NYE 2016 trip overview 12/28/16-1/2/17

[Joel0917]

i can remember seeing the stream and youtube videos last January 1, 2016 and saying I"M DOING THAT NEXT YEAR!!! So i literally started planning then and was able to rent BLT points and booked Dec 30-Jan 1 at BLT. Later a waitlist came through so i could stay at BLT through the 2nd and not move. so here is the quick snapshot and then i'll give a day by day and some photos.

ME
DW
DS 8
DD 12
(all experienced disney folks, so we don't go commando at the parks, but we do rope drop!)

Dec 28 - flew down through Atlanta and connected to Melbourne airport. Rent car and drive to Holiday Inn Disney Springs for 2 nights
Dec 29 - drive to Clearwater Aquarium and see Winter & Hope
Dec 30 - hit MK at EMH at 7am after dropping car at BLT
Dec 31 - Epcot and watch NYE fireworks at MK from TOTWL
Jan 1 - pool day all day
Jan 2 - pool day til 1 then fly home

I found a trip report on another board that helped me a lot and choosing which parks to go to and expectations. I really believe the Tier'd tickets and blackout dates to this holiday weekend helped with crowds a ton. I decided to do MK on the 30th and Epcot on NYE. Our original plan was to be at Epcot for the 6pm Illuminations that had the holiday ending, then make it back to BLT for dinner at 8 and then fireworks at TOTWL. I planned on MK on the 30th being packed and really tried to keep all expectations with my kids in check.

Dec 28
Originally we were flying in Delta through ATL to MLB. About 3 weeks ago i checked and say there was a flight change, and i was floored i didn't get a notice, my Detroit flight was now leaving later and landing "AFTER MY CONNECTION". How did Delta not automatically fix this? so i called and instead of leaving at 140 pm and eventually landing at MLB at 730pm, i was able to get moved to the 825am departure which still connected through ATL but landed at MLB at 140. so now we have like a bonus afternoon and evening to go to Disney Springs.
I fly a lot for work and we travel most holidays. I totally underestimated Dec 28 crowds. We showed up 90 minutes early and the lines were nuts. I have sky priority for Delta and that line was insane as well. we got to the airport at 7am for our 825 am flight. at 745 i was still in priority luggage lane and i told the wife and kids to go to the gate and i'll do my best to make it. The left and then suddenly 2 more agents showed up and i got done in like 10 minutes. I went to TSA precheck, my wife went to sky prioriy lane instead of TSA and we ended up coming out of the security at the same time. about 8am. we caught the monorail, sadly walked by starbucks without stopping and boarded our plane right away. Note: i live on starbucks in the morning, so not having it was not a good start. When we finally connected we hit SB about 1130 and then some lunch and made our connection to Melbourne. Very smooth. Luggage out right away, not at all like waiting at MCO. Got a rental car and we drive the 90 minutes to the Holiday Inn. i had points for Holiday Inn and have stayed at this hotel for work, so i knew it was close to Disney Springs and a nice hotel overall with a good pool. Check in was easy. We did have a twin air mattress sent from Amazon to the hotel since my kids hat sharing a bed. the mattress was $34 with shipping and we used it all 5 nights at HI and BLT so that made sleeping arrangements much better with no fighting.
We went to pool and then to Disney springs for dinner at Delux which is a fav of mine. Big line but went fast about 20 minutes. We did the Christmas Tree walk - very lame in my opinion. And we watched the drone show at 7pm as well. Neat but not breathtaking at all.
Dec 29
We got up 645 and ate and headed to Clearwater to go to the Aquarium with Winter and Hope from the Dolphin Tail movies. It was about $70 for the 4 tickets. Drive was easy. They have the actual movie sets and props at one location in downtown and then the trolley takes u to the Aquarium. We got there right at 9am so not crowded. There were lots of "extras" you could "donate" to and do such as $70 for a photo with HOpe. or $195 to interact for 15 minutes with HOpe. some other photo ops, or hold Winters prosthetic tail for $25 with a photo. We skipped all those. We left about 11am and felt that was plenty of time. on the drive back we saw a billboard for Grandpa Johnson bar b q and were lucky enough to find it in Plant City! it was great. Total out of the way location in the middle of nowhere, but FANTASTIC food!
Then we drove back and swam all afternoon - a bit breezy but nice about 75 degrees. (heard the helicopters as well fly overhead every 5-10 minutes).
We packed that night and loaded the car with everything but our sleeping clothes, the new air mattresss and the next days clothes.
The goal was to get up at 545, eat and drive to BLT and walk to MK for 7 am rope drop.
but it was going to be 40 degrees at 7am and only get up to the mid 50's, so that was going to be fun!

