So were you there on NYE?

[SamIAm21]

I am seriously considering a trip for later this year that would include being in the "World" for New Year's Eve. I would most likely check in on the 29th of December and leave the 3rd of January, 2016.

What was it like during that time? Any tips or strategies you may have would come in very handy.

 

[Skywise]

I am seriously considering a trip for later this year that would include being in the "World" for New Year's Eve. I would most likely check in on the 29th of December and leave the 3rd of January, 2016.

What was it like during that time? Any tips or strategies you may have would come in very handy.

I was just there from the 29th - 1st and stayed at the Polynesian.

Getting to/from Magic Kingdom and Epcot was ok because of the monorail but any bus travel to AK or HS during the day from the 30th on was painful because of traffic on the main drive. (double-triple the usual times) Disney does a good job managing the traffic flow though and as soon as the delays became apparent they started bringing more buses online.

Crowds are... huge. This wasn't a major deal with my family as they were older and rides weren't as big of a deal so I FP+'d early to get the rides we wanted and that sufficed. Now, personally, I like the rides so I stayed up until evening EMH to ride rides like Space Mountain and POTC.

It was cold and misty so I don't think the NYE crowds were as bad as they could've been but they were still pretty packed even then. If you're going to be at MK for the NYE fireworks I highly recommend getting the Dessert Party for the midnight show. I saw the NYE fireworks in the park at MK on 12/30 (they do the NYE show on 12/30 and 12/31) and stayed at the resort to watch the fireworks from the beach on 12/31. In fact, I stayed out of all the parks except for Animal Kingdom on 12/31 because it would be the lightest attended and it was still pretty packed as it picked up the overflow crowds from the other parks.

You can't "go commando" and I certainly wouldn't recommend it for a first time DW goer - But if you go in knowing all of this ahead of time you can actually have a really good time!

 

[acciodisney]

I think the biggest thing to remember is that there will be heavy crowds and you won't be able to go to everything you want. We went in thinking that we'd do our fastpasses and anything else would be an added bonus. This worked well since we weren't disappointed and we actually managed to fit in a lot more than we thought we would. That said, we were at Hollywood Studios and not MK.

We went to MK on the 30th because they do the same exact fireworks they do on NYE. It will still be crowded, but nothing like it will be on NYE and we got to see an amazing fireworks show two nights in a row.

Hollywood Studios is more of a party atmosphere than the other parks in my opinion. There's more room to spread out a bit too, so we were really glad we went there instead of dealing with the madness of MK. We had an amazing view of the fireworks and actually got to sit down on a stone wall while we watched. It was much nicer than being packed in on Main Street at MK.

Whatever park you're in, it's a good idea to get there earlier in the day in case it reaches capacity.

 

[Linda T.]

We went to MK on 12/30 to see their NYE fireworks and they were spectacular!!! We stood in the middle of main street to watch and we had no problem seeing them at all. The weather was misty so maybe the crowds were down a little.

But Epcot on NYE was wall to wall people. We went to eat at Via Napoli to eat at 6:00 p.m. and we could barely get there and then when we came out, the crowd was unbelievable. We stayed until midnight to see the fireworks but I am not sure I would go to Epcot on NYE again.

 

[tinkerbee]

We had a blast at Epcot on NYE. We were there open to close. It was really busy but honestly the only time we felt crowded was around 1130 pm when we were trying to get from Future World to the other side of the World Showcase and got bottle necked on the bridge to France. The rest of the day was great. We had our fast passes for Test Track, SE, and MS. We were able to do Living with the Land, Figment, Mexico, Ellen, and Nemo with little to no wait. The dance parties were amazing! We entered WS as soon as it opened at 9 and there was hardly any one around. We didn't care about doing Soarin' so the 4/5 hour lines didn't matter to us. We watched the fireworks in Morocco and there was about 10 people around us(I'm not one for pushing thru the crowds to be up front). We waited until 2 to leave and avoided most of the traffic to get out. I would do Epcot on NYE in a second.

