Welcome to planDisney, Cheryl!
Ringing in the New Year in
EPCOT sounds
practically perfect! After all, where else can you end 2024 in one country and begin 2025 in another? Talk about a fresh start! Since EPCOT's special celebrations make it such a popular day to visit this particular Walt Disney World Resort theme park, you are wise to begin planning early, so let's dive into the details!
You are correct, Cheryl, that as a Walt Disney World Resort Annual Passholder
your theme park reservation will account for you in EPCOT's capacity limits even before your arrival. It's one of the many perks of being a Passholder! However, since
date-based tickets no longer require a theme park reservation, any members of your party with date-based tickets will be unable to reserve their entry in advance. Although I'm sure this is not what you were hoping to hear, all hope is not lost for your group ring in 2025 together! As long as your park-hopping pals arrive early in the day, they should be able to enter before the park reaches capacity. I was hoping to share a suggested arrival time for you, Cheryl, based on years past, but as New Year's Eve 2024 will be the first in several years that all Guests are not required to reserve their entry in advance, I was unable to find comparable data.
It is important to remember that once a Guest has scanned into a theme park (with or without a theme park reservation), they are not guaranteed re-entry should they choose to leave the park. This means that if you enter EPCOT in the morning and hop over to Magic Kingdom Park aboard the monorail, you might not be able to re-enter EPCOT should it reach capacity during your absence. Helpfully, if a theme park does reach capacity, you should receive an alert in the My Disney Experience app.
I hope this information was helpful as you plan your holiday celebration, Cheryl. If you have any additional questions, feel free to
stop back by. I'm always happy to help!
Thinking Happy Thoughts,
Lizzie