sdk1231
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2017
So this is my first ever trip report. I wanted to create it in an attempt to share my New Year's Eve experience for those considering Disney at New Year's.
Let me preface it by saying that while I've been to Disney World numerous times, for numerous holidays including Spring Break, 4th of July, Mickey's Not So Scary at Halloween and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in mid December, this was my first shot at New Year's. My birthday falls on New Year's Eve, so as you can imagine, celebrating at WDW was always a bucket list item for me. That said, as I explored the option, I was turned off by 1. High Prices and 2. The very scary blog posts about hellacious crowds. So what did I find?? ... well, here goes:
First off, I want to be clear about one thing. I did my usual spur-of-the-moment vacation planning (i.e. booking less than a month and a half in advance). As such, resort availability was minimal. Luckily enough, the Grand Floridian was available, as was the Poly and the Contemporary. I'm a monorail resort fan. I selected the GF Club Level (Sugarloaf). As expected for NYE travel anywhere, pricing was at a premium. If you're looking to travel on NYE, that's to be expected, and I wasn't put off. My kids ages 17 and 13 were thrilled. My husband pretended to be thrilled - LOL. He's a good sport. I booked Dec 30, 2017 - Jan 2, 2018.
After booking, I began to plan in earnest, scoping out all of the NYE message board threads and blog posts that I could find. I became more and more convinced that I was out of my mind to consider Disney at New Year's. However, my experience was mostly phenomenal.
We arrived on Dec 30 at about 3pm. Late-ish, but flight availability wasn't the best since I'd booked so late. We boarded the Magical Express and took a non-magical hour-plus to get to the GF, which included a horrid little trip through Wilderness all the way back to campgrounds. Ugh. I remarked to my husband that we should've just skipped the Magical Express and taken an Uber. I stand by that. Traffic sucked that day, and the first stop at Wilderness was an extra bit of drag. Lesson learned.
We walked directly to our room, had some club lounge refreshments and headed to the Magic Kingdom. Fireworks were scheduled for 6:30 PM and 11:45 PM with both shows being Fantasy In the Sky - the full blown NYE fireworks. Awesome. We had our backs checked before boarding the monorail at the GF, which eliminated bag-check at the Magic Kingdom gates. When we off-loaded at the MK, we just sailed right into the park. That was fabulous.
The park was busy, but not insane, and with a really really good vibe. We had 7 PM dinner reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table, so we made our way (easily) through Tomorrowland and Fantasyland and at about 6PM, we took up a spot *sitting* on the castle wall by the Carousel, behind Cinderella's castle. From this vantage point, we obviously missed Elsa "freezing" the castle, but having seen it before, we were fine with that. While waiting for the fireworks to begin, we had a nice chat with several families in the crowd. All were in really great, upbeat moods. Viewing Fantasy in the Sky from Fantasyland behind Cinderella's castle was fun and provided us with a unique perspective, one we hadn't had in the past. When the fireworks were over, we were right in position to get to our CRT reservation at 7. Let me just say that sitting inside Cinderella Castle having a nice dinner while looking out over all of the fun of December 30 was awesome. We had a great time. The guests, cast members, and Princesses all seemed to be in extremely good form.
After dinner, we headed over to Liberty Square and Frontierland for Haunted Mansion, Splash Mtn and Big Thunder Mtn fastpasses. Frontierland was a massive fun party. DJ was throwing down lots of great dance tunes - some old, some new. People were dancing in the streets and in the lines. It was a total bash, and totally fun. It was a little chilly, but nothing a cup of hot chocolate didn't help. My husband got tired after the day of travel and decided to call it a night. My kids and I bid him farewell, and decided to rock and roll. (We often do girls' trips, and have no problem hanging on our own). We completed our fastpasses and jumped on My Disney Experience and booked Jungle (Jingle) Cruise and Pirates back-to-back. We then hung out in Frontierland for awhile longer, because it was such a fun party. After that, we made our way to the HUB/Main Street area.
