New Years Eve ??

[VINN127]

We are planning to be at WDW for New Years Eve this year. Can anyone who has been tell us about things to do special parties, menus. Any good links?
Thanks for the help!

 

[Carole]

I was also hoping for some hints!

 

[jmclester]

I don't mean to be negative, just honest. I hope you do crowds better than my fam. New Year's Eve (Dec. 31, 2000) was the most crowded day that I have ever experienced at WDW. I can't recommend any parties because it was all we could do to get from place to place. We ended up going back to our hotel room about noon and stayed there for the rest of the day.

Later in the year this website should post the NYE activities (who's, when's, and where) and then it's just a matter of arriving at the park you want to be in early and plan to stay there. If you leave you will likely not get back in. Also, don't plant to park hop. Parks fill up to capacity early.

I guess there are lots of things worse than being at WDW on NYE but we've been there, done that, not going back (for New Years).

 

[TSR6]

Pleasure Island has the big New Year's Bash.

The entertainment lineup will probably be availible sometime around late Sept, so just keep your ears open.

 

[Disney Deb]

We did New Years Eve for the first time this past holiday season. In all honesty, my expectations were low because of all I had heard about the crowds, drunks, etc... Our fantastic experience FAR EXCEEDED my expectations. My entire family agrees that New Years at EPCOT was the single funnest evening we've ever spent at WDW. In fact, our entire XMAS trip was fantastic from beginning to its reluctant end.

We entered EPCOT @ 4 pm (the concierge at the Boardwalk gave us a heads up that the park might close by 5:00.....so we booked on over there - I do believe that the park never did close that evening from what I heard).
Don't get me wrong.......the park was crowded, but doable. We hit the World Showcase shows like The British Invasion, Off-Kilter, The Comedy Troupe in England (my husband was Sir Lancelot in their skit), Chinese Acrobats........ We also picked up our New Years Eve hats and noisemakers!!

We parked ourselves in front of Italy for the first Illuminations at 7:30 pm. It was wonderful as always. Afterwards we had a PS at Chefs De France for dinner. Dinner was festive and quite busy as you can well imagine.

We then went back to our spot by Italy to see the New Years Celebration Fireworks at midnight. My husband did a lot of videotaping this evening and it's been fun watching the goings-on at EPCOT again. The fireworks were more spectacular then I was hoping or expecting.

After midnight we walked over to Japan where they were having a dance party.....dj and big huge video screen. We had a blast. The music played were your fun standards like "YMCA", "Cotton-eyed Joe", "Hot, Hot, Hot" (major conga line action), etc..

My kids range in age from 12 thru 18 (and are a tad reserved), but were all dancing up a storm and having a marvelous time.

Maybe we were lucky.....but the crowds were not a factor for us, nor did I see intoxicated people.

We loved New Years at EPCOT.

 

[DisneyDar]

I second what Deb just said. We also spent New Years Eve at Epcot. Because the place is so huge, it is not unbearable. Yes, it is crowded. But like Deb, we went and planned our day accordingly, and knew up front we weren't going to be doing any major attractions. We go quite a bit so no need, really. We planned breakfast at the Yacht Club for 10, so we were able to park there. We walked, people watched, sat, had lunch at Mexico at 3, wandered, walked some more, had a couple of beers at England. Picked up our horns and hats, had dinner at France, and cozyed up for the most fantastic fireworks, bar none, we have ever seen. People were extremely cordial, having a good time, and not intoxicated. Our children are grown. I don't think I would bring children less than 15 because once you're there, you're there and younger than that may get really tired. I personally feel that N Years Eve is more for adults anyway, especially when you can walk around with alcohol in your hands. The techno parties were SO much fun to watch.

 

[Carole]

Enjoyed reading your experiences. I was worried we would have to be at Epcot from opening until closing.