To ring in the new year at a Disney park was never something we intended to do. But as December 31 inched closer and ours plans were non existent (usually my family would drive up and spend the holiday with Eric and I, this year they couldn’t), I threw out the idea of going to Disney on NYE. It started off as a sort of joke (who in their right mind would go to Disney on one of the busiest craziest park days of the year?) but this sort of joke idea quickly evolved into a real thing.
We chose Epcot as the park we would ring in 2019 at (it seemed more “adult” - serves alcohol and just seemed catered to a more mature crowd - or as “mature” as you can get at Disney!).
So it was settled, NYE at Epcot! I knew were going to have to get there early to find parking and to ensure we actually made it into the park (some times at peak times like New Years the parks can reach capacity early in the day and they won’t admit any more guests), so making a dining reservation was a no-brainer! Easier said than done! Since it was not that far out from December 31, this was actually quite a hard feat! Most places were booked or only had availability super late! I started to do some research, and found that there actually was a special New Year’s Eve Buffet at Epcot! It’s not listed on the My Disney Experience app… you have to call to find out the details and make a reservation. So I did.
They had a few available spots, but couldn’t guarantee that they would still be there (we will come back to this), so I booked the dinner! You have to pay for in full upon making the reservation (around $70). You can cancel up to 24 hours before and if by some chance you did not make it into the park due to the park reaching capacity, you will be refunded.
Our reservation was for around 4:15, but due to the scare of not getting into the park, we got there around 3 (Magic Kingdom reached capacity early that day… around 10:30), so we were nervous, at least I was). When we finally made it to Epcot, we were surprised… there was plenty of parking (we’ve actually seen it far worse on a random weeknight)! Even though we got parking, I could not breath a sigh of relief until we actually were inside park (which, we did make it into, thank gosh)!
We took some photos by the bubblegum wall (I wanted to document my party outfit and custom ears I made just for the occasion) and then went and explored the aquariums. On our way to dinner, we stopped and picked up our complimentary NYE hats and horns… they hand these out to everyone (you just have to know here to go and get them! We actually didn’t know this was a thing, but heard this loud commotion of everyone blowing the horns, so naturally went to investigate and we waited in line and got some)!
As far as clothes go… everyone was mostly very casual (you are in FL at a theme park! But there were a few people who were dressed up in sequins and sparkly outfits - like me!). I love to dress up, so I had a ton of fun planning my outfit, plus it was actually SUPER comfy (more so than if I had just worn denim shorts or jeans)!
But now the good stuff… the meal! The New Year’s Eve Buffet at Epcot is held in the World Showplace Pavilion, which is located right in between Canada and Great Britain. You’ve probably seen the venue… it’s either closed off with a large gate OR if there’s a convention of some sorts going on, you might see a ton of people walking from it… either way, if you’ve ever noticed it, you’ve probably always wondered what it was….. I know I sure did! So getting to eat in there was quite exciting!
They checked our reservation at the gate AND then again once we were inside… you had to be on the list to get in haha! We were seated right away and as we were led to our table we could not help but notice the large room! It was HUGE! There were tables everywhere! However, it was not crowded nor were all of the tables occupied. Actually throughout our meal, that is what we enjoyed the most… the tranquil ambiance. The park was really starting to get busy outside, so being in this large ballroom was so relaxing. We kept thinking it would get busy, but it never did! It made me wonder about the lady I spoke with on the phone and how she made it seem like they hardly had any spots left!
Water and soft drinks are included with the price, but if you want a drink from the bar, you do have to pay for that. I’m all about a fun themed cocktail, so naturally I ordered the XXXX. They had different food and deserts stations set up throughout the large ballroom (is it a ballroom?!).
Food included salads, soups, pasta, chicken, seafood, and rice. There was a good variety to choose from and because it was a buffet, you could eat as much as you wanted. Because it was busy outside and because we had quite a bit of time to kill before midnight, we had a very leisurely meal (I think we were eating and drinking for over 2 hours! HAHA)
In the middle of our meal, we got up to take some pictures. Throughout the room there were all different vignette you could pose in front of! They all were super cute and we had so much fun snapping pictures by all of them!
After we were done eating dinner, and after our mini photo shoot, we got dessert! There multiple dessert stations that consisted of various cookies, brownies and fondue! There also was a coffee station where you could pour yourself some joe and add various flavorings, which we definitely took advantage of (anything to help stay up)!
Overall we really enjoyed the buffet and thought it was such a delightful meal (and we just couldn’t get enough of the quiet setting and beautiful decor)!
Part 2 to our NYE at Epcot, coming next!