To give you a sense of crowds on Dec 30, at no time was I ever found wanting for a place to sit. At no time did I feel "crowded" in any way. At no time did I ever have to wait for a bathroom or for a drink or snack. We walked - alone - over the bridge from Adventureland to the HUB. And there is where the crowd was. All over the HUB, where another DJ was laying down beats all over the place and the entire crowd was getting into the jam. It was such a fun vibe. We took up a spot in front of Crystal Palace near Casey's and Main Street and joined the party for a bit. Those areas were basically wide open at 11 PM. Aside from the massive crowd in front of the castle, this crowd felt like NO PROBLEM to me. We posed for some photopass shots on Main St with the castle in the background - with no wait. Bathroom - no wait. At 11 PM. At that point, my youngest was getting really tired. We opted to boat back to the GF and watch the midnight Fantasy in the Sky show from the GF dock, thus avoiding the midnight mass exodus. This was a brilliant decision, if I do say so myself. We caught the last launch back to the GF and watched Fantasy in the sky from the GF dock. The firework view from the dock, with the lagoon fireworks being shot off to mirror the MK fireworks (brilliant) was incredible. Really the best view of all, we all agreed. What a massive show. The GF had speakers set up playing the accompanying music. Nice.
December 30 was the bomb (in a good way!). My older daughter and I had such an awesome time that we almost returned for the 1-3 AM extra magic hours. No joke. Then I took a minute to think realistically about my morning-after and decided to call it a night. I kind of wish I'd gone back. The Magic Kingdom on December 30 was a total PARTY. It was like being in a club. A family-friendly club without a million drunks. Still, I felt a fun bit of nostalgia for my bygone clubbing days, and my teens (having never been in a club) thought it was the most fun party they'd ever seen. Singing and dancing around with my teen kids in Frontierland was not something I thought I'd ever do, but we did it. And video'd it. Hilarious! We unanimously voted it our Best Night Ever at the Magic Kingdom - and we love the Halloween and Christmas parties.
Best of all, on December 30, I did not see one crabby parent or child. Not one. Below photo was taken by Tomorrowland on Dec 30 at about 11 PM.
View attachment 293565
For December 31, New Year's Eve (my birthday!), my Grand Plan had us sleeping in and hanging out at the hotel, lunching at the Grand Floridian Cafe, doing boat rides at the Marina, then going into the Magic Kingdom for the early fireworks at the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party, then fastpassing Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland, then heading over to Fantasyland to fastpass 7 Dwarfs at 10 PM, then heading out. All went according to plan with a couple of changes. First, my husband and younger daughter decided to eat at the club lounge and then head into the MK at about 9 AM. I told them to have fun standing in line. They got there, crowds were already bad, and Space Mtn wait was at 2 hours. They headed over to Splash Mtn where they waited about an hour to ride (I would never do that). By 11:30 AM, Disney sent out a text that the Magic Kingdom was not admitting any new guests. I knew we were okay, because we had the Dessert Party reservation. Meantime, my daughter and I enjoyed breakfast from the club lounge did some shopping at the hotel, bought some bath bombs, and enjoyed luxurious baths and quiet time.
After not enjoying their morning in the park, my husband and daughter returned to the GF for lunch at GF Cafe, which was great. Except for our server who upon hearing that we were headed to the MK later, repeatedly commented about the closure. I didn't bother arguing with him or telling him about our Dessert Party reservation. His comments annoyed me, but I'm sure he was trying to be helpful. After lunch, we returned to our room where my hubby had a surprise waiting - the Mickey Celebration Cake with chocolate covered strawberries and balloons. Nice! Especially considering that I'm a cake gal, a baker, and had considering ordering myself up a specialty cake (then blew it off). The cake was delicious and really fun. After that, my husband and kids rented Sea Raycers at the GF Marina and took off boating. We had no problem renting the craft, and there were plenty of pontoons available as well. The kids considered it a highlight of the trip. We enjoyed a little pool/hot tub time after that. We had a little snack at the club lounge and then headed out for our big NYE at the Magic Kingdom.
December 31, 2017 at the Magic Kingdom. Arrival time 5 PM. O.M.G. Now keep in mind that I was expecting crowds. I have been at crazy-crowded times. But I have never seen anything like this. As we made our way up Main Street I was slack-jawed at the line for Starbuck's (AKA Main St Bakery) that extended halfway down Main Street. No joke. That had to have been a 45 minute line. Casey's looked like a mob scene from hell. We zipped over to Tomorrowland Terrace (nearly losing one another in the throng). The HUB was a solid body of people. If we had not had the Dessert Party booked, I would have turned right around and left. And the vibe? Was not the upbeat, fun vibe from the night before. Oh no... this vibe was crabby-crowded-tired. Anyone who would bring a stroller (or double-stroller) into that mess - well, I feel for them.
