Trip Report **COMPLETED** The Story of Two Nuts Who Decided to Go to Disney for NYE

Who?
The two nuts - my Mom (Mary) and myself (Megan)

Where?
The Contemporary - strategically picked to help us survive the New Years crowds

When?
December 28, 2018 - January 2, 2019

Why?
For New Years! We had been to Disney once before for New Years which is the reason for the title On our first time there for New Years we had no clue it would be crowded but this time we willingly went for New Years well knowing the crowds would be awful! We are NUTS!

What to expect?
Slow moving days, a lot of pictures of crowds, a LOT of phone pictures (I did not film this trip so I got lazy and most days did not even carry my good camera - helped me manage the crowds), and a pretty big purchase

Day 1 - December 28, 2018
I had to work but was able to start my day a bit earlier so that I could make it to my flight on time My parents drove me to work and picked me up so we could head right to the airport. I was stressed (especially after last trip) that the weather would be bad but it was actually 45 degrees at home - unseasonably warm! We had to take our usual date signs at the airport

As usual we made it though check in and security very quickly and we headed to get some food at Anchor Bar.

We shared a quesadilla and boneless wings. Both things were delicious!

After eating we headed to our gate

Next up: more travel randomness

 

[DisSplash]

Following along! It looks as if you two still had a blast, even with the crowds.

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 December 30, 2018
We had planned on rope dropping Toy Story Land this day. Seemed like a good idea when we weren't both sick. Somehow we still managed to drag our butts out of bed at 6:15 am
We JUST missed a bus so waited a few minutes and another time never popped up. I'm impatient and I was worried this would really delay us so just grabbed a Minnie Van instead. I'm also lazy and this prevented the long walk from the bus stop
Tower of Terror looked extra creepy when we got there

We got there around 7:15 for an 8 am open.
The crowds were already thick

They let us in around 7:35 am to a rope drop and officially opened the park at 7:45.

We - along with everyone else - rope dropped Slinky Dog

Next up: more TSL

 

[Doc Disney]

I love how you and your mom coordinate outfits.

Very rarely do we do it on purpose it tends to just happen

Following along! It looks as if you two still had a blast, even with the crowds.

Thank you! We definitely did!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
Slinky Dog was actually down but they were letting people in the que. In my experience they would not let us in the que if it was not going to open anytime soon so we stuck it out. There was a lot of commotion around us. The people behind us were really mad at their line placement and could not stop yelling at each other about it saying so and so walked too slow. The family in front of us was also arguing and the Dad at some point was like "is this even slinky dog?"
Anyway around 8:00 am they started running slinky dogs along the track - to a large cheer - and at 8:08 am the first slinky dog with people went by to an even larger cheer! The CMs were desperately trying to get people out of line by saying it was closed (before it was open) but it did not work and at this point the line was 180 minutes long. It was 8:08 and it was 3 hours! AND this was EMH ! Not even open to the general public yet!

We only waited about 15 minutes

Wheezy looked a bit drunk...he was out of sorts this morning.

We are...sleeping?

We left TSL after this. Here are photos of the Slinky Dog line. I kept taking pictures and realizing it was not actually the end.

Next up: more line photos

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
The end of the line actually ended up being at the top of those stairs that go down to One Man's Dream

Meanwhile my Mom and I went to Starbucks for breakfast.
I had my regular breakfast sandwich and my Mom had this cupcake that was peanut butter or something

After our breakfast we stopped for some PP pictures

Then we wandered...
This dog in a window was so cute

Some guy laughed with us about the phones when we were taking this photo

Then some more PP pictures

I swear to you I have never noticed this blue building before

We figured it must be Aerosmith (and it is) but it will come into play later.

Next up: more HS

 

[krisri18]

Day 3 continued
The end of the line actually ended up being at the top of those stairs that go down to One Man's Dream
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Meanwhile my Mom and I went to Starbucks for breakfast.
I had my regular breakfast sandwich and my Mom had this cupcake that was peanut butter or something
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After our breakfast we stopped for some PP pictures
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Then we wandered...
This dog in a window was so cute
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Some guy laughed with us about the phones when we were taking this photo
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Then some more PP pictures
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I swear to you I have never noticed this blue building before
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We figured it must be Aerosmith (and it is) but it will come into play later.

