Hi everyone!
We’re planning to visit WDW (all 4 parks) for New Year’s Eve, primarily to experience the original Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. However, is this version guaranteed to run on 12/30 and 12/31 every year? Unfortunately, the December calendar isn’t available yet so I wasn’t able to verify.
We visited WDW during Christmas 2019, and the crowds were actually quite manageable, though we did have a 2-hour wait for Flight of Passage. We know NYE crowds are significantly worse than Christmas, and we’re prepared for that. We’d appreciate suggestions on how to minimize the impact and optimize our strategy. Typically, we skip Park Hopper and LLSP options, going instead with standard tickets and LLMPs only. We also prefer staying off-property since the on-site benefits have diminished over the years.
We’re wondering whether to add Park Hopper for one day this time. Since we’re arriving around midnight on 12/31, we’ll sleep in that first day, and will visit MK without purchasing the Park Hopper option. However, on 1/2, we’re considering buying the Park Hopper option and get in Animal Kingdom early, scan into our first ride of the day, and change the Tier 2 LLMP attractions at the other parks to Tier 1 attractions if they are available. That way, we should be able to get ahead of the crowds at other parks because AK is the park that opens the earliest. Would this tactic still work during the holiday?
We’re also debating whether LLSPs are worth purchasing during this period. We typically ride the major LLSP-eligible rides like RoTR, 7DMT, and FoP about an hour before park close, when lines are relatively manageable. We’re not sure if this approach needs to change over the holiday.
We’ve read that New Year’s Day is a great day to rope drop, with parks staying relatively quiet until around 11 AM.
As far as I know, HS is typically busier than EPCOT. Would you rather rope drop HS on 1/1 or use the Park Hopper/AK tactic I mentioned earlier and visit HS on 1/2?
Also, we won’t be able to stay up late for the fireworks on NYE if we are going to rope drop on 1/1. In this case, the earlier 6:30 PM showing might be our better option. We’d like to photograph the fireworks, though, and we’re not sure how the earlier show compares to the 11:50 PM show in terms of sky darkness. Since sunset is around 5:39 PM on 12/31, the lighting could be tight.
On the resort front, we haven’t stayed on-property in decades and we last stayed at the Treehouse. It’s now a DVC property, and Saratoga Springs isn’t the right choice for this trip due to its remote location. Location-wise, the Contemporary Resort is probably our best choice, though we’ve stayed there before and it wasn’t particularly special. The Grand Floridian no longer has the orchestra and is removing the gingerbread house this year. The Wilderness Lodge may still have its gingerbread display and offers Bay Lake views, but requires bus or ferry transportation. Before making our decision, do you know if Disney will keep the gingerbread displays up through NYE and New Year’s Day? If not, that concern becomes moot. Do you have other on-property recommendations, or should we stick with the Contemporary? We are looking for quieter resorts that are closer to MK, and prefer not to change resorts mid-trip if possible.
Thanks in advance!