Reminder: never go to a theme park on Dec. 31st (Yes, we did it)


Even though i originally stated that we would not visit any park, our curiosity was way too big, and also other members of my family was available to visit, so we decided to go to Epcot. NEVER AGAIN. That's all I can say. We wanted to leave at 7.30 because we don't celebrate, but we got divided, so we continued to look for each other until 12 MIDNIGHT!!! There were way too many people, but I was fully aware of that. The thing was that we were unprepared. And that's really bad, especially because we are NOT tourists!! Oh, well...

Anyway, there were interesting things we saw:



Yes, they used the whole parking lot (which is the biggest in the U.S. after the one in... Try to guess! (Answer below):


.. Epcot's parking lot is the biggest after the one in Minnesota (Mall of America).
Anyway, they even let people park on the grass!!:



Here I got really, really scared...


It didn't look THAT bad when we first entered:


Yet, it was:


60 (SIXTY) minutes to wait for Spaceship Earth, one of the rides with the highest capacity!!!:



As Martin Short would say: "Na-ah... This, this is not good". At all:


The wait times at around 2 p.m.:





Finally this place proves to be useful:


A nice, temporary stage in front of the Fountain of Nations:


People were allowed to go on the grass (that's bad, in my opinion), so they had to put these railings:






There were many additional baths around World Showcase:





This is new:




A temporary restaurant  was set up inside World Showplace:



The Menu (!!!):




These have to be the longest bathrooms I've ever seen (sorry, no interior photos):



More and more people!:










Italy's stage:



And now, ladies and gentlemen, an exclusive view of the backstage!:


Sorry for the blurry pictures, but I had to hurry:





This Viking ship really went the wrong way:





Look at this!!! They still have the original sign of Test Track!!:




Here, they bring the cars to fix them:




Even at night... :


Thanks for viewing, and remember: NEVER go to a theme park on the 31st!!

15 comments:

  1. Great update thanks!

    Wow that was crazy! Soarin? I can do hardly do the 120min, I can't imagine the 260min queue that is just insane!

    Did you did any of those awful queues? How much time was it? What do you mean no next time?

    Next year Magic Kingdom!! LOL!
    Thanks for the parking pics too...

    Now you'll do a 45min queue with ease, and think this isn't so bad...

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  2. Ahahah.. .wonderful quote of Martin Shore!!! but i don't remember the movie!! It was Santa Clause 3??

    Anyway.. I added all the wait time in the Big display picture and they result 14 our wait!!! Well next time if we plan for time you and your family can come back in Italy and celebrate the new year 6 our early than in the USA!!!

    14 our is the total amount of time you need to travel from Orlando to Bologna.
    If you add the 10 ours while the park was open before I can friendly tell you that this expedition smell of suicide!!!
    And the first clue was the car parked on the grass... If I was in your shoes, I take my car and exit as fast as I can form the park!!!
    I can't imagine how long were the car's queues to exit form the park !!!!

    Anyway... Congratulation for you Brave!!!!

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  3. OH MY GOD! EPCOT is too crowded! This remember me a little bit Copacabana in New Years Eve too! Never goes to a place in NYE that has fireworks and shows!

    I hope that in January, Orlando would be empty! Winter gets so hard in this month...

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  4. The wait times board says it all.

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  5. An excellent example of why it's best to go during the slow season.

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  6. Thanks for the great comments!! Yes, Epcot was awfully crowded, and when there are too many people, you don't enjoy the parks.

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  7. Insane! I went to BGT on Dec. 30 and sheikra and other coasters were peaking at around 90 minutes. But something as much as 80 for maelstrom and 260 for soarin'!?! Thats crazy!

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  8. Shockingly, Magic Kingdom waits arnt as long as Epcot on the 31st, the longest wait i saw was 150mins for Space Mountain. But after Midnight in Magic Kingdom the park was pretty much empty excluding main street. (Glad Mk is open till 2am new years)

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  9. I wouldn't say NEVER visit a theme park on the 31st... there's A LOT going on at EPCOT at night on NYE.

    I would say don't go if you're attempting a regular vacation or (especially) you're first time!

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  10. Hmm... We had reservations for dinner at Biergarten and our dog was reserved at the kennel. We were to Animal Kingdom a few nights before and it was sooo crowded that we decided to put a kabash on Epcot for New Years Eve. Glad we did. Hope you had a great time, despite the crowds!

    Karen

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  11. I used to work at Test Track :)

    The park had 80k on NYE

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  12. Thanks once again for the great comments!!

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  13. Isn't funny how we KNOW better, but the temptation to g is so strong. We are new annual pass holders and we went to MK on the 29th and it was crazy then (and freezing argh). We vowed to NOT go on NYE and did not...but all evening DH would say....do you think we should go? LOL We did go on NY Day and enjoyed ourselves throughly (AM @ Studios and afternoon @ MK). I am looking forward to January! Thanks for being brave and sharing the madness! :)

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  14. HAPPY NEW YEAR SAM! Well, on the plus side, it looks like it's getting warmer down there ...... or, was it just soooo crowded that the body heat made Epcot 10 degrees hotter than the rest of Orlando? ; )

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  15. @ Bigfoots: Actually, that quote of Martin Short is from "CINEMAGIQUE", a show that takes place at the Walt Disney Studios in Paris.

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