Epcot New Year's Eve madness (photos and wait times)

[KingdomKeeper]

Last year, Tapestry puppets were in the Millunium Village building.

I was kind of expecting to be in Epcot again this year but didn't quite make it.

You wouldn't by chance have any pics of inside the building, would you? I was there last year and was dieing to see how they decorate the inside of the Fantasia Restaurant, but 60+ dollars was a little too much...

 

[askmike1]

My point exactly.

In any other type of venue, the Fire Marshall would disperse too many people crowded into the same area that it wasn't designed to hold. I fail to see why this is acceptable, and condoned, in a theme park.

And hence the overflow viewing areas. They only allow a given amount of people to watch it from around the lagoon. Just like at the MK, if you are not within the taped off areas, you must continue moving.

 

[unkadug]

And hence the overflow viewing areas. They only allow a given amount of people to watch it from around the lagoon. Just like at the MK, if you are not within the taped off areas, you must continue moving.

Because that was how the park was designed and deemed safe.


Isn't haphazardly adding overflow standing room making the area overcapacity and against all standards that society has imposed upon itself with laws regarding safety?

 

[marni1971]

Because that was how the park was designed and deemed safe.


Isn't haphazardly adding overflow standing room making the area overcapacity and against all standards that society has imposed upon itself with laws regarding safety?

I think it`s more to the point that the promonade has gotten more clutter over the past decade or so than it originally had. Far more people had more viewing areas with less clutter and landscaping to watch IllumiNations or `Fantasy than is possible with ROE.

 

[raven]

Overflow area for fireworks viewing?

If they have to have "overflow" areas, that means they let too many people into the park.

If the park was designed for that many people there would be no need for "overflow" standing room.

Wonders of Life and World Showplace was open as well as backstage walking areas which raised the number of guests allowed into the park. But people weren't going to stay inside or backstage while the fireworks were taking place. They needed extra areas to hold the crowds and these worked well.

I had just came down from the roof-top breakroom ontop of Japan when Illuminations ended and watched it from the Zen Garden area. Just barely made it down when Japan started firing off their fireworks on top of the building immediately after Illuminations. :lol:

At 4PM 12/31
MK= 55.8k
EC= 56.4k
HS= 26k~
AK= 18k~

My number came from a projected number for Epcot. That was the number of guests that they expected to come and go from open until close, not in the park at one time.

You wouldn't by chance have any pics of inside the building, would you? I was there last year and was dieing to see how they decorate the inside of the Fantasia Restaurant, but 60+ dollars was a little too much...

I saw it this morning around 6AM. When walking in they had bandstands on the side with the animated musical intruments in an orchestra arangement and one of the giant brooms as you entered. The main area had scenes from Fantasia and Fantasia 2000.

 

[KingdomKeeper]

Hey Raven,
Last year (by which I mean Dec. 31st 2009), I kept hearing the number quoted that EPCOT could hold 90000 people? Is that really true? Assuming of course you can comment on this...I have just have wondered if that was a rumor going around the cast members or if it really can hold that many people.

With the Fantasia restaurant, are the scenes the 2D cut outs like they have for the Pin Events or are they 3D sculptures making up the scenes?

Wonders of Life and World Showplace was open as well as backstage walking areas which raised the number of guests allowed into the park. But people weren't going to stay inside or backstage while the fireworks were taking place. They needed extra areas to hold the crowds and these worked well.

I had just came down from the roof-top breakroom ontop of Japan when Illuminations ended and watched it from the Zen Garden area. Just barely made it down when Japan started firing off their fireworks on top of the building immediately after Illuminations. :lol:



My number came from a projected number for Epcot. That was the number of guests that they expected to come and go from open until close, not in the park at one time.



I saw it this morning around 6AM. When walking in they had bandstands on the side with the animated musical intruments in an orchestra arangement and one of the giant brooms as you entered. The main area had scenes from Fantasia and Fantasia 2000.

 

[juan]

Was at Epcot last night and it definitely seemed a lot busier than NYE 2009.
I will say that the bus service was a lot better then prior years.
We watched the fireworks close to Mexico and were back at the AS Sports by 12:40. :king:

 

[raven]

Hey Raven,
Last year (by which I mean Dec. 31st 2009), I kept hearing the number quoted that EPCOT could hold 90000 people? Is that really true? Assuming of course you can comment on this...I have just have wondered if that was a rumor going around the cast members or if it really can hold that many people.

With the Fantasia restaurant, are the scenes the 2D cut outs like they have for the Pin Events or are they 3D sculptures making up the scenes?

Actually I don't know the official park capacity. Always wondered though.

The Fantasia scenes were three dimentional statues.

 

[Testtrack321]

Because that was how the park was designed and deemed safe.


Isn't haphazardly adding overflow standing room making the area overcapacity and against all standards that society has imposed upon itself with laws regarding safety?

Park capacity != World Showcase Promenade capacity

As Raven said, capacity is determined by people inside attractions, buildings, and in areas you can't see the fireworks. It's like setting up a few more taps during St Paddy's day: more people want to drink.

