Have you been to DisneyWorld on New Years Day?

[Wizzard419]

Oh I see, you are talking about Epcot's re-opening of TT. That really won't mean much since they will be there and most of the productions take place inside DL/MK.

And the "parade" (which doesn't really move much, so is it really a parade?) is an info-mercial for their US properties so they can show off what opened this year and promote what will open next year.

[Soarin08]

And I hear One Direction (insert vomiting sound here) is heading up the parade this year (AMERICA WHERE IS YOUR DIGNITY?!) so I hope to God I get lucky and miss out on working on the 6th. I'll hide at home.

[Wizzard419]

Don't you have some major anglophilia going on as well as seditious worship of the crown?

My friend here would like to have a word with you while I note this in your file...

[Monakie78]

I have been to Disney world on New Years, and may I say, I will NEVER do it again....... we were in the parks early and it was very crowded! At 10am that year as we were walking out of MK the lady at the gates told us if we left the park we would not be let back in becasue the parks reached max. occupancy. Later we found out that it was not only Mk but EPCOT and HS as well. We still decided to brave it and we left the parks went to the room for awhile and then went back to the parks later in the evening. I have also been to Disney for my honeymoon the third week in January and what a difference!!! Completely dead! It was the best time we have ever had, walked on all of the ride, no wait! It was still a fun trip for New Years but now that i can say ive done it, I know i wouldnt do it again.

When you say "New Years," do you mean eve or day? In the original post, I noted we are going New Years Day, (Jan 1-6). According to the Disney Vacation Club book the point value changes drastically from New Years Eve to New Years Day, therefore one would assume that New Years Day would be much quieter. But that's an assumption

[blue15os2004]

I was there both days we stayed for a week while New Years fell in the middle. Both days are busy, although disney says its slow most people are there because they stayed the night into the day. Its just as busy on New Years Day as it is on New Years Eve.

[Monakie78]

I was there both days we stayed for a week while New Years fell in the middle. Both days are busy, although disney says its slow most people are there because they stayed the night into the day. Its just as busy on New Years Day as it is on New Years Eve.

Was it slower on the 2nd & the days after when you went? I'm trying to figure out if we should even bother going to the park on the 1st. I think all the resort pools are heated. Maybe we stick with swimming on New Years Day. I've done January swimming in Disney before. I grew up in WI....only northerners were in the pool

[Amy]

I was there both days we stayed for a week while New Years fell in the middle. Both days are busy, although disney says its slow most people are there because they stayed the night into the day. Its just as busy on New Years Day as it is on New Years Eve.

Was it slower on the 2nd & the days after when you went? I'm trying to figure out if we should even bother going to the park on the 1st. I think all the resort pools are heated. Maybe we stick with swimming on New Years Day. I've done January swimming in Disney before. I grew up in WI....only northerners were in the pool

You've got that part right ~ if you are from the North and can find a heated swimming pool, you are good to go no matter the ambient temperature!

[Monakie78]

We just got back from Disney World last night. My 8 year old daughter cried & tried to stall our return. We were all so sad to leave after 6 days at Disney. Now I can say that I have been to Disney World on New Year's DAY. Would I recommend this for a 1st time visitor?-NO! But this is roughly my 30th visit & my husband & I know the system. My husband ran to get fast passes for the big attractions while I & my dad rallied the 3 kids to head in another direction. It was also a big help to have my dad with us. We did the less popular attractions or attended shows while we waited for our fast pass time slot.

The craziest line was for Test Track. My husband had to wait 30 minutes just to get a fast pass on Jan 5th. A cast member started yelling out that if you have a fast pass for another ride that you can NOT get another fast pass....just to eliminate people from the fast pass line for Test Track. Bogus! My husband told the people around him to check their other fast passes. You CAN have 2 fast passes for 2 different rides at the same time. It states it in the details on the bottom of your fast pass as to when you're allowed to be issued a second one. We often held 2 at the same time and were able to go on popular rides 2 in a row because my husband was smart enough to run and get us 2nd fast passes once the time slot opened up. He talked to a bunch of people around him while waiting & they didn't know that key detail.

Anyway, it was way busier New Year's Day & the few days after vs going in October or mid-Jan like we usually do. But this was a once in a lifetime surprise Christmas present for our 3 children. We're seasoned Disney World visitors so we know the way it works & we still managed to go on most of the rides as busy as it was. PLUS having that wait time app worked out awesome! We sat at the Columbia Harbor House eating our lunch & watching people wait 85 minutes to go on the Haunted Mansion. Whoa! We came back later when it was a 10 minute wait. It's nice to be able to watch the wait time for rides while you're elsewhere.

[Amy]

We just got back from Disney World last night. My 8 year old daughter cried & tried to stall our return. We were all so sad to leave after 6 days at Disney. Now I can say that I have been to Disney World on New Year's DAY. Would I recommend this for a 1st time visitor?-NO! But this is roughly my 30th visit & my husband & I know the system. My husband ran to get fast passes for the big attractions while I & my dad rallied the 3 kids to head in another direction. It was also a big help to have my dad with us. We did the less popular attractions or attended shows while we waited for our fast pass time slot.

The craziest line was for Test Track. My husband had to wait 30 minutes just to get a fast pass on Jan 5th. A cast member started yelling out that if you have a fast pass for another ride that you can NOT get another fast pass....just to eliminate people from the fast pass line for Test Track. Bogus! My husband told the people around him to check their other fast passes. You CAN have 2 fast passes for 2 different rides at the same time. It states it in the details on the bottom of your fast pass as to when you're allowed to be issued a second one. We often held 2 at the same time and were able to go on popular rides 2 in a row because my husband was smart enough to run and get us 2nd fast passes once the time slot opened up. He talked to a bunch of people around him while waiting & they didn't know that key detail.