 

[Joel0917]

some photos:
Clearwater Aquarium with Winter/Hope and stingray touch tank

 

[Joel0917]

Day 3 - MK
Everything worked out, up and out the door at 620am. Pitch black out. Cold but we were ready. Went to BLT got a great front parking spot. i did run into Contemporary to make sure our MBs were all set and they were. We got over to MK and the entrance show just ended and folks were going in.
I had a FP For the following already
1015 Peter Pan
440 7DMN
545 Big Thunder

So we did these in the morning:
Pooh
Mad Tea
Tomorrowland Speedway
Space mountain
Pirates
Jingle Cruise (loved it)
Haunted Mansion

During this time i had been trying to get a BOG dinner reservation but i had a 645 Tony's Terrace. So as i posted in an early post i was able to get a 630 pm BOG reservation to show up, but since it's day of, you can't swap out. The app asks you if you'd like to swap it, then it just hangs. So i had to call MS and they didn't know how to handle it except cancel Tony's and hope i can get teh BOG one back. They let me cancel the Tony's with no penalty because of the difficulty switching. When Tony's was cancelled the BOG 630 ressie was not longer available. So i then checked CONSTANTLY for the next few hours of a ressie. We resolved to giving up at 4pm if we didn't get the ressie - but back to that in a few.

i realized earlier i left my phone in the car and i needed the app on my phone. So family got in the long line for starbucks adn i walked back to BLT. Luckily on the way back, BLT/contemporary had it's own lane so i was able to walk right back in and not wait in the long security line for bag check and i didn't have to go through metal detectors. I got back to Starbucks just as they got our 4 drinks, so perfect timing. About 25 minutes.

We had ridden all the above rides and we headed to Peter Pan. At this point it was very crowded, with minimal wait times. We did Peter Pan and then went into the Mickey's Philharmagic.This is the first time in like 7 years i waited for this. Both que's were ful so it was about a 30 minute wait. We ate our lunch in line and enjoyed the show as always. We then went and did Monsters Laugh Factory and road People Mover (it was windy and cold..not smart). After that chilly ride, Astro Orbiter was a no go for us!

We headed to Dumbo which had a 10 minute wait and that was fine. kids played inside for a bit (where it was warm). After that it was about 1pm and we thought we'd take a train around 1 time and the hope we got the text our room was ready. Well we got to Frontierland and got the text..Woo hoo!
so we went back around to the front. Crowds never looked crazy or insane and we walked back to BLT to our room - 7509. Turns out i love 5th floor. i love not taking elevator to walk the bridge to Contemporary. We had a pool/lake view. Room was a bit beat up though. Bathroom door had a gash in. Shelf above toilet was broken, shower nobs were all broken. But besides those issues it was fine, just needs some work to fix those items. i realize there is too much wasted storage space. The pull out pantry. The cupboard next to the TV, just a bit much. Bathroom sink could be bigger and lose the odd counter with the mirror in the kitchen!
so i continued to check for BOG dining on the app for the next 2 hours, constantly. then Bam...555pm ressie showed up. i panicked. had to enter a new credit card..then i got it! we were so excited. i literally have been trying for 5 months to get a ressie for BOG for December 30. Well now that messes with my FP+ selections. We can keep 7DMT but not big thunder. We head out about 415 to get to the park and while walking i keep looking for later BTMR fp times. Then i get it..815pm! Pixie Dust again! swapped out that. We get to the front and there are no lines at all, we get right in and we are looking for a new christmas statue so we check the stores on the right of main street. We find one and buy it and have it sent over to Contemporary for pick up.
We continue down mainstreet and take a few photos in front of the castle. Again not super crowded although buzz lightyear was a 110 min wait. Really? Why? so we never did that.
We used our FP for 7DMT and then had about 25 min wait for our dinner reseravation. So we went by Gaston's and had some popcorn then checked in. We were seated at about 610. We ate in the room on the right, i prefer the main dining room, but the food is all good! I had the Beef, my wife had the seafood plate and we both had French Onion. My daughter - now 12 and does not get kids meal had the $34 NY Strip - ouch. just hurts when a child costs as much as an adult. DS had Turkey noodle soup and grilled cheese and salad. Everyone cleaned thier plates and then desert. Two of us got the Gray Stuff and then DW and DD got cupcakes and ate some of our gray stuff.
We walked out at 730 - right as Holiday Wishes started. The bridge is a GREAT viewing spot. at 740 we thought it was over and started walked to do Under the Sea ride and then the NYE countdown started....with soundtrack and all. 10-9-8-7..etc and bam. Fireworks from 6 spots all around. and we were like in the middle of it. I got goosebumps watching it. it was that "magic" feeling we want and just embrace it when it comes. It wasn't planned for us. I didnt know they did the countdown at 740. it just happened and that's what made it magical!
i was giddy!!!
We road Under the sea with no wait. Then we went to frontierland and played the shooting gallery for a bit. Then BTMR with our FP and then we headed out about 9pm. we got back to the room and were in bed at 930. Although startled awake with the Electric Water Show parade soundtrack...i thought who's blasting music at the pool??? Then 1150 awoken again to the fireworks fantasy in the sky. But hearing them just made me more excited for Tomorrow night.

