New Year’s Eve at the Edison in Disney Springs

A look at the celebration for New Year’s Eve at the Edison back in 2023:

I have always avoided Disney World around Christmas and New Year’s. I’d heard the stories about how crowded the parks are, how long the lines can get. But two years ago I was heading down for marathon weekend, and given my vacation time and flight prices, it actually made sense to arrive on New Year’s Eve.

I braced myself. I could handle it. Worst case scenario, I would hang out in my room at Animal Kingdom Lodge and watch the animals from my balcony. That sounds like a pretty good day to me!

I also knew I would not be visiting Magic Kingdom or Epcot for New Year’s Eve. The fireworks sound awesome, but the crowds do not. Instead I looked from alternatives for something fun to do that night at Disney, and came across New Year’s Eve at the Edison in Disney Springs.

This looked exactly like my type of event, and the tickets weren’t too bad at all. I rang in 2023 in style!

It seems that the Edison did not do their New Year’s Eve event the past 2 years, so I was at the last one they’ve held. I really hope they bring it back in the future (and given the comments on their social media, I’m not the only one). If it does return, this post will give a peek at what to expect on New Year’s Eve at the Edison. And if it doesn’t, we can put this down as a historical post of something really cool which was once at Disney.

Overview of New Year’s Eve at the Edison

The Edison advertised their New Year’s Eve event as an “extravanganza” which included entertainment, food, drink, and of course a midnight toast. It began at 8:30pm and went until after midnight.

If you’ve ever been to the Edison, they are very well themed to host a 1920s style New Year’s Eve party. The steampunk vibe and entertainment is perfect. 

They had two ticket options: general admission (which was $60 per person the year we attended), and guaranteed seating (which I believe was around $150 per person). Our general admission tickets included all of the entertainment and food, plus a champagne toast at midnight. Drinks were an additional fee. The more expensive guaranteed seating tickets included drinks (and a table for your party).

Atmosphere

I love a good theme, and the Edison definitely did a great job with this. The building itself is beautiful. The inside is 2 stories with a balcony, and the steampunk themeing already lends itself well to the 1920s. 

There was a dance floor and stage, and from the second floor you can look down onto the entertainment from the balcony. Various food stations were located all around the venue, and there were also several bars to grab some of the specialty cocktails.

If you needed some air, they had the back patio open with a handful of seats facing the water.

All of the people who worked there were dressed in 1920s style costumes. I would also say the majority of attendees dressed in time period appropriate outfits too! For those who didn’t, there were various accessories and items available right when you walked in the door. This included hats, crowns, necklaces, noisemakers, etc.

Entertainment

New Year’s Eve at the Edison had plenty going on throughout the night. The main area was the dance floor and stage, but there were other things interspersed throughout the venue as well.

Stilt walkers made their way through the crowds, interacting and taking photos. There was also a photobooth section near the back. It was nice that it was tucked out of the way! They had a fun backdrop set up, and different props you can use. Plus the background of the Edison itself really lends itself well to photos.

In the dance floor area there was always music playing. They switched between live performers and a DJ. The live performers were really excellent! They had a band and some cabaret singers that did jazz and swing tunes. Lots of people were dancing – there were some that clearly had some swing dancing experience!

At one point they also had an aerialist perform, using a hoop hanging from the ceiling. Having the band, DJ, stilt walkers, and an aerialist really made this event stand out in the way of entertainment.

When it was time to countdown to New Year most people were on the dance floor, and they gave out champagne. When it hit midnight there was lots of confetti!

Food

The event advertised that it would include food stations and passed appetizers. I love appetizers and can definitely make a meal out of them, so I figured that would be dinner. I’d eaten at the Edison once before and they had good food (and great appetizers!).

The food that was included was actually much fancier and more hearty than I expected! There were plenty of appetizers, including a bacon station featuring their famous clothesline candied bacon.

But some of the food stations really had a full meal, including sliders, mac and cheese, and prime rib. There were dessert stations as well.

The only tricky part was that since we had the general admission tickets (which were standing room only), it was tough to find a place to eat. There were quite a few people who were part of general admission. While they had set up some standing tables, there was nowhere near enough. 

That meant that people were vying for tables or trying to make space where there really wasn’t room. Tables that were set up for other things were commandeered by those trying to eat. I suppose if they had done all finger foods you could eat without a table or surface, but I don’t know how they expected people to do prime rib without a table!

Drinks

The more expensive tickets included drinks, but our general admission only included the food and a glass of champagne at midnight. You could absolutely purchase specialty cocktails, beers, and other drinks at a cash bar though!

All the cocktails were $19 each (which is pretty pricey when you’ve already paid to get into the event, but we did get a lot of food and entertainment). There was one specialty “high roller” cocktail that was $45, but I can assure you I did not try that one.

I was impressed with how unique the cocktails were. They had some fun twists on classics – a highlight for me was the Bananas Foster Old Fashioned!

I’m doing my best to identify the drinks we had given my photos and the menu. This one was the “New Year, Same Me”:

Of the following two, I’m pretty positive one of them was “Keep Bramblin’ On” and the other was “The Dark Side of Winter.” I believe the one on the right is the Bramblin’.

At one point there was also someone walking around in character selling shots (one was limoncello and I don’t remember what the other one was). They came in these cute little bottles and I just loved how themed everything was!

Final thoughts on New Year’s Eve at the Edison

Overall this was really a fantastic event and an excellent way to ring in the New Year. It’s disappointing to hear they haven’t done it the past two years. Although I may not ever find myself back in Disney World for New Year’s Eve, I think many others would enjoy it so I hope they bring it back.

It was nice to have an adults-only option in Disney for the celebration, and something outside of the parks. People were very into the theme. This sort of event has been popular at Disney recently – just look at the success of Jollywood Nights (despite a shaky start). 

Future readers – if you stumble upon this post because New Year’s Eve at the Edison has returned and you’re doing research, I hope this helps with what to expect!