[Question] How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

[brandiinicole]

my boyfriend and i are considering going to disneyland/california adventure for new years eve ..

so here is my question
how bad is it really? are the crowds tolerable?
and what are all the fun things that they plan for the night?

[TheGrimGrinner]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

New Years Eve is notably one of Disneyland's busiest days of the year. They reach capacity in the early afternoon, and do not allow any new entries. The entire park is wall to wall people for a better part of the day. Disneyland will remain open until 2AM, while California Adventure will stay open until 1AM. (I think.)

The couple of years, the resort has put a lot of effort into making CA adventure a better choice for New Years with several dance clubs and shows throughout the evening. Though it still sees extremely low attendance and is practically a ghost town come midnight. Disneyland itself sees the majority of crowds, and has several celebration areas. The most popular family friendly venue of course is on Main St where people gather for the countdown and a firework show at midnight. They don't play a lot of "popular" songs there, much more kid friendly. There are several other DJ booths set up around the park as well, and they make many areas to celebrate the new year.

Starting at 5pm Disneyland passes out New Years hats and noisemakers to all guests. It's a neat little perk, and fun that everyone has one.

[Ortizmo2000]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

I have experienced NYE at Disneyland as both a cast member and a guest.

I can easily say.......be prepared to wait for literally everything. Lines to get in, lines to get out, lines to get in lines. I'm not joking.

[TheGrimGrinner]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

I have experienced NYE at Disneyland as both a cast member and a guest.

I can easily say.......be prepared to wait for literally everything. Lines to get in, lines to get out, lines to get in lines. I'm not joking.

Very true. I've told many people to avoid going to DL on NYE. Unless you're thinking of bringing a group of people to DCA. Not a whole lot of people, dance clubs, and ummmm, they serve liquor. I don't understand why DCA isn't a more popular choice for that holiday.

I could imagine that in the near future, the DLR will realize the popularity of NYE and make DL and hard ticket event, while keeping DCA open.

[GummiBears_Rock]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

yeah i would assume it's extreeeemememememely busy

although the last time i went on NYE i was 3
so i can't even remember

[Evan]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

I always get there early. I've been to the last two NYE events at Disneyland for Suburban Legends, and as long as I get there early, I'm fine.

If you decide to leave the park at all but plan to come back, always get a handstamp, regardless of whether or not you're an annual passholder. You will need it to get back in.

[brandiinicole]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

hmm sounds like a lot of people but it sounds like a good idea would be to go down there early to make sure you have entrance with a hand stamp and then come back later when your ready to play

also it sounds like a good plan of action would be hang out in dca
can you see the fireworks from dca?

[Mickey Dude]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

I went for NYE 2 years ago and had a blast! Although I got there at opening and closed out the park so I didn't have a problem getting in. It was crazy busy all day except in DCA which like a normal day. I only waited 20 min for ToT all day. If you're not expecting to go on to many rides, and go to enjoy the atmosphere and be in DL on New Year's then go for it!

I'm going again this year for NYE and I can't wait! :yea:

[Trekkie Dad]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

hmm sounds like a lot of people but it sounds like a good idea would be to go down there early to make sure you have entrance with a hand stamp and then come back later when your ready to play

also it sounds like a good plan of action would be hang out in dca
can you see the fireworks from dca?

We were in DCA on NYE, positioned to see the fireworks. It was so foggy, no one saw the fireworks, not even the people in Disneyland (from what I heard later).

[BK15]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

I was there for new years last year with my friends and we had a blast. It was really busy but we were able to do things still. The fog rolled in around 11 or 11:30 and we couldn't see the fireworks (and we were right by IASW).

If you do go, there are a lot of fun things to do, but I wouldn't plan on getting a ton of rides in. New Years day was manageable though.

[sir clinksalot]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

We usually end up at DCA cause ... that's where the booze is at.

They usually do fireworks in the lagoon, although who knows what they are going to do this year. Maybe a WOC sneak preview???

