough choice to pick one! This year though itll likly me MK for us from BLT

Magic Kingdom has some of the best NYE fireworks. We usually head over for the pre-show to avoid the NYE crowds. In the two years I've gone MK closed by noon and stayed packed all day. I always say you couldn't pay me to be in MK on NYE. This year, EPCOT started to get that bad as well but never closed. You just couldn't find a free bathroom.

Over the next couple years with NYE falling on the weekends, I'm guessing the crowds will just get that much worse. Watching from outside the parks sounds like a wise idea.

Here's a sample of what MK fireworks look like:

 

[hughesrobert]

We watched the MK NYE fireworks from the Poly Beach (Sunset Point) this year and then did a forced march back to the Ticket and Transportation Center to catch the first tram back to central parking. We were back at OKW in about 30 minutes, but only because we were out of the parking lot before the first ferry boat/monorails arrived at the TTC. Also, don't plan on parking at the Hotels; they institute "special parking restrictions" and won't let you in the lots unless you have dinner reservations. We had planned on parking at the hotel, but ended up in the MK lot due to the parking restrictions.