My advice? If you are going to go, get there early and plan on not
doing much all day, until the park thins out after midnight. The crowds
are always good sized. If you wake up at noon that day, don't even bother.
Jeff writes:
1. If you want to have a shot at getting a locker
inside the park, you should grab one as early in the morning as
possible. In addition to the lockers on Main Street, don't forget that
there are also some back by the Fantasyland Theater.
Prepare for the possibility that you won't be able to
get a locker by organizing the necessities for the day such that they
can fit in backpacks or other easily carried bags.
2. Lines for the major attractions will be long,
even with Fastpass, for most of the day. You might be able to
make it on a few of the big rides by hitting them at the very beginning
of the day or after midnight. Fastpass (if you get there early
enough) may give you access to a couple of major rides.
For the most part, though, you should plan on taking the
opportunity to experience some of the smaller pleasures of the park.
Take the opportunity to see Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, the Tiki
Room, Country Bears, etc.
Go for rides on the Main Street vehicles or the
river boats and take the time to watch some of the cartoons in the Main
Street Cinema. Explore Tom Sawyer's Island, the NASA
exhibit, the Disney Gallery or even Innoventions.
Even on the busiest day, you can usually find plenty to
do if you look hard enough.
3. While we hate to think of the darker side of
human nature, you are going to be in tightly packed crowds and you
should make extra effort to protect yourself against theft.
Make sure you keep belongings with you at all time and
be sure to protect your wallet or purse. Seriously consider using
traveler's checks or debit cards instead of cash.
4. Unless you are looking to purchase New Year's
Eve specific merchandise, consider saving souvenir shopping for another
day.
You probably aren't going to want to carry major
packages around during the day and the Package Express pickup is
likely to be a mob scene at the end of the night.
The park likely will stop offering Package Express part
way through the day (this happened in the past).
Even though it is expensive, you might consider having
merchandise shipped home if there is something you absolutely have to
buy.
5. If you do choose to purchase any merchandise
that they are exclusively offering on New Years Eve / Day, buy it as
early as possible. Any commemorative merchandise has a good
chance at selling out rather early.
6. You should plan on drinking lots of water
to avoid dehydration.
A suggestion is to purchase thermal water bottles (the
one liter size works well), fill them the night before and put them in
the freezer (leave a couple inches at the top since the volume will
expand).
The ice will slowly melt over the course of the day (in
the winter, I've found it will easily last all day) and you can always
refill the bottle from the drinking fountains in order to instantly have
ice water available.
7. If you are visiting with children or you don't
know the park well, take some time first thing in the morning to familiarize
yourself with a few key locations before the park becomes too
crowded.
In particular, you should find the locations of guest
relations (City Hall), first-aid, lost parents, the ATMs (if you
think you will need them), lockers, etc.
You should select a designated meeting place and
actually >go< there to make certain everyone in your party really
knows where it is.
Be sure to get a park map / show schedule as soon as you
arrive in case they run out of them later in the day.
Lani adds:
I think that Jeff's comments are CRITICAL. In addition:
1. Each member of your party, including children,
should carry some basic necessities. These include water bottles,
small snacks, a light jacket, sunscreen, aspirin, an extra pair of
socks, band-aids for blisters.
Each member also needs to carry a slip of paper
(perhaps an index card) with emergency contact information, including
hotel and room number, the name the hotel room is reserved under, a
contact in the home town, and health insurance number.
2. All of your party members should bring their
own cell phones, fully charged. Take an extra phone battery if
you need to.
If you have one of those Motorola two-way
walkie-talkies, take them with you. Make sure every member of your
party has cell phone and pager numbers of all members of the party. It
is best to write these down on something small, like an index
card.
Those with walkie-talkies should already have a series
of frequency channel numbers you decide to use. Expect a lot of
interference: There will be many others in the park with the same
Motorola walkie-talkie set.
3. Forget wearing anything fancy or special
because it's New Year's. Wear the most comfortable clothes you
can -- loose-fitting, breathable, elastic waistband, etc.
Layer your clothes. Wear a light T-shirt as your
under-layer, a long-sleeve collared cotton-type shirt over it, with a
jacket or sweatshirt in your daypack. As the weather gets warm / cool,
you can adjust accordingly if you layer.
