I have spent the past 13 New
Year’s Eves at Walt Disney World.
You might think that I am crazy for subjecting myself to the crowds and
the general insanity of the Disney Parks on such a busy day, but I wouldn’t
spend my New Year’s anywhere else.
The trick to having a successful Disney New Year’s is to enter into the
day with realistic expectations of what you plan to accomplish in the park of
your choice. You should not go to
the Magic Kingdom expecting to get onto every E ticket attraction with
reasonable wait times. You should
not expect to be unencumbered by huge crowds. Finally, you should not expect to walk up to a restaurant
that requires reservations and just be seated; you must make advanced dining
reservations if you plan to eat at a table service restaurant on such a crowded
holiday. With all of this
information in mind, I will share our game plan for enjoying New Year’s Eve
without becoming too stressed out or overwhelmed.
In order to begin the process of
planning our most recent trip, we took the time to figure out where we wanted
to be on New Year’s Eve. From
previous experience, we know that the Magic Kingdom has New Year’s fireworks on
December 30 as well as December 31st. These are the exact same
fireworks; the show is the same, and there is even a countdown to
midnight. The crowds are far more
manageable, and you can actually enjoy the park without being crushed by fellow
guests. We made dining
reservations for the Plaza that night, so we were able to sit down and escape
the crowds for a little while as we waited for the countdown and fireworks to
begin. I think that we planned
very well, and we really enjoyed the pre-New Year’s celebration at the Magic
Kingdom. However, one thing that
always irritates me is the non-park music that is blasted throughout the
park. I could hear Everybody Dance
Now and other crowd dance party favorites as I was trying to enjoy the Carousel
of Progress. That really took away
from my experience in the Magic Kingdom.
That music does not belong there; maybe I am a purist, but there it
is. Other than the music, the
Magic Kingdom experience did not disappoint. The fireworks were fantastic, and the perimeter fireworks
were especially impressive. The
Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show is one of my favorite nighttime shows at
Disney World.
Now, for New Year’s Eve, we
visited the Magic Kingdom during the first half of the day and went on a few
attractions as well as ate lunch.
As we were leaving Magic Kingdom, we saw the entrance line extend from
the welcome sign for at least a half a mile. I was glad that we were headed elsewhere at that point. From what we could gather, Magic
Kingdom was experiencing a Phase 3 closure, which means that Annual Passholders
and resort guests as well as people with reservations can enter the park, but
everyone else was being turned away.
After this, we returned to our hotel room for some sleep time in order
to prepare for the New Year’s Eve festivities at Disney’s Hollywood
Studios. Again, we had dining
reservations at the Studios, so we were covered. We dined at the Sci-Fi Dine In, and we had a wonderful
meal. Then, it was off to
Fantasmic. We waited in quite a
lengthy line for the 10 pm show, but we made it in, and we even had pretty good
seats. The weather was good, and
we loved the show (we always do!).
Then, we had to decide what to do next, and neither my husband nor I
thought that we would make it till midnight, so we exited the park and headed
back to the Pop Century. We were
sad to leave before the fireworks, but we faced a ten hour drive the next day,
and we had to rest up. All in all,
we had a wonderful New Year’s in Disney, and I will be ready to do it again
next year. I know that many people
think that spending this holiday in Disney is crazy due to the crowds, but if
you plan out your trip, you really can have a positive experience. Until next time, have a magical day,
and keep moving forward!
