Blake and I got married at the beginning of December and with the Holidays and his busy school schedule, we weren't able to get away for a honeymoon right away. We decided to postpone our honeymoon until the summer because we both really wanted to go to the beach. After he got out of school for the semester though, we had some time off of work and decided to plan a little getaway for New Year's Eve as sort of a mini honeymoon.
New Year's has always been an exciting time for us because we get to reflect on our past year and look toward the coming year together, as I'm sure most of you do. And what better place to reflect on your time together than at the happiest place on earth?!
We were a little hesitant at first to get tickets for NYE because if you've ever been to Disneyland, you know the worst times to go during the year are over the holidays or when school lets out. We checked on a couple calendar sites to find out if it would really be THAT bad. On this particular website, the day of New Year's Eve read "forget about it". Haha we threw caution to the wind and decided to go anyway.
Before I get into the pros and cons of going to DL on NYE, I have to tell you that we were with a first timer as well. Our best friends were planning to go that day as well, so we drove over there together. She had never gone to Disneyland before. I was shocked and insisted they come with us.
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I'll start off with the cons so we can get those out of the way first.
CROWDS
The website was not lying. That was the busiest we've ever seen the park in my entire life. Actually, that was the busiest I've seen any facility in my entire life. We heard from multiple cast members that this was the absolute busiest day of the year, hands down.
Disneyland, like most places, has a fire safety rule and can only allow so many people into the park at a time. Normally, that number is so high they'd never have to worry about reaching it. However, on New Year's Eve, they warned that if you happen to leave the park (to eat, park hop, rest, etc.), you may not get back in due to the fact that there are too many people in the park. We spoke with a couple cast members regarding this and they said at about 5pm, whatever park you're in, stay in that park! Once you leave, chances are you won't get back into either. We were determined to be in Disneyland at midnight, so we made sure to be done with California Adventure by 5pm and head over to Disneyland for the rest of the day.
When it came time for the countdown, we were literally packed in like sardines on Main Street USA. I'm only 5'1" so Blake literally had to hold me up so no one would squish me. Luckily it was freezing out, so at least it was warm in the middle of the crowd.
LINES
We got on a total of maybe 10 rides the entire day. The lines went anywhere from 2.5 to 4.5 hours long. It came to the point where we just had to bite the bullet and go to whichever rides we wanted to most, because no matter what ride it was, it was going to be a long line. Unfortunate for my friend Jen, she didn't get to ride half the major rides because time just didn't allow.
Even lines for food were just as long as the lines for some of the rides. I thought I would die of hunger.
FREEZING
You'd think after traveling to California so many times during the winter I'd remember that it was chilly. I thought a jacket and jeans would be enough. Nope. My hands, ears and face were completely numb half of the time. Scroll down to the bottom to see my recommendations on what to wear.
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Now that we got all the negativity over with, let's talk about why you should go to DL for NYE.
DECOR
Because it's so close to Christmas and Halloween, Disney leaves up all of their holiday decorations over New Years. That means we got to experience the Disney Christmas magic. It literally snowed in the park. They have an enormous Christmas tree decked from head to toe with Disney Christmas decorations. The characters are all dressed up in their Christmas attire. The park is completely blanketed with candy canes, wreaths, ornaments, lights and mistletoe everywhere you look.
MAGICAL
My all time favorite moment in the park was at night, when all of Disneyland turned into a huge night club. They set up DJs in almost every land and they made it snow! We didn't know this was going to happen because we were stuck in line to go on Matterhorn Bobsleds. But once they got all set up, we could see all the magic happening in the middle of Fantasyland. I left the line right away and ran to the DJ table. There were little kids everywhere on dads' shoulders, singing, dancing, and just having the time of their life. As soon as I got there, they made it snow over the entire crowd. I don't know why, but I started crying. It was like I was the only person in the world at that moment. My amazing hubby came right up behind me and just held me while we took in this breathtaking scene. Even as I write about it now it makes me tear up. Only Disney can bring that sort of magic to life and create experiences like that.
We sang and danced the night away as Chip and Dale MC'd. Some of our favorite characters danced with us in front of the castle. It was a night I'll never forget.
PARADES
Because it was around Christmastime, the Holiday parade was still showing. Everyone is decked from head to toe with green and red, Mickey and Minnie are dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus, there are dancing reindeer and snowflakes and all the princesses are sparkly and in their best holiday attire. To sum it up, if you thought the Disney parades were good, they're even better during the holidays.
FRIENDLIER
I'm not saying Disneyland isn't always friendly, because I have yet to go to the magic kingdom and have a bad experience with a cast member. But you know the feeling you get around the holidays even outside of Disneyland? Disney just has a way of amplifying it a little bit more. Even though it wasn't Christmas, you could still feel that Christmasy feeling in the air. The cast members seemed friendlier, they go above and beyond to make everything that much more fun, and things just seem happier during this time of year.
IT'S DISNEY
I know that sounds silly, but let's just be real. It's Disneyland. There are very few cons of ever being at Disneyland. Even when it's crowded and freezing it's still better than most days you'll have throughout the year. I can't think of a better place to kiss at midnight, than in the middle of Main Street USA, while Mickey and Minnie are DJing the biggest and best block party known to man, counting down the seconds on a HUGE Disney clock in front of the castle.
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It was a definite once-in-a-lifetime experience. I would never do it again, but It will go down as one of the most fun, magical times in both of our lives. I will never take our children, so if they want to experience that day for themselves, they'll have to do it when they grow up and get married themselves. It's definitely the most romantic place I've ever been at midnight.
I think the thing I'm so grateful for is that we went while we were still in our honeymoon phase. We had only been married a month and the magic was still very prevalent in our marriage. Bliss is the only word that I can find to accurately describe that entire day at the park. Getting to spend it with our best friends just made it that much more fun. It was definitely the perfect day. I can't wait for more perfect Disney days ahead!
I probably contribute to the high churro and ice cream count more than most :) you can't enjoy to Disney without some sweets!