Anyway, it was way busier New Year's Day & the few days after vs going in October or mid-Jan like we usually do. But this was a once in a lifetime surprise Christmas present for our 3 children. We're seasoned Disney World visitors so we know the way it works & we still managed to go on most of the rides as busy as it was. PLUS having that wait time app worked out awesome! We sat at the Columbia Harbor House eating our lunch & watching people wait 85 minutes to go on the Haunted Mansion. Whoa! We came back later when it was a 10 minute wait. It's nice to be able to watch the wait time for rides while you're elsewhere.

Sounds like you made the most of the time you were there. That was nice of your husband to help people out with the FP system. It is surprising how many people still don't understand it. And now it will be changing again, so I suppose even more people will be confused!

[Monakie78]

We just got back from Disney World last night. My 8 year old daughter cried & tried to stall our return. We were all so sad to leave after 6 days at Disney. Now I can say that I have been to Disney World on New Year's DAY. Would I recommend this for a 1st time visitor?-NO! But this is roughly my 30th visit & my husband & I know the system. My husband ran to get fast passes for the big attractions while I & my dad rallied the 3 kids to head in another direction. It was also a big help to have my dad with us. We did the less popular attractions or attended shows while we waited for our fast pass time slot.

The craziest line was for Test Track. My husband had to wait 30 minutes just to get a fast pass on Jan 5th. A cast member started yelling out that if you have a fast pass for another ride that you can NOT get another fast pass....just to eliminate people from the fast pass line for Test Track. Bogus! My husband told the people around him to check their other fast passes. You CAN have 2 fast passes for 2 different rides at the same time. It states it in the details on the bottom of your fast pass as to when you're allowed to be issued a second one. We often held 2 at the same time and were able to go on popular rides 2 in a row because my husband was smart enough to run and get us 2nd fast passes once the time slot opened up. He talked to a bunch of people around him while waiting & they didn't know that key detail.

Anyway, it was way busier New Year's Day & the few days after vs going in October or mid-Jan like we usually do. But this was a once in a lifetime surprise Christmas present for our 3 children. We're seasoned Disney World visitors so we know the way it works & we still managed to go on most of the rides as busy as it was. PLUS having that wait time app worked out awesome! We sat at the Columbia Harbor House eating our lunch & watching people wait 85 minutes to go on the Haunted Mansion. Whoa! We came back later when it was a 10 minute wait. It's nice to be able to watch the wait time for rides while you're elsewhere.

Sounds like you made the most of the time you were there. That was nice of your husband to help people out with the FP system. It is surprising how many people still don't understand it. And now it will be changing again, so I suppose even more people will be confused!

What! What are they changing with it?

[Amy]

What! What are they changing with it?

MyMagic+ Here is a link to the NYTimes article over in the WDW thread... viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8577

[Monakie78]

What! What are they changing with it?

MyMagic+ Here is a link to the NYTimes article over in the WDW thread... viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8577

Sounds interesting. I can see more pros to it than cons. Now they just need to fix their bag checking & I'll be happy It almost seems pointless as they don't check everything & never have enough guards on hand. If someone really wanted to bring in something bad, they could easily do it. So sad there are mean people in this world. If security guards checked everything, then the already long lines would be even longer. We saw a group of college age girls who weren't allowed into Animal Kingdom because they purchased glass souvenirs in one park and then park hopped to Animal Kingdom. The security guard kept saying no glass of any kind is allowed into the parks & was really making a big stink about Disney having the same rules as airports. Uh, not really! The guard was really holding up the line. The girls were shell shocked. We jumped to another line & I never heard him offer for guest relations to hold their items for them until their departure.

[Amy]

What! What are they changing with it?

MyMagic+ Here is a link to the NYTimes article over in the WDW thread... viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8577

Sounds interesting. I can see more pros to it than cons. Now they just need to fix their bag checking & I'll be happy It almost seems pointless as they don't check everything & never have enough guards on hand. If someone really wanted to bring in something bad, they could easily do it. So sad there are mean people in this world. If security guards checked everything, then the already long lines would be even longer. We saw a group of college age girls who weren't allowed into Animal Kingdom because they purchased glass souvenirs in one park and then park hopped to Animal Kingdom. The security guard kept saying no glass of any kind is allowed into the parks & was really making a big stink about Disney having the same rules as airports. Uh, not really! The guard was really holding up the line. The girls were shell shocked. We jumped to another line & I never heard him offer for guest relations to hold their items for them until their departure.

I agree the bag check is sort of worthless. I ended up with a tiny bottle of rum rattling around my backpack for at least 2 days and never had security notice it (I didn't remember it was still in there myself ~ honest!!) Some guards are super thorough, others barely check. I have a mesh backpack that I specifically take there because they used to just glance at it since it is basically see-thru, but they looked more closely this past trip. Sometimes they made my Mom unzip every single zipper in her purse, outside and in, other times they didn't.

[Wizzard419]

You mean the magic chopstick (DLR gives them a chopstick to search with) doesn't prevent anything?! But then how will it stop people from sneaking in guns and whatnot on their person?

[Amy]

You mean the magic chopstick (DLR gives them a chopstick to search with) doesn't prevent anything?! But then how will it stop people from sneaking in guns and whatnot on their person?

No chopsticks for the WDW security guard searchers ~ at least not that I've seen. They have a flashlight. A few tap the bag's sides and give it a heft, I'm assuming that is to check for glass bottles.
Yeah, not the most secure search since they don't look in your coat pockets or pat people down. I suppose it is better than nothing....maybe.