New Years week crowds

[wickersham]

We are WDW veterans with no experience at DL. What are the crowds like there the week of Jan. 1? New Years day will be on Tuesday for 2013 and I'm curious if the remainder of that week, Jan 2-5 (Wed.-Sat.) would be a good time to visit or insanely crowded. Thanks for any advice!
There are five in our family, including three teenage daughters.

 

[SomeDude78]

New Year's Eve usually feels like the most crowded day of the year to me (I don't know if the attendance figures support that notion but it sure feels that way ... it's the ONLY day of the year I ever purposely avoid the parks due to crowd levels). The days after tend to vary depending what days of the week they are (i.e. weekends vs weekdays) but are generally pretty tame when I've gone. As of late I've been skipping New Year's and go during Xmas so I can't say if that's changed recently however. If you do go, the upside is that it's a super festive environment and everyone there is having a great time partying.

 

[gatorfreud]

I would guess super crowded as most school will go back that next Monday, I would think. Ours does anyway.

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Insanely Crowded. Kids are still going to be off for Christmas/Winter break.

 

[ArchOwl]

A good rule of thumb, if you have time off, probably the rest of the world does, too!

I was there last NYE, stayed until January 4th, I believe. It was the most crowded I have ever seen the resort. However, we still had a great time, even playing with the idea of doing it again this year! You just got to have a solid touring plan and reasonable expectations.

The good part is that everything is going full tilt with all the attractions and shows operating at max capacity. They do a gorgeous job of decorating the place and everyone is in the holiday spirit. The bad part is that of course there are people everywhere! I am hopeful, though, that with DCA re-opening, the resort will do a better job of spreading out the crowds.

Stay close to avoid the parking jams and I highly recommend scheduling in some relaxing meals. We went to Storyteller's about 3:30ish on New Year's Day and it was deserted. Two hours before, we walked by and it was packed to the gills. So bob and weave, do the opposite of what everyone else is doing, and you can have a great time.

 

[DisneytheKid]

You just got to have a solid touring plan and reasonable expectations.

So bob and weave, do the opposite of what everyone else is doing, and you can have a great time.

Couldn't agree with you more Archowl. Ive already started using some of this info you gave me earlier in planning for this time of year. I'm hoping that the guide books and info on touring plans will help us get the most out of the visit

 

[AquaDame]

I am guessing the park typically reaches capacity on the night of the 31st, is that right? If so, when you do think we would need to be in the park by in order to not miss out on the fireworks? I'm torn between doing our normal play in the morning and take a break vs sleeping in and planning on putting up with massive crowds the rest of the day... WWYD?

 

[DisneytheKid]

This is really going to be interesting to see how this plays out this year because of the hopefully dispersed crouds between DL and DCA this year. For us, we plan to spend NYE in DCA so we will prob be there by no later than noon and stay there.

I am guessing the park typically reaches capacity on the night of the 31st, is that right? If so, when you do think we would need to be in the park by in order to not miss out on the fireworks? I'm torn between doing our normal play in the morning and take a break vs sleeping in and planning on putting up with massive crowds the rest of the day... WWYD?

 

[goldwest]

As a teacher I am always at the park at peak times. We used the online planning site ridemax worked to limit our time in line. The last time we went to disneyland was for the 50th anniversary and the parks were crazy but we stuck to our plans and everything went great.

 

[ArchOwl]

Couldn't agree with you more Archowl. Ive already started using some of this info you gave me earlier in planning for this time of year. I'm hoping that the guide books and info on touring plans will help us get the most out of the visit

You are already so far ahead of most people it isn't even funny! You will be fine and have a great time. It is the people who show up at noon with no tickets and no plan who will be majorly bummed out. And I saw lots of those people when I was there, lol!

I am guessing the park typically reaches capacity on the night of the 31st, is that right? If so, when you do think we would need to be in the park by in order to not miss out on the fireworks? I'm torn between doing our normal play in the morning and take a break vs sleeping in and planning on putting up with massive crowds the rest of the day... WWYD?

I can tell you what happened last NYE. DL was busy all day. Campers out in the Hub from 10am and on. Poor grandmas sitting all alone on their Cars blankets to save a seat for the rest of their family. Disney was allowing camping as long as you weren't in the street in the Hub. They stopped selling one day tickets sometime that morning. In the early evening, they began stopping new entries to DL. The next phase was no entries at all, not even re-entries, which happened sometime around 8pm. Then they began allowing re-entries only, but the lines to get into DL were very long by this point, they stretched all the way back to the turnstiles at DCA.

DCA was very pleasant by comparison. No campers, since the midnight show was done before WOC. You did need to get a midnight WOC FP for the best view of the show, but these were available until early evening, surprisingly. The WOC area was great, because they don't pack you in like sardines, as they do on Main Street in DL for the NYE fireworks. They never closed DCA due to capacity on that day. DCA was a lot of fun, they had lots of entertainment and free party favors. We exited the parks for awhile and had no problems getting back into DCA in the early evening. But we didn't have to find parking, so your experience could be different depending on where you are staying.

There were long lines for the tickets booths, so have yours in hand before you arrive if at all possible. Stay close so you don't have to deal with parking, I heard there were some bad traffic jams near the parking lots. Get there early and get your hand stamped if you can. Make reservations for table service so you don't have long lines to wait in for food, or eat counter service at off times.

I think DCA is actually much more fun that day and not nearly as crowded (well at least it was last year). So unless you just have to be in DL, give DCA a shot!

 

[AquaDame]

Thank you, your info is wonderful! Going for NYE will be a once in a lifetime event since we live in Oregon, so I have that feeling that I DO "need" to be there for the midnight show even if it is a pain in comparison. (Need in a first world sense, of course!) It is very comforting to have a backup plan that sounds very wonderful too - now I won't freak out if something goes awry!

We will definitely be staying close by - my husband is even interested in splurging on one of the onsite hotels for it since it is just the one night, and if not we'll stay at the Carousel again like we did last weekend.

 

[ArchOwl]

Thank you, your info is wonderful! Going for NYE will be a once in a lifetime event since we live in Oregon, so I have that feeling that I DO "need" to be there for the midnight show even if it is a pain in comparison. (Need in a first world sense, of course!) It is very comforting to have a backup plan that sounds very wonderful too - now I won't freak out if something goes awry!

We will definitely be staying close by - my husband is even interested in splurging on one of the onsite hotels for it since it is just the one night, and if not we'll stay at the Carousel again like we did last weekend.

Cool! I had a back up plan, too. I was so afraid that the resort would be so busy that we had alternate plans in town for dinner and drinks. So unnecessary, Disney did a great job with crowd control and everyone we were around was in a good mood. But of course, I was expecting the very worse and was pleasantly surprised. I would expect not to get as many attractions done in DL, moving around could be difficult, especially at night. Might be best to reserve a nice spot for dinner and not expect to get much done. The Hub was just insane to try and walk through, so use alternate methods to get around.

I wasn't in DL that night past 7ish, so I don't really know how crazy it got. I know it was packed, but it looked like people were having a good time. I hope you enjoy, and if not, there is always DCA!