4. Bring a hat / cap and sunglasses, as
usual (but especially for such a long day). You do NOT want to end up
with a sun- related headache that lengthens your day longer than it
already will.
5. Wear your most comfortable pair of shoes.
To avoid blisters, wear TWO thin pairs of socks at once, instead of one
pair of regular thickness.
You might want to check your insoles -- if you've worn
your shoes for more than a total of 500 miles, you will probably do well
to buy new insoles. Most insoles in athletic shoes are removable and
replaceable.
Do *NOT* buy cheap flat insoles -- spend extra money
buying one from an athletic shoe store. Remember -- YOU WILL BE ON YOUR
FEET ALL DAY. By the end of the afternoon, your feet will start to swell
-- you might want to loosen your lacing a bit at that time.
6. Drink LOTS of water. Don't worry;
Disneyland potties will not run out of toilet paper. But you'll be out
and about all day, and keeping well-hydrated will do much to keep you
feeling fresh.
DO NOT SUBSTITUTE WATER WITH SUGAR DRINKS. While
the occasional soda or juice is fine during snack or meal time, do not
use these instead of plain water. The park does sell bottled water,
although as you know, they're a bit on the expensive side.
7. If you are the type to get pooped, bring a walking
stick or a folding camping stool with you. We normally assume
there are plenty of benches but for this day, don't bet on it.
By the time the evening rolls around, it's quite
possible every single chair at Plaza Pavilion, River Belle
Terrace, Plaza Inn and Cafe Orleans will ALL be taken
by people with tired feet.
If you have neither, or you don't mind the ground, take
a towel in your daypack so you don't get your bottom dirty.
8. Spare batteries for EVERYTHING. Camera
batteries, walkie- talkies, Walkman radios, camera flash, camcorder,
cell phone. EVERY item you bring that uses batteries should have a spare
set. Needless to say, they are expensive in the park..
9. Film: Bring plenty of extra film. If
you have a digital camera, bring a spare flashcard or smart media card,
or plenty of floppies. As with batteries, you don't want to find
yourself short at 11:45 PM.
10. Come up with a contingency plan with
every member of your party. What will you do if a party member gets
lost? Where will you meet? Be as specific as possible.
Instead of saying "Let's meet by the castle,"
which can be a madhouse, especially near midnight, try something like
"Let's meet in front of the sword by the carousel."
Actually, your better bet is to meet by the Walt
& Mickey statues at the central hub, as this allows people to
sit down on the benches while they wait for the lost person.
"Wow, can you believe that
carnival they built in the parking lot Mickey?" "Gosh Walt,
you'd think they'd have listened to you!"
You might even go so far as to specify at what points
you will try to get reunited. "If we get separated, let's try to
meet at the Walt & Mickey statue by the central hub on the hour. We
will wait for 10 minutes by the statue, then we will have 50 minutes on
our own, and try to meet up again the next hour, by the statue..."
and so on.
This way you won't be stuck waiting for a whole hour
hoping the lost member will eventually show up.
11. Food: Plan your meals wisely. You can
end up spending a LOT of time in loooong times, and spending a TON of
money on food.
Your best bet is to have a large breakfast outside of
the park, then spend your day grazing. Although the park normally does
not allow outside food, my guess is that you won't be kicked out if you
brought your own granola bars.
Limit your large meal in the park to just one if
possible, and plan it during an off time (3 or 4 PM at the Blue
Bayou, for example) when it won't be quite so crowded.
12. Napping: A 10-minute nod does wonders
to refresh you if you run out of energy. Unfortunately there aren't that
many places in which to do this, although the waiting area in front of Great
Moments with Mr. Lincoln is quiet, as are some spots on Tom
Sawyer Island.
You will be guaranteed admission back into the park,
should it be too crowded if you are a Disney Hotel customer, so a nap
there may also be worth taking.
If you must, sit down for lunch at an outdoor venue, and
plop your head down on the table for 40 winks. You won't be the only
one...
Entertainment will be provided in several areas of the park, this is
last year's schedule, it may change for this year, keep checking back,
right now the park is set to stay open until 3 AM:
