What Is Likelihood Of Parks Closing Due to Capacity On Dec 31st/Jan 1st

[3princesshome]

Been to Disney many times, but this is our first time going during the Christmas holiday period. We will be there from Dec 28th to Jan 5th. Staying onsite Dec 28-30 then offsite for the remainder. My concerns are how early do we need to get to the parks on Dec 31st and Jan 1st? We are planning to do evening magic hours at MK on Dec 30th (last day we can do extra magic hours because it's our check out day) which runs until midnight so we'd prefer not to have to get to park too early on the 31st but I'm worried about park closures. Our plan is to do EP on Dec 31st and HS on Jan 1st. On both days we would be driving from offsite.
Any thoughts on crowd levels? I was hoping that because EP can hold the largest crowds, we could arrive early afternoon on the 30th and be okay. Just don't know if that would be a bad idea.
I know Christmas Eve/Christmas Day will most likely have closures due to crowds but is this also the case for NYE/NY Day?
Thanks!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We are planning to do evening magic hours at MK on Dec 30th (last day we can do extra magic hours because it's our check out day) which runs until midnight

Just FYI, MK EMHs currently on the schedule for 12/30 are 12am-2am.

As for not arriving too early on 12/31.... that is the one day of the year which is absolutely NO JOKE around WDW. I witnessed traffic last year that I would have never thought possible. We were staying at Poly and went to Epcot first thing in the AM. Traffic at the MK toll plaza was heavy at 9am. We left Epcot 2pmish via monorail and the traffic getting into Epcot and all points of World Drive visible from the monorail was CRAZY. All DIS-hyperbole aside... it was really WAY more than I had ever personally witnessed.

Whatever you do that day, pack your patience if you are coming from offsite.

I’m sorry, I’m not sure about closures. I’m pretty sure there was a MK closure of some phase on 12/31 but not sure how far it went (I’m sure someone around here knows).

The chance of any phased closures in any park on 1/1 is likely very low, in my opinion. Possible, yes, but probably not something to worry about.

Despite the chaos, we really enjoyed NYE around WDW last year. Good luck!

 

[Animal]

I recommend AK on Dec 31. If u must do Epcot, Park at dhs

 

[sharonabe]

I don't remember a park closure anywhere except at MK in many years. You should have nothing to worry about it.

 

[Alesia]

The last time there was a stage 4 closure was at MK in March 2009.

The last time Epcot reached stage 4 closure was December 31st, 1999.

Lower stage closures are possible in the late morning or early afternoon, but they won't last long. Traffic should be your major concern.

 

[CERS]

Been to Disney many times, but this is our first time going during the Christmas holiday period. We will be there from Dec 28th to Jan 5th. Staying onsite Dec 28-30 then offsite for the remainder. My concerns are how early do we need to get to the parks on Dec 31st and Jan 1st? We are planning to do evening magic hours at MK on Dec 30th (last day we can do extra magic hours because it's our check out day) which runs until midnight so we'd prefer not to have to get to park too early on the 31st but I'm worried about park closures. Our plan is to do EP on Dec 31st and HS on Jan 1st. On both days we would be driving from offsite.
Any thoughts on crowd levels? I was hoping that because EP can hold the largest crowds, we could arrive early afternoon on the 30th and be okay. Just don't know if that would be a bad idea.
I know Christmas Eve/Christmas Day will most likely have closures due to crowds but is this also the case for NYE/NY Day?
Thanks!

As you're not staying onsite on December 31st, it might be a little trickier, however, EP is the biggest park of them all and probably handles crowds better. Last year, only MK had stage closures as far as I know, even though these days are unpredictable. AK I don't know how it will be, as Disney is probably expecting lots of people in this park also, judging by the 11 pm closing time for AK on December 31st.

If you arrive at EP before 10 am you should be ok. Bear in mind that the sooner you arrive, the better, specially if you're staying offsite. Probably before 10 am all MK traffic will be redirected to EP, HS and AK because the parking at MK will probably hit capacity soon, so it will start collapsing the other parks.

Jan 1st should be crowded for HS but normal crowded. I plan on going to HS also on Jan 1st, so see you there! heh

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Agree with others.

I don’t believe you’ll need to worry about a park closure at EPCOT. It’ll be stand still, backed up traffic getting into the parks that will be the nightmare.

 

[Clawdius]

I went to Epcot for NYE 12/31/17 and entered the park at 4:00pm. There was no problem parking or getting in to Epcot. Later that night I went to DHS and had dinner at the Brown Derby, looked at the park’s, Christmas decorations, then walked back over to Epcot. I reentered Epcot at 10:50pm. There was no wait to enter the park then either.

My experience is that if you want to be in Epcot for NYE, don’t worry about getting into the park.

I’m planning to go to Epcot for NYE this year too. But this time I think I’ll wait until even later to go, like 7p or 8p.

 

[3princesshome]

Thanks for the responses everyone. This is very helpful. Love the Disboards! There's always something to learn no matter how many times we go.