mk on new year's eve

[fanohpooh]

I have read lots of posts and understand that we are in for an unimaginable crowd for 12/31. That being said, we have scheduled a character meal at the Crystal Palace to have a place to sit down, eat, and use the facilities. I am hopeful that this will give us some sort of relief. The park is to open at 8:00, but it's also listed as the early entry park for resort guests. Does this mean it will really open at 7?? Also, what is the park capacity???

[TinkerbellT421]

Last I heard park capacity is 100,000. Disney resort guests will be able to enter Magic Kingdom ONE hour earlier than the "normal" open time. So if normal opening time is 8am then yes disney resort guests will be able to enter at 7am. BUT thats is it is listed as a AM extra magic hour. If it is evening extra magic hour then it will close three hours after normal park closing time. Hope this helps.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Last I heard park capacity is 100,000. Disney resort guests will be able to enter Magic Kingdom ONE hour earlier than the "normal" open time. So if normal opening time is 8am then yes disney resort guests will be able to enter at 7am. BUT thats is it is listed as a AM extra magic hour. If it is evening extra magic hour then it will close three hours after normal park closing time. Hope this helps.

Ummmmmmmmmm. No.:confused:

Park capacity is around 70-75,000 (depending on fire marshal).....and that is with is completely packed. I cannot for the the life of me imagine 100K in that park.

MK is scheduled to be open from 7am-4am (both AM and PM EMH).Studios is also open until 4am (a friend is scheduled EMH Dance Party there).

[TinkerbellT421]

Ummmmmmmmmm. No.:confused:

Park capacity is around 70-75,000 (depending on fire marshal).....and that is with is completely packed. I cannot for the the life of me imagine 100K in that park.

MK is scheduled to be open from 7am-4am (both AM and PM EMH).Studios is also open until 4am (a friend is scheduled EMH Dance Party there).

You are incorrect. According to disneyworldtrivia.com it states: The Magic Kingdom has the capacity for 100,000 guests, although Disney often will close the parking lots when 75,000 guests have entered the park, since the buses are still running. and it also states, The 125-acre Magic Kingdom parking facilities can accommodate 12,213 vehicles, all of which will be full by 10:00 a.m. Christmas Day.

[Jasper]

For others who may have just joined this conversation I think it is important to note that the Walt Disney Company itself does not release specific attendance numbers or specific capacity numbers for any of its parks. The bottom line though is that it really doesn't matter if the capacity is 75K or 100K, on New Year's it is likely to be at capacity early in the day and the park will be SUPER crazy!!

I don't know if I envy or pity people like you who make plans to be in MK on New Year. On the one hand it would be so much fun to be part of the craziness but, I also know that I have reached that point with both my age and my health that I am quite happy to watch the crowds from at home on my television.

This year it will be especially fun watching it on television because late the next afternoon we are going to load up and head to WDW for our much anticipated trip!!

[TinkerbellT421]

Ewww @ myself. Sorry CaptainJessica. I just re-read my post...and the whole "You are incorrect" sentence came across a little ummmm I dont know....cocky...Sorry please dont take it that way. Did not mean it that way. I read it back and went Holy cow I sound like a very ignorant person. LOL! Im sorry! :(

[big blue and hairy]

I don't know what the capacity of the MK is, but I know one thing, it'll be reached on NYE. DW and I went last NYE and we said never again. And just for background MK is by far DW's favorite park.

We might see you Capt Jess, but not that night...:D

:sulley:

[Daisy712]

We were there 2 years ago for New Year's Eve in Magic Kingdom. We ended up spending 17 hours in the park. We did not leave the park and go back to the hotel and relax because they had stopped admitting people into the park. They were also not letting Disney resort guests in. We, too, had a nice dinner so we could relax. We also found a quiet bench and rested for awhile. Beware, they passed out noisemakers and hats around 4 p.m. They constant honking and blowing sent my 10 year old DD over the edge around 7 p.m. We went to the trail between Space Mountain and Mickey's Toontown and sat on a bench on that path. It was nice and quiet. He managed to also watch shows and parades during the day. We watched Mickey's Twas the Night Before Christmas show. It was at the Tomorrowland stage. It was a very good show. Have a great time. We certainly did.

[fanohpooh]

Thanks, Daisey712. Your post gives me hope that we will enjoy ourselves despite the huge crowd. :mickey:

[DizneyRox]

You are incorrect. According to disneyworldtrivia.com it states: The Magic Kingdom has the capacity for 100,000 guests, although Disney often will close the parking lots when 75,000 guests have entered the park, since the buses are still running. and it also states, The 125-acre Magic Kingdom parking facilities can accommodate 12,213 vehicles, all of which will be full by 10:00 a.m. Christmas Day.
I'm going to have to side with the Capt'n on this one. While many sites have capacity listed, it's something that changes from dday to day, etc.

THat number may have been from a time when the Skyway was open, 20,000 Leauges, etc. Park capacity is based on many things, one of them being staff, and rides that are operational. Closing an attraction for refurb of just plain greed impacts park capacity.

That's why you see many rides listed as seasonal. If, Disney needs to let more people into a park (to increase ticket sales, etc) they will just open one of the seasonal attractions. Or open a counter service restaurant, etc. They often do this during the holidays as with the number of people coming, it would be a shame to turn that money away.

So, I would guess that current capacity IS somewhere arond 75,000.

In either case, MK is a nuthouse on any major holiday and is best avoided unless you like insane crowds...

[Georgesgirl1]

Good luck with your day in the park.

DH and I went to Epcot for NYE a few years ago and vowed to never go again. (I think at some point during the day I may have even said I was never going back to WDW again!:eek:) They closed the park b/c it was at capacity at like 10am. The lines were awful and you could barely make it from one attraction to another. Although we wanted to stay to see NYE Illuminations, we ended up leaving at 10pm b/c I was at the end of my rope! We heard people say the next day that it took them hours to get out of the parking lot after midnight.

Of course, for us it was a last minute trip. We had not made an ADR b/c none were available at such a late time, so we were stuck in counter service lines and we weren't staying on property, so we couldn't take advantage of Disney transportation. Maybe our visit would have been better if we could have taken advantage of those two perks.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

We heard people say the next day that it took them hours to get out of the parking lot after midnight.


I can confirm that. I left at 12:00 exactly....and got home around 3am. I only live 20 minutes from there.

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . So, I would guess that current capacity IS somewhere arond 75,000 . . .

1) Pretty good guesses, Jessica and Rox.
2) In a WDW 2006 training class, we were told it was 72,000.

NOTE: Lou does have good info, but he has been shown to be wrong several times.