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

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued
After the MK we walked back to the Contemporary and right onto a bus for Disney Springs. We wanted to go to DS this trip and figured traffic wise the morning was the best time to do it.
We did a bit of shopping then stopped at Rain Forest to have some lunch.

We always sit at the bar because there is almost never a wait whereas the line for tables is always crazy.
We shared some nachos and they were delicious !

After our lunch we stopped for some ice cream

Somehow my Mom got a picture of me actually eating the ice cream which I almost never do As @TrolleyFollower91 once said I am "unAmerican" because I don't really love ice cream

After our treat (and a bit more shopping - but no purchases for us) we headed to the bus stop. We had plans for Epcot so we took the Boardwalk/Beach Club/etc etc bus.
I noticed this notification when we got on the bus...

Yep...the Magic Kingdom closed at 11:30 am I mean I knew it would happen but did not think it would be that early in the day!
We picked the Beach Club to get off at since it seems like the shortest walk to Epcot

This is where my pictures start getting really sparse ...the crowds must have gotten to me at this point

Next up: more Epcot

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued
We decided to use our next DVC bonus FP for Test Track so we headed there
I like the addition of the little people on the circles to indicate how many people should stand there. It seems like it should help but it didn't - everyone still tried to stand one per circle

My Mom designed the car- what a beauty

I got distracted by how far the Guardians ride seems to expand so thats where I am looking in the photo

Our first actual FP was for Soarin' so we headed there next. Oh wait...jk I stalked the Guardians construction first

Next up: more Epcot

 

[riverside]

Somehow my Mom got a picture of me actually eating the ice cream which I almost never do As @TrolleyFollower91 once said I am "unAmerican" because I don't really love ice cream

I'm with you--I really don't care for it myself!!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued
Along our way to Soarin' we noticed this huge outdoor tent where they were selling food

Interesting crowd tactic. I thought it was a special event or something but they had a sign outside indicating the cost of food.

It was actually really crowded too! (well I guess duh...what wasn't crowded )

We were at the very far right of the screen so naturally everything was very crooked and the guy next to my Mom asked his wife why the Eiffel Tower is leaning
Here is a blurry picture that shows you the Land crowds...mainly if you look at the bottom along the escalator wall you can see the standby line for Soarin'

Next FP up was Spaceship Earth

Standby line...

We were in the slowest of "slow pass" (as we call them) lines hence our faces

I think we waited at least 30 minutes !
Figment was up next but we had a bit of time before our FP so we checked out the DVC lounge. It was actually at capacity so they told us to come back. We waited in the sun watching kids play in the jumping fountains instead

Next up: more Epcot

 

[Doc Disney]

I'm with you--I really don't care for it myself!!

Phew I am glad I am not alone! I could get a bag of chips everyday but I usually only eat ice cream a handful of times a year

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued
When we got off Figment we noticed they were letting people back into the DVC lounge. I was worried my name wasn't going to pop up because I was such a new member but turns out there is no list they just enter your name in . The only reason I say that is because my sister's name popped up but it must have just remembered her from the last time we went up there with her DVC card. Long story why she has a DVC card She is technically a DVC member but we don't use her points or anything.
It was super crowded up there but we did manage to get some pop and snag a few chairs and relax for a few minutes!

Standing photos before we got the chairs...

We got out of the lounge just in time for them to start handing out hats and horns

Man oh man those horns are annoying as heck - also I like how they gave me a DVC pin that says I am a member since 2018...looks like I had been a member for a year not one day
Then we made our way to World Showcase. I said earlier it was not as crowded as I thought it would be but then...bam

Worse than Food and Wine crowds which I always feel are bad

Next up: more Epcot

 

[Pardonmypixiedust]

holy people ! I said the same thing about MK closing at 11:30 NYE to @Big Hair. the dvc lounge looks neat. all the times we've been there we are always in such a hurry. each time we slow down a little, Not much. your TR's are my fave! easy to follow and well put together.

for the record im sure I'll be staring at guardians as well !

 

[ELeigh]

Disney Springs

We were in DS around the same time

 

[joshsprincess921]

Congrats on your purchase! And our wait for Spaceship Earth was the same with a FP on our trip as well. It took forever!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Somehow my Mom got a picture of me actually eating the ice cream which I almost never do As @TrolleyFollower91 once said I am "unAmerican" because I don't really love ice cream

Sam Eagle would probably call it “Distinctly unpatriotic.” I could use that if you prefer

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Congratulations on your DVC purchase I know you will get a lot of use out of it!
Also, thanks for taking the pictures of the fireworks from your balcony. We won't be staying there, so it is appreciated
It is out of our price range right now. But I've always wanted to stay there and watch the fireworks from the balcony. They were awesome Love your trip reports with your MOM.

 

[kimberlymautz]

Congratulations on your DVC purchase! Everytime I'm there I say I want to do it, but can't justify it just yet. Someday though!

 

[Doc Disney]

holy people ! I said the same thing about MK closing at 11:30 NYE to @Big Hair. the dvc lounge looks neat. all the times we've been there we are always in such a hurry. each time we slow down a little, Not much. your TR's are my fave! easy to follow and well put together.
for the record im sure I'll be staring at guardians as well !

Aw thank you so much! Aw you guys should definitely check out the Imagination Lounge - you have been to Top of the World right?

We were in DS around the same time

Oh really?!!? Funny its so small we could have walked past each other

 

[Doc Disney]

Congrats on your purchase! And our wait for Spaceship Earth was the same with a FP on our trip as well. It took forever!

