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

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

Cinderella Castle

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.

Hollywood Studios Crowds

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.

EPCOT Crowds

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!

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Line

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!

Slinky Dog Dash Line

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

Toy Story Mania Line

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!

Millennium Falcon Wait Time

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

Splash Mountain Wait Time

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.

Spaceship Earth

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!

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