Welcomed in the NY with 75,000 friends at epcot. Where you one of them?

[funhouse8]

We just got back and boy is it cold. 11* right now and I hear going down to 2* tonight BRRRRRRRr.

Where were you on NYE?


We had a wonderful NYE at Epcot. It was truly magical. The dinner at Tappanyaki. Then they had a DJ with a big screen set up we danced till 11.30 went upstairs and watched the greatest fireworks show ever. Our hats were moving from the vibs of the fireworks. Was it packed- you bet, but it was enjoyable. The only problem was where they decided to give out the hats. On one of the bridges between World showcase and furture world. OMG I thought I would be crushed. I'm small and don't like crowds. My brave DH said. I'll wait here you go get the hats. I should have known. Oh well he did take me to WDW so I guess I'll forgive him. gina

 

[linda_pizzuro]

Hi there, we were in Epcot with you on NYE. Were you the one with the Disney NYE Hat on blowing the horn. My boyfriend, his 15 year old son and I have done NYE in Epcot for the past 4 or 5 years - we spent one NYE on the Disney Wonder. Yes, the park was packed. We arrived around 10:30 am - and made sure we purchased our NYE pins. My boyfriends son ran over to Test Track and got FP for 10:30 pm. We rode Test Track at around 11:30 am in the singles line (wait was supposed to be over an hour - we were through in about 1/2 hour). He then rode Mission Space on the singles line - I didn't ride it and my boyfriend rode it in October and did not feel well after so he did not want to do it this time. We then headed to WS - I waited for food in Mexico - waited over a 1/2 hour on line and they went to Norway for food - much shorter line. We then headed to China for eggrolls - myboyfriends son's favorite - again over 1/2 hour on line. We wandered through all of WS catching rides and shows as we went along. We got to Rose and Crown around 5:30 and did not have reservations but my boyfriend put his name on the list for an outside table - they said about a half hour. We were seated at an outside table by 6:30 and were able to watch 7:30 Illuminations while we were enjoying desert. We tried to get to FW by going past Canada - there was an bottleneck of people and we could not get through so we headed back the other way. We enjoyed music and dancing to all the DJ's in Japan and China - got stuck in another crowd near Mexico and finally made it to FW. Did some shopping and then we headed back to WS for 11:40 Illuminations. Boyfiends son went back to Test Track by himself with his FP and rode twice and then he came back to us. 11:40 Illuminations were wonderful followed by the countdown and all other fireworks. We did not get out of the park until after 1:00 and then got to Downtown Disney at 9:00 the next morning for the New Year's Day pin and then headed to Kona Cafe in Poly for their coffee and Tonga Toast. We plan on doing it again next year.
Linda

 

[dgaston]

I walked thru Epcot to the International Gateway about 9pm on NYE. My SIL and DNephew9 and DN11 and I were enroute to the Studios for Sorcery in the Sky. Wow what a crowd! We were disappointed that hats had been given out about 6pm but later some celebrating English folks gave us their extras--horns too--while we were in line for Star Tours.

I'm not sure if I'll be in WDW for another Christmas or NYE, but I am so GLAD I got a chance to see Sorcery in the Sky.

 

[snoopy5386]

What is epcot like on NYE??
We have done MGM and MK on NYE and are considering Epcot this year, but we have heard it can be supercrazy in the world showcase at night. What is there to do?? We are are not dancers or drinkers so I know we wouldn't enjoy a DJ or being around drunk people. Should we stick to MK?? No kids here just me and hubby....also, how late is futureworld open?

 

[linda_pizzuro]

Epcot is VERY crowded on NYE - but I am sure all the other parks are also. We like Epcot because it is so large that no matter how crowded it is, there is always someplace quiet to go. Both WS and FW are open till 1:00 am. Also, there is alot of room around the water to watch Illuminations - it is very crowded but there is just more area then Main Street in MK. They do Illuminations twice - once at 7:30 and then again at 11:40. Some people (especially with young children) leave the park after the 7:30 show. We have done this for the past few years and speaking with CM's this year, they said it was more crowded this year then past years. You do not have to dance to the DJ's, we just stood near the back and listened to the music - some good old time rock and roll and some not so good (in our opinion) what they call new rock and roll. They also had big band music at the American Stage.

 

[Jackie H.]

We were in WDW on NYE, but not at EPCOT. We spent the day in AK, then had a Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream.

At the stroke of midnight, we were in our PJs watching the EPCOT fireworks from our room at the dolphin. We had an added bonus: we could also see the Pleasure Island fireworks, the Magic Kingdom fireworks and fireworks from somewhere in Orlando (Universal Studios we figured).



I guess I am assuming the fireworks were from PI. They were right behind the Cirque du Soleil building from our viewpoint - PI used to do fireworks, I guess they still do at leat on NYE!

 

[zurgswife]

We were also in Epcot for NYE....we arrived about 4:30 pm were seated early 5pm at the Garden Grill...had dinner and then wandered around for just a few moments...then sanity got through and I decided that standing in line at Test track for 2 hours and 30mins beat fighting the crowds with 5 kids...

we had an enjoyable 2hrs and 10mins .....besides the family that cut in line...right before we got to the inside doors....They ended up staking claim about 20 people behind me...as long as it wasn't infront of me...I did my best to get them kicked out of line but after awhile i gave up...

Anyhow...part of the familiy decided to head back to the room about 11pm (my dd was sick and couldn't hang on any longer) Dh headed back with the 3 girls and I stayed in Epcot with the 2 boys...we found our DIS friends Mattsmom and Buz and there family and my boys and I watched a magnificant NYE fireworks display...It was sooo loud that my body shook.....