 

[izzylovesmickey]

We also did MK on 12/30. We did our fast passes and spent a lot of the day doing the rides/shows that we wouldn't normally do. That worked well for wait times. Fireworks were fantastic! We were at the World starting 7/4 last year so didn't feel that the crowds were anything we hadn't seen before, maybe slightly more crowed. So if you have done heavy summer crowds it's not unbearable and the weather is more comfortable. We did HS for NYE. Took bus from Coronado with no problems early afternoon. Stayed in the park for the day and followed same theory as the 30th. Fireworks were good and Osborne lights are great to see. Lots of fun if you keep the right attitude.

 

[BebopBaloo]

We were there the 29th- 4th this year. It was very very crowded. We only did a fraction of the things we normally get to do. It was my first time using FP+ and I was actually grateful for it. The whole FP+ thing still isn't my favorite concept ever...but it helped in this situation.

We were at MK on the 30th and bailed after dinner. AK on the 31st...it took almost an hour to get from POR to the gates of AK because of the bumper to bumper traffic of people trying to turn to go to Epcot and MK. MK, however, was closed before 10 a.m. We were at Animal Kingdom from around 10:15 to about 4:30 and we rode the safari, had lunch, visited the babycare center, saw Festival of the Lion King, went to the boneyard dig site and that was that. Normally we would accomplish a lot more in that amount of time.

Things were a little better by the 3rd. We went back to MK that day and wait times were still quite large.

I wouldn't voluntarily choose those dates again, but would go if it were the only option. Just be prepared to deal with lots of people...

 

[DisneyKidds]

This was my NYE Epcot report, posted in another thread. Keep in mind it is just one family's account and lots of other people surely had lots of other experiences. Even for us there were a few crazy annoying moments, but here goes.....

In our experience, for a very crowded park on the biggest holiday (celebration and crowd wise) of the year it wasn't bad at all. Notice I didn't say wasn't THAT bad, implying an acceptable level of badness. No, for us it wasn't bad at all. It was downright enjoyable and fun. Now we didn't go for the rides. Frankly, IMHO anyone who goes on NYE for the rides is a little bit foolish because even the most simple research or planning would tell anyone that the rides will be bad. No, we went for the very thing people want to know about, the crowds. The people, the atmosphere, the entertainment, the crazy.....that's what you have to embrace.

So how did our evening go, and how were the crowds for us? Well, we arrived at the International Gateway at about 5pm. No problem, no wait getting in. As we hit the promenade things are moving. The Fish and Chips line is longer than I've ever seen, but we ate at Beaches and Cream before we hit the park (planning), so that didn't bother us. Time to start getting my NYE on, and there is no line to grab a couple of draughts outside the UK pavilion.

Things are looking ok, despite our trepidation. Then we hit a Canada fiasco, where a confluence of masses moving in both direction, a natural bottle neck, Lumberjacks, chanting and tempers make things downright unpleasant as it takes 15 minutes to move 200 feet, and panic sets in that THAT is what the night is going to be like. Fortunately, that snapshot proved not to foretell things to come.

We had FP+ for Mission Space good until 5:30 that we could have used, but as we've done it plenty of times we skipped it in favor of getting our FP+ (planning) spot for the 6pm Illuminations. We entered the area at 5:20 and got the best primo spot right at the front. No jostling, no crowds, just pleasant discussion with the cast members and lovely guests around us. I will say we were right next to the rope between the FP and non FP section, the non FP section being crowded with people who had probably been there for 3 hours or more, people trying to jump the rope into the FP area and being rebuffed by the cast members. Remember, it is crowded after all. However, we thoroughly enjoy our non-crowded perfect view of Illuminations. Once Illuminations was done the ropes dropped, and masses of people flooded in to claim spots, at 6:15 mind you, for the midnight Illuminations. Not for us, thankyouverymuch.

We head off to use our Spaceship Earth FP+. Yes, crowds and traffic flow are interesting, but we navigate through with little trouble. Crowded and congested no doubt, but moving, and we are good at dodging people, following our blockers, and hitting the holes hard! We hit the bathroom outside of Spaceship Earth with only a short line for the ladies. Finished with our ride it is time to head to Fantasia 2014 (planning) for dinner (will post separate review of that). We spend from 8:00 to 10:00 out of the crowds, eating decent food, with easy access to booze that surprisingly wasn't overpriced.

