Florida Guide > Disney Parks
New Years Eve at Epcot
We have recently spent our first Christmas and New Year at our home in Florida and wanted something really special to do for New Years Eve.
Despite trawling throught the internet we were struggling to find something suitable that would be just that extra bit special.
We eventually chose Epcot - and what a good choice it proved to be!
Unlike some venues that charge extra for a New Years Eve event, you can spend all day and evening at Epcot for the normal admission ticket price!
We decided to wait until later in the day to arrive as we thought being there the whole day would be too tiring. We therefore arrived at about 3pm - but to be honest had we left it much later we would probably have been too late as it was alsmost full to capacity by then.
We spent the first couple of hours wandering around the various rides - and chose a few that didn't have long queues. Unfortunately, being a capacity day, there were very long waiting times for the most popular rides.
We then ambled round the various 'countries' around the lake. We made sure we were at 'England' at 7pm, which was of course midnight UK time. There were literally hundreds of Brits gathered there and the whole place went wild with cheers and hooters (these were given out by the Park), and we all linked arms for Auld Lang Syne. The atmosphere was fabulous.
We then walked on round the lake and looked for somewhere to eat. The one mistake we made was not booking a restaurant in advance, which I would certainly advise doing, and we ended up with a burger!
At various locations around the Park there were live bands and discos. There was music for every taste from jazz to folk, rock and roll to up to date disco music. The best in my opinion (and shows my age!!) was the Beatles look-alike and sound-alike band that played at various times throughout the evening at 'England' - the market square was packed and the atmospere was fantastic.
Epcot had catered for all ages - and had their first firework display early in the evening for the benefit of familes with young children who couldn't stay until midnight.
The final firework display started at about 11.30pm. When it finished, they then mentioned all of the countries around the world that had already clebrated midnight earlier in the day. They went through each one with a small firework display form eack 'country' around the lake accompanied by traditional music representing that country. The British one was Rule Britannia - which brought a lump to a few throats!
Finally there was a countdown from 10 to 1 - and it was midnight! Everyone went wild! Cheering, kissing, blowing hooters, Auld Land Syne and then a final firework extravaganza which ended with the whole sky being lit with pink crackling stars! Amazing!
It was certainly a New Year to remember - and excellent value for money too! Well worth doing if you are in Florida for New Year.
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