NYE at Magic Kingdom-- Tell me everything you know!

[FastPasser.]

I stay as far away from WDW as I can during any holiday period. That's been hard to do living next door though. Yes, I admit to being a wuss.

 

[mdsouth]

Question - Is the two fireworks shows on December 30 and 31 the same?
And about how long do the shows last? I was trying to decide what time to plan my evening meal.

If I go to the earlier fireworks show at 6:30 (time it has been in years' past) would I be okay scheduling my evening meal around 8 pm?

 

[elainesj]

Question - Is the two fireworks shows on December 30 and 31 the same?
And about how long do the shows last? I was trying to decide what time to plan my evening meal.

If I go to the earlier fireworks show at 6:30 (time it has been in years' past) would I be okay scheduling my evening meal around 8 pm?

Yes, both days are the same. I think they add a little something to the midnight fireworks. Aren't shows something like 20 mins?

 

[Skywise]

Yes, both days are the same. I think they add a little something to the midnight fireworks. Aren't shows something like 20 mins?

Correct - the earlier show is a partial perimeter fireworks show (same as the holiday/halloween party fireworks) while the later does a full perimeter and includes fireworks being shot up from the lagoon. Show-wise there's no other difference and aside from the total perimeter you're not going to see that much difference inside the park between the two showings (although the full surround is pretty cool)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Show length is around 11 mins. It’s not a particularly long show. It’s arguably kind of short.

 

[TeresaWen]

How crazy would it be to try and get an uber from one of the Epcot hotels (boardwalk / beach club) around 1:30 in morning NYE. Plan is to spend the day in Epcot. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner ADRs. Watch both fireworks shows. People watch and slowly walk back to one of the hotels. We will be living local if our house is ready. Very excited to potentially be spending nye in Epcot!

I have a 9:30 dinner ADR at California Grill on Dec 30. Will this be good to watch the MK fireworks?

 

[conandrob240]

How crazy would it be to try and get an uber from one of the Epcot hotels (boardwalk / beach club) around 1:30 in morning NYE. Plan is to spend the day in Epcot. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner ADRs. Watch both fireworks shows. People watch and slowly walk back to one of the hotels. We will be living local if our house is ready. Very excited to potentially be spending nye in Epcot!

I have a 9:30 dinner ADR at California Grill on Dec 30. Will this be good to watch the MK fireworks?

This is going to be WAY too long a day and is really unnecessary. Epcot likely will not close to capacity. I’d cancel the breakfast ADR for sure. Sleep in, do dinner, maybe lunch, arrive midday. By 1:30 am, it was pretty much died down by the Epcot resorts. We stayed at BC so I can’t speak to the roads at that time. But while busier than normal, the resorts were somewhat dead by then. Epcot was the most crowded I’ve ever seen it and by 9pm or so, it was fairly unpleasant to walk around. We had a 10pm ish dining reservation at Spice Road Table which was perfect. Got out of the crowds and we just stayed there for the fireworks. Sat until about 12:30 and by then the International gateway exit really wasn’t too much worse than a F&W Saturday night. By 1:30 am, most of the heaviest foot traffic had cleared from BW, YV/BC areas.

I’ll add that we thought this would be a nightmare time to go but we enjoyed it immensely last year. We did MK ( inside the park with no dining or party reservations) on 12/30 and it really wasn’t that bad. The atmosphere inside he park was incredible, super fun, great countdown, music, dance parties so honestly, I would NOT watch from afar. While the fireworks were incredible, it was more about seeing them with the icicle lights on the cast,em the colors, the music- much of which will be lost from afar. It wasn’t like 4th of July, for example,which is just as good (or maybe better) from Poly or CR.

We have a 50th birthday this year for my husband who prefers a beach vacation but the year after next (and maybe every other year after that), we’ll be doing NYE again for sure!