So, sheltered from the sea of humanity for a couple of hours, with midnight approaching, we nervously make our way to the promenade. The self imposed mission is to make it around the World Showcase once, and ring the New Year in around Canada. Expecting throngs to make it nearly impossible to walk....we set forth. A short stroll and we hear the DJ in the UK. We make our way in at about 10:15. Crowded? I suppose. Shoulder to shoulder? Not while we were there. We stood in a nice spot along the building, plenty of space. After enjoying the DJ there for a bit we had to continue our mission.

Things were moving surprisingly well as we headed over the bridge to France, past Morocco, to our next stop to observe the silent DJ party at Japan. Very interesting to watch for a few minutes, and we moved on. Very Latin flair at the American Gardens Theatre and we were able to easily move past after observing for a few minutes.

On to Italy! Ok, it's packed in by the DJ, but you can still move......and if you are in there it's because you want to be, to feed off of the crowd, the loud music, the pulsing lights and smoke/laser show. Very cool scene, and after a bit of jumping and dancing we continue the mission.

With a little weaving through the masses we have no problem moving on to China, where the next rave is in full swing. You could easily pass by on the promenade if you wanted, but we dive in. With bass to thump you to the core, great lights, shooting fire and a dragon breathing smoke over a true mosh pit, it's truly shoulder to shoulder insanity of the best kind, with people being passed over the top of the crowd. My daughter was throughly impressed by the DJ and his "drops", as I pretended to know what the heck she is talking about.

Very cool scene, but it's 11:30 and we need to get to Canada. Once again navigate fairly easily (stay close on my rear kids, keep up Mom!) around the promenade, and we arrive by Canada at 11:40. Worried about finding a spot for the fireworks we notice that, despite tape clearly indicating that it is an available viewing area, people have not claimed the "curb" space in front of the steps in Canada. We grab a "front row" seat for an incredible Illuminations show to ring in the New Year. Incredible show, just incredible.

After the show we wait about 15 minutes for the crowds to disperse and we make our way back around the World Showcase the long way, with stops in China and Italy for some more dancing and revelry.

We exited the park about 1am, dealt with a little traffic on the way back, but were safely back at the GF by 2am. All in all it was a great night, and much less crowded/aggravating than I expected it to be.

Notice the number of times I pointed out planning? If you plan ahead you can have a great experience. You also have to be willing to embrace the crowds and the insanity. All things considered, it was a great way to celebrate New Years Eve.

 

[DisneyKidds]

We did the MK NYE trial run on the 30th. Crowded, but very manageable. Arrived late afternoon, were able to get around through the crowds (yes, it was crowded) with no trouble to use our three FP+. Crowded for the early fireworks, but space to watch on Main St. before the hub if you are willing to say excuse me and push through the crowd. Enjoyed the DJ dance parties, got a Dole Whip and hit up a couple rides (Small World, Philharmagic) before it was time to get a spot for the countdown and midnight fireworks. Same deal, excuse me and push through, and there was space to be found. Crowded, but you could find space. The MK fireworks are the best on NYE, better than NYE Illuminations IMHO. A little chaos making it out of the masses after the fireworks, but we head to Tomorrowland. Hit up Laugh Floor, TTA and Buzz a few times. We ended up leaving about 1:30am as the kids were tired and this was the only night the wife and I had the 1br villa , but we easily could have stayed until the park closed at 3am and done a ton more, as there were no lines. Second time we have done the MK on the 30th and it is great. Weather wasn't perfect, but we had a great time.

 

[Clawdya]

This was my post on a different thread regarding crowds on NYE:

IMHO, I believe it all has to do with when you got there and if you had a plan. For instance, our bus on NYE was the first to arrive to Magic Kingdom. It was dark and empty when we arrived. We were some of the first people at the entrance and held back by the rope. And even though a lot of people came and were behind us as it got closer to 7, since we were at the very front it didn't feel that crowded. I bet, though, that those that got there sometime afterward and saw the crowd ahead of them, probably felt it was more crowded than we did. But for us, it didn't feel that way.

