What is NYE like @ Disney?

[Martinvols]

We are going to be in Tampa and was wondering if it would be worth a special trip to Disney for NYE. Thoughts?

 

[castleri]

If you are not planning to stay onsite you will need to be in Orlando and in a parking lot very early that morning. I met a couple on the monorail 3 years ago at about 9:30 am and they were one of the last two cars allowed into the T&T parking for the MK. It is a fun way to spend NYE if you don't mind crowds and go with the attitude that you may only be able to do a few rides with long lines involved. We will just go with whatever we can do and enjoy the extra shows and music that is around that day and evening. That same early morning trip I was the only one on the monorail between EPCOT and T&T center - The CM let me on when I said I had to meet my children at the entrance to the MK but everyone else was being stopped because they were very close to closing the MK and there was no sense letting them travel there if they couldn't get in. The crowds are maximum and the lines for everything go along with that. Me DGD and I will be there this year and since we will be checking into SSR that day we will be up and on the road from our offsite hotel about 6am. Good luck with you decision and have a Happy Holiday Season.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

We are going to be in Tampa and was wondering if it would be worth a special trip to Disney for NYE. Thoughts?

I guess it would depend on which park you were going to and what you wanted to do there. MK is extremely, absolutely crowded and likely to have to close during the day due to capacity. My friend was there on NYE a couple of years ago and had to stand up in a heavy crowd (nowhere to sit) for over 4 hours near the hub to have a place to see the fireworks!!

 

[sunking]

We were thru for the week between Xmas and New Years about 3 years ago. Had a great time. The parks looked beautiful and the weather was cool. The negative is the crowds. They were unlike anything I have ever seen before (and we have been there for Spring Break and Thanskgiving). CM's were giving out New Years hats and noise makers back on Mickey Avenue and the line just for that was comparable to any major attraction that I have seen during peak season.

We spent NYE at MGM. There was live entertainment all over the place. We found a spot on the ground in front of the Sorcerers Hat about 9:00pm and camped out there for the entertainment and the fireworks (Sorcerery In The Sky).

All in all, it was a great time. Go early. Get to the park and stay there. Make PS's for lunch and dinner. Go expecting crowds and that you will only be able to do a handful attractions and you will not be disappointed.

Have a great time!
Sunking

 

[disnut8]

From our experience two years ago. Magic Kingdom closed by 10:30. We didn't even attempt it. Epcot was getting close to closing (they had the signs up on the roads in preparation). We didn't even attempt it. We went to Animal Kingdom instead (closed at 5:00). Then my son and his family and my mother-in-law went to MGM. They had a GREAT time. They did not want to leave but they had to meet up with the rest of us. My son is a Disney World veteran and he said it was not that crowded at MGM, maybe because the TV coverage focuses on Magic Kingdom and Epcot. His wife has strong crowd issues and she was fine and said she'd do MGM on New Year's Eve again.

 

[civileng68]

Honestly,

There's two things I'll say about something someone else said:

The last few years we've gone but we've not entered the park until after 10:00 pm. We only go to EPCOT however.

We've never had a problem getting into the EPCOT parking lot (in fact July 4 there were more cars in Epcot's parking lot, including being parked on the incoming road coming into the park)

We've also never had a problem getting into EPCOT on NYE.

Now, personally I dont like WDW that much during that time but my wife likes to go.

Typically Epcot does very good fireworks at NYE but, this past year it was really poorly done IMHO and was outdone by MGM which was going on at the same time, and lasted about 5 minutes longer.


One thing I really hated was, there was a stage set up at the fountain (walking through that way is impossible, you have to go the long way around) and they played incredibly loud techno music all night long. Even the speakers through the park that typically play (background music) played techno music. When I left, I was completely worn out from the techno music.

I'll say this, if you go to EPCot at NYE, it's not going to be the typical EPCOT and in my opinion they go a little overboard at NYE and sort of ruin the magic of the park. Oh ok, they REALLY ruin the magic of the park.