Report - Disney on the day before NYE

The next time anyone thinks it is a good idea to plan a vacation at Disney after Christmas, let me emphatically state it is the absolute worst time to visit.

I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Orlando Universal because of last minute planning. Next time I will definitely plan to stay on Disney property and try to plan out the trip further in advance. The traffic was absolutely awful. I know it is normally awful but this was pretty exceptional. I%26#39;ve driven in Miami before and this experience made Miami look like a walk in the park. I would rather drive in Boston than drive in that again. We went with four people but the other couple had to leave early and not go to the parks.

We got to Magic Kingdom on the 30th. About 10:30a.

The lines were crazy and we ended up waiting for a tram with a ton of other people. Which really just signaled what was to come. The only rides we were able to ride were the Jungle Cruise and a couple of the other small rides in MK. The Haunted Mansion

had a ridiculous line that was wrapping into Liberty square. We finally left for dinner at Epcot at 5pm and came back into MK about 7pm.

The mood was much better but it was still very crowded. The lights were absolutely incredible.

There was even an awesome effect of snow that

disney did that really wowed everyone. We stayed for the 8:30pm fireworks that did not disappoint. This is what Disney does best, amazing fireworks that absolutely blow their competition out of the water. After this we rode the rides we missed.

We got stuck on Pirate of the Caribbean I assume because of higher than normal traffic. I also want to point out that cast members were really struggling to keep up with the volume of trash. Rode big thunder railroad which was awesome at night. The music that they were pumping in really helped people to get in the mood too. Finally we saw the 12:00 am fireworks that was so amazing. I%26#39;m pretty sure it was the best firework display I%26#39;ve ever seen. We then went home. We left the park at 12:15am

and got back to our car in the MK parking lot at 1:15 or 1:20am due to the enormous crowds.

The one thing that kept me from enjoying all of this was the crowds. We tried to go on the 29th

and as we got to the Magic Kingdom we got a voucher to go to Epcot and then take a tram back to the Magic Kingdom. We didn%26#39;t go because of something that happened with another couple we were with. The day of New Years Eve we went outlet shopping and my wife heard from some women in the ladies room that MK was at capacity at 11am and they had closed the park. The most damning thing that we heard was one new years day that in the MK the traffic had caused havoc on the plumbing and had caused many restrooms to be shut down.

I understand what Disney is doing in trying to sell tickets but at the same time at what point does it start to ruin the experience? The crowds I saw were getting to the point of being dangerous. I love Disney but I will never again deal with so many other people. I want to enjoy the holidays with Disney I just don%26#39;t think I ever will again.

Report - Disney on the day before NYE

It truely is the Most Crowded Week of the Year. Really sorry you endured all that you did but glad to hear you did enjoy some of it.

We go just before or after Thanksgiving. You can enjoy all the Festive Decorations and Christmas Magic without the crowds that way. Another really Lovely time to go is end of April - Mid May. The Flower %26amp; Garden Festival is Lovely, the Weather is a delight and the crowd levels, again, are easy to manage

Thanks for your TR and I hope you have at least a few Happy Memories of your Holiday :)

Report - Disney on the day before NYE

Second on going around Thanksgiving. We spend every Thanksgiving at Disney and it is great. Not empty but manageable. Christmas is well known as the most crowded time at the park and it can be awful though the long hours can make it worthwhile if it isn%26#39;t your first visit. Hope you will try it again during a less crowded time.

As annual passholders Christmas is the one time of the year we avoid going to the parks. To see the Christmas stuff we go right after Thanksgiving when there are no crowds. We start going back after the 1st of the year when the crowds drop off again.

Thanks for your report - your decription of super-crowded MK should scare away plenty of would-be-New-Years-Week-goers. You%26#39;d rather drive in Boston than that again? Wow, THAT%26#39;S descriptive - I%26#39;ve driven in Boston, and it was something I will never, ever, EVER do again.

But I am glad you enjoyed the incredible lights (isn%26#39;t the castle amazing?) and the fireworks and the snow. Do what the other posters here have suggested: go around Thanksgiving. You get all the Christmas decorations and activities without the horrendous crowds. It will make the difference between loving Disney and hating it.

I have to agree. I had to see it to believe it. This is my first (and last) trip to WDW. This was the week the entire family was available to go.

We have done Disneyland and wanted to try Disney World. I had read the reviews but honestly they don%26#39;t do the crowds justice. We are from Oregon so we didn%26#39;t know if we would be too tired to try NYE but we gave it a try. It was already at capacity when we got there. A very nice employee looked at our tickets (not park hoppers) and took us into a side door of Epcot.

Since we were not in the park legally we were not eligible to get fast passes. The lines were staggering. There were so many people it was hard to even look around them. It felt oppressive and seeing that I can only imagine how many they pack in before they consider themselves at capacity.

I didn%26#39;t see too many people with smiles on their faces. If you couldn%26#39;t get on a ride, if you didn%26#39;t have a reservation at a restaraunt, if you didn%26#39;t want to buy Disney merchandise.... yikes!!!

We decided to leave and go to Animal Kingdom. For some reason in my mind I had always wanted to go to Epcot and was lukewarm on Animal Kingdom. What a surprise to find the crowds managable at Animal Kingdom and it was much less frantic. We were even able to find seating in a restaurant. We rode every ride we wanted with minimal (less than an hour) wait times.

I am praying that Magic Kingdom is less crazy on Monday. We were at Hollywood Disney yesterday and by 11am the fast passes for the coaster were for 8pm that evening. We did not plan on staying that late. We had come for the coaster and tower of terror and left without getting on either one of them. The lines for food were long and the people were cranky. I felt bad for the employees who were doing everything they could to keep up and were still getting barked at. Management should be ashamed.

We decided to take today off from the parks. We had more fun at a Pirate themed putt putt golf course than anything we had been able to do at Disney.

I knew I was taking a chance. I had no idea how gigantic things were down here and no idea they would push the boundaries as far as they have. To say that it has tarnished my feelings for Disney would be an understatement. I have always felt they bent over backwards to give you a positive experience. Allowing the parks to overflow with people with no possible way to adequately serve them is inexcusable.