When we went in, we walked behind the rope all the way through the castle and to Fantasy Land. From there we walked right onto Peter Pan's Flight and then walked right onto It's a Small World. Afterwards, we thought about going to Big Thunder Mountain but that part was still closed until 8am. We opted to go to Tomorrowland instead. As we went by 7DMT, we saw that the stand-by line was already at 60mins! Yikes! Good thing we had a fp+ for later on that day so we went to Tomorrowland Speedway and waited a few minutes but that was mostly due to waiting for the CMs to add more cars. From there we went to Buzz Lightyear, the wait was about 5 mins. By this time it was just after 8am, we decided to start walking to Adventure Land, still no real crowds. As we crossed the castle we asked one of the photographers to take us a picture, the background looks empty in our picture except for 2 people that had already set up camp (crazy!). From there we went straight to Big Thunder Mountain, there was a line out the door (but I think it was because it was not zig zagging before the stand-by sign) and the posted time read 30 mins, and next door the posted time for Splash Mountain was 5 mins. DH said he would stand in line while I took the kids to Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain turned out to be walk on. When we came out, DH had gotten back in line at Big Thunder because it had gone really fast and he had to ride it by himself. We waited, the posted time was still 30 mins but it only took 15 mins (if that). After Big Thunder the Splash Mountain sign still showed 5 mins, we went for it and walked right on again.

Then we walked to Pirates of the Caribbean and the posted time was 45 mins. We decided to take a coffee break at this point at Tortuga Tavern. Then we waited at POTC for approximately 35-40 mins even though the wait time was supposed to be longer (after our coffee break it had gone from 45mins to 60mins). From there we shopped and had some tags personalized to take back home. At this point it was looking very crowded (but not too bad). We shopped and walked around until it was time for our reservation at Crystal Palace (11:50am). The people ahead of us were turned away and we overheard them turn away those behind us as well. Now, if that had been us, without a reservation, then we would have felt the weight of the crowd more and felt like it was insane to be there at this point. However, for us, since we did have a reservation we were able to go inside and have a nice sit down lunch that lasted almost 2 hours (our waitress was so cool and chatty).

After lunch we walked to the Mad Tea Party (waited about 20-25mins), then we headed towards our first fp+ for the Haunted Mansion. Yes, we were all over the park but we were excited and didn't feel tired at all. We then made our way to our 2nd fp+ at 7DMT, after that we walked to get a Dole Whip and sat for about 30 mins to enjoy it, then we picked up our personalized tags from the POTC store and went back towards Fantasy Land and waited to take a picture with the carriage that had the 2015 sign. From there we went to Space Mountain to use the extra fp that a CM had given us earlier that day. After that, we checked in to our reservations at Be Our Guest. We then went and used our fp+ at Space Mountain, then went to Stitch's Great Escape. We had planned to do the Monsters Inc Laugh Factory but time was going by so fast by this time that it was time to check in to our Dessert Party. Our check in was supposed to be at 11:05pm but we checked in at 10:50pm. The Desserts were meh but the view and reserved chairs/table were totally worth the money and the perfect way to ring in the New Year. My kids couldn't thank me enough for all the reservations through-out our day/night. Through out the day we only felt the crowds thick when CMs were directing us to go all a certain way, as the day wore on and during/after a parade. When we left there we felt like we did so much and had an amazing time. But, had we not had any of the reservations, this would have changed our view of the crowds. We would have been frustrated to wait in line to get something to eat or go to the restrooms (we tried whenever possible to use them during our reservations at the restaurants) and we would have probably said it was a horrible trip. Also, if we had arrived any later than we did, we wouldn't have been able to do as much as we did in the morning and this too might have changed how we felt. But due to how our day/night worked out, the crowds didn't bother us much and we went home (exhausted but happy) remembering what an amazing day/night we had and thinking about a return trip. Also, please note that my children are 9 and 12, had they been younger then they might not have lasted as long as they did, especially with all the crazy walking in the opposite direction of where we would go next.

The reason I posted this message was to let everyone else know how plans and timing (like rope-drop) made a huge difference in how the crowd felt on our visit to the MK on NYE. When I booked my trip back in April 2014, I was so excited that I did as much research as I could. That's how I found the disboards and learned so much about ADRs and FP+. It was here that I learned about the Dessert Party. And I learned from pictures and posts that it would be insanely crowded (beware of the pictures that are posted though, it seems to me that those that post pics of that day specifically choose the most congested parts to snap a picture of). Had I not known about any of these things, I would be cursing and saying how awful our trip was....so THANKS TO ALL THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THESE DISBOARDS. And I hope that by posting my experience, that it can help others that are looking into braving the NYE crowds at MK.

