We’ve seen the crowds at Disney World get a little bigger over the past few months, and we now know that capacity at the parks increased to 35 percent just before the holidays.

But how does that compare to New Year’s Eve’s past? Say 2019? Well, we dug into our photo archives to compare, and BOY, things are CRAZY different (we already knew that but seeing pics really puts it into perspective).

So here’s what Magic Kingdom looked like on New Year’s Eve in 2020 just this morning. The park literally felt abandoned at times.

There’s definitely a lack of crowds in Magic Kingdom! pic.twitter.com/3eM8iZbNFz

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

Crowds did eventually pick back up, though, later in the day. And this is what we consider crowded right now.

Magic Kingdom is getting a little busier! pic.twitter.com/K7eTVX2taO

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

But here’s what surprised us! We’ve been so used to limited capacity at the parks that when we looked at last year’s photos at Magic Kingdom, we almost screamed out loud! This is what New Year’s Eve looked like during the day last year:

Just wow! And the night photos we have from last year are equally as shocking. This is the crowd from last year on New Year’s Eve waiting for the fireworks (there are no fireworks planned for this year).

To compare again, this is New Year’s Eve 2020 at Hollywood Studios, which is booked to full capacity. 

And this is just us trying to leave Magic Kingdom in 2019 after the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

So when we say that a park is crowded now, we realize that our definition of “crowded” has certainly changed! But we’ll continue to keep track of crowds and capacity at the parks, so stay tuned for updates!

PHOTOS and VIDEOS: Here’s What the New Year’s Eve Crowds Looked Like in Disney World Today

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Have you been to Disney World on New Year’s Eve before? Let us know in the comments!

The post What a Difference a Year (and a Pandemic) Makes on New Year’s Eve in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.

Bye 2020 and hellooooo 2021!

There’s no surprise here but we are spending the final days of the year reporting from Disney World to bring you all the important updates. Yesterday, we took a stroll around Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa to get in the loop on all the news. Check out the latest in food, construction, and merchandise!

Saratoga Springs Food Updates

Let’s start on the food front!

The Artist’s Palette

The Eggnog Cupcake looked a little different than when we last saw it. It now has a little snowman on it instead of a little wreath!

It’s probably still as tasty as ever though. This little treat might not be around for much longer with the end of the season so if you’re hoping to give him a try, you’ll want to do so ASAP.

Click here for our review of the Eggnog Cupcake!

The Artist’s Palette also had a new Apple Tart for $6 which is (one) adorable and (two) delicious.

You can bet we took a LOT of pics of this beauty and broke down exactly what we thought when we reviewed it earlier. Check it out!

Want to see our FULL REVIEW of the Apple Tart? Click here!

Finally, on the merchandise side of The Artist’s Palette, we spotted some cute little bottles of Champagne for $22 — displayed next to Mickey champagne flutes of course!

Saratoga Springs Construction Updates

On to construction! Remember, the Paddock Pool, also at this resort, is expected to undergo maintenance soon.

We noticed that the High Rock Spring feature pool at Saratoga Springs had a lot more guests visiting than we usually see when we visit.

Click here to learn more about the Paddock Pool refurbishment!

Saratoga Springs Merchandise Updates

Aaaand back over to The Artist’s Palette to check in on merchandise.

The Artist’s Palette

We spotted a super cute display out like we’ve seen elsewhere, encouraging guests to “Celebrate the New Year with Fun for the Entire Family.” Guests can stock up on 2021 merch, puzzles, and games!

And there you have it! That’s everything new at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa today! We’ll check in again soon.

To check our more recent news from Saratoga Springs, click here!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Are you staying at Saratoga Springs soon? Tell us in the comments! 

The post What’s New at Saratoga Springs: New Year’s Eve Celebrations and an Apple Tart! first appeared on the disney food blog.

New Year’s Eve is nearly here, and Raglan Road is getting ready to send 2020 off with a different kind of Irish goodbye! The restaurant and performance space will host a live-stream of “The Irish Show” from Disney Springs on New Year’s Eve beginning at 8:45 PM and ending at 9 PM Eastern. The show can be seen on Raglan Road’s Facebook page. Disney’s official description of the show reads, “Get jig-gy with them! Head to Raglan Road for a […]

The post Raglan Road to Livestream “The Irish Show” on New Year’s Eve from Disney Springs appeared first on WDW News Today.

New Year’s Eve is traditionally the busiest day of the year at Walt Disney World.  With capacity limits and no scheduled fireworks, though, it’s likely today won’t even be in the top 50 for any park. (EPCOT’s wait times today are grossly inflated – a trend we’ve seen for a while now.)

We counted 487 of 500 guests (97%) wearing masks according to Disney’s guidelines today at Hollywood Studios.  We received 161 actual wait times today. Let’s do the numbers!

Magic Kingdom Wait Times

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had an average wait time today of 53 minutes. Its 7-day average is 58 minutes, so today ranks #5 for this week. Its 30-day average is 56 minutes, so today ranks #17 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 50 minutes, so today ranks #91 for the past year. We received 9 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 55% of the posted wait time.

