New Years Trip tips and tricks?

Animal Kingdom will likely be the least crowded park December 31. If MK doesn't close to capacity/reopens later in the day, you could choose to see the second fireworks that night if you have park hopper. Or you can enjoy the celebration at AK (they're open late for New Year's Eve this year).

If you do plan on going to MK on NYE, get there early and don't leave. Expect large crowds (possibly filling the park to capacity as mentioned) and just follow where the fastpasses lead.
We went to NYE when 1999 turned to 2000.

My advice:
1) Get their early so you are not shut out. Stay on site if possible so you have the best chance of getting in.
2) After midnight, everyone wants to leave at once. Either be near the exit or plan to take your time. We made the mistake of being in World Showcase and not by the Big ball
3) make dinner reservations for wherever you want to be that nigh
There will be no worries about getting shut out of the parks. The only people shut out in over a decade are people buying single day tickets at the gate. Now, the pop up message that Disney tends to put out doesn't make this clear but that's how it really is. Only single day tickets are sent to a different park. And that's just MK. However, that was prior to New Fantasy Land, which increased capacity at MK. No one who truly knows the numbers will say but it's assumed that with the expansion, MK will not hit total closure ever again. Epcot hasn't even had that.

Traffic is where the issues are. It's gridlock. We go but only because we stay in walking distance. I can handle the crowds in the parks. They move them around so well you don't feel it (till you head to the bathroom). But I don't do well with traffic
 
I would definitely also love to hear more about NYD and after! this is so exciting!
Same here! We will be there 12/30-1/5. We are not going to the parks NYE and instead doing a monorail resort tour/ breakfast in AM and Disney Springs for an early dinner. Hoping that the parks are empty New Years Day morning because everyone is sleeping in!
 
We will be there 12/27-1/4. Right now our plan is to make NYE an early night to avoid the traffic/chaos and hit one of the parks early the next morning when hopefully a lot of people are still sleeping in from their late night. Fingers crossed! We've never done this time period before.
 


I seem to remember that NYD is relatively calm early but still gets busy. Our last NYD experience was very cold and rainy so crowds were very low. It was not normal at all.

Holiday crowds pretty much persist through New Year's week.
 
Oh boy...now u are worrying me. We planned to leave Epcot about 1am/1:30am to head back to Fort Wilderness. Maybe taking the monorail to MK and then boat to FW is a better idea.

This is our plan 😬

Or B, monorail to CR, then boat to FW if it’s running. The CR/FW/WL boat is smaller, but the lines may be shorter. However, the Mk boat is larger.
 
This is our plan 😬

Or B, monorail to CR, then boat to FW if it’s running. The CR/FW/WL boat is smaller, but the lines may be shorter. However, the Mk boat is larger.
I'm curious what it'll be like going from HS back to a Disney Springs resort. They have buses too correct?
 


I'm about 90% sure the resort boats will not be running by the time one were to return to CR. Not from Epcot.
Just as a comparison if one does DAH event at MK there are no resort boats running.
 
You’re probably right. I just assumed the resort boats would be running later than usual due to the circumstances.

Would it be better to lyft from Poly? We don’t want to take a bus.
 
You’re probably right. I just assumed the resort boats would be running later than usual due to the circumstances.

Would it be better to lyft from Poly? We don’t want to take a bus.
You are staying at FW?
Then no, I don't think a Lyft is any better, is it? Won't you still have to get on an internal FW bus?
Can't Disney buses (and Minnie Van) go places Lyft can't go?

Plus, why go to Poly?
 
You are staying at FW?
Then no, I don't think a Lyft is any better, is it? Won't you still have to get on an internal FW bus?
Can't Disney buses (and Minnie Van) go places Lyft can't go?

Plus, why go to Poly?

Yes, FW, unless something opens for one night with Epcot DVC.

We will have a golf cart, so are trying to plan where to park it and avoid any Epcot road traffic by taking a monorail to and from the MK resort area.

Plan A is to park the cart at the marina, boat to CR, and monorail over to Epcot, but we will need to be able to return by boat to pick up the cart.

Plan B is to park the cart near the FW entrance and internal shuttle back to the boats/marina. On return, we can take a monorail back to the TTC, walk over to the Poly, and Lyft to FW near our cart (Poly because there’s no direct MK bus service to FW, so with the boats down, our only choice is to Lyft/etc. from a MK resort).