 

[diskids2]

We did DHS in the morning around 9:30 am with three FP+, left around 12:30 pm to go to DTD. Had no problems. Had lunch at Raglan Road, then Cirque Show. I feel blessed to have found a cab to get out of DTD. I honestly thought I would be there for a two days. Never Again will I go to DTD on NYE. After that we did the NYE Wishes Cruise which was absolutely beautiful. We were staying at the WL so the boat just dropped us off around 12:30 am. I loved it, but it was very expensive.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

I plan on finishing my Trip Report for my Christmas Trip (12/24 - 1/2) by this weekend.

We were there for Christmas Eve, Christmas, NYE, and even stopped by Magic Kingdom on New Year's Day.

12/30 was really nice at Magic Kingdom. The weather wasn't ideal. It rained all day. We received a break from the rain long enough so that we could enjoy the parade and a few rides. After dinner, it really poured - but we wanted our friends to see the fireworks. We waited it out in the stores and Starbucks and we're glad we did. The rain died down and we were able to really enjoy the fireworks.

As a rule of thumb, we avoid the parks during the day on NYE. We stay on site, so unless it's a Phase 4 closure, we're allowed into the park. We decided to go to EPCOT for NYE. We had a family join us for this year's trip. They didn't decide to take the vacation until August. We knew we would be returning to Disney well ahead of our 180-day reservation window, so we were able to get Rose & Crown at 7:50pm on NYE. Our family friends had a reservation at Tokyo Dining.

Fast forward to our trip. We visited EPCOT early in the week. Our family friend, Tom, figured he'd try to switch his family's reservation from Tokyo to Rose & Crown, so that we could eat together. There was nothing on the website. His wife tried calling the reservation number. If the CM could laugh at her, she would (she didn't, she was very respectful.) She told her that R&C was one of the most popular restaurants in the park and was booked solid months ago. But we had been to a few different restaurants that claimed to be booked and had tables available. So we tried.

Tom approached a manager and explained the situation. He spoke to a manager named Mike and told him how they decided late and wanted to eat with us. He asked if there was any way possible to change our reservation from 4 to 8. Mike smiled and said "yes." Mike told the family to cancel the other reservation and to find him on NYE (this was almost a week ahead of time.) When we returned on NYE, we found Mike. Fortunately, he remembered us. He told us that our wait may be substantially increased, but we would be seated together. HUGE WIN. We offered him a tip for his troubles, but he declined and told us to add it to our server's tip. We were seated MAYBE ten minutes later than our scheduled reservation.

Anyway - the park was definitely packed but it didn't seem too bad. They opened up a backstage area - from Canada leading out to Future World and (I believe) China to Future World. This helped alleviate the crowds. After dinner, we were running late for our FP+. We were able to get from the UK to FW in no time.

I will make a note - the weather was terrible on 12/31. It rained all day and part of the night. It was chilly compared to the previous few days. The weather MAY have driven some people away.

On 1/1, we spent most of the day at the hotel. Our family friends were leaving that day and didn't have park tickets. Around 5 we had a dinner reservation at Boma. Our family friends left and we ate at Boma. My sister wanted a cronut and never had the chance to eat one. My dad also wanted to use our CS credits (we had a few remaining) so we went to EPCOT to grab sandwiches for the trip home on 1/2. EPCOT was not packed at all. It was hard to believe that the previous night there were so many people there. I was able to secure a few FP+ reservations on 12/29 for Magic Kingdom. We hopped over there for one last time at MK before leaving Disney.

I say this without any sort of exaggeration: this was the most packed I have ever seen Magic Kingdom. I've been to Disney for Christmas, Christmas Eve, NYE, in the thick of July, for the 25th anniversary and right after Easter. The streets were literally filled with people. The sidewalks were filled with people. If you wanted to cross Main Street from Casey's to Tomorroworld, you couldn't. The backstage area wasn't just an added feature, it was a necessity. When we got outside of Casey's, we had to walk back to Town Square, go backstage and walk to Tomorroworld. I will never go back to MK on NY Day. I have a high tolerance for crowds (I walk in NYC every day) but this was unreal.