 

[askmike1]

Isn't haphazardly adding overflow standing room making the area overcapacity and against all standards that society has imposed upon itself with laws regarding safety?

Nope... it's a show issue no doubt (which is why they don't do it on a regular basis), but from an efficiency, courtesy and most importantly safety standpoint, it allows the people that are in the park to have a safe viewing of the fireworks. Again, not a safety issue at all as people are only able to stop to watch the fireworks in the designated areas. These additional areas (that aren't normally used for show reasons) allow a larger portion of the crowd to view the fireworks, taking them off the pathways.

 

[unkadug]

Nope... it's a show issue no doubt (which is why they don't do it on a regular basis), but from an efficiency, courtesy and most importantly safety standpoint, it allows the people that are in the park to have a safe viewing of the fireworks. Again, not a safety issue at all as people are only able to stop to watch the fireworks in the designated areas. These additional areas (that aren't normally used for show reasons) allow a larger portion of the crowd to view the fireworks, taking them off the pathways.

I will accept that as a reasonable answer but it still seems strange compared to normal Fire Marshall rules pertaining to normal capacity. :shrug:

 

[niteobsrvr]

I will accept that as a reasonable answer but it still seems strange compared to normal Fire Marshall rules pertaining to normal capacity. :shrug:

Generally speaking, outdoor venues dont have capacities established by fire marshalls. The buildings that make up Epcot each have a maximum capacity as determined by firecode but that is it.

The outdoor park areas within the borders that define Epcot are managed completely by Disney's own internal guidelines.

One thing that I ahve heard but have no way to confirm, is that the Magic Kingdom actually has a higher "capacity' than Epcot due to the number of attractions available to contain the people at any given time. Would love to hear the official take on this.

 

[brifraz]

Was there last year for New Years - never again!! Disgustingly packed. Still had fun ('cause it's Disney), but the waits were also about 250 min. for Soarin' and co, so the only attraction we did the whole day was the American Adventure. My fave anyway, so it's all good. Did they have the salsa dance party again in America? So much fun!

We were there last year (bringing in 2010) and managed to do quite a few rides. See my post below from the NYE tread last year:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=531325&page=7
"In at opening and did TT, got Fastpasses, did M:S, did S:E, had breakfast, did both boat rides, three KP adventures. Then sat at R+C all afternoon with trips out to do FPs and cramming into the R+C viewing area after dinner. We'll be ready to do it again in another 5 years!!"

 

[brifraz]

Based solely on the times the parks have been closed to guests, it seems the crowds are a lot lighter this year than they were last year. Last year it seemed MK was closed every day all week, and I saw multiple EPCOT closures in there as well. This year MK is the only one that has hit the limit.

I know MK closed a few times last year, but I don't recall EPCOT ever closing. We were there for NYE and unless I am mistaken it did not close for capacity.

 

[WDW FTW]

somebody get me a super fastpass for those lines hahaha, new years at epcot is becoming more like new years at times square every year. I was there last year, in wdw not epcot but there was non stop transportation flowing the whole time and i could tell epcot had to be PACKED.

 

[askmike1]

new years at epcot is becoming more like new years at times square every year

Only worse because of all the alcohol.

 

[Figment82]

Only worse because of all the alcohol.

That's for sure. I saw a guy pushing a stroller with one hand, beer in the other and he would literally walk up to people and bark loudly in their faces. Gotta love obnoxious drunks.

On the whole, crowd control was much improved this year, especially compared to two years ago. It literally only took 15 minutes to get from our fireworks spot on the Odyssey bridge to being on the road heading home. And we were parked all the way in the Wonder lot.

 

[jmmc]

OK, OK, I've been to Disney at some really busy times, but this officially boggles my mind. It's inconceivable to me that someone is going to stand in line for four hours? Really?? Are people really standing there for that long??? How could you even do that???

Reading that makes me think I should never, ever, go to WDW for New Years' Eve.

 

[askmike1]

Reading that makes me think I should never, ever, go to WDW for New Years' Eve.

You just have to know where to go. For instance, if you really want to see the fireworks at Epcot that night, spend the day at Animal Kingdom or the Studios. Tower had a 30 minute wait and Great Movie Ride was a walk-on. Or consider watching the fireworks from an alternate location (Poly or Contemporary for the MK fireworks, Boardwalk for the Epcot fireworks, DHS fireworks don't get overly crowded, but worse comes to worse you can see them from right outside the turnstiles by the tree).

 

[zulemara]

OK, OK, I've been to Disney at some really busy times, but this officially boggles my mind. It's inconceivable to me that someone is going to stand in line for four hours? Really?? Are people really standing there for that long??? How could you even do that???

Reading that makes me think I should never, ever, go to WDW for New Years' Eve.

that depends if you wanna get on rides or if you're there for other activities =P I was in the park 12 hrs and went on 1 ride(I retract my previous statement, I did go on the mexico ride) and I was perfectly happy and had an awesome time! But that's cuz I've done EPCOT on NYE 2x before so I know what to expect.