Are NYE FP hard to get?

FSU Girl

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
It'll be my first trip to Disney for NYE and the FP window is slowly approaching. Will it be hard to get fast passes for the days we are there? We're going to Magic Kingdom on 12/30, Epcot on 12/31 and Magic Kingdom on 1/1. I know it'll be crazy crowded and figured we'd just ride what we get fast passes for. Will I have trouble getting anything?
 
just those 3 days? Try for 7DMT on 1/1 and nothing else should be too much trouble. May not get the optimal times you want.
 
We were in Epcot for NYE last year. It was crazy crowded but so much fun! Not only were we able to get what we wanted when our FP window opened, but the day of I was able to get a 4th, 5th and 6th FP, one of which was Test Track, using the refresh trick. Even if it says they are all gone, just keep trying!
 
It'll be my first trip to Disney for NYE and the FP window is slowly approaching. Will it be hard to get fast passes for the days we are there? We're going to Magic Kingdom on 12/30, Epcot on 12/31 and Magic Kingdom on 1/1. I know it'll be crazy crowded and figured we'd just ride what we get fast passes for. Will I have trouble getting anything?

I did MK on 12/30 last year, Epcot on 12/31 and park hopped on 1/1. Had no trouble getting anything I wanted when my 60-day window opened for MK on the 30th (which was my 60+2) or Epcot on the 31st. On the 30th I was able to get immediate 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. FastPasses all day, though obviously not always for top-level attractions. But still, stuff like Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, even BTMRR at times, were available (and Splash Mountain... always Splash, which I attribute mostly to the fact that it was in the low 50s pretty much all day). Epcot on the 31st was more of a challenge to get FPs beyond the first three, but I was always able to get something, and there's so much to do in the park that day that isn't attraction-based that I never felt like I had to just be standing around waiting in a line.

As for the 1st itself, I was able to get something -- and usually something pretty good -- in each park all day long as I bounced from park to park. Again, the cold weather definitely played a role in that, but from what I've heard from past years, Jan. 1 isn't nearly as busy as Dec. 30 or 31.
 


Similar results as others over the last few years. We have been 30th, 31st, and 1st last 3 years. Usually do Epcot on 30th for Holidays around the World then hop to MK for fireworks then back to Epcot for NYE fireworks on the 31st. One word of caution, do not drive to the parks on these days, use Disney transportation. Gridlock entering the parks is an understatement as well as exiting. Hope you are staying on site and near the parks!

Definitely look for extra fast passes after initial 3 there should be many to be had. The coolest experience we have had was midnight fireworks on the 30th at MK while riding Big Thunder Mountain...incredible!
 
As for the 1st itself, I was able to get something -- and usually something pretty good -- in each park all day long as I bounced from park to park. Again, the cold weather definitely played a role in that, but from what I've heard from past years, Jan. 1 isn't nearly as busy as Dec. 30 or 31.

Ha! I was there those days too. 1/1 is hardly a fair fight... it was so darn cold and windy...you, me, and a few thousand people had all the parks to ourselves!

I hate to hope for poor weather, but gosh that was a fun day in the parks!
 
Thanks everyone! That's good to hear it's not too bad getting any of the fast passes. We are definitely not driving. Staying at the Contemporary so plan on walking to Magic Kingdom and Monorail over to Epcot. I'm expecting craziness so don't plan on doing much, but a few rides would be nice :)
 


Exiting Epcot to board the monorail after NYE fireworks can be an arduous process. If you are doing NYE at Epcot I would strongly suggest you choose not to exit the park before 1:00 am... even then the lines will be massive.

You might consider MK for NYE even though most do not recommend it because of the crowds. We did MK last year staying at Wilderness Lodge and were on the boat back to the resort pretty quickly. Walking to the Contemporary should make MK NYE relatively painless.

If you do MK try to grab a dessert party to avoid the masses. Probably too late but there are always folks that cancel.

One other thing... Many will suggest you get to the park early and stay all day to avoid capacity closures. This is not necessary as you are staying at Contemporary. To my knowledge (I have researched it a bit) there has never been a phase 4 closure at Epcot and none at MK either on NYE. Last year we had dinner at Ohana at 5:00 before making our way to MK for NYE fireworks...

Have fun!
 
Exiting Epcot to board the monorail after NYE fireworks can be an arduous process. If you are doing NYE at Epcot I would strongly suggest you choose not to exit the park before 1:00 am... even then the lines will be massive.

You might consider MK for NYE even though most do not recommend it because of the crowds. We did MK last year staying at Wilderness Lodge and were on the boat back to the resort pretty quickly. Walking to the Contemporary should make MK NYE relatively painless.
So we have a theme park view room at the Contemporary. We are going to be inside Magic Kingdom on the 30th for the fireworks, which I believe are the same as NYE. My Fiance doesn't handle crowds well so I wanted to have the room as a backup in case it's too much for him. Right now we have dinner scheduled inside Epcot for 7:30pm. I figure we'll watch the earlier fireworks and see how the crowds are. After dinner if it just is too much to handle we'll head back to the hotel to watch from there. I'm hoping he can though I'd like to see both shows.

If you do MK try to grab a dessert party to avoid the masses. Probably too late but there are always folks that cancel.
I almost did when they first were released, but they were really expensive and my Fiance didn't think it was worth the added cost.

One other thing... Many will suggest you get to the park early and stay all day to avoid capacity closures. This is not necessary as you are staying at Contemporary. To my knowledge (I have researched it a bit) there has never been a phase 4 closure at Epcot and none at MK either on NYE. Last year we had dinner at Ohana at 5:00 before making our way to MK for NYE fireworks...
We aren't going to do that, I think we'd both be exhausted. Right now for NYE we have a lunch reservation in our hotel and then will head over around 3ish to do some rides and make our dining reservation. I did some research and it doesn't seem likely that Epcot will close so that's good.

Thanks for the advice!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top