(that'd be AWESOME)

[Smontalvo1489]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

my boyfriend and i are considering going to disneyland/california adventure for new years eve ..

so here is my question
how bad is it really? are the crowds tolerable?
and what are all the fun things that they plan for the night?

I have only been to DLR for NYE once. It was the second night of a 4 day trip to the resort. So in all honesty, the trip turned out well because there was definitely time to get everything in multiple times. (it was four days).

But IMO i think once was enough for me for a while. That is if you are paying alot to go to the parks for just the one night, and you arent an AP holder.

It is extremely crowded, and there are many fun things to do. The question on everyones mind has still got be. "WHY THE HECK ARE YOU RAMMING IN TO ME WITH THAT STROLLER??? ITS 1030, and your kids already asleep!!!"

There are strollers everywhere....YOu think a busy day has alot of them...NYE is worse. I understand, parents want to have fun too. So i'll give them that lol.

But all in all, if you've never done it before its an awesome experience. And by no means will you be bored. Definitely beats watching the ball drop on TV, knowing it already happened 3 hours before. It definitely is a full on party everywhere.

You've been warned, as well as been told the perks. My advice:
Go For It

[brandiinicole]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

yeahh it sounds chaotic
but i do have an ap so we never are too worried about trying to get on all the rides while we are there. i think we more just want to go to experience it and have some fun!

[WestsideCM99]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

hmm sounds like a lot of people but it sounds like a good idea would be to go down there early to make sure you have entrance with a hand stamp and then come back later when your ready to play

also it sounds like a good plan of action would be hang out in dca
can you see the fireworks from dca?

I wouldn't count on the hand stamp to save you on NYE, I would at least consider a plan B that keeps you in DL all day just in case things look out of control before noon. As a CM I know that for a fact that Disney exceeds the attendence cap almost every year. It's not really their fault but logistically there is no way to cut things off at exactly 85K, it usually spills into the 90-95K range on NYE by the time management gets the flag that capacity has been exceeded. I have seen instances where even the handstamped people were not even allowed into the park until the excess crowd was brought down.

Fun fact: for NYE 1999-2000, park attendence was 110K at its highest point, there was hardly any space to move around and I was working Guest Control at the hub that evening. I still get shivers thinking back to that day.

[sunnygirl]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

Just know that in spite of the crazy crowd situations, NYE at DL has proven over and over again to be a wonderful experience for me. It's such a happy, fun night, and there's an air of complete celebration and hope for the coming year. I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather ring in the new year.

[drumbang]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

I went last year...while the crowd is pretty insane if you go in with the mindset that it's going to be as bad as everyone says it is...it is actually pretty chill in comparison. Mostly everyone is just standing or sitting around the various firework viewing areas and CMs are pretty good at directing traffic through the designated walking paths. So as long as you're not going there to be a rebel and ignore everything in place to make everyone's life easier then it shouldn't be that bad. If you have a huge issue with being herded around like cattle then it's probably not the best thing for you. IMHO it's actually not any worse (from a guest perspective) than a normal night of fireworks on a weekend nowadays.

My only gripe (other than the blanket of fog which Disney has no control over) was all the Miley Cyrus being played by the "DJ's" (or iTunes playlist editor...whatever)...song after song of Miley Cyrus almost drove me mad. And to top it off my last song of 2008 was some Cyrus tune. At times like that I wish I took my iPod (I think iTunes Genius would have done a better job frankly)...Since there was so much fog it probably wouldn't have made a difference if I was in DCA instead...it might have been better actually. I think Suburban Legends in Tomorrowland Terrace was the only saving grace as far as music goes.

But yeah...like I said...crowd wise...expect the worse and just go with the flow. It's not bad. However, music could use a lot more variety.

Btw, I heard something at the beginning of the year that due to the overwhelming crowds they were going to charge a separate admission for New Years Eve...is that still true? Sorry if that has already been answered.