 

[TeresaWen]

This is going to be WAY too long a day and is really unnecessary. Epcot likely will not close to capacity. I’d cancel the breakfast ADR for sure. Sleep in, do dinner, maybe lunch, arrive midday. By 1:30 am, it was pretty much died down by the Epcot resorts. We stayed at BC so I can’t speak to the roads at that time. But while busier than normal, the resorts were somewhat dead by then. Epcot was the most crowded I’ve ever seen it and by 9pm or so, it was fairly unpleasant to walk around. We had a 10pm ish dining reservation at Spice Road Table which was perfect. Got out of the crowds and we just stayed there for the fireworks. Sat until about 12:30 and by then the International gateway exit really wasn’t too much worse than a F&W Saturday night. By 1:30 am, most of the heaviest foot traffic had cleared from BW, YV/BC areas.

I’ll add that we thought this would be a nightmare time to go but we enjoyed it immensely last year. We did MK ( inside the park with no dining or party reservations) on 12/30 and it really wasn’t that bad. The atmosphere inside he park was incredible, super fun, great countdown, music, dance parties so honestly, I would watch from afar. While the fireworks were increased Le, it was more about seeing them with the icicle lights on the cast,em the colors, the music- much of which will be lost from afar. It wasn’t like 4th of July, for example,which is just as good (or maybe better) from Poly or CR.

We have a 50th birthday this year for my husband who prefers a beach vacation but the year after next (and maybe every other year after that), we’ll be doing NYE again for sure!

Thanks! Great advice! We have a mid afternoon lunch scheduled and a late dinner at spice road. I will cancel breakfast and we can grab a snack. Hoping by time we get to the hotel roads will be ok. We are only 15 minutes away on a normal night. I would never drive ourselves. First don’t want to deal with the parking lot. Second not a good idea to be driving after a long day of fun!

I think it will be crazy crazy crazy but fun, festive, and memorable. Fingers crossed that our house will be ready. Otherwise I have two good adrs to release

 

[cgattis]

How crazy would it be to try and get an uber from one of the Epcot hotels (boardwalk / beach club) around 1:30 in morning NYE. Plan is to spend the day in Epcot. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner ADRs. Watch both fireworks shows. People watch and slowly walk back to one of the hotels. We will be living local if our house is ready. Very excited to potentially be spending nye in Epcot!

I have a 9:30 dinner ADR at California Grill on Dec 30. Will this be good to watch the MK fireworks?

I’d definitely expect surge pricing at that time on NYE. But if you’re going to maybe be stuck in traffic, wouldn’t you rather be in your own car? Unless you’re enjoying beverages as part of your celebration, of course

 

[TeresaWen]

I’d definitely expect surge pricing at that time on NYE. But if you’re going to maybe be stuck in traffic, wouldn’t you rather be in your own car? Unless you’re enjoying beverages as part of your celebration, of course

Thanks. I certainly do expect surge pricing!

I figured getting out of the Epcot parking lot will be a nightmare. Hopefully after lingering a bit in the park, slowly strolling to the hotel, and a brief stop on a sofa in the lobby will clear some traffic around the hotel.

And after a long day celebrating in Epcot I think leaving the driving to someone else is best. If we end up stuck in traffic we can nap.

Of course having never been at this time I could be completely delusional

 

[yulilin3]

I'm probably repeating what others have already said:
The MK NYE Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show is a bit of a let down IMHO, I would rather go with the amazing display they do at Epcot.
Since they do the same show on the 30th and 31st we usually watch the 30th from the Poly beach, I love Epcot for NYE it is such a great party, so much to see and do, and again the fireworks are amazing.
MK does have a dj playing dance music on the castle stage and also a smaller dance party in Frontierland, other than that it's very crowded and not much to do
I saw someone asking about Uber or Lyft from the Epcot resorts, keep in mind that Orange Co Sheriff start closing some streets to help the flow of Disney buses around property so Uber or Lyft might be a wait especially after midnight.
What I always do is stay inside Epcot walking around or just watching the massive exodus until around 2am and then leave.

 

[DisneyRobin]

Have fun!