NYE 2014 - stay before or after?

[Skywise]

Looking to spend New Year's Eve at Disney this year and a couple of days before or after. (Mainly to catch the fireworks at the resort)

I know the crowds will be bad on NYE so I'm not expecting to actually go to the park that night. Are the crowds any better/worse/about the same leading up to NYE or immediately after? Failing that my family would like to check out the Christmas decorations/obsorne lights which I think will still be going before NYE so the current plan is "before".

 

[mesaboy2]

The 3-4 days on either side of NYE are always very, very crowded.

 

[xie]

Looking to spend New Year's Eve at Disney this year and a couple of days before or after. (Mainly to catch the fireworks at the resort)

I know the crowds will be bad on NYE so I'm not expecting to actually go to the park that night. Are the crowds any better/worse/about the same leading up to NYE or immediately after? Failing that my family would like to check out the Christmas decorations/obsorne lights which I think will still be going before NYE so the current plan is "before".

What matters most is what day of the week NYE falls on.

The days BEFORE NYE will ALWAYS be packed. Schools are closed.

However, the days AFTER NYE are variable specifically because of schools. On the years we've gone where NYE falls late in the week, say a Thursday or Friday, the days after NYE clear out quick because most people have to be back at work/school the following Monday.

On the years where NYE falls on Monday - Wednesday, a lot of people still have the rest of the week off due to school closures. And so they will stay at WDW and it remains packed.

You have to look at the calendar for the year you want to go. This year, Dec. 31, 2014 falls on a Wednesday. The parks will stay crowded until the following Sunday, January 4. They'll start to taper a bit on Saturday the 3rd due to people who need 2 days to drive it or want to have a day at home before returning to the grind.

That said, if you have to pick, I suggest after. You can always see the Osborne lights on the evening of the 31st. The 1st can be oddly empty in the early mornings because people stayed up half the night, so it's an opportunity to get some rides in if you wanted. But by the afternoon of the 1st, everyone's awake again and the parks are crammed to the gills until the Saturday/Sunday before schools open up again.