Next up: more HS

That blue building was the source of much confusion on our fall trip in 2017! We could see it from our room at Boardwalk and had no idea what it was or how none of us had ever noticed it before!

 

[I'mwatchinguWizowski]

I think we were in Hollywood the same day when Slinky was down! I couldn’t believe that line either

 

[MickeyCB]

Day 3 continued
Slinky Dog was actually down but they were letting people in the que. In my experience they would not let us in the que if it was not going to open anytime soon so we stuck it out. There was a lot of commotion around us. The people behind us were really mad at their line placement and could not stop yelling at each other about it saying so and so walked too slow. The family in front of us was also arguing and the Dad at some point was like "is this even slinky dog?"
Anyway around 8:00 am they started running slinky dogs along the track - to a large cheer - and at 8:08 am the first slinky dog with people went by to an even larger cheer! The CMs were desperately trying to get people out of line by saying it was closed (before it was open) but it did not work and at this point the line was 180 minutes long. It was 8:08 and it was 3 hours! AND this was EMH ! Not even open to the general public yet!
View attachment 340102
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We only waited about 15 minutes
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Wheezy looked a bit drunk...he was out of sorts this morning.
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We are...sleeping?
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We left TSL after this. Here are photos of the Slinky Dog line. I kept taking pictures and realizing it was not actually the end.
View attachment 340110
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View attachment 340113

Next up: more line photos

That's some excellent planning (and up and at 'em) on your part! Even for a ride I might desperately desire to ride, I could never wait that long!

 

[Swissmiss]

Looks like the fog was gone by the time you got on Slinky Dog? My DD and I were at DLP just after Christmas and one evening it got really foggy as the temperatures started changing - we found that it added a level of creepiness and extra fun on BTMRR because normally you can see the castle lit up as you ride but we could barely see anything further than the ride.

 

[Doc Disney]

That blue building was the source of much confusion on our fall trip in 2017! We could see it from our room at Boardwalk and had no idea what it was or how none of us had ever noticed it before!

So weird!! I mean obviously its been there forever but how have I never noticed it - glad I am not the only one!

I think we were in Hollywood the same day when Slinky was down! I couldn’t believe that line either

Oh my goodness it was insane!!!!!

 

[Doc Disney]

That's some excellent planning (and up and at 'em) on your part! Even for a ride I might desperately desire to ride, I could never wait that long!

Oh I agree I feel like I am not willing to wait for a ride more than like 30-40 minutes anymore. It is worth it getting up early if you really want to ride something!

Looks like the fog was gone by the time you got on Slinky Dog? My DD and I were at DLP just after Christmas and one evening it got really foggy as the temperatures started changing - we found that it added a level of creepiness and extra fun on BTMRR because normally you can see the castle lit up as you ride but we could barely see anything further than the ride.

It was mostly gone yes - but that sounds amazing riding it in the fog - especially in DLP! I am so jealous I want to go there someday!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
We dragged ourselves over to Tower of Terror for our first Fast Pass
I say drag because while we tolerate it more than we used to we still get nervous

I really slacked on the light pictures this trip....and this one is blurry

We survived...

After this we did a bit of shopping. We never really take the time to look around so it was neat to explore all the little shops. We did buy a few things - I think some ornaments and a shirt and some pins for @sheriffwoody
Our next FP was for Alien Swirling Saucers so we headed back towards TSL.
Before this trip I said to my Mom that this would be the perfect trip for a DVC tour to get some extra FPs to help manage the crowds. Anyway, we did stop at the kiosk right outside TSL because I was curious if they had anything in their pamphlets about the new resort at Fort Wilderness. I was only there for like 10 seconds before the CM working the kiosk said "Go Bills!" and walked over to us. My Mom tried to warn me he was coming over but I missed her warning
Anyway this CM's name is Kyle and he was so nice! His sister actually lives super close to us in Buffalo (hence the Go Bills) and he is from Erie, PA (where I went to med school). We really talked about nothing having to do with DVC for awhile Anyway, he asked if I was interested and I said kind of (really more interested in the free FPs) so he suggested a tour. I did not want to do it if my Mom didn't but we both agreed to do one this afternoon because the crowds were so bad what else were we going to do anyway? It came with three free FPs, a $50 gift card each and a ride out of HS to the Poly then back to the Contemporary. I swear it was the ride out of HS that sold us so we did not have to do the bus and walk all the way to the bus stop
Anyway, he signed us up for a time that worked with our current plans, told us where to meet him and sent us off on our way.
It was time for Alien Swirling Saucers