That said, we had the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party for the 6:30 show of Fantasy in the Sky. It was awesome. All tables were up against the rail, the beverages were good, fruit and cheese were good (but bring your own crackers if you want crackers with your cheese). I had one little mini cheesecake thing that was okay. Kids had a couple of cupcakes and whatnot that they said were good. It was all about the seating and view. And the NYE hats, blowers, and souvenir flashy cups. Fun! The view and the sound could not be beat. Totally, categorically, absolutely worth the money on NYE. Big bonus was having access to the Tomorrowland Terrace restroom behind the roped-off dining area. The wait for the public restroom down by the Terrace entrance was running 30-45 minutes. Below are some photos of the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party. First is a photo of the castle when we were first seated. Note the packed Tomorrowland Bridge. Next are some of the NYE Dessert Party offerings along with the view of Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks from our table at TT (early show).
After the awesome fun Dessert Party and fireworks, we headed out into Tomorrowland. What a zoo. A DJ was blasting tunes, which added to the mayhem. I don't love Tomorrowland and I didn't like the music that DJ was playing at that moment. We did our fastpasses for Monsters Inc (fun) and Buzz Lightyear. Thought about going on Carousel of Progress or People Mover, but not at 20-30 min waits. We headed over to Fantasyland which was also a zoo, but less so. We hung around there for awhile and the kids rode Dumbo. By then it was about 9 PM. We had a family group conference and decided to bail on our 7 Dwarfs fastpass, hop the train and head out. We just had no interest whatsoever in hanging around in the Magic Kingdom.
I can't really overstate the night-and-day difference between December 30 (Fun! Exciting! Party!) and December 31 (Crowded! Desperate! Crabby!). I was totally ready for crowds and am totally good to have fun in the MK rain or shine, but NYE just wasn't cutting it for me. Maybe if I hadn't had the blast of my life of on December 30 to compare it to. Back at the Grand Floridian we had a little snack at Gaspy's. NYE offerings were watching from the Gaspy's lawn (with music), the boat dock (with music), or joining in on the lobby festivities with balloon drop - but I wouldn't miss those awesome fireworks. The hotel had a super fun, upbeat vibe, very much like the MK on Dec 30. Below are some photos of the Grand Floridian Club Level Sugar Loaf New Year's Eve lounge offerings:
And that brings us to January 1, New Year's Day! Now, my husband had decided (again) to do a last minute change to my Grand Plan (gotta love him). He decide late on NYE that he and my younger daughter wanted to try to ride Flight of Passage. Oh really? That ride has zero fastpass availability and I don't have Park Hopper tix. LOL! We visited the club concierge who set up Park Hopper for my husband and daughter, and I told them to plan to be at AK 90 minutes before park opening and enjoy the cold/rainy weather. (January 1 began a freak cold spell). We got up in the AM and they took off while I pulled up MDE and tried to book them some decent fastpasses and a breakfast. They rope-dropped FOP and by the time they got off the ride at 8:30 (with an 8 AM opening) the wait was 2.5 hours. They arrived at AK at 6:30AM for an 8 AM opening and rode FOP, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safari, Everest and had breakfast at Tusker House before returning to the Grand Floridian by about 11:30 AM.
The whole rest of New Year's Day 2018 remained rainy and cold. We found it really quite nasty, despite the fact that we're from Chicago and frankly, 30 degrees is something we'd consider balmy. We had afternoon tea at the GF club lounge (amazing scones), then returned to the MK later in the day. We did 7 Dwarfs and some other rides, ate at Liberty Tree, rode Haunted Mansion (my fave). After that we had another family conference and decided to leave the park - bailing on the low crowds and low wait times, and bailing on Happily Ever After. We were just too cold - and we all had our Chicago winter coats, hats and gloves, and an umbrella. It was just plain nasty/wet out, and the wind had picked up to +15mph. I can handle cold. I can handle wet. I can handle wind. But as a Triple Threat? No thank you, ma'am. We later watched HEA from in front of Gaspy's with the music, and with a nice, biting wind. Yowza.
We had an early flight on Jan 2, and the Magical Express wanted to pick us up crazy early, so we just Uber'd. No way was I going to get to dreaded MCO 3 hours in advance of my flight. Ugh. Uber worked just fine.
So the final judgment: New Year's at Disney World? YES! If you go on December 30 and plan to watch the fireworks from your hotel or from the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party on December 31. Seriously, December 30 was the most fun I've ever had at the Magic Kingdom.
P.S. ADRs - Even booking at about 45 in advance of NYE, I had plenty of opportunities to book ADR's including BOG, 'Ohana, CRT, the Dessert Parties, etc., so do not think that you'll be left with nothing good on NYE unless you book a year in advance. A million options opened up just days before NYE.
