It’s the holiday season in Disney World!

Hollywood Studios

We’ve seen decorations in the parks, hotels, and Disney Springs, special food items for the season, and even went to the Disney Very Merriest After Hours event. While there is a lot of focus on Christmas right now in the parks, we can’t forget about another upcoming holiday — New Year’s Eve! This is usually one of the busiest days of the year in Disney World, so let’s break down what New Year’s Eve will look like this year.

Park Hours

Let’s start out with one of the most important things — when the parks are actually open on New Year’s Eve! Last year, all 4 parks closed pretty early on the holiday, but you’ll be happy to hear that most of them will be open much later this year. Let’s take a look:

• Magic Kingdom — 9AM-12AM
• EPCOT — 10AM-12AM
• Hollywood Studios — 9AM-12AM
• Animal Kingdom — 9AM-7PM

Magic Kingdom

As you can see, all of the parks except for Animal Kingdom will be open until Midnight, so you can ring in the New Year inside the parks!

EPCOT

In addition to the theme parks, Disney Springs will be open from 10AM to 11:30PM on New Year’s Eve.

Crowds

New Year’s Eve is a super crowded time at Disney World usually. And, it looks like this year will see crowds as well, because park pass reservations are currently booked for every park except Animal Kingdom.

©Disney

More availability could open up, so we’ll keep you updated on that. But, if you’re planning to park hop, just know that you might run into the issue of the park you’re hopping to being at capacity! We would recommend getting to your second park right at 2PM (as early as you can park hop), that way you lower the risk of people flocking to a certain park to be there at Midnight.

Entertainment

As of right now, there is no special entertainment announced for New Year’s Eve in Disney World. In the past, there have been special fireworks shows for the holiday, but the only shows listed right now are the usual Disney Enchantment at Magic Kingdom and Harmonious at EPCOT.

Magic Kingdom New Years Fireworks 2019

But, Disney could still make the announcement that they will have special shows for New Year, so we’ll be on the lookout for that! Another thing that has happened in the past at Disney are some hotel parties you can attend while the clock strikes 12. These parties didn’t happen last year due to the global pandemic, but here are some details on the events from 2019 in case they are brought back for this year. Reminder: NONE of these have been announced for this year yet.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort:

• Disney Countdown to Midnight
• Disney Ink & Paint Club
• Pixar Party: A New Year’s Eve
• An Elegant Evening Under the Stars at California Grill

Contemporary Resort on New Year’s Eve in 2019 ©Disney

Disney’s Riviera Resort:

• Mezzanotte at Topolino’s: An Italian Masquerade

Topolino’s Terrace

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort:

• Feliz And Nuevo: A New Year’s Eve Party at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

Coronado Springs

Disney’s BoardWalk Inn:

• Disney’s BoardWalk Countdown at Atlantic Dance Hall

Atlantic Dance Hall

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa:

• A New Year’s Eve Celebration at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa hosted by Narcoossee’s

Narcoossee’s

In addition to these events, we’ve also seen special celebrations happen at a couple hotels around Disney. Nothing has been announced for this year yet, but here’s what celebrations looked like in 2019.

• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort: French Quarter — New Year’s Eve Celebrations included a campfire, glass decorating, and All That Glitters: A New Years Celebration in the lobby courtyard.
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge — Three Days of New Years Celebrations included a pool party, movie screenings, a fireworks watch party, a holiday scavenger hunt, a New Years’ Eve Bash, and more.

Wilderness Lodge New Year’s Activities

With New Year’s Eve celebrations returning back to normal around the country this year, we have a little more hope that some events could be announced at Disney World! Even Times Square in New York City is allowing its annual New Year’s Eve celebration to happen again, with the ball drop and everything — the event is only open to vaccinated people.

Times Square Disney Store

We also want to remind you that the holiday decor will still be up all around Disney World! The parks, resorts, and Disney Springs keep their Christmas and other decorations up through New Year’s Eve and Day (and usually the very beginning of January). So, don’t worry about missing out on seeing some of your favorite trees or that giant gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian!

Happy Holidays from Hollywood Studios!

But, one thing that will NOT be available on New Year’s Eve is EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays. The festival ends on December 30th, so if you want to try some food from the holiday kitchens or catch one last showing of the Candlelight Processional, make sure to get to the park before New Year’s Eve!

EPCOT Festival of the Holidays

That’s what to expect for New Year’s Eve this year in Disney World! We’ll keep you updated if any additional celebrations or events are announced, or if more park pass availability is added, so stay tuned to DFB for news.

Click here to get our FREE exclusive printable for all of this year’s holiday snacks in Disney World!

Will you be in Disney World for New Years Eve? Let us know in the comments!

The post What Will New Year’s Eve Look Like in Disney World This Year? Here’s Everything We Know. first appeared on the disney food blog.