New Year's Eve at Disneyland
For many years, one of the biggest nights, and one of the highest attendance days has been New Year's Eve at Disneyland. This is bigger than the annual anniversary or birthday for the park, and is one fantastic party. I've spent many December 31st nights at Disneyland, and it is still my favorite place to bring in a new year.
This year promised to be tons of fun, but for one BIG thing: If you have anything close to a fear of crowds, or claustrophobia, it was not the place to be. While I love Disneyland dearly, in the hub of the park at the stroke of twelve is nowhere to be on a regular New Year's Eve. Imaging the same crowd, literally packed together for perhaps an hour or more, shoulder to shoulder, unable to navigate clear alone, not to mention trying to hang onto a loved one. Now double or triple that thought. That was NYE2000 at Disneyland. In fact, the park closed to new guests about 6:00 p.m. on the 31st, as it had reached capacity (a mystical number that the park has never divulged, but thought to be between 60,000 and 75,000).In years gone by, New Year's Eve was a special event. The park would clost about 6:00 p.m. on that day, and then re-open at 8:30 or so. Special tickets were required, and there was lots of entertainment, music, party favors, noise makers, hats, and more for all the revelers. A number of years ago, this practice was stopped, and now Disneyland opens at 8:00 a.m. on New Year's Eve day, and remains open until about 3:00 a.m. the following morning. Probably a better value for the party-hardy crowd, but I do miss the special party.
Here's tickets from some of the old New Year's special parties:
Note that the ticket on the left, from 1973 was only $9.00!
The ticket on the right, from 1984, was $20.00.
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