I HATE New Years Eve, and always have done.
I went through a phase in my teenage years celebrating in some sort of way but it always ended in disaster, and so just celebrate with my family at home now.
Recently I’ve noticed that when I do talk to people about what they will be doing they admit they hate it too because its over rated, expensive and an anticlimax.
So what will you be doing? Do you really enjoy it?
Amateur night.
Sure I do – it’s my birthday! 
I will be going to a party at the house of some friends (a married couple). If that one winds up on the early side, I will be going to a second party at the house of a different set of friends (another married couple). This has been the typical way to spend New Year’s for the past few years; before that, I’ve gone to First Night (which, unfortunately, isn’t happening this year).
I like ringing in the New Year in a low-key way with a bunch of friends, around a table, with something yummy and maybe a champagne toast at midnight. I would probably hate the formulaic “let’s blow too much money to hang out in a bar/restaurant with a bunch of drunk people,” so I’ve never done it.
How can you hate New Year’s Eve? It’s just another day and is entirely incumbent on how YOU spend it. Myself, I have long since laid down the law that New Year’s Eve is just a night for me and my SO. No parties, no visiting, no one coming over, no obligations, nothing. Just him and I, watching the ball drop at midnight.
I don’t like the preplanned parties at bars and the like; too overcrowded, expensive, and annoying. The best one I’ve had was ringing in the year 2000. I have a brother-in-law who at the time had an artist’s display space in a building in Chicago, and most of the artists were throwing parties in their spaces. At the stroke of midnight we kind of looked around to confirm that the local electric company had become Y2K compliant (they did, which was not entirely expected), but I was on a fire escape, drinking champagne from a plastic cup and singing along with the Beatles’ “Revolution” (blasting out of an adjacent artist loft) to the cops in riot gear in the street below.
I’m content to have little celebrations with friends at home, or to go to a local bar, etc.
If I felt obligated to go to some lame party with a bunch of people getting stupid drunk, I’d probably hate it. But we usually just have some friends over for board games, and then at midnight we all set off party poppers, maybe have a toast of champagne if we’re feeling ritzy that year, and then go back to board gaming. I look forward to it.
This is what we used to do, too - party hopping at our friends’ houses. I prefer just hanging out at one person’s house starting around 9 or 10 p.m., then ringing in the New Year with a small circle of friends and going home to bed.
Since our son was born, we don’t go out for New Year’s. I suppose we could. Our daycare offers a sleepover for kids anywhere from 6 months and older - you can just drop them off New Year’s Eve and pick them up the next day. But it’s not really worth it anymore. I’d rather clink a glass of wine in front of the TV with my husband and conk out. Unfortunately, last year all I did was roll over to my husband, murmured, “Happy New Year,” then when he grunted, got out of bed to watch the fireworks on TV. Five minutes later, I was back in bed.
This year hopefully we’ll be awake. If not, no big deal.
I will say that I don’t really like New Year’s resolutions. I can understand why people make them - the start of a new year is symbolic and offers the appearance of a clean slate. However, I prefer making them on my birthday or just as “resolutions” like lifestyle changes become necessary. For example, I don’t want to wait to lose weight - why wait until New Year’s when I can start right now? I don’t want to sit in a disorganized house until I’m “allowed” by my resolution to start