I'm glad I was there but I don't think I will do it again any time soo....way too many people...

 

[WDWguru]

DH and I were there for our first NYE on property. We were insane and actually got there for early entry at 7 am!! We staked out a locker, got FPs for M:S, rode it standby. By the time we got out and back in line to use our FP the standby line was two hours long. It was nuts! While everyone was in line for M:S and Test Track, we did Honey I Shrunk... and got a jump on the World Showcase, where there were no crowds.

We had made PSs for lunch and dinner, so no stress there. We took our hidden Mickeys book and did a lot of people watching. Had fun visiting the different countries as they celebrated midnight back home, which was really neat. All the CMs came out of the shops and had celebrations in the streets. Very cool!

After our dinner PS -- about 9:30 pm -- we staked out a table and chairs next to the French creperie and waited for Illuminations. As others have said, it was incredible. The biggest hassle was the parking lot. Since we arrived so early, our car was close, which means we waited for the bottleneck to get out of the lot. We sat in the car, not moving, for 45 minutes before they opened a back road to let us out. Even so, we made it back to VWL by about 2 and crashed. Even with all that sitting, we logged more than 11 miles on the pedometer that day.

We enjoyed it, but it certainly wasn't a typical WDW trip. Not sure we'd go when it's so crowded again. We don't have kids, so we go in the off season and love the low crowds!

By the way we loved your balcony lights, Zurg family!

 

[funhouse8]

We didn't drink and I just want to add that we hung around the DJ all night and I don't think that too many people were drunk. I didn't notice anyone acting rude either. Even with all those people everyone just seemed to be there to have a good time. (While I was being crushed in the hat line some nice woman said Oh you are so small here get infront of me. Thanks, whoever you are) I'm glad I picked Epcot because there was alot to do. We also didn't head out of the parks till around 1:45. We also had our car and knew it would be bumper to bumper so we just enjoyed the down time. The DJ's were still playing music and the crowds were thinning out. The next day I let the kids sleep late (10:00, they didn't think it was late. LOL) then we went to disney quest.
I didn't know about the NYE pins. I guess I have to go back next year. Gina

 

[Bobump]

NYE AT EPCOT WAS AWESOME

Disclaimer: If you are trying to get someone to like Disney this is not the time to take them to THE WORLD. We were there from Tuesday to Sunday and I think this was the largest crowds I have ever seen at WDW. The one exception was NYE for the Millenium.

We started out to Epcot from the Dolphin at 9:00 am. When we got to the Gateway we found that World Showcase opened at 9:30 am. We decided to get breakfast at France and it was jammed. They were out of quiche by the time we got to the counter. I have not seen lines like this in years.

Well, the adventure began at this point.

Cast: Myself, Lovely Wife, Oldest Daughter, Her Husband, Youngest Daughter and her boyfriend.

We had a nice wine in France and headed to Morrocco.

You always have to have a TANGERINE COCKTAIL.
While having this we decide to go to front of park.

By the time we got there we had decided to do Mission Space. So, at this point we bee-lined to MS. WE were able to get fast passes for 7pm. This was at about 10am. We decide to do Spaceship Earth for boyfriend who was new. 35minutes. HAHA lotsa carrying on.

We then went through Innoventions East and it was pretty cool in that there was some new thing to fool with.

At this point we headed to Mexico and unbelievably there was a line for EL TEMPO DI RIO. So what to do!! Get a Margarita and move on. Park was close to shoulder to shoulder. But being at the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH everyone was quite agreeable and festive.

We had PS for Dinner at Germany so we were in no hurry. But time does get away.

Anyway on to Norway. ! hour wait for ride! Answer to this Ringness for ALL!!

Now on to China and the movie!! One of my personal favorites and I love how they interspersed the old with the new. Chinese Beer was vrrry veeerryy gooood to me! and everyone else!

Anyhow, as you may have guessed we just made our dinner reservations at THE BIERGARTEN. This is awesome. I am a picky eater and love it and everyone else wants to go back every trip. While there at 6pm Germany celebrated there NEW YEARS and it was really cool. All of the CMs came out on the dance floor and performed or I guess just celebrated but it was cool to watch. Well we were in Germany for over 2 hours and now it was about 6:15pm.

Remember our fast passes for MS?? What to do?? all have had a few drinks and ate!! Let's make some family happy!! We looked for a family of 5 or 6 and offered them the tickets!! Their faces made our day. It was as if we had given them GOLD. HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Anyway we always wind up at Japan in front of the giant SONY screen so off to Italy for a wine flight. And watch the fireworks. These were good but looking back only an encore.

Then off to America for a round of BEER. or two.

By now it is well into the night and the DJ is playing. And we settled in!! We stayed till closing and the crowd was friendly and very festive. The midnight fireworks ROCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The DJ did play to the older crowd for the most part but did take care of the younger crowd also.

The only thing left was the 2am stop in Tubbi's and off to bed for EARLY HOUR next morning. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Seriously, this is one of the great days you can have at the park. But you must remeber at this time of year you are there for the AMBIENCE and not really for the rides. The rides are a plus!!!! Also, visit all of the hotels each are decked out and are different. I gotta go back to work or I could keep going.

 

[mitros]

We were there December 12-16. You could not pay us enough to be there on new years eve.

 

[MarkLem]

We were at Epcot NYE as well!. Go there first thing in the morning, did most of the rides & attractions . We have young kids who needed an afternoon nap, and were told that if we got our hand stamped we could get back in at any time! We left abouot 1:00 PM and returned about 6:00 PM. Park was great! It was quite a standstill in the world for the 7:30 PM show, but after it was over you could get to anywhere you wanted (there were lots of people but not a problem).

I'd do it again.