We went to Epcot for NYE this year. My first time there for NYE. Was turned away from Epcot's lot due to it being full @ 6:30p. Plan B was to walk in via Epcot Resort area to England. No problem. They were celebrating "NY" in England when we got there @ 7p EST. Funny.
To pass time, we did most everything in Living Seas and The Land. They reopened that old building with Body Wars, so we rode that old beast for nostalgia too. It was dead in there. Saw some nappers. Also funny.
After the normal fireworks show, we started to walk out to the countries. That's where the crowds were thick with noise makers, lighted toys, party hats. They had "traffic cops" to keep the people moving efficiently. Indeed some looked like they had been staked out for a long time. I would say needlessly so.
We found a nice rail spot for 6 around Japan at 11p. Killed the last hour with pretzels, slushees, soft serve. They replayed Illuminations to lather people up. Then each country had an individual mini fireworks show leading up to -- 2 mins early by my watch -- NYE big bang.
The music and sheer concussive force of the show they put on for NYE is difficult to convey. If you've seen Illuminations; imagine force multiplied by 10 when the country you are watching from fires off, and multiplied by 50 for the finale.
On 12/30 we watched the normal (yet new since Thanksgiving) Magic Kingdom show at 8:30 from California Grill @ Contemporary. Great visuals and music. They tested the NYE show at 11:50. Incidentally, we could see those fireworks from Epcot -- and MGM's too. It was hard to judge from the premature Epcot start, but the MK one seemed a bit longer and more choreographed.
Ultimately was grateful that we were turned away from Epcot's lot, b/c our exit was quick and absolutely painless. One would assume that the lot-parkers were stuck for a while. Didn't even think about touching I-4, so we never saw it.
Only sore spot was that I left my Disney Pass at home. Instead of bothering with reissue, I opted for the ~$70 normal ticket. That's about double the daily cost of my Pass. Yikes.