[brandiinicole]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

I went last year...while the crowd is pretty insane if you go in with the mindset that it's going to be as bad as everyone says it is...it is actually pretty chill in comparison. Mostly everyone is just standing or sitting around the various firework viewing areas and CMs are pretty good at directing traffic through the designated walking paths. So as long as you're not going there to be a rebel and ignore everything in place to make everyone's life easier then it shouldn't be that bad. If you have a huge issue with being herded around like cattle then it's probably not the best thing for you. IMHO it's actually not any worse (from a guest perspective) than a normal night of fireworks on a weekend nowadays.

My only gripe (other than the blanket of fog which Disney has no control over) was all the Miley Cyrus being played by the "DJ's" (or iTunes playlist editor...whatever)...song after song of Miley Cyrus almost drove me mad. And to top it off my last song of 2008 was some Cyrus tune. At times like that I wish I took my iPod (I think iTunes Genius would have done a better job frankly)...Since there was so much fog it probably wouldn't have made a difference if I was in DCA instead...it might have been better actually. I think Suburban Legends in Tomorrowland Terrace was the only saving grace as far as music goes.

But yeah...like I said...crowd wise...expect the worse and just go with the flow. It's not bad. However, music could use a lot more variety.

Btw, I heard something at the beginning of the year that due to the overwhelming crowds they were going to charge a separate admission for New Years Eve...is that still true? Sorry if that has already been answered.

i dont really mind the crowds and i have heard that most of the crowding is all the people sitting to get good seats for the fireworks. it would just be me and my boyfriend and typically with all the crowding we have still been able to enjoy the park (sometimes we think its cuz were not with a big group so we can slip thru the little open spaces)

i would definately bring my ipod as i dont think i could stand miley cyrus! haha plus you can play movies on it!

can anyone confirm wether they are going to be charging seperate? or will my AP work? (i have the premium pass so i dont have to worry about black out days)

thanks to everyone for all there input

[akfandisney]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

We usually end up at DCA cause ... that's where the booze is at.

They usually do fireworks in the lagoon, although who knows what they are going to do this year. Maybe a WOC sneak preview???

(that'd be AWESOME)

THAT Will also be AWSOME
FIREWORK AND WOC preview

You will have fun But there will be a LOT people.

[DuffyGuardian]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

Ive done NYE for about 24 years now. I agree it is or at least it feels like the busy day of the year. If you go in the morning and leave with a hand stamp with the hopes of getting back in later that afternoon or evening, you may not. A hand stamp wont guarantee you getting back int to DL, they may say its full and you can go to DCA. So if your wish is to be in in DL for midnight, I would get in and stay in. There are times you maybe able to get back into the park in the evening, you may get back in and you may not. Have to way the risk for yourself.

We now do DL till about 1:00, go back to the hotel. Relax, eat then go to DCA.

But when we did stay at DL all day. We go in early, do all the rides we want to before it gets busy. Then about dinner time, we grab food and either eat where we are camped out for the night or then find a place to hang for the night after dinner.

If you don't want to brave the crowds and still stay in the parks. I would suggest finding a good spot to sit and hang out. You will want a restroom and some time of drink stand near by.

It is a lot fun. I just can't take the crowds anymore so we stay in DCA where it is a lot of fun. I wonder how the crowds will be with the construction walls up in the one area. But Im sure it will be okay.

[Fantasmanatic]

re: How bad is the crowd on New Year's Eve?

Disneyland is packed on NYE until around midnight. After midnight everyone pours out of Disneyland and it is awesome. I rode splash about 4 times in a row until park close and the other rides were also quite empty with ride waits around 20 minutes or so. Personally I stayed in DCA almost all day except for a trip to Disneyland to use fastpasses every now and then. DCA was quite empty most of the day (surprise surprise) until around the time for midnight. It was very enjoyable and memorable, it was extremely foggy though so you could not see very far at all. But it made riding outdoor rides super fun! The glow of lights was also something else. I would recommend going if you can and you must be PATIENT though. Have fun! Maybe I will see you there.