AngiTN
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2011
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.
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.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
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