Wait. Where did 2025 go? Surely we have a few more months, or weeks, or, nope, it’s the end, and we’re celebrating the new year the best way we know how — at Disney World!

Now, we’re not the only ones with this idea, so we’re expecting a lot of people, so let’s check out what the crowds look like at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT for New Year’s Eve and the day before! 

Let’s start at the first park, Magic Kingdom! We are in the parks all day today, and will update with the New Year’s Eve Crowds. Some of these photos are from our last trip on December 30th, and they can give you an expectation of what you’ll see in the parks tonight. We can usually tell it’s going to be busy before we even get to the park. The Transportation and Ticket Center is where Magic Kingdom parking is, and y’all, it was packed.

Yesterday, almost every parking lot was full when we arrived at 3 PM. If you’re planning on going to the park, don’t wait too long to arrive. Lines for security and for transportation were long as well. Would you choose the monorail or the ferryboat here? We have a debate about this all the time, and most people argue that the monorail is faster. Personally, I’m a ferryboat girl because it generally means you get a little bit more space and airflow, which I really value on busy days. It’s also a lot easier with strollers and wheelchairs!

Let’s scan in. Obviously, we were met with more crowds, all waiting to scan in. To speed things up, make sure your MagicBand is connected to your account, or everyone holds their physical card and knows which finger they scanned with. Now onto Main Street, U.S.A. This is usually where it’s easy to tell how busy it is, and to no one’s surprise, it was wall-to-wall people. Probably not the best time to take your favorite family photos in front of the castle.

What about the wait times? On December 31st, the highest wait time in the park was Tron Lightcycle / Run at a 130-minute wait time. The lowest is Prince Charming Regal Carrousel at a 5-minute wait time. So, yep. It’s busy, but not terrible!

Let’s check out what’s happening at EPCOT. EPCOT is well-known for its New Year’s Eve celebrations. There are sometimes dance parties at different pavilions, and sometimes they celebrate New Year’s Eve in the real country’s time zone. These are PARTIES!

The crowds weren’t playing over in EPCOT. The wait times (and lines) were major indicators of that. The wait times have risen since this morning, probably because guests were sleeping in to make it to midnight.

Gotta check the wait times too. Oof! In EPCOT, at the time of writing, Cosmic Rewind was the highest at 205 MINUTES, and Turtle Talk with Crush was the lowest at 25 minutes. Again, big variety here.

The line for guardians was NO JOKE! Remember, this is just the outdoor section of the ride. There’s a whole lotta line going on inside the attraction, too.

Based on our experience last night, if you want a good fireworks spot at either park, arrive at least 30 minutes early!

Throughout Magic Kingdom, you’ll be able to find dance parties like this one in Frontierland! They have DJs, special lighting, and so many people.

If you have younger kiddos, you can head over to Tomorrowland, where they’re having a dance party. They even had friends like Pluto and Goofy make an appearance.

Let’s see those moves, boys! These days are so much fun in the parks, but I won’t lie — you need to be prepared for the crowds! Now there is a chance that the crowds will hit capacity tonight (although our team isn’t super worried), but if you need to know what to do, we’ve got you covered here!

While we’re waiting for the final countdown, make sure you keep following Disney Food Blog for everything Disney.

DISNEY IS OPENING 11 NEW RIDES IN 2026. HERE’S THE FULL LIST.

Do you celebrate major holidays at Disney World? Tell us how you like to celebrate in the comments.