Hey Howdy Hey Belinda and welcome to planDisney!
How exciting to snag reservations for the New Year's Eve dessert party! These opportunities are rare, especially on special nights such as New Year's Eve. While this opportunity is rare, you bring up a great point about navigating this situation with young children. With 3 children of my own, we have always loved fireworks and navigating the parks at night, but I do have some insights to share that may help you make your final decision.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you would be to consider their sleep schedules. Are they ones that do better on a schedule going to bed early and waking up early? Or are they more night owls and wake up a little later in the morning? All 3 of my girls do better staying up a little later and then waking up a bit later. The nighttime opportunities are way better received and experienced compared to early morning activities which we do very little of!
Another thing to consider is the big time change traveling to central Florida. If your children tend to go to bed a bit later, you will have a big time difference from Australia to Florida and that may lean a little more towards enjoying the nighttime events.
Lastly would be your plan in the parks. With young kids, the sights, sounds, smells, the characters to hug and so much more can be overstimulating. Taking a mid-day break is key. My girls were not big nappers outside of age 3 but in Disney, we regularly head back to the resorts for a break and a nap! There is so much to stimulate them and if they are not used to it, can be a bit much. That mid-day break helped to avoid meltdowns and make the evening so much more enjoyable! Of course on New Year's Eve, this might look like just finding a quiet place throughout the parks to sit and rest while doing nothing for an hour or two.
While no one does a nighttime fireworks show like Disney, they really do go all out for New Year's. Fantasy in the Sky is the special show you will see around New Year's that is a true celebration of ringing in the new year you won't get anywhere else. This will be a lot different than the typical
Happily Even After show you will experience any other evening, but this is also my favorite one to experience. I would not think you were crazy to try to make it to midnight, but knowing your children's sleep schedule, slowing the pace down in the parks and taking time to rest and recover will be key to making that an evening to enjoy. If you did have to leave early, it looks like the same fireworks show will be held
2 times that night, once at 6:30 PM and the other at 11:50 PM. Either way, you can catch a great show!
I hope these considerations will help you plan your strategy more efficiently with your family. If you have any other questions, please let us know, we are always happy to help!
To Infinity and Beyond,
Nick