NYE at DHS or Epcot

[BWayGrl]

Hi everyone!

My boyfriend and I might be in Disney World over New Year's (:party:) and I was hoping to get some more info specifically on how Epcot and DHS celebrate. I tried searching through old posts but didn't really find what I was looking for. I also didn't see much about it on the WDW website.

I've always wanted to be in Epcot to ring in the New Year. Do they just have an extended version of IllumiNations, or is there more to it? And how about DHS? Do they do anything special?

Also, do the crowds seem to die down right after the holiday? Or does it stay crowded for that week? I think we'll be staying until Jan. 4.

Thanks for your help!

[disneymom15]

We did Studios the year we were there. We would never do Studios again on NYE. The people were very rowdy, drinking, smoking, etc. Very non Disney feel to the park. If we ever do NYE again, it would most likely be MK. My guess on Epcot, probably the same atmosphere as Studios. That's just my opinion.

[DizneyRox]

Epcot without a doubt. MK is a mad house, you won't catch me there on any major holiday. MGM is not a good choice, doesn't hold crowds well, horrible setup for fireworks, and generally just a bad park.

[Pirate Granny]

Well EPCOT can be a zoo too. We found by 5pm people had spread blankets on the walkway around the water. By 8pm you could barely move. We found a spot on the grass in future land (yep the grass was also loaded with blankets) to watch the fireworks, but were prepared to almost run to the bus stop when over. Got the second bus to our resort...still didn't get back until 1:30am. Now, we spoke to some people the next day, they didn't get home unti 4am from EPCOT, and there were still people in line for buses they said. I would do it again, but only if I could walk home...I enjoyed MK fireworks better, crowded, you bet, but we found a table by SM about 9pm and I stayed put with my dad and the girls and hubby did future land stuff.

[BWayGrl]

Thanks for the info! It would be great if we could stay at the Boardwalk, even just for the night so we wouldn't have to worry about waiting for the bus. I think I definitely want to do Epcot though.

[JerseyDad]

Thanks for the info! It would be great if we could stay at the Boardwalk, even just for the night so we wouldn't have to worry about waiting for the bus. I think I definitely want to do Epcot though.


....we did NYE at EPCOT (actually got there at 9am) ....and stayed the WHOLE day so as to avoid being locked out due to crowd size.

....it was perhaps one of the ...if not THE ...best NYE celebration we've experienced. A whole day at the park ...lunch in Mexico ....dinner at Morocco ....Illuminations at 9pm ...and then the NYE celebration and fireworks at midnight.

....crowded ...but manageable .....and well worth it.:thumbsup:

....fyi ...the midnight fireworks ....incredible.

[Main Street Jim]

Like JerseyDad says, there are two showings of Illuminations on NYE.

There's the "regular" 9:00 show.

Then the NYE version, which we saw back in...2009/10, I think it was.

An extended show of the regular Illuminations, and then a special "countdown" around the countries in the order that the new year is celebrated. It actually wasn't bad as far as crowds (number of people), but, yeah, people *were* grabbing spots as early as 6:00pm.

We got our spot right on the lagoon down by the water between France and the UK around 7:30pm. One of us would do food/drink runs, chatted with the people around us, and enjoyed the show :)

*HOWEVER*, I *think* that NYE is THE one time during the year that Studios does their "Sorcery in the Sky" fireworks (which used to be a nightly occurrence in the early to mid 1990s). Regrettably, I have *never* caught SitS at Studios. :(

[JerseyDad]

Like JerseyDad says, there are two showings of Illuminations on NYE.

There's the "regular" 9:00 show.

Then the NYE version, which we saw back in...2009/10, I think it was.

An extended show of the regular Illuminations, and then a special "countdown" around the countries in the order that the new year is celebrated. It actually wasn't bad as far as crowds (number of people), but, yeah, people *were* grabbing spots as early as 6:00pm.

We got our spot right on the lagoon down by the water between France and the UK around 7:30pm. One of us would do food/drink runs, chatted with the people around us, and enjoyed the show :)

*HOWEVER*, I *think* that NYE is THE one time during the year that Studios does their "Sorcery in the Sky" fireworks (which used to be a nightly occurrence in the early to mid 1990s). Regrettably, I have *never* caught SitS at Studios. :(

....we were there too!!! :D:marg::D:beer: ...it was great!!

[DizneyRox]

*HOWEVER*, I *think* that NYE is THE one time during the year that Studios does their "Sorcery in the Sky" fireworks (which used to be a nightly occurrence in the early to mid 1990s). Regrettably, I have *never* caught SitS at Studios. :(
The view is now however ruined by the 'hat' right in front of the theater; at least in my humble opinion. We've tried to give MGM a little love over the years, but fireworks are just not a great experience at MGM anymore. Crowded with nasty people has been our experience every time we tried.

It was a great fireworks show though...

[BWayGrl]

I'm just going to have to do three separate New Year's trips to see each park's celebrations! Haha.