Let me preface it by saying that while I've been to Disney World numerous times, for numerous holidays including Spring Break, 4th of July, Mickey's Not So Scary at Halloween and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in mid December, this was my first shot at New Year's. My birthday falls on New Year's Eve, so as you can imagine, celebrating at WDW was always a bucket list item for me. That said, as I explored the option, I was turned off by 1. High Prices and 2. The very scary blog posts about hellacious crowds. So what did I find?? ... well, here goes:
First off, I want to be clear about one thing. I did my usual spur-of-the-moment vacation planning (i.e. booking less than a month and a half in advance). As such, resort availability was minimal. Luckily enough, the Grand Floridian was available, as was the Poly and the Contemporary. I'm a monorail resort fan. I selected the GF Club Level (Sugarloaf). As expected for NYE travel anywhere, pricing was at a premium. If you're looking to travel on NYE, that's to be expected, and I wasn't put off. My kids ages 17 and 13 were thrilled. My husband pretended to be thrilled - LOL. He's a good sport. I booked Dec 30, 2017 - Jan 2, 2018.
After booking, I began to plan in earnest, scoping out all of the NYE message board threads and blog posts that I could find. I became more and more convinced that I was out of my mind to consider Disney at New Year's. However, my experience was mostly phenomenal.
We arrived on Dec 30 at about 3pm. Late-ish, but flight availability wasn't the best since I'd booked so late. We boarded the Magical Express and took a non-magical hour-plus to get to the GF, which included a horrid little trip through Wilderness all the way back to campgrounds. Ugh. I remarked to my husband that we should've just skipped the Magical Express and taken an Uber. I stand by that. Traffic sucked that day, and the first stop at Wilderness was an extra bit of drag. Lesson learned.
We walked directly to our room, had some club lounge refreshments and headed to the Magic Kingdom. Fireworks were scheduled for 6:30 PM and 11:45 PM with both shows being Fantasy In the Sky - the full blown NYE fireworks. Awesome. We had our backs checked before boarding the monorail at the GF, which eliminated bag-check at the Magic Kingdom gates. When we off-loaded at the MK, we just sailed right into the park. That was fabulous.
The park was busy, but not insane, and with a really really good vibe. We had 7 PM dinner reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table, so we made our way (easily) through Tomorrowland and Fantasyland and at about 6PM, we took up a spot *sitting* on the castle wall by the Carousel, behind Cinderella's castle. From this vantage point, we obviously missed Elsa "freezing" the castle, but having seen it before, we were fine with that. While waiting for the fireworks to begin, we had a nice chat with several families in the crowd. All were in really great, upbeat moods. Viewing Fantasy in the Sky from Fantasyland behind Cinderella's castle was fun and provided us with a unique perspective, one we hadn't had in the past. When the fireworks were over, we were right in position to get to our CRT reservation at 7. Let me just say that sitting inside Cinderella Castle having a nice dinner while looking out over all of the fun of December 30 was awesome. We had a great time. The guests, cast members, and Princesses all seemed to be in extremely good form.
After dinner, we headed over to Liberty Square and Frontierland for Haunted Mansion, Splash Mtn and Big Thunder Mtn fastpasses. Frontierland was a massive fun party. DJ was throwing down lots of great dance tunes - some old, some new. People were dancing in the streets and in the lines. It was a total bash, and totally fun. It was a little chilly, but nothing a cup of hot chocolate didn't help. My husband got tired after the day of travel and decided to call it a night. My kids and I bid him farewell, and decided to rock and roll. (We often do girls' trips, and have no problem hanging on our own). We completed our fastpasses and jumped on My Disney Experience and booked Jungle (Jingle) Cruise and Pirates back-to-back. We then hung out in Frontierland for awhile longer, because it was such a fun party. After that, we made our way to the HUB/Main Street area.
