New Year's Eve HELP

[DisneyPug]

I'm planning my FIRST trip to Disney World, Dec 28-Jan 2. It's an anniversary trip for me and my husband. We're staying at the Swan. I'm trying to find out which park will be best for the New Year's celebrations.

I contacted Disney, and no information about events (and dining specialties) will be released until October or so. Can anyone fill in on past happenings, to give me an idea??

The fireworks at Magic Kingdom took my breath away (youtube), but i hear the park fills to capacity early (~noonish) and i really don't know if I could make it from 9am until 1am. Dumb first timer question, but is Cinderella's castle always lit up like that, or was it just New Year's, or even just last year?

Epcot was pretty awesome too, with the same crowded feedback. Couldn't find a good video from the Hollywood Studios fireworks, but heard it is definitely the least crowded of the parks. Was also considering Downtown Disney, but haven't found much video on the happenings.

Any insight?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, as 123 days to go, and this is all i can think about! I AM SO EXCITED!

 

[jackattack]

My family is also planning a New Years trip to WDW. It is rather frustrating how little information there is about the events but as of now our plan is to make dinner reservations for around 6:30 at teh Rose and Crown and ask for a seat outside so we can watch the early viewing of Illuminations (we'll have a 4 month old with us - he's due to arrive Sept 3rd). After that Gramma and Grampa will be heading back to the resort (Kidani Village at AK Lodge) with baby and the rest of us will be enjoying some more adult entertainment around the world showcase. We do plan to arrive at Epcot around 10am so it will definitely be a long day but an enjoyable one as well so long as we plan for it. From what I've read, we shouldnt expect to do many attractions that day but rather to just enjoy the live entertainment and our family's company. We're there til Jan 7th so I don't think we'll stress too much about missing any attractions on new years eve.

An important thing to note, if a glass of champagne is a must for you for new years, steer clear of MK as there is no alcohol served in that park!

 

[Cando86]

Hi there!

I'm planning a NYE trip as well, so I understand the frustration.

I've been doing a lottttt (too much..?) of research regarding NYE at Disney just because I am so afraid of the crowds.
I think the MK NYE fireworks show is something everyone should experience once in their life, so that is where we will be on the 31. We're going in KNOWING we won't get to ride many rides and it's going to a be a big people watching and just being together day. I think if you go in with that mind-set, it makes things easier. We will be there for 11 days, so we'll have other days to do MK stuff, so I might suggest going to a different park for NYE if it's the only day you're available to go to that park.

From what I've read, if you want to spent NY in MK you need to get there before noon at the *latest* and stay all day and through the night without leaving. To us, this is worth it and we are able to do it. For others it's just not feasible. AK does nothing the night of NYE but I've heard Epcot 'seems' less crowded because of the way it's laid out and HS is less crowded altogether (still CRAZY though) than the other two. It seems as if in terms of craziness and crowding that it goes like this 1. MK (most crowded/crazy) 2. Epcot 3. HS.
Epcot (maybe) and HS especially give you the option of arriving a little later in the day and taking a mid-day break, which is necessary for many people.

Hope this helps, I'm just learning myself!
Let us know what you decide!

 

[Eganclan]

We arrive that afternoon and probably wouldn't be able to get to a park until 6pm so it is probably not an option for us. I was thinking maybe dinner at the Poly, WL or Boardwalk and finding a place to watch the fireworks. Asked my oldest dd(only one who knows about the trip) what she thought about just hanging out at the hotel and getting an early start on the day after while everyone is sleeping her answer----NO WAY! We are going to be in WDW 12/31-1/9 and we are going to be doing the 1 day/2 park ticket at Universal so I also need help picking the best day for that as well. Hopefully once the kids head back to school I can take a day and really do some planning.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

its our 1 year anniversay on NYE, since we got married at the Poly last year on NYE. Here's our plan... relive last year! So... get to MK really early... then go to a character breakfast, then take the monorail to Epcot afterwards, wander around, watch the shows- they had a lot going on outside the countries, maybe ride a ride but likely not the lines were mindboggling HUGE!!
Then we'll watch the early fireworks and then head to the Poly and eat dinner, hang out on the beach and watch the amazing MK show eating our top layer of our wedding cake, then head over to MK and do the dance party!! It was so much fun!