NYE split stay plan - good idea?

[SFMommy]

I am starting to plan our 2nd trip to WDW. Our first trip was May 2016 and we stayed at a 1-bedroom villa at BWV for 8 nights. It was amazing! We loved the space/kitchen/washer/dryer at the villa and loved the location being able to walk to Epcot and HS.

I'm not willing to pull our DD out of school anymore, so we are planning a trip over NYE. I know that the crowds will be insane (especially compared to our first visit the first week of May). But we are OK with that and understand that we might not get anything more than our 3 FP rides done. And we are RD early morning people (even with the time change) and are usually done with the parks in mid-afternoon and like to leave to relax at the resort, shop, do something non-park related. Our favorite parks are Epcot and AK.

We arrive on Saturday 12/29 and leave on Sunday 1/6. I have booked a split stay with the first 3 nights at the Swan and the last 5 nights at the Sheraton Vistana Villas. I couldn't stomach the cost of staying on-site the whole time. We love the Boardwalk area for accessibility to both Epcot and HS. We got a decent rate for a standard room at the Swan over NYE (much, much less than BC/YC/BW). Then we will enjoy the 2-bedroom villa at the Vistana for even less than the Swan.

Does that seem like a good idea? My thinking is that we will be able to walk to Epcot/HS on the most crowded days and won't have to worry about driving on NYE. This is my tentative plan:

Sat 12/29 - arrive, drive to Swan (rental car from MCO)
Sun 12/30 - EP (candlelight processional with dinner package)
Mon 12/31 - EP (RD, rest, Illuminations at 6:30, ADR at a Boardwalk area hotel...probably asleep before midnight)
Tues 1/1 - HS (RD until 3:00 p.m.), move from Swan to Vistana, grocery shopping
Wed 1/2 - AK or MK
Thurs 1/3 - Discovery Cove
Fri - AK or MK
Sat - AK or MK
Sun - early departure from MCO

Please let me know if this seems like a good plan for tackling NYE! Thanks!

 

[AngiTN]

Does that seem like a good idea? My thinking is that we will be able to walk to Epcot/HS on the most crowded days and won't have to worry about driving on NYE. This is my tentative plan:

Sat 12/29 - arrive, drive to Swan (rental car from MCO)
Sun 12/30 - EP (candlelight processional with dinner package)
Mon 12/31 - EP (RD, rest, Illuminations at 6:30, ADR at a Boardwalk area hotel...probably asleep before midnight)
Tues 1/1 - HS (RD until 3:00 p.m.), move from Swan to Vistana, grocery shopping
Wed 1/2 - AK or MK
Thurs 1/3 - Discovery Cove
Fri - AK or MK
Sat - AK or MK
Sun - early departure from MCO

Please let me know if this seems like a good plan for tackling NYE! Thanks!

Wait, you plan to be at Epcot on NYE and you do not plan to enjoy what may be the best fireworks display in the history of fireworks? Or the biggest and best party Disney puts on?
Honestly, no. That does not seem like a good idea. If I wasn't going to enjoy Epcot on NYE I wouldn't even stay there at all. Just stay in the off site place the entire time. Skip having to move.

 

[SFMommy]

Wait, you plan to be at Epcot on NYE and you do not plan to enjoy what may be the best fireworks display in the history of fireworks? Or the biggest and best party Disney puts on?
Honestly, no. That does not seem like a good idea. If I wasn't going to enjoy Epcot on NYE I wouldn't even say there at all. Just stay in the off site place the entire time. Skip having to move.

Well...not entirely sure about staying until midnight. I'd like to...but I'm not sure that DD12 can handle it. I was thinking of making an 8:00 p.m. ADR and then we can see. I might go by myself to see the fireworks if my DH and DD12 want to go to bed early. Are you saying that the only bad traffic on NYE is if you stay until midnight? I was thinking that the whole day/evening/night would be terrible traffic all over the area.

 

[AngiTN]

Well...not entirely sure about staying until midnight. I'd like to...but I'm not sure that DD12 can handle it. I was thinking of making an 8:00 p.m. ADR and then we can see. I might go by myself to see the fireworks if my DH and DD12 want to go to bed early. Are you saying that the only bad traffic on NYE is if you stay until midnight? I was thinking that the whole day/evening/night would be terrible traffic all over the area.

If you got there at rope drop, no, you wouldn't have bad traffic. Leaving is not bad if you are leaving early and aren't leaving after fireworks
We drove over from CR to BWI on NYE and was no traffic heading in to Epcot. Heading to MK was bad but that's it, no other traffic was bad. And that was after rope drop, more like mid-morning (10:30/11:00 ish). Even earlier would be even fewer cars. Most heading out for NYE aren't going to rope drop too.
If you planned to drive back over in the evening (5:00 and on or so) then yeah, it gets bad. My cousin lives local and he met us at Epcot on NYE evening last year and it took him quite a while to get there. They hang out and tailgate in the parking lot before heading home after fireworks.
I'd book a meal at Epcot instead of Boardwalk area too. We did Via Napoli

 

[milena2008]

I think your idea is a good one! We were at Disney over NYE the two last years and did split stays. We are DVC member and were lucky the first time to get a room at BLT on Dec 30-31, then we moved to AKV. We really liked it! The second time, lucky again, we got a room at BWV on Dec 29-30-31, then moved to AKV... Wow! The Epcot resort area is the best place to be over NYE! But I agree that you should try to stay at Epcot for the fireworks, it was so amazing! When we returned this past January, we bought some points at BWV because DD18 will be at university next fall, so we are going to be at WDW over NYE for a couple of years in the futur and really want to stay at BWV again! Now already booked for the next one!

 

[mrp4352]

Honestly - for our family on NYE, we prefer to do the 'test run' fireworks at the Magic Kingdom at midnight on the 30th, but spend the morning/early afternoon at Animal Kingdom and enjoy Hoop De Doo in the evening on NYE.

 

[AngiTN]

We did both, test run at MK on 30th and Epcot on 31st. MK is great but Epcot on NYE was spectacular. That's what's great about how they do MK's twice, you get in both.

 

[SFMommy]

Thanks for all of the input, everyone! I had thought about doing the MK fireworks on 12/30. But I have always, always wanted to see the Candlelight Processional and 12/30 will be our only chance to see it. I hope that it runs until 12/30 like in past years. And Epcot is our favorite park...we want to spend more time there this trip.

I think that I'll keep my Swan reservation for now. I think it is the only chance I have of maybe staying in Epcot until the midnight fireworks. At the very least, we can walk to Epcot around 5:00 (thank you for confirming that we should not consider driving back to Epcot from offsite on NYE at that time). Then we can see the 6:30 Illuminations and have dinner in Epcot (I think your idea of staying in Epcot for dinner is a good one). Then we can walk around the WS and enjoy the NYE atmosphere. Even if we crash early and end up leaving at 10:00...it is better than nothing. And we would not have any of the Epcot NYE experience if we stay offsite.
Thanks so much for all the advice! Getting excited!