My biggest worry was how crowded was TOTWL lounge going to be. It had me in a panic all day. What if its' crowded and we don't get in? When should i go? do we all go? do i save places? Can i take wine up there and sparkling cider to toast at night?

i asked that day at the desk and this is what this CM told me: "We expect a full house for the 730pm fireworks, then it's a matter of how many come down if you can get up?" oh crap? i dn't want to go up there for 5 hours? My kids won't survive. they will go nuts. We have dinner at the wave at 8pm, do we skip it?

Too much to think about. First things first. Sleep. Then get up and head to Epcot for the 8am rope drop!

 

[Joel0917]

TownSquare at about 130pm


Me and DD on Dumbo


the mandatory castle photo - this was about 430pm with DD photobombing us


quick holiday photo while leaving

 

[Joel0917]

Dec 31
We start the morning with 645 AM wake up call and eat, then head to Monorail to TTC. No problem, walked right up and on, then got to TTC and monorail to EPCOT is down. But they had a line of buses and we were swooped to Epcot and dropped of...with the MASSES. Huge lines to get in for bag check and metal detectors. We got there about 735 and got through in about 20 minutes. Good thing was with the big lines outside, lines were only like 20 people deep at the turnstiles.
We have FP today:
1030 - Mission Space
1250 - Spaceship Earth
440 pm Frozen
So we walk in and head to Soaring. They have you entering around the back past figment and aside the new 3rd auditorium. no idea if this is permanent or what. But we walked right in and got on the first ride.
We walked out and goal was Test Track, but we couldn't resist the fact there were no lines at Starbucks, so we stopped. Then got to Test Track and now it's 70 minute wait. Well its like 830 what else can we do? So we wait. But it was only 35 minutes which was nice. After we went to Nemo and had planned on Figment which was a 5 minute wait. We walk back over and it's now 40 minutes..i can't give Figment 40 minutes of my life. Later in the day it was like 60minutes...who would wait for that long? Oh yeah, the same people waiting 210 for frozen or 180 for Test Track or 120 for Soarin, cause that is what it was like by the afternoon.
We did our Mission Space (DD and I did Orange) and then headed to World Showcase to eat in France. We had some sandwiches with us that we ate but wanted some yummy chocolate croissants.
It was pretty crowded. we got to Paris and waited in a short line but the seating area was all full. We did get several very tasty items and at this point World Showcase looked like the crowds i just experiences for F&W festival and it was only 1150. We decided to skip Spaceship Earth and just ride the now functioning monorail back for some pool time (aka rum and pineapple time).
At this point i saw on Twitter that MK was at Phase 1 capacity and they were restricting Monorail use to AP's, Resort guests on the monorail or multi day tickets. We had to scan our bands, all 4 of us and then board. Leaving the park we could see people parking on the grass areas already - at 1215pm! NUTS.
Back at the pool we made some drinks and chilled. The bummer was at the BLT by 230 ish the sun was behind the building already except back by the hot tub. So we sat there til like 330 and called it a day. We all went up to change and head to Epcot for our Frozen FP. We caught the monorail to TTC about 430 and get to EPCOT about 445...and OMG. Packed. we didn't bring any bags so we got right in the no bags line. Past Spaceship Earth with a line about 90 minutes and the FP line was like 200 people back around the side. We crossed the fountain and heard the crazy sound of a thousand ducks being slaughtered....wait it was actually noise makers being handed out for free with cool black top hots that said 2017 and had Mickey symbol on it: for FREE! That's what i have been looking for. So to the far right side of the fountain they set up an area to get free stuff. This was a grassy area that hundreds of people had laid down blankets and hunkered down to watch the fireworks. Many planning on a peaceful nap during the afternoon. What a mistake. The sounds of the horns of thousands and thousands of people was nuts and fun. We got our hats and horns and joined in.
We made our way to the left of world showcase by Mexico towards Norway and soon were the only ones with horns and hats. So we stopped blowing them and then were bombarded with questions "where did you get those?"
We got to Norway and Frozen was a 210 minute wait, the line was ..like to China??? literally. LOL. Who would do that? and Why? Do what i do, tell the kids it's broken down. LOL
We walked in the FP lane and right inside. I almost felt bad, but not really. The ride was neat. Same track as Norway viking ride. but it's just a ride through Frozen scenes. Some really state of the art animatronics for sure! But i would not do it again. Well not giving up a Soarin or TT fp in the future for it.
So now it's 530 and we need to go back, against all those people to leave. But the pixie dust keeps coming. Right by mexico they open a park exit. So we got to walk through the CM entrance, around TT and out by Mission space. Pretty cool actually! We then went to the front of the park, took some pictures by the ball and headed to the monorail where only i was scanned this time and all 4 of us let through.
We got back to the resort and picked up the kids some dinner at Contempo Cafe. On the way back i stopped at the desk and asked about tonight. The girl working was super helpful. She said kinda opposite of what i was told yesterday. She said it won't be crowded at all for the 730 show and i shoudl be fine about 10 or 1030 to go up and get a space by the wall. She said i could even go up at 1130 and easily get a place to stand. She said TOTWL has only been at capacity once and closed and it was NOT a NYE. I felt less stressed then. DW and i fed the kids and then got ready to go to our 8pm Wave dinner and then get ready for the fireworks.
__________________

