New Years Eve In Disney????

[eculmone]

Last minute decision to do Disney for New Years Eve. We booked Poly for 2 nights MK? Is it crazy to attempt with crowds? Should we just party at the beach? ANYONE KNOW? Do we pay full price if we are only going to park at night? We only have one day in park so I thought party on the beach on the 31st and check out MK for the next day.

IS THIS A GOOD STRATEGY? WILL IT BE SUPER BUSY NEW YEARS DAY!!!

 

[Feralpeg]

There will be no discount for going late in the day. However, if you attempt to enter MK late in the day on NYE, chances are you will not get in. MK will close due to capacity early in the day.

All of the parks will be very crowded. MK will be the worst. Crowds are very high right now. I was at DTD last night. We had to walk single file to get through the crowd in the Marketplace. At 10pm, the lines for McDonald's were 20 deep at every register. I won't even try to describe World of Disney.

NYE is the one night of the year I avoid WDW at all cost. It is insanely crowded. At Epcot, people start drinking early. By 7pm, you can barely move through the crowd and people start blowing those stupid horns everywhere. I did it a couple of years and decided I would never do it again.

Good luck!

 

[MichaelH]

We did NYE in 2006. We went to MK and saw the last Christmas parade. We left MK about noon and went to EPCOT. The driver of the Monorail said that MK was closed already.

When we got to EPCOT, it was crazy. The lines to get in were backed up to the ticket booths and the people/bags had already been searched. We stayed there till about 6:00 and we had had enough. NYD it was still crowded, but bearable.

 

[mommy2aprincess4]

We were at MK last year and it was INSANE! We got there around 10am and as the day wore on the crowds just grew and grew. We waited in lines all day for rides, bathrooms, etc. We left around 10:00 and it was a mob scene getting out (just trying to wade through all of the people plus there seemed to be a huge surge in the crowds around that time. We heard that the park was staying open til 1am.)
We'll never do NYE at MK again. It's just too crazy for us! Depends on how you feel about crowds and craziness I guess

 

[Disney1976]

I've never done NYE at Disney, but I have done 4th of July at Disney, at the MK, when it reached a stage 4 capacity closing, which I think is probably what will happen NYE. NIGHTMARE! Aside from the fact that you had to be in the park the whole day from early morning to late at night (because if you left you weren't assured that you could get back in, and it's hot as Hades in July) crowds were everywhere -long lines for food, drink, rides, character meetings, even the bathrooms! You couldn't walk comfortably anywhere, and I distinctly remember feeling like a herd of cattle. It even took 2 hours to get from the monorail station back to the TTC!

I will say that the fireworks on the 4th were spectacular and made the whole ordeal worth it, and I would imagine that NYE will be just as special...but I'm still not sure I could handle that again.

 

[Stitch'sGlitch]

NYE at Disney is a blast! I have done it two years now, 2003 and 2006 both years we went to Epcot. It was great in 2003 it poored so the crowd was a lot less, but we had even more fun. Have you thought about doing it at Epcot? It may depend on the ages of those going, it is definetly geared towards the more adult crowd. Some of the countries have dancing others a 30 minute long line for margaritas. I would recomend it to anyone that wants to Party that night.

 

[disneymd33]

When I went a couple years ago, NYE was very crowded. New Years Day in the morning was empty. I guess people were trying to sober up and sleeping in... We were in shock at how empty it was. So go early New Years Day!

 

[BratDet]

We were turned away at 11:20 AM & given a free parking pass for the other Disney Parks. At 4PM it still was not opened to new visitors.

Bernadette

 

[Mom_of_3_Pirates]

We spent NYE 2007 at MGM. Although the crowds were big, it was still not unbearable. We couldn't find a spot in front of the hat for the fireworks, we were still able to find a good seat to the right of the hat. Even though one of our party was not feeling well, we overall had a really good time. We were still able to see most of the fireworks, even though it was a little smoky.

The only thing that you should know is that they start handing out the hats & noisemakers at 6pm and you have to endure 6 hours of "blowing" which can make anyone have a headache.

Overall it was a good time and we thoroughly enjoyed just being there and being a part of the "NYE mood".

 

[eculmone]

I'm back Thank you all for the good advice. We stayed out of the park and partied on the beach at the Polynesian. Kids swimming in the pool, digging in the sand, swinging on swings - Drinking champagne and watching the most amazing fireworks display. I'd say we had the best seats in the house. There were maybe 300 people on the beach (The size of a very large wedding) Plenty of room along the beach. Mom's in front of us were hilarious. They were singing songs all night and got the crowd to do the wave.

We all sang at midnight. Kissed my honey. DD9 passed out at 10:22 and we could not wake her for anything. Fortunately DH video'd the entire show so we partied again in the morning.

Crowds in the park on NYD was high. We took a boat ride over to WL for dinner at Wispering Canyon and back to our hotel for a swim, shower, rest and then back into the park for the evening. By 10pm we never waited more then 5 minutes to get on a ride.

What an amazing NYE I'll treasure it forever. p.s. all Christmas trees and decorations were still up in MK and the resorts we explored. WOW Disney is the BEST!

 

[Architectlink]

I am astounded at what happened this year in Orlando...it was raining on New Years afternoon, and as I headed out to see family staying near Disney at a resort, I happened to hear the news channel MENTION that the Theme parks were already closed...

NO mention of it on the radios
NO mention on any other channels that I noticed
NO mention of it on any signage...

So when I got on Interstate 4 and saw all of the lanes of stopped traffic, I again wondered what these hundreds of thousands of people were going to do who were stuck in traffic waiting to get to their rooms or to the theme parks, who were sitting behind thousands of people who were being told at the gates that they were closed.

I think that Disney should not be allowed to exceed their capacity and not even notify people who are 5, 10, 20-100 miles away that they are CLOSED.

It was a horrible experience I am sure for thousands of people...but then, again, perhaps people will start realizing that Disney does not care if they have people lined up 20 deep at every venue and every cash register and every entrance....who cares...it's just their money!

 

[eculmone]

WOW Architectlink I'm so sorry what a horrible experience That's just not right. Maybe Disney thinks some people actually like to be squished. It's sad when people pay thousand's of dollars to visit which may be their once in a lifetime experience to find a nightmare. I have had some real bad experiences believing that 'it's the most magical place on earth' Yes dreams do come true and sadly for some a few 'nightmares' I've learned not to put too much faith in Disney 'really really' caring to make me feel like I'm 'special'. I make my own magic in life and soooooooooo with that being said I KNEW it would be crazy and put my hard earned $ for Disney in the Resort across the Lagoon cus I'm just too old and afraid of small spaces to be 'stuck' inside. I agree they should close when they hit a certain crowd capacity that allows for the people who've paid good $ to be there to actually spend time enjoying the park.