London NYE advice

[Bugsy73]

Hi, I had the brilliant idea of spending new years eve down in London with dh and 3 dc. Have left it a bit late so looking at hotels yesterday there isn't much room at the inn. Did find a travel lodge, one in Docklands and one near Wembley.
Got quite excited about it yesterday but have woken up this morning feeling that it might not be such a great plan.
My youngest dc is 10 and I'm not too sure she would enjoy wandering the streets of London at midnight. Obviously it would be very busy and may be difficult to navigate our way back to the hotel, also if the weather is awful it wouldn't be much fun.
May scale it back to a day trip? For those of you who have done a London new year, what are your thoughts? Are there things going on during the day? Is Winter Wonderland worth a trip? Is an overnight stay a good idea?? We'd be coming down from Yorkshire.
Thanks.

Winter wonderland is great but probably all the excitement pre Christmas

I've always considered NYE in London, but unless it's a Saturday I'm at work till 5 and I think it's best done with a hotel with an amazing view of it all.
The sky will be filled with light so I'm sure wherever you are it will be an experience

We were in London a few years ago on NYE to see a West End matinee show. Even during the afternoon, the crowds were huge and by the time we had left the theatre at around 4pm it was even worse. To make matters worse a lot of roads and bridges had already been closed off, so walking back to the ststion or taking a cab wasn't an option. We had no choice but to take the tube, which was completely rammed and the tube trains themselves were full to bursting.
I would give it a miss tbh. Not been to Winter Wonderland so can't comment on that.

If you are in a venue with limited/fixed numbers then its ok.

But hanging round outside all night is really grim. You are kettled in for hours, there is nowhere to go to the loo (or they are beyond rank portaloos) and you are basically standing in a heaving crowd for the few mins of fireworks. Then the crush to leave.

Add in 3 young children and the stress of losing them in the crowd every few minutes would be intolerable.

Don't do it OP. Or at least don't do it on Embankment, which is what I presume you meant if you are travelling all the way from Yorkshire for the experience.

(in fact its now ticketed so you might not even be able to get there)

Thanks. I think you're probably right about staying over, unless we could afford a really fabulous hotel, which we can't . Do you think a day trip would be a good idea? I love London and haven't been for over a year...

You need tickets for the fireworks and would have to wait for hours.
Winter wonderland operates until 6 Jan.

You could travel down on New Year's Day. There is a big parade with American Marching bands and lots of other floats. lights and things to do in Covent Garden and the South Bank.

Ok, I've decided against an overnight stay, still keen to come down for the day though. Is there anything special going on for kids during the day on new years eve? Or just the usual London stuff? Can anyone recommend anything?

Just be aware of the train works over the festive period before you book anything. They can be significantly disruptive.

Why subject yourself to that on New Year's Eve? It will be manic, the weather might be awful, there are crowds everywhere, road closures, stations are heaving, everyone is in a rush or drunk! You'll just start to see those in the nice warm pubs at the start of their evening as you begin the long tiring cold schlep back home. Don't do it!!

Do an overnight stay in the run up to xmas instead. See the lights at Kew Gardens, the shop fronts all dressed up, a family show at the royal Albert hall.

NYE and the fireworks would be miserable for kids and, as PP said, it's ticketed now so you might not get tickets.

The New Year's Day Parade is great for kids though.

Winter Wonderland is also good fun but I would book to do one of the activities/events eg ice skating/circus/ice sculptures If you are going on NYD. Before Christmas, just doing the Christmassy free stuff/non bookable stuff is great (wandering the Christmas market, hot chocolate and mulled wine in a cafe, the fairground stalls) but as the market is a big part of that, it might feel a bit lame after Christmas. Still definitely worth doing after Christmas though.

Ice Skating anywhere is always fun, especially after dark for the lights/decorations (eg Tower of London/Somerset House).

If you do decide to stay, pantomimes still run after Christmas. The Hackney Empire one is our favourite.

@Bugsy73 see my reply above, I wouldn't recommend a day trip on NYE.

All points taken on board, I've booked a pantomime locally instead . We can't fit a pre Christmas trip in so will plan better for nest year! Thanks all.

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