 

[Joel0917]

Some cool Mickey balloon "things" up all around. Lights perhaps? We didn't stick around long enough to see but they were everywhere around the grassy area. tons of people had already claimed sidewalk and benches around noon around the lagoon, while the grassy area opened at 4pm.



Us in our Free party gear!

 

[Joel0917]

Continued Dec 31, 2016

8pm dinner reservations at Wave. No wait at all, got right in. We both got the rib eye and it was fantastic! We finished about 930 and went back to the room.

i went up to the TOTWL lounge at 10 to get situated. Was sent right up, she scanned my band and just said go down the hall and tell Don to let you up. Funny cause the next night i had to have a pass to hand to Don, but not on NYE?
Got up there and it wasn't crowded at all. The lounge was full and a few kids sleeping on couches/chairs. Outside wide open. a few open tables and only a few people at the wall. I took the corner far right so that when the fireworks started DS8 could sit on the bar/railing part that is perpendicular to the wall and hold me. Rather than me hold him for 10 minutes. So i sat and waited. it did start to fill in along the wall rather quickly. DW and DD/DS came up and 1030 and cuddled in their blankets. It was still chilly in the air and sitting was cold. by 1040 ish i'd say the whole wall was full all across and tables were full. I carefully snuck a bottle of wine and sparkling cider in and waiting till 1140 to open and pour in our plastic cups. But then some folks behind us brought like 4 bottles of champaign and cider and popped them at the table and had them flowing, so no need to hide it i guess.
It never really go over crowded at all. Some folks laid a giant blanked down and waited...i'll do that next year! Some people even came up at about 1145 and had fine places to stand. No one tried to push or shove their way to the wall or in front. And since the wall is pretty high that little kids can't see over like mu DS8, no one really asked to put their kids in front, like we endure at parades (side bar: excuse me sir, it's 805 pm and we just showed up for 8pm parade, but can my kids stand in front of you even though you've been in this spot for the last hour...)
The TOTWL staff did bring out more top hats and the dreaded noise makers at about 1145. That woke my son up who was curled up into a little ball in the corner. i felt like the bad parent for sure. i pleaded with him to stay in the room and sleep but he was all about midnight! We woke up and then i put him on the rail and he just snuggled in my shoulder pretty much all through the fireworks, but he made it and he watched them.
The fireworks were amazing, astounding, out of this world. like 6 spots across the MK and down to GF. it was un real. Pictures and youtube don't do it justice. it was just breathtaking!
Once it was over we made it to the elevators and were in bed by 1220 am. That's the perk of BLT. i spoke to someone the next day that was at MK and staying at Allstar and they got back to their room about 230am. YUCK!

So we were down for the night and ready for our day at the pool on jan 1! Best way to ring in a new year. Plus we rented a pontoon!!!! more to come.

 

[Joel0917]

My camera wouldn't get in the far left fireworks in front of GF

 

[DVCKerry]

I absolutely love the way that Disney decorates for holidays, especially Christmas and New Years. Great photos of the fireworks! Action shots like that can be difficult to take, but they turned out great