New Year's Eve at Disney World
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Being an annual pass holder at Disney World and living just one state away can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. When the girls and I woke up two days before New Year’s Eve and realized rain was in the forecast for our home for our Georgia home for the next four days, and Orlando showed sun, that’s all it took to plant the seed for us to go. I hesitated because Disney is notoriously busy during the time between Christmas and New Year’s and a quick glance at several online Disney crowd calendars confirmed this (I highly recommend Touring Plans and WDW Prep School for crowd calendars). I begged hubby to go, but he is Disney’d out and does not have an annual pass and needed to work, so I told the girls if we could get a room on Disney property (it’s so much easier, in my opion), we would go. I checked Disney’s site and found no availability for our dates. Orbitz had a few, but they were much more than I cared to pay for our last-minute trip and Booking.com had good deals, but did not have anything on property. I decided if Priceline didn’t have anything, it wasn’t meant to be. Priceline came through (I love Priceline) and had a room at the Disney resort, Coronado Springs. My kids think I’m crazy because most people plan their Disney trips at least six months in advance (something I highly recommend for your first time to Disney), but they also appreciate my spontaneity when it means they get to go to Disney!
Where We Stayed
The room at Coronado Springs was great! The resort has recently undergone upgrades and I loved the clean design with Disney touches. The room had a large amount of storage and is very comfortable for a family of four. I wish I had gotten a picture of the room, but we had all of our things piled into it before I got a chance. The resort is still undergoing construction. A new tower of rooms and two new restaurants, are being constructed. Some families are reluctant to choose Coronado Springs for their vacation because it is host to many conventions. I have stayed there twice now, once for a conference, and this trip. My personal opinion is I would not hesitate to stay here for a family vacation. Even though they serve a large volume of convention guests, there are many family friendly options including the food court, playgrounds, and an amazing pool area. These areas are dominated by families with children. It is a large resort, but the grounds are beautiful and we found the walk to the central locations (called El Centro-this is where the gift shop, front desk, and bars and restaurants are) easy and enjoyable. We also found the bus transportation to the parks to be efficient and quick. There are multiple stops throughout the resort, so no matter what room you choose, you are never too far from a stop. We did a preferred room location for this stay with a water view. You don’t really see too much of the water, but we were very close to the bus stop as I had requested during the online check-in process.
During the drive down, we ran into horrendous traffic. This put us behind, so we wanted to use Disney’s feature where you can bypass the front desk and unlock the room with either your app, My Disney Experience, or your Magic Band (this works for those of us who already have a Magic Band), but I realized we did not book directly with Disney so we wouldn’t automatically be linked. I had success in the past when booking with Orbitz at linking my room reservation to my app, so we did a chat session with Priceline to see if we could link our room. We were able to get our reservation number and were then able to load it into the My Disney Experience app. The process was quick and easy. I got a text and email that our room was ready, so we were able to go directly to our room, unload our bags, use the bathroom, and hop on a bus to the park within fifteen minutes! This is definitely a tip you should utilize.
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort at night
Prepare for Crowds-Set Expectations and Zig When They Zag
I prepped everyone before we left the house, and then set expectations again during the car ride that we would have to just focus on the three rides we were able to secure fast passes for, and just enjoy the scenery and the food! We braced ourselves for the crowds of Magic Kingdom, but we didn’t really find it any worse than the Magic Kingdom has been lately. We arrived around 8 pm and closed them down. We were able to do all of our fast passes, a few more rides, play Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom, eat at Pinocchio’s Village Haas and catch some of the fireworks show in four hours. This was the case for each day of our trip. We arrived late to the parks around 1 p.m. and then stayed late (until around midnight or 1 a.m.). This worked for our group because my 8 year-old has never been very fond of, or required much sleep. We did sleep late each day because that is not the case for Gracie and me! This seemed to be the opposite of most of the crowd flow, so it worked to our advantage, however, since this was not our first trip, our focus was not on rides. I highly suggest if you go this time of year, if rides are your focus, expect to wait and plan your day accordingly. Utilize the app to check wait times use it to mobile order at many counter service locations to beat the crowds. Lower your expectations.
Top Tips for Crowds:
1) Set realistic expectations for what you will get done. You will not be able to “get it all in”. We have had more trips to Disney than I care to count and we have yet to do everything, but this is definitely not the time of year to try.
2) Plan on everything taking more time than you expect (i.e. waiting in lines at rides, to get food, waiting on a bus, line in stores, etc.) and pack your patience. Pack snacks, drinks, and something to do while you wait in line if you have little ones and this will minimize the frustration. This is really just a good Disney tip in general.
3) Utilize the My Disney Experience app to check ride wait times instead of walking across the park to find out Space Mountain has a two hour wait. You can also use My Disney Experience to mobile order your food from many counter-service restaurants across property. Most people don’t do this, so this is a great way to minimize wait times. While waiting in line for a ride, you can pull up the menu from the restaurant you want to order from and then we you are there, your food is prepared. I love this feature!
4) Get your spot early if you want a “prime location” to view the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. We stayed out of Magic Kingdom that night because even though it is always amazing to see fireworks over the castle, we knew everyone else would have that idea. Magic Kingdom often closes on New Year’s Eve because it reaches capacity and I just didn’t feel the need to be with that many people. We chose Hollywood Studios instead and had a fair location to the side of the Chinese Theater. Had we stayed in our spot we had just one hour before though, we would’ve had the perfect spot to view the fireworks. Also, note that even if you had the “perfect” spot, you may be asked to move. Disney has crowd control down to a science and they squeeze people in so you may be asked to shift up, to the side, etc. to make sure they can fit enough people in the area and emergency walkways remain clear.
5) Shift your focus from rides. We had a wonderful time just enjoying food, events, shows, and decorations that were just here for the holiday season.
