Disney Park Announces New Year’s Eve Closure, 4-Day Shut Down Approved

At the moment, Disney is currently going through one of its busiest times of the year, with Christmas and New Year’s Eve pulling in tens of thousands of guests every day. Now, it is confirmed that one of the Disney parks will be shutting its gates entirely on New Year’s Eve, and that closure will begin multiple days prior.

New Year’s Eve is typically flooded at Walt Disney World Resort.

At the moment, Annual Passholders of the highest tier (Incredi-Pass) cannot even make a theme park reservation to Magic Kingdom or EPCOT on December 31st. Even December 30th at Magic Kingdom is unavailable as that evening also holds the same New Year’s fireworks display, so guests can enjoy both theme park offerings if they so choose.

While EPCOT and Magic Kingdom both put on one of the most incredible fireworks displays one can imagine, Disney Springs and some of the Disney resorts also celebrate the ringing in of the new year on a smaller scale.

So, to hear that a Disney park will not only be shutting its gates on New Year’s Eve to all guests but also, three days prior to then, starting on December 28th, is certainly outside of normal protocol.

Over the past two weeks, we have seen Disney confirm closure dates for Disney’s Blizzard Beach, which is the only water theme park that Disney currently has operational, as Typhoon Lagoon is closed down for the winter season. Blizzard Beach is perfect for the holidays, as the snowy atmosphere caters perfectly to the “chilly” season (well, chilly in many parts of the world, not so much Florida), making it a great spot to meet Santa Claus and with the new Frozen theming, it is beloved by younger guests who want to splash around the splash bad with a young Anna and Elsa.

When the weather dips in Orlando, we often see Disney make a decision regarding the operations of their water parks, and often, if it seems that it will be too cold for guests to want to visit, they will shut down the park entirely. While Disney does their best to give guests ample notice (typically a day or two) before changing their hours of operation, sometimes, those closures are announced last minute.

Upon checking the Disney World website, it seems that Disney will be closing Blizzard Beach for four days, beginning on December 28 and going until the 31, New Year’s Eve. While Blizzard Beach was not holding any late-night festivities, it certainly would have served as a fun spot to hang out at during the day, before going to one of the other parks that had the large fireworks celebrations in the evening.

Click Orlando shared that the year will be ending on a cold note in Orlando, “The coldest air of the season will arrive by Friday with highs in the upper 50s north of Orlando to low 60s south under mostly sunny skies! 2023 looks to end on a very cold note as a reinforcing cold front pushes through Saturday.

The coldest temperatures will be into Friday and Saturday night, with lows forecasted to range from the upper 30s across northern locations and in the low 40s southward. However, a brisk northwest breeze will make it feel even colder, with wind chill values in the 30s across much of the area.

Freezing temperatures remain out of the forecast at this time with this cold snap, but still can’t rule out the potential for isolated areas — normally colder spots could reach near the freezing mark into Saturday night.”

Knowing this, it makes sense why Disney has chosen to close down Blizzard Beach.

In case you didn’t know the backstory of Blizzard Beach, Disney Wiki explains it well: “Its theme is the “Disney legend” of a freak snowstorm in the area, leading to the construction of Florida’s first ski resort. Naturally, the snow didn’t last long, leaving behind a collection of waterlogged but snowless ski jumps and chairlifts. The failed resort was in the process of closing for good when an alligator was seen sliding down a flume and splashing into a pool of water, screaming, “Yahoo!” Thus the “ski resort” was reborn as a water park, with an alligator named Ice Gator as its mascot.”

At the moment, it seems that the rest of the week is wide open for Blizzard Beach guests to enjoy Summit Plummet, Runoff Rapids, Toboggan Racers, Tike’s Peak, Mount Gushmore, and more.

Would you visit Blizzard Beach on New Year’s Eve if it were open? 

This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.