EPCOT New Years Tips and Tricks

[WAJAS]

Hello everyone!!! I’m going to EPCOT to see the last Holiday and the last New Year’s Eve Illuminations fireworks as well as my last time seeing Illuminations in general. I was wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks.

Such as:

Best place to watch the sho?
What to expect?
Any major operational changes on New Year’s Eve?
Any backstage pathways that open like at MK?
The difference between all the parties?
Surprise traffic flow changes like they do at MK?
Is parking at Boardwalk easier than the main parking lot?
Etc.

Anything and everything is appreciated, including and reviews you have of past years?

 

[Nick]

What to expect? A LOT of people. And also one hell of a party. This is also the last NTE for Illuminations, so there may be extra Disney vloggers/bloggers there who otherwise wouldn't be.

Backstage paths? There's one that they open by Norway that cuts over to Test Track. They may have a path that cuts from Canada/UK over to Future World West.

Operational Changes? Lots of extended queues into main walkways, tape on the ground, and also potential for park closure of parking lot to fill to capacity, meaning they send people elsewhere to park and then bus them over.

Difference between dance parties? Future World (formerly Japan) has a "Silent Groove" party where everyone there where the music is only played through headphones. UK is bands as is the American Gardens Theater (Latin music mostly). Italy and China are where most people go, they play EDM mixes of Top 40 songs.

Parking at Boardwalk easier? Yes, but you will have to pay to park there. There is the alternative of getting a reservation at one of the restaurants at the Boardwalk, to which you would park for free, but then have to pay to eat. It is a work around if you plan on going there for a meal anyway though.

 

[WAJAS]

What to expect? A LOT of people. And also one hell of a party. This is also the last NTE for Illuminations, so there may be extra Disney vloggers/bloggers there who otherwise wouldn't be.

Backstage paths? There's one that they open by Norway that cuts over to Test Track. They may have a path that cuts from Canada/UK over to Future World West.

Operational Changes? Lots of extended queues into main walkways, tape on the ground, and also potential for park closure of parking lot to fill to capacity, meaning they send people elsewhere to park and then bus them over.

Difference between dance parties? Future World (formerly Japan) has a "Silent Groove" party where everyone there where the music is only played through headphones. UK is bands as is the American Gardens Theater (Latin music mostly). Italy and China are where most people go, they play EDM mixes of Top 40 songs.

Parking at Boardwalk easier? Yes, but you will have to pay to park there. There is the alternative of getting a reservation at one of the restaurants at the Boardwalk, to which you would park for free, but then have to pay to eat. It is a work around if you plan on going there for a meal anyway though.

Oh so you’ve been before? How much did you guys get done?

 

[Nick]

Oh so you’ve been before? How much did you guys get done?

I've done all Disney parks on both coasts for NYE. As for getting things done, you're expectations need to be in check that you may not get a ton done, but you can still have a really good time. Hopefully you got some fastpasses for some things. Typically, rides like Test Track, Soarin and Frozen will get to 3 hour+ waits throughout the day/night. Even rides that are normally low waits like living with the land or Gran Fiesta Tour will likely have pretty long lines.

Should also be noted that in the past, they have shown Illuminations twice on NYE - Once at 6:30 for kids who may not be able to make it until midnight (and it also helps clear out those that just wanted to see fireworks) and then of course at midnight. The midnight show will be Illuminations as well, but timed perfectly so that when the clock ticks midnight, the NYE tag will be happening.

World showcase will likely be extremely busy all day and I actually believe this is one of the few days of the year where the whole showcase opens at 9am.

 

[WAJAS]

I've done all Disney parks on both coasts for NYE. As for getting things done, you're expectations need to be in check that you may not get a ton done, but you can still have a really good time. Hopefully you got some fastpasses for some things. Typically, rides like Test Track, Soarin and Frozen will get to 3 hour+ waits throughout the day/night. Even rides that are normally low waits like living with the land or Gran Fiesta Tour will likely have pretty long lines.

Should also be noted that in the past, they have shown Illuminations twice on NYE - Once at 6:30 for kids who may not be able to make it until midnight (and it also helps clear out those that just wanted to see fireworks) and then of course at midnight. The midnight show will be Illuminations as well, but timed perfectly so that when the clock ticks midnight, the NYE tag will be happening.

World showcase will likely be extremely busy all day and I actually believe this is one of the few days of the year where the whole showcase opens at 9am.

Thank you!

We don’t plan on doing the E tickets this trip because of the crowds. We mainly want to do Mission Space (we heard it was updated last year) and Soarin, so we’re good there. It’s a last minute trip thought, so the are fast passes, while good, aren’t great. We have Frozen, Living with the Land, and Spaceship Earth.

Most of the day will be spent doing the WS films and the smaller shows that we don’t do on most trips.

 

[Nick]

How was your experience at Epcot on NYE?

 

[WAJAS]

How was your experience at Epcot on NYE?

Surprisingly, it went really well. The main goal was to see the last NYE and PoE tags for Illuminations, we showed up with 20 mins till for each show and got fine viewing.

We basically toured the countries and saw all of the smaller shows. Waited in almost no lines because of it and had an amazing time!!!

We did the China party, and OMG was it crazy!!! Definetely, the best park to go to for NYE even with the crowds! It wasn’t even that bad to be honest!