Welcome to planDisney, Darlene! A trip to Walt Disney World over the New Year holiday is a magical idea, and I'm happy to help you plan to ensure that you get to see and do exactly what your heart desires to ring in the new year in style.
Here's the simple version: if you have a date-based ticket with the
Park Hopper option, you do not need to make a
park reservation at all. You'll just show up at the park you want to start in, and you're good to enter. You can hop between parks without reservations during the day, as long as the park you're hopping to hasn't hit capacity. Date-based tickets are the most common ticket type you buy on the Walt Disney World website, so this is likely the type of ticket you have if you bought it directly from Disney.
If you're using a type of admission that does require a reservation, like an
Annual Pass or certain
military tickets, then you'll make one reservation for the first park you want to visit, and after you've entered that park, you can hop to another park when you're ready. You don't need to make a second reservation for the park you're hopping to.
Now, a very important New Year's Eve heads-up: Park Hopping on December 31 can be tricky, especially between
EPCOT and
Magic Kingdom. Both parks are wildly popular that day and can reach capacity by the afternoon, which means hopping can be temporarily paused, and you may not be allowed to enter your preferred second park until capacity reopens, and sometimes it won't reopen at all. Because of that, my honest recommendation is to pick one park and stick with it for the day. If Magic Kingdom is your must-do for midnight, consider starting there. If you love EPCOT's global food, dance parties, and wide viewing areas for fireworks, start at EPCOT and stay put.
If you're determined to try hopping, go earlier in the afternoon rather than later, keep an eye on notifications in
My Disney Experience, and have a backup plan you'll be happy with if hopping is paused. But to minimize stress on the busiest night of the year, choosing one park for the night is the safest play!
Have a magical day, Darlene!
Jessica