It always takes forever I swear ! And thank you!

Sam Eagle would probably call it “Distinctly unpatriotic.” I could use that if you prefer

That is better

 

[Doc Disney]

Congratulations on your DVC purchase I know you will get a lot of use out of it!
Also, thanks for taking the pictures of the fireworks from your balcony. We won't be staying there, so it is appreciated
It is out of our price range right now. But I've always wanted to stay there and watch the fireworks from the balcony. They were awesome Love your trip reports with your MOM.

Thank you for reading And thank you I am excited about the DVC

Congratulations on your DVC purchase! Everytime I'm there I say I want to do it, but can't justify it just yet. Someday though!

Thank you! It seems like its definitely worth it to someday do it !

 

[Pardonmypixiedust]

TOW is a must do every trip for fireworks for us. max use of the DVC perks

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued
We made our way over to Italy since we had a dining reservation coming up

We were seated pretty quickly in this room all the way in the back that I did not even know exited

We waited a crazy amount of time for our pizza but our waiter was unusually fantastic. He spent a ton of time with us telling us about his home and asking about ours I know the service is hit or miss here but it seemed every waiter this day that we could see was very engaged.
We shared a large pepperoni pizza - we should have just shared an individual since we could only eat half

We were fading fast and it was only like 5:30 pm. I told my Mom we could skip the dessert party if we wanted to at MK this evening but we figured we would decide later. Before this trip I gave my Mom a few options for NYE: 1. California Grill 2. Contemporary NYE party (a bit out of our price range) 3. watch from balcony and 4. MK Dessert party. We chose dessert party for reasons that escaped us at this point
When we left VN it was packed everywhere with DJ stages going strong. We decided to head out since it had been like 11 hours since we were last at the hotel and it is unusual for us to not take an afternoon break.
We did see the NYE fireworks from the TTC while transferring monorails 3/4 times seeing it !
Oh also MK did reopen at 5:30 pm FYI !
Back in our room we got ready in our actual NYE outfits

Then we relaxed on the balcony a bit. The traffic was already insane due to the two big Contemporary NYE parties. My Mom and I got such a kick out of watching the Valets from our balcony. We made bets about how many we would see in a certain time span....hey anything to keep you awake

We finally got up and dragged our butts to the Magic Kingdom around 8:30 pm. We felt guilty not going since we did indeed prepay for the party. Considering how crowded it was I was actually able to find a POTC FP without any issue
It wasn't as difficult to get over to Adventureland as I expected. As long as you avoided the hub it was not bad at all.

This is a PP picture and yes it is that bad...

Next up: more MK

 

[Doc Disney]

TOW is a must do every trip for fireworks for us. max use of the DVC perks

We will have to check it out next time since we got denied this last trip

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued

After POTC we headed over towards Liberty Square watching some dance parties along the way.
For some reason we decided to do Country Bears - the show was hilarious as usual and the entire audience was very into it

Example of a stage/party

We made our way over to Fantasyland after this
Cool PP picture we found by Peter Pan

We had a FP at the teacups so we headed there. We noticed that they were blocking off some of the major pathways at this point so we actually changed our minds and decided to just get to the dessert party. We got to Tomorrowland where they were blocking off that entire pathway back to the hub and essentially had to beg them to let us through so we could check into the party. This part was really crowded and we ended up having to cut through Tomorrowland Terrace to get in the dessert party line which was WAY backed up. This is where CMs were losing their minds and I can't blame them. They blocked off every path that had completely full fireworks viewing and guests were not happy about it and were just going around them somehow
Anyway...we finally checked into the dessert party sometime around 10:10 pm.
We were on the Plaza/garden Viewing side but you still have reserved tables up there before you move down for fireworks.
We started off with a s'more which I proceeded to eat in line

Cider - the CM seating us told me it was 45 proof and I could get drunk off those ...and then was like JK is sparking juice

Oh we got more hats and horns at the party

Next up: more dessert party

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued

My plate has a push-pop oreo thing, cheese (duh), a cheeseburger egg roll, macaroons, chocolate covered strawberry and cheesecake

Mom Mom had essentially the same thing plus a tart, some fruit, and some ice cream

Actually everything was tasty. They enhanced the treats since the last time we went to a party for sure.
It was like 10:30 at this point and we were exhausted. I think if we weren't sick it would not have been so bad but I could not fathom sitting there for another hour and a half. We were both thinking it but eventually my Mom asked me if I wanted to leave and I said yes.
I feel bad but at least we ate the food. So...we bounced right out of there.
I wish this picture was not blurry but it does kind of show how crowded it was - it literally looked like homeless people lining the streets!

Anyway, back in the room we got dressed in our PJs and waited until midnight. I did not take a ton of photos and just a small IG video but the fireworks were FANTASTIC. They held out on all the fireworks before and there were way more for the actual show. It was awesome because a ton of people were on their balconies watching and cheering and the one NYE party was outside below us blasting the music so it was clear as day

In the end I am SO glad we left when we did and watched from our balcony! It was so nice and relaxing and we missed the huge mass exodus! My Mom said she saw cars and buses at 2:30 am still trying to leave MK and the Contemporary with massive waits
I asked my Mom what her New Years Resolution was and she said "no more dessert parties" I swear every few trips I sign us up for one and they are never worth it for us so no more. I was like ...but what if they bring back the Illumination Dessert Party and she was like ......NOOOOOOOO

Next up: New Years Day