However, my concern is the MK road traffic. Will traffic be just as bad over on that side? Without the boats, my plan just went a little south.
 
Yes, FW, unless something opens for one night with Epcot DVC.

We will have a golf cart, so are trying to plan where to park it and avoid any Epcot road traffic by taking a monorail to and from the MK resort area.

Plan A is to park the cart at the marina, boat to CR, and monorail over to Epcot, but we will need to be able to return by boat to pick up the cart.

Plan B is to park the cart near the FW entrance and internal shuttle back to the boats/marina. On return, we can take a monorail back to the TTC, walk over to the Poly, and Lyft to FW near our cart (Poly because there’s no direct MK bus service to FW, so with the boats down, our only choice is to Lyft/etc. from a MK resort).

However, my concern is the MK road traffic. Will traffic be just as bad over on that side? Without the boats, my plan just went a little south.

So, some info. If we look at the Times Guide (attached) for last year:

The MK monorail ran until 3am.
The Epcot monorail ran until 2:30am.
MK was open until 1am (which is also the current closing time posted for this year too).

Generally speaking, resort boats run for an hour’ish after park closing. I was at Poly the last two years - and while I didn’t sit there and watch the boats with a clock - our rooms faced the water and those boats were doing their arrival/departure “toots” well into the night.

No personal experience with the journey you’re contemplating so I won’t say it will or won’t work, but it would seem to me it’s possible as long as you manage your timing appropriately.

You always have Uber/Lyft and FW internal buses as a fallback if all else fails, I guess.
 

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So, some info. If we look at the Times Guide (attached) for last year:

The MK monorail ran until 3am.
The Epcot monorail ran until 2:30am.
MK was open until 1am (which is also the current closing time posted for this year too).

Generally speaking, resort boats run for an hour’ish after park closing. I was at Poly the last two years - and while I didn’t sit there and watch the boats with a clock - our rooms faced the water and those boats were doing their arrival/departure “toots” well into the night.

No personal experience with the journey you’re contemplating so I won’t say it will or won’t work, but it would seem to me it’s possible as long as you manage your timing appropriately.

You always have Uber/Lyft and FW internal buses as a fallback if all else fails, I guess.

Wonderful! It looks like we need to be back to MK by 2 am. We will certainly try. Thank you!
 
Wonderful! It looks like we need to be back to MK by 2 am. We will certainly try. Thank you!

Good luck! Also, I ‘thought’ there was a bus that went from MK to WL and FW during normal times? (Don’t quote me on that, I’m out of my experience zone). But there definitely will be if for some reason the boat is not running.

This one of those over the river, through the woods, left, right, sideways travels plans I’d love to hear how it turns out, if you think about it!
 
Good luck! Also, I ‘thought’ there was a bus that went from MK to WL and FW during normal times? (Don’t quote me on that, I’m out of my experience zone). But there definitely will be if for some reason the boat is not running.

This one of those over the river, through the woods, left, right, sideways travels plans I’d love to hear how it turns out, if you think about it!
There is a bus from MK to FW and WL at all times. It's usually VERY quick, quicker than the boat.
 
Good luck! Also, I ‘thought’ there was a bus that went from MK to WL and FW during normal times? (Don’t quote me on that, I’m out of my experience zone). But there definitely will be if for some reason the boat is not running.

This one of those over the river, through the woods, left, right, sideways travels plans I’d love to hear how it turns out, if you think about it!

There’s an internal bus between WL and FW that drops off by Pionner Hall. I’m not sure if it will be running that late or is running at all with construction taking place between resorts. It’s been a while since we’ve taken it. However, if it is, that may be another option I can check on.

We seem to enjoy torturing ourselves. The bus service is usually great, but this NYE thing, I don’t know, its bigger than anything we’ve ever dealt with there.
 
There’s an internal bus between WL and FW that drops off by Pionner Hall. I’m not sure if it will be running that late or is running at all with construction taking place between resorts. It’s been a while since we’ve taken it. However, if it is, that may be another option I can check on.

Yes, we seem to enjoy torturing ourselves :) The bus service is usually great, but this NYE thing, I don’t know, its bigger than anything we’ve ever dealt with.
They are prepared with a whole lot of buses. However, this is the first year AK has participated. They'll probably need every bus in the fleet to service all 4 parks after midnight. It's a night to be wearing patience pants, that is for sure.
 

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