Things To Do Besides Rides
1) Look at Decorations- We were happy that Disney keeps their Christmas decorations up after Christmas. Countless hours go into the decorations in the parks and resorts and it shows! I could write a whole post about all the places to go in Disney for the decorations, but make sure to take time to marvel at all of the holiday splendor. If you have time in your trip, a visit to different resorts to see their decorations (especially the Grand Floridian), is really worth your time. I especially love the retro Christmas decorations at Hollywood Studios this year.
2) Eat holiday food- There are limited time food and drink offering in many of the parks and they are delicious!
3) Soak up some culture- Epcot highlights Christmas and holiday customs around the world in the World Showcase. It is so interesting to spend the day watching the special programs in each country to learn more about how everyone celebrates.
Father Christmas in the UK Pavillion
4) Watch the Candlelight Processional at Epcot- Celebrity narrators take turns throughout the season telling the story of Jesus’s birth. The are accompanied by a choir. This event is breathtakingly beautiful and one not to miss!
5) Special parades and fireworks- Disney’s parades and fireworks are the best! Beginning right before Christmas, there are parades at the Magic Kingdom that are normally only seen during the paid ticketed event, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. For New Year’s, Disney adds great entertainment and special fireworks. Every park, but Animal Kingdom had something this year, so there were tons of fun ways to spend the last night of the year!
Where We Ate
We at a lot of good things on this trip. Too many. I had to go on a diet as soon as we got home!
o Festival of the Holidays in Epcot- We didn’t do an actual meal (or ride any rides) on our Epcot day and instead ate our way around the world! We tried something from many of the booths they had set up around World Showcase. We found it less crowded at the booths that our October trip when the Food and Wine Festival was there. Just like at Food and Wine, there were free booklets that listed the food in the booths. I recommend getting one of these. We used it to plan ahead what we were going to eat and to check to make sure there were gluten-free options for Campbell (Disney does a great job with allergies and I have another post about eating GF at Disney). Tip: Give the booklet to the little reader in your group and let them help guide you to what country you’re going to next. Campbell loved using the stickers in the booklet to mark off each country where we ate.
o Nomad Lounge in Animal Kingdom- We love it here! The lounge is adjacent to Tiffin’s, a sit-down restaurant that is the priciest in Animal Kingdom. Nomad Lounge offers a large drink selection for Mommy and fun non-alcoholic drink options for kids and small plates menu. It has a world traveler vibe and is very low-key. We don’t normally see very many children in the lounge, but if you have older children who do well in a quieter atmosphere, they won’t have any problems here. If you know Campbell, you know she’s not the quietest child, but she does well here. The food and atmosphere here have a global flair, so if you or your child are craving chicken fingers, this is not your place. It is relaxed and not busy. We enjoy sharing small plate meals in our family and this place is perfect for that. We tried the Smoked Pork Ribs, Selection of Artisnal Cheeses and Tiffins Bread Service. Everything was delicious! I would recommend any of those options. We finished off with two orders of one of our favorite desserts anywhere: churros. These churros are gluten-free so Campbell can also enjoy them. They are the best churros I’ve ever eaten (even better than Mexican restaurants or other Disney churros) and come with two interesting dipping sauces -vanilla crema and chili-strawberry.
o Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming at Disney Springs- Down-home delicious! This is Florida native, Art Smith’s, farm-to-table Florida southern style kitchen. We had lunch on the porch overlooking the springs and enjoyed the setting and the meal. It is soo good! The fried chicken is one of the specialties here. We didn’t try Art’s Famous chicken as a meal, but Gracie had a fried chicken sandwich that was very tasty. The star for us though, were the appetizers and the mac and cheese. Our first appetizer, Church Lady’s Deviled Eggs were served in the cutest ceramic egg holder and topped with bacon and they were amazing. The Bunch of Puppies appetizer of homemade hush puppies with pimento cheese and red pepper jelly were to die for! I wish I had a basket right now. Momma’s Mac and Cheese will send cheese lovers over the moon! If you are a fan of mac and cheese, heavy on the cheese, this one is a must try!
o Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge at Hollywood Studios- I know, it seems like I take my kids to a lot of lounges. But they’re Disney lounges and they were less crowded than the rest of the restaurants, so cut me some slack. This place really does have some yummy food. It is located on the patio outside of the pricey Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant and has only fifteen tables. It is walk-up only and does not accept reservations. This was a perfect spot for our New Year’s Eve dinner. We could hear the music from the DJ in front of the Chinese theater and Campbell made friends with the kids at the table next door and got up and danced before our food arrived. I’d been here before and knew how good the food was and it did not disappoint! Their menu consists of small plates, but you can also order off the menu from the main dining room. If you order from the main dining room’s menu, you get the bread service. If you like French bread with salted butter, you have to have theirs. I fantasize about that bread and butter sometimes. We chose to order one entrée, beef short ribs, from the dining room and split it so we could get the bread! It was the first time the kids had ever eaten short ribs and they are now all fans. From the lounge menu, we ordered the Wagyu Beef Derby Sliders on gluten-free buns, and the Artisanal Cheeses and Charcuterie Board (we love cheese). Everything was delicious and Campbell really enjoyed her lemonade with the light-up ice cube. We took the ice cube home and she is using it to make her drinks at home fun now too!
Overall, I was surprised this was one of my favorite trips I’ve had to Disney, but I honestly think it was because we just soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the little things we love about Disney. I’m not really one to celebrate New Year’s with a crowd. Times Square in NYC on New Year’s Eve has never been on my bucket list, but I really had a good time at Disney ringing in the New Year and think it is definitely something to consider for your New Year’s trip even if you aren’t a mega Disney fan like us!
