New Year's Eve...

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

HELLO!

WE arrive on New Year's eve. Trying to decide what to do that day. We will arrive at MCO at 1pm, and then still need to take ME and check in to the resort.

We are hoping to at least get into the MK even if just to walk around on main street and take photos, maybe do a meet and greet with Mickey or Tink (does she still meet on main? by the entrance?)

I imagine at that time we should be able to wander around for a bit without too much problem with crowds?

Then...dinner...what to do what to do. Was thinking about trying to make an ADR for 1900 Park Fare. But then I saw at the disney main website, https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/new-years-eve/ that there are participating restaurants at Disney for New Year's Eve meals. Are these meals that go over through to midnight?

our thought was a bit of MK fun, a nice dinner, then bed early after a day of travel and then an early morning at the parks. Are we dumb? I think that maybe I am missing an opportunity to do MK on NYE, but then again, we aren't too excited about being packed in like sardines...truth: we would probably watch fireworks from just inside by the exit, and take off for the busses when over. LOL Assuming we last until midnight (need to leave our home at 5am to be at the airport in time for check in....will be a long day)

anyway. it's a long way away, but there are 12 of us going and so Disney seems to be the topic discussed no matter where we are or what we are doing . SO i figure, why not ask now.

 

[CAS239]

That is the busiest day out of the year. And MK is the most crowded that day. The key is to go to Mk on the 30th to partake in all the NYE festivities since they do everything there then too, then Illuminations on NYE.

If you're set on being in MK, then just be ready for wall to wall crowds, super long waits, and long waits for transportation back.

I would recommend being in Epcot over MK but if you're not staying for the best fireworks you've seen, then head to MK since it doesn't seem like you guys are looking to get too much done on that night

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

so...sounds like we are fools to want to miss 'best fireworks we've seen'?

Are we looking at long waits back even at 9pm? I am thinking dinner at 1900 park fare at 7pm, then a cab ride back to the hotel. I know we will be exhausted.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

I imagine at that time we should be able to wander around for a bit without too much problem with crowds?

Magic Kingdom will hit some sort of phased closure before you even land in Florida on NYE. It will be VERY crowded, so just walking around will be hard. There will be CM's directing foot traffic all over MK, leaving you nowhere to stand and look or chat, no wandering around. You have to constantly be moving. If you REALLY want to spend some time in MK on NYE and not see the fireworks, I would make your FP reservations, hit those 3 rides/character visits, and then leave. Also, if you get to the MK before 3:30 you'll get to see the Christmas Parade, which is one of my favorite things to do at Disney during the holidays.

Even if you wait by the exit for the fireworks you should still expect a long wait at the resort bus. It's just going to happen.

We LOVE Disney during Christmas week, you just have to set appropriate expectations. It will be insanely crowded. But also insanely fun

 

[Hopefully]

I don't think you can even count on being admitted to the MK at that time of the afternoon on NYE. It will have some level of closure. There will be shoulder to shoulder (literally) crowds. There will even be long (45 minute) lines for the Restrooms.
On travel day with young ones, I would not go to the MK.
Perhaps you could get a dinner ADR for later in the evening at "OHana and watch the fireworks from the Poly beach, or even the TTC if they are limiting beach access, which they might be doing.
Personally, I would just have dinner early and head back to our room for an early night to get ready for a great vacation.

 

[Geoff_M]

Unless doing MK on NYE is on your "bucket list", given the relatively late arrival to WDW on the 31st I wouldn't even try it. One year we were at AK on NYE and we were talking to a CM who had just heard over her radio that MK was closed due to capacity and it was only 10:30 AM! Though it probably did re-open at some points later in the day, it will be a dicey proposition. From what I have read here, Epcot is a safer proposition as it has a much higher holding capacity than the other parks.

Us personally, we've done two NYE's at WDW. Both times we opted for a reverse-psych approach. We went to AK, because it is the least popular park for NYE due to the early closing time. We were able to do lots of stuff in that park. Ate supper and went back to our hotel (or our son's apartment this time), went to bed, and then got up early for rope drop at MK on NY Day. The crowds will be light in the AM on Jan 1 because a lot of the party crowd will be sleeping it off. Due to the crowds and transportation waits, a lot of the NYE partiers won't get back to their hotel rooms until 2 AM or later.

 

[CAS239]

so...sounds like we are fools to want to miss 'best fireworks we've seen'?

Are we looking at long waits back even at 9pm? I am thinking dinner at 1900 park fare at 7pm, then a cab ride back to the hotel. I know we will be exhausted.

Yes there will be long waits all day and night. However you could get some key fps after your dinner that would help

 

[CAS239]

Also note that when a CM says a park has closed, they usually mean phase 1 closure. If you're on site or an AP holder, then you can get into a park up until phase 4 which is full on closure due to capacity. A phase 4 closure is very rare and has only happened a handful of times in all the years.

 

[disdreamer7]

We were there NYE 2016. We opted for Hollywood Studios. Was it busy yes but definitely manageable. They gave out noisemakers and hats. There was a DJ, too. We left about 10 to avoid the crowds leaving the park at midnight. Worked out perfect, saw the Disney fireworks from Reunion Resort and the resort fireworks from another window.

 

[Skywise]

If you're staying on-site here's what I'd do - I'd abandon any idea of going into any of the parks that day and go straight to the room and rest up for a bit. Then I'd go for a later meal (8-ish) at Park Fare or Ohanas and try to catch the earlier fireworks show from the beach or GF. Eat dinner - then try to stay up for the actual NYE fireworks countdown from the beach at the Poly, the parking lot by the Christmas tree at the Contemporary or the beach from GF. (Tour the monorail resorts in the meantime maybe).
Basically any place where you have a view of the castle and the lagoon will be perfect for the NYE fireworks and you'll be able to hear the music going with it.

 

[Hopefully]

We were there NYE 2016. We opted for Hollywood Studios. Was it busy yes but definitely manageable. They gave out noisemakers and hats. There was a DJ, too. We left about 10 to avoid the crowds leaving the park at midnight. Worked out perfect, saw the Disney fireworks from Reunion Resort and the resort fireworks from another window.

When you say "Disney fireworks" what are you referring to -- MK? EC? DHS? All?
Which resort has fireworks?
Where is Reunion Resort?
Thanks for the info

 

[disdreamer7]

When you say "Disney fireworks" what are you referring to -- MK? EC? DHS? All?
Which resort has fireworks?
Where is Reunion Resort?
Thanks for the info

There were three sets of fireworks that we could see from the front patio. Judging from the scale of one and the direction I would say it was MK. Reunion Resort launched them from the rooftop of their main building. The resort is approximately 15-20 minutes from Magic Kingdom. I got a really good deal on a hotel website. The resort also had things to do a buffet, something for the younger kids at the pool, so if you decided not to do a park there were things to do at the resort.

 

[NS8VN]

Pull up a video on Youtube to get an idea of what the crowds are like on NYE. Adam the Woo was there this past year and his video of it shows the crowds and traffic quite well. It is The Daily Woo 1645.

Just my personal thoughts, if you aren't staying for the fireworks then it isn't worth the crowds. Well, my personal thoughts are it isn't worth the crowd regardless, but if I were to battle them it would be to ring in the new year on Main Street, not just for a regular park day.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

What time are the "earlier " fireworks?

 

[disdreamer7]

We had a great time and HS was no worse than spring break. The whole atmosphere is special. We did what we lik, avoided traffic, and saw fireworks.

 

[CAS239]

What time are the "earlier " fireworks?

Last year MK was 7:30pm and then 11:50
Epcot was 6pm and 11:40

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Thank you Cas239!