Animal Kingdom Wait Times

Posted wait times at Expedition Everest were about three times higher than actual waits, which is really unusual and tells you that today’s posted wait times aren’t to be believed. Expedition Everest had an average wait time today of 41 minutes. We received 17 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 30% of the posted wait time.

Hollywood Studios Wait Times

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run had an average wait time today of 78 minutes. Its 7-day average is 67 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 64 minutes, so today ranks #3 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 60 minutes, so today ranks #37 for the past year. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 84% of the posted wait time.

Rise of the Resistance has had a couple of long ride outages today, delaying the calling of boarding groups to experience the ride.

EPCOT Wait Times

Soarin’ had an average wait time today of 81 minutes. Its 7-day average is 60 minutes, so today ranks #2 for this week. Its 30-day average is 47 minutes, so today ranks #2 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 37 minutes, so today ranks #6 for the past year. We received 6 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 50% of the posted wait time.

The post Saying Goodbye to 2020 — Disney World Wait Times for December 31, 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

We’re kissing 2020 goodbye at Disney World today! It’s been a long year and we’re ready to move forward into 2021.

Disney World is celebrating New Year’s Eve a little differently this year. The theme parks are closing before midnight for health and safety reasons. Guests are encouraged to ring in the new year from their resort where Disney will host special activities tonight. We’re heading into the parks to see what the crowds, wait times, and the overall vibe is like. 

Crowds

We arrived at Hollywood Studios and noticed that it was definitely busy, but we expected that as the park is at capacity today.

Headed into Hollywood Studios! pic.twitter.com/vgfpFGiH9W

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

At this point, though, it didn’t feel that crowded, and everyone was doing a good job of keeping distances between groups.

Toy Story Land felt particularly crowded, though.

Headed into Toy Story Land! pic.twitter.com/XTWYUrR40g

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

Over at Magic Kingdom, things were looking busy on Main Street, U.S.A., but not nearly as busy as at Hollywood Studios!

A look at Main Street U.S.A this morning! pic.twitter.com/Dgp7mGM5TR

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

But Adventureland wasn’t that bad at all!

Adventureland over in Magic Kingdom isn’t too crowded! pic.twitter.com/VSc6sBiHmk

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

Seriously, there were times at Magic Kingdom when we were wondering where the people were!

There’s definitely a lack of crowds in Magic Kingdom! pic.twitter.com/3eM8iZbNFz

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

As the day progressed, though, more people started entering the park.

Magic Kingdom is getting a little busier! pic.twitter.com/K7eTVX2taO

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

EPCOT didn’t seem crowded at all, at least at first.

But once we entered World Showcase, we saw the crowds in full force!

Crowds in Epcot! pic.twitter.com/R81g2hvwpU

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

Wait Times and Lines

The attraction lines stretched beyond the designated queues for many of the rides. Disney has been allocating other spaces for the extended lines. Don’t be too fooled by the big lines! The lines look about twice as long due to physical distancing between travel groups. But we did see Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster with a 100-minute wait at one point today!

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is currently a 100 minute wait. pic.twitter.com/AoncsJcv2G

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

The line for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, though, was only 60 minutes when we stopped by, which really isn’t that bad for this popular attraction!

Don’t let this next photo fool you, because that 80 minute wait time is NOT for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It was for Slinky Dog Dash way over in Toy Story Land!

There was a 50-minute wait time for Toy Story Mania!

We always expect the Millennium Falcon line to be long, but the wait time today, when we stopped by today, was a whopping 110 minutes!

In Magic Kingdom, the Splash Mountain wait was only 45 minutes when we visited mid-day.

The longest line we saw at Magic Kingdom wasn’t even for an attraction — it was for food at Sleepy Hollow! Dining has been tricky today, with many table service restaurants not having any Walk-Up Waitlist spots available! So guests are having to choose Counter Service unless they have advance dining reservations.

The longest line we have seen so far in Magic Kingdom is Sleepy Hollow! pic.twitter.com/TN4klagMSR

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

In EPCOT, there was a long line for food, too! This is what Via Napoli looked like!

Here’s the line for Via Napoli pic.twitter.com/GSOyoQUdHy

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

We think that might even be longer than the posted wait time for Spaceship Earth, which was 45 minutes mid-day.

Frozen Ever After had a wait time of 80 minutes this afternoon.

Frozen Ever After line is 80 minutes and the line ends by the Africa Outpost. pic.twitter.com/2HyvB2elj7

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 31, 2020

We’ve seen New Year’s Eve bring in much bigger crowds than we saw today (especially since the park is capped at a 35% capacity). Still, considering the limited capacities and early closing times, the holiday attracted a lot of guests! Tune in with us tomorrow for our crowd reports for New Year’s Day!

Check out some of the New Year’s Eve resort activities happening tonight!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Are you heading to Disney World soon? Let us know in the comments!

The post PHOTOS and VIDEOS: Here’s What the New Year’s Eve Crowds Looked Like in Disney World Today first appeared on the disney food blog.