As usual I giggled through this entire ride
We then walked out of TSL because we had a lunch to get to.
We saw this Alien popcorn bucket and could not stop laughing at the one with popcorn in its mouth

I made us a lunch reservation while in line for Slinky Dog in the morning. I said to my Mom I really wanted to eat at Sci Fi and looked at the app and to my surprise there was a lunch reservation available for 11:00 AM. Perfect! I will say, despite the crowds, there were ample reservations available every time I looked.

Next up: more Sci Fi

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
Our waitress was sweet as can be. Actually I did not encounter a single CM who wasn't this entire trip (except maybe in MK on NYE but ... expected). I was surprised because I can only imagine how hard it is for them when it is so crowded! Our Minnie Van driver did say the weather has a lot to do with it. When the weather is pleasant (aka not summer) the CMs and the guests tend to be happier

We had chicken stips, fried pickles and onion rings to share. I did not take any pictures because it was too dark in there. The food was not hot which is odd since it just opened but still pretty tasty. Well..minus the onion rings my Mom and I both agreed they weren't that good for some reason. As usual we ordered way too much food and could not finish it
Our lunch went a lot quicker than expected and now we had quite a bit of time to kill before the DVC tour.
We were planning on skipping Aerosmith (our final FP) for fear of headaches but we figured - well why not? We used to love this ride but as of late it has really been bothering us!

We survived. And...it was fun again with minimal headache. It also helped we took our earrings out to avoid getting stabbed

We still had some time to kill so decided to go say hi to Gertie.
Some random decorations along the way..

Next up: more HS

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued

The photographer taking these photos was super chatty. He was talking to us about the Bills and the Sabres (our hockey team) for awhile

Next up: DVC tour

 

[Pardonmypixiedust]

were hitting sci-fi this next trip ! cant wait for TSL! dads been but we havent. I have a sneaking suspicion and so does @Big Hair about your announcement ! even without your camera you still take better pics than me =-)

 

[Swissmiss]

It was mostly gone yes - but that sounds amazing riding it in the fog - especially in DLP! I am so jealous I want to go there someday!

Don’t be jealous - it’s a lot easier (and cheaper) for us to get to DLP than WDW. Plus, the food isn’t very good and many CM are not very friendly.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We were at HS in December and I loved, loved the old fashioned Christmas decorations! I had forgotten about the thin, silvery tinsel which was all you could get back then. I loved how they surrounded everything with the silver tinsel and some gold too. It brought back childhood memories. Whoops, I mean garland, not tinsel, sorry about that. Although we did have silver tinsel for the tree. Looks like you two had fun even with the horrendous crowds. Can't wait to hear how the DVC tour went.

 

[Pardonmypixiedust]

ugh! I was hoping to see an update when I got out of work! you've got me on the edge of my phone here @Doc Disney

 

[Songbird76]

I think I might know what your large purchase might be....but I'll keep following along to see if I'm right. And just because it's fun.

 

[Doc Disney]

were hitting sci-fi this next trip ! cant wait for TSL! dads been but we havent. I have a sneaking suspicion and so does @Big Hair about your announcement ! even without your camera you still take better pics than me =-)

Aww thats sweet of you to say. I cringe every time I look at my phone pictures well knowing they would be way less blurry on my camera You will love TSL!

Don’t be jealous - it ’s a lot easier (and cheaper) for us to get to DLP than WDW. Plus, the food isn’t very good and many CM are not very friendly.

I hear that a lot. I would still like to go sometime just to say I went