To give you a sense of crowds on Dec 30, at no time was I ever found wanting for a place to sit. At no time did I feel "crowded" in any way. At no time did I ever have to wait for a bathroom or for a drink or snack. We walked - alone - over the bridge from Adventureland to the HUB. And there is where the crowd was. All over the HUB, where another DJ was laying down beats all over the place and the entire crowd was getting into the jam. It was such a fun vibe. We took up a spot in front of Crystal Palace near Casey's and Main Street and joined the party for a bit. Those areas were basically wide open at 11 PM. Aside from the massive crowd in front of the castle, this crowd felt like NO PROBLEM to me. We posed for some photopass shots on Main St with the castle in the background - with no wait. Bathroom - no wait. At 11 PM. At that point, my youngest was getting really tired. We opted to boat back to the GF and watch the midnight Fantasy in the Sky show from the GF dock, thus avoiding the midnight mass exodus. This was a brilliant decision, if I do say so myself. We caught the last launch back to the GF and watched Fantasy in the sky from the GF dock. The firework view from the dock, with the lagoon fireworks being shot off to mirror the MK fireworks (brilliant) was incredible. Really the best view of all, we all agreed. What a massive show. The GF had speakers set up playing the accompanying music. Nice.
December 30 was the bomb (in a good way!). My older daughter and I had such an awesome time that we almost returned for the 1-3 AM extra magic hours. No joke. Then I took a minute to think realistically about my morning-after and decided to call it a night. I kind of wish I'd gone back. The Magic Kingdom on December 30 was a total PARTY. It was like being in a club. A family-friendly club without a million drunks. Still, I felt a fun bit of nostalgia for my bygone clubbing days, and my teens (having never been in a club) thought it was the most fun party they'd ever seen. Singing and dancing around with my teen kids in Frontierland was not something I thought I'd ever do, but we did it. And video'd it. Hilarious! We unanimously voted it our Best Night Ever at the Magic Kingdom - and we love the Halloween and Christmas parties.
Best of all, on December 30, I did not see one crabby parent or child. Not one. Below photo was taken by Tomorrowland on Dec 30 at about 11 PM.
View attachment 293565
For December 31, New Year's Eve (my birthday!), my Grand Plan had us sleeping in and hanging out at the hotel, lunching at the Grand Floridian Cafe, doing boat rides at the Marina, then going into the Magic Kingdom for the early fireworks at the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party, then fastpassing Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland, then heading over to Fantasyland to fastpass 7 Dwarfs at 10 PM, then heading out. All went according to plan with a couple of changes. First, my husband and younger daughter decided to eat at the club lounge and then head into the MK at about 9 AM. I told them to have fun standing in line. They got there, crowds were already bad, and Space Mtn wait was at 2 hours. They headed over to Splash Mtn where they waited about an hour to ride (I would never do that). By 11:30 AM, Disney sent out a text that the Magic Kingdom was not admitting any new guests. I knew we were okay, because we had the Dessert Party reservation. Meantime, my daughter and I enjoyed breakfast from the club lounge did some shopping at the hotel, bought some bath bombs, and enjoyed luxurious baths and quiet time.
After not enjoying their morning in the park, my husband and daughter returned to the GF for lunch at GF Cafe, which was great. Except for our server who upon hearing that we were headed to the MK later, repeatedly commented about the closure. I didn't bother arguing with him or telling him about our Dessert Party reservation. His comments annoyed me, but I'm sure he was trying to be helpful. After lunch, we returned to our room where my hubby had a surprise waiting - the Mickey Celebration Cake with chocolate covered strawberries and balloons. Nice! Especially considering that I'm a cake gal, a baker, and had considering ordering myself up a specialty cake (then blew it off). The cake was delicious and really fun. After that, my husband and kids rented Sea Raycers at the GF Marina and took off boating. We had no problem renting the craft, and there were plenty of pontoons available as well. The kids considered it a highlight of the trip. We enjoyed a little pool/hot tub time after that. We had a little snack at the club lounge and then headed out for our big NYE at the Magic Kingdom.
December 31, 2017 at the Magic Kingdom. Arrival time 5 PM. O.M.G. Now keep in mind that I was expecting crowds. I have been at crazy-crowded times. But I have never seen anything like this. As we made our way up Main Street I was slack-jawed at the line for Starbuck's (AKA Main St Bakery) that extended halfway down Main Street. No joke. That had to have been a 45 minute line. Casey's looked like a mob scene from hell. We zipped over to Tomorrowland Terrace (nearly losing one another in the throng). The HUB was a solid body of people. If we had not had the Dessert Party booked, I would have turned right around and left. And the vibe? Was not the upbeat, fun vibe from the night before. Oh no... this vibe was crabby-crowded-tired. Anyone who would bring a stroller (or double-stroller) into that mess - well, I feel for them.
