Right, the pass with the blackout dates is the Seasonal Pass at $309 for FL residents. I thought about just buying the seasonal pass but it doesn't include parking. With parking at $15/day it would add up to cost more than the Annual Pass as often as I go. So for me the Annual Pass was a better value at $464 for FL residents and I don't have to worry about blackout dates.

Florida residents can also get the Weekday Select pass at $209 which only allows you to visit on weekdays and includes blackout dates. They also offer the Epcot after 4 PM pass for $174 which allows you to visit Ecpot any day after 4 PM. This would probably be useful if you were only interesting in the dining options at Epcot.

We spent New Year's Eve at Epcot 3 years ago and it was a lot if fun. This year we'll spend NYE at Magic Kingdom. We have a reservation at Cinderella's Castle for the supper.

I would recommend a candlelight processional package. Or, if you can score Tribute to Fantasia.. We did this three years ago and it was a private dinner buffet with Fantasia float presentation and paraphernalia New Years party. I believe Epcot is running the feature this year as well. There are two sittings on NYE, and there is a New Years Day segment. Bottom line, you need reservations at any restaurant you want to dine at Epcot. Its slim pickings so plan to check the website frequently.

Park Closures on NYE
 

I'm adding the following information in case someone views this thread in the future:

One Disneyphile website (WDW Magic), Magic Kingdom had phased closures on 12/31/13.

• 8:00am: Magic Kingdom Opens
• 9:40am: Phase 2 Closure
• 11:00am: Phase 3 Closure

A Phase 2 Closure limits admission to Disney Resort Guests, Passholders, Guests re-entering the parks, guests with dining reservations, and a few other minor categories. A Phase 3 Closure limits admission to Disney Resort Guests, Passholders, and guests with dining reservations.

It doesn't appear that Epcot has been closed (yet) for today. But, WDW Magic is reporting (non-Fast Pass) wait times for Soarin', Test Track, and Mission: Space of 3+ hours. Spaceship Earth, Maelstrom, and Journey into Imagination have wait times of over 1 hour.

Apparently, some crowd control bypass routes have been opened in some parks. These routes funnel guests into backstage areas because an area of the park is too busy. (Example: Guests are sent behind the show buildings on the right side on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.)

Note: Magic Kingdom also had a Phase 2 Closure on 12/30/13.

Party still going on in Magic Kingdom.. Apparently Music has been going through the speakers this evening and we've got a DJ playing music through the night after the celebration.

Also perimeter fireworks a midnite. Will post a full review tomorrow.

Happy New Year!!! From Magic Kingdom, Disney World!!! All the best in 2014!!!

:)

This is why people like me recommend you not go to the Magic Kingdom on NYE:

http://www.mynews13.com/content/news...ks_packed.html

OMG - that line looks like it's beyond the resort bus waiting area :eek: :eek: :eek:

Must have been the line before 7:30 am before the park opened. We got into the car line at TTC just before 8 am. Long lineup of cars.

Once we got parked we rode the monorail and entered Magic Kingdom gates just after 8:30 am.

The lineup at the monorail was not long at all. Had to wait two monorail trains before getting on. The checked bag line was pretty long but my wife followed me to the entrance guests with no bags, and the checked bag line beside the entrance guests with no bags was just 3 guests deep as opposed to other lines that were 30 guests deep. So she got in while I was waiting a few minutes at the gate just right after 8:30 am.

If you go to the far left lane of the ticket gate entrances, there was no line up at all to get into Magic Kingdom. So I guess we got lucky as a party of 4 yesterday.

A brand new level of closure was introduced yesterday - 3.5. It was the first time ever that they had to implement that closure, and it was just after 11am.

The issue is not just the crowds, but if one wants to be there for the midnight activity, then one must be at the parks early and generally stay the entire day, as many will not be readmitted if they leave and attempt to return.

:eek: :eek:

Well, I got an email from my neighbor. Her son works there (the source of my F&F discounts) and all it said was:

"Happy New Year from the most crowded place on earth."

She arrived last Saturday and will be coming home this Saturday and has the advantage of her son getting her around some of the mess by using back stage areas (he did that for us too).

My wife was watching the Today show this morning and they actually mentioned the lines and crowds at Disney during this past year's Holiday season.

They mentioned that some people had to wait more than 5 hrs for some rides. And mentioned that Disney was even offering refunds (to some) due to the line lengths and wait times.

We were behind the scenes overflow beside Main Street NYE. There was an area cordoned off for fire works viewing.

I don't know how we got Cinderella's Castle on NYE but we lucked out I guess to apparently the hottest ticket in town. Nice portrait of Cinderella and family to commemorate. In addition, being the busiest day of the year, 4 princesses came around while we were dining. So we had snapshots of the family with all the princesses there as well. This was a surprise as I thought princesses did not appear at supper.

On busiest days such as Christmas Day and NYE, I would strongly recommend dining reservations at lunch and supper. Its nice to get away from the crowds for a bit, and get a sense of planning. Use of Fast Pass is a must. Take in the shows as they are there for enjoyment for the season. These Christmas presentations are incredibly detailed so take the time to join in the festivities. 17 hours may seem like a long time, but at the end of the day it seemed short and we stayed well after the park closed to 2-2:30 am in the morning. Time passes by quite fast, and we always don't have enough time to do what we want on these days.

Once FP goes away, unless FP+ changes from the current 3 maximum per day and only for one park, and tiered, then FP+ won't be very useful.

Because everything takes so much longer during peak season (from getting to the park, to park entry, to using the toilets, to queuing for food/drink, to even moving around), then one needs the extra time.

But it still comes down to value and most people don't find it a good value. Nor do most people find that level of crowd enjoyable.

It's a personal decision, but the majority opinion continues to be that Christmas/NYE week is pretty much the worst time of the year to visit.

As I've mentioned on the other thread, I had the opportunity to try out the new fast pass plus system at Animal Kingdom and found it better than cross crossing the park aimlessly just to collect fast passes. Of course its at the testing phase, but I found it very helpful to plan three fast passes in advance especially with kids in tow. The rider switch system did not change and we were allowed to obtain rider switch on Everest and Primeval Whirl to increase the number of opportunities to ride through the fast pass plus line.

This season we've only obtained more than 3 fast passes once and it was on Christmas Day. I enjoyed the opportunity to schedule where and how we were going to traverse the park ahead of time.

And as mentioned several times, the current FP test is just that - a test.

If you had not been able to use more than three of ANY type of FP (old or new version) in one park only, and had to choose only ONE main attraction and from two very lesser ones as many people have had to do in recent weeks, I suspect that you would be posting a very different response.

I'm working on scheduling my FP+ for the end of the month. Since I'm going to get guest services fast passes from my friend, I'm only using FP+ for the special fireworks and parade viewing areas. Plus, I don't expect it will be very busy at all. Last year we had the place to ourselves most of the time.

Now, they keep on trying to send me another set of magic bands :) I haven't responded since I don't need more than 2 :) I wonder why they don't know I already have them since my reservations are already loaded on them :)