New Years Eve

[fwm]

We will be at the Boardwalk for New Years Eve this year. I understand that the parks fill up early, but Disney hotel guests are guaranteed admission. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Doctor P]

My understanding is that Disney resort guests are guaranteed admission to one of the parks, but that does not necessarily mean you will be able to go to your choice of park should you arrive late and the park is already filled to capacity. In addition, it is my understanding that you may not be able to hop parks or be able to return to a park once you have left it (this is an issue for us as we had contemplated leaving a park for lunch on NYE, but we will not do so for fear of not being able to return to our park of choice).

 

[PamOKW]

On New Year's Eve all bets are off on park access. Generally, if you are coming in by Disney transportation your chances are better than if you are driving since the parking lots filling is one of the problems. (Of course from BW you can also be walking.) As Doctor P says you will get into "a" park, not necessarily the one of your choosing. It's hard to predict how full the parks will get because weather is a big factor (last year was pretty chilly and may have kept down some of the natives, rain and/or rain & cold also keep crowds down). NYE is also a Monday this year which may help some.

My advice would be to get to the park where you would like to spend the evening sometime in the morning. If you'd like to take a break back at the resort, check before you leave on what the policy for re-entry will be and then get back to the park by early evening. Trying to walk into a park for the first time at 5:00-6:00 might be a problem.

 

[BobBrazeal]

I don't know what it is like on other New Years Eves but I was there for the "Millennium" celebration. The traffic was so bad in the morning that our bus from the resort couldn't get to Epcot. We were diverted to YC. The line to the International Gate was back past YC almost to the Dolphin.

 

[easy]

We staying at OKW in 99 and YC in 00 for new years eve. As long as you were staying on Disney property you would be admitted to the parks. But they did say that you may not be able to hop parks. We went to EPCOT in the am and returned in the early evening without any problems. The only way you could get into the parks was through Disney transportation. YOu could not drive and park in the parking lots. There was so much traffic especially the 99 new years eve. you would not of wanted to try to drive to the parks. It was a great time--Great show at EPCot.

 

[Beachangel]

and we were told to pick a park and stay there since you might not get back in. I don't think you're "guaranteed entrance" just because you're a Disney guest. I heard that during the Millenium NYE and New Years Day, fire marshalls were at the gates monitoring attendence. Don't know for sure if that's true or not.

 

[robinb]

I was at Epcot for NYE 1999/2000 and will return this year .

We arrived in line about 7:30 am to get into the park. The line at the International Gate was all the way over the bridge. It took us about 45 minutes to get into the park and our AP was stamped. Rumor has it that the gate was closed around 9:30 am, but it reopened later. Traffic was terrible! We were really glad that we were staying at BWV. We left Epcot around noon for a little R&R and returned at 5:30. We had no problem getting back in.

 

[Mic]

We spent NYE 99/2000 and 2000/2001 at Epcot. We arrived at the front gate of Epcot at 7:30 am in 1999, and did not leave the park until 1 am the following morning for fear of being unable to get back in. In 2000, though, we were given a special parking pass as we went through the gates of Epcot. The attendant said this pass would signify that we had been accounted for already, and we could get back in later should we choose to leave and come back, which we did(it was freezing cold last NYE!). This year, we will be at the BWV, so hopefully we will be able to walk back to our room for a break and get back into the park later.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

Having been in the World the past two NYE's, they do "close" the parks when it reaches "capacity". Generally this is in the noon- early evening hours. I would definitely pick your park, go in the morning and stay there....especially if that's MK.

I was in MK on NYE '99 and have to say, it wasn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. No more than, say, school vacation weeks. The only exception was on Main Street at the forecourt of the castle. A solid wall of humanity. Tip: don't EVER try to cross that with a stroller!! It took us almost 45 minutes just to get across. BTW, for those that were there in 99...how'd you like all the backup generators, lights etc?? Can you say, "prepared for the Y2k bug"?

And GOD!!! It was cold this past NYE, eh? We wore winter coats and gloves/mittens! DW and DD both got nasty colds and spent a couple days at "home". Two weeks later it was 70-80's.....after we left of course!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We were at Epcot for the '99/'00 celebration. We were at OKW and didn't arrive at the resort until 2:00 pm. They told us to go to the park right away because they were near capacity. We walked through the turnstiles at 2:45 and the CM said they were on the last 100 to be admitted. I assume they reopen as people leave, but that night, few did. We had Dinner ressies in Germany at 6:15 and stayed mostly in future world before that. Amazingly, Future World was not crowded! Word showcase, however, was a ZOO!! We arrived at Germany 15 minutes ahead of our PS, and they were celebrating the New Year (midnight in Germany), so it was difficult to get around. We did find a nice spot on the top level at Canada to watch fireworks and illuminations from. It was FANTASTIC!

 

[wdwoldtimer]

So Diane, YOU were one of those people who won MY OKW lottery reservations for NYE 99!!! LOL! I think we put our name in two or three years in advance and still got zilch. We had to trade points for....gasp....All Star Music for the first few days, until we could get into OKW.

Do you still have your plastic top hat and noise maker? I saw some clown selling them on eBay for $30!!