That said, we had the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party for the 6:30 show of Fantasy in the Sky. It was awesome. All tables were up against the rail, the beverages were good, fruit and cheese were good (but bring your own crackers if you want crackers with your cheese). I had one little mini cheesecake thing that was okay. Kids had a couple of cupcakes and whatnot that they said were good. It was all about the seating and view. And the NYE hats, blowers, and souvenir flashy cups. Fun! The view and the sound could not be beat. Totally, categorically, absolutely worth the money on NYE. Big bonus was having access to the Tomorrowland Terrace restroom behind the roped-off dining area. The wait for the public restroom down by the Terrace entrance was running 30-45 minutes. Below are some photos of the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party. First is a photo of the castle when we were first seated. Note the packed Tomorrowland Bridge. Next are some of the NYE Dessert Party offerings along with the view of Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks from our table at TT (early show).
After the awesome fun Dessert Party and fireworks, we headed out into Tomorrowland. What a zoo. A DJ was blasting tunes, which added to the mayhem. I don't love Tomorrowland and I didn't like the music that DJ was playing at that moment. We did our fastpasses for Monsters Inc (fun) and Buzz Lightyear. Thought about going on Carousel of Progress or People Mover, but not at 20-30 min waits. We headed over to Fantasyland which was also a zoo, but less so. We hung around there for awhile and the kids rode Dumbo. By then it was about 9 PM. We had a family group conference and decided to bail on our 7 Dwarfs fastpass, hop the train and head out. We just had no interest whatsoever in hanging around in the Magic Kingdom.
I can't really overstate the night-and-day difference between December 30 (Fun! Exciting! Party!) and December 31 (Crowded! Desperate! Crabby!). I was totally ready for crowds and am totally good to have fun in the MK rain or shine, but NYE just wasn't cutting it for me. Maybe if I hadn't had the blast of my life of on December 30 to compare it to. Back at the Grand Floridian we had a little snack at Gaspy's. NYE offerings were watching from the Gaspy's lawn (with music), the boat dock (with music), or joining in on the lobby festivities with balloon drop - but I wouldn't miss those awesome fireworks. The hotel had a super fun, upbeat vibe, very much like the MK on Dec 30. Below are some photos of the Grand Floridian Club Level Sugar Loaf New Year's Eve lounge offerings:
And that brings us to January 1, New Year's Day! Now, my husband had decided (again) to do a last minute change to my Grand Plan (gotta love him). He decide late on NYE that he and my younger daughter wanted to try to ride Flight of Passage. Oh really? That ride has zero fastpass availability and I don't have Park Hopper tix. LOL! We visited the club concierge who set up Park Hopper for my husband and daughter, and I told them to plan to be at AK 90 minutes before park opening and enjoy the cold/rainy weather. (January 1 began a freak cold spell). We got up in the AM and they took off while I pulled up MDE and tried to book them some decent fastpasses and a breakfast. They rope-dropped FOP and by the time they got off the ride at 8:30 (with an 8 AM opening) the wait was 2.5 hours. They arrived at AK at 6:30AM for an 8 AM opening and rode FOP, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safari, Everest and had breakfast at Tusker House before returning to the Grand Floridian by about 11:30 AM.
The whole rest of New Year's Day 2018 remained rainy and cold. We found it really quite nasty, despite the fact that we're from Chicago and frankly, 30 degrees is something we'd consider balmy. We had afternoon tea at the GF club lounge (amazing scones), then returned to the MK later in the day. We did 7 Dwarfs and some other rides, ate at Liberty Tree, rode Haunted Mansion (my fave). After that we had another family conference and decided to leave the park - bailing on the low crowds and low wait times, and bailing on Happily Ever After. We were just too cold - and we all had our Chicago winter coats, hats and gloves, and an umbrella. It was just plain nasty/wet out, and the wind had picked up to +15mph. I can handle cold. I can handle wet. I can handle wind. But as a Triple Threat? No thank you, ma'am. We later watched HEA from in front of Gaspy's with the music, and with a nice, biting wind. Yowza.
We had an early flight on Jan 2, and the Magical Express wanted to pick us up crazy early, so we just Uber'd. No way was I going to get to dreaded MCO 3 hours in advance of my flight. Ugh. Uber worked just fine.
So the final judgment: New Year's at Disney World? YES! If you go on December 30 and plan to watch the fireworks from your hotel or from the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party on December 31. Seriously, December 30 was the most fun I've ever had at the Magic Kingdom.
P.S. ADRs - Even booking at about 45 in advance of NYE, I had plenty of opportunities to book ADR's including BOG, 'Ohana, CRT, the Dessert Parties, etc., so do not think that you'll be left with nothing good on NYE unless you book a year in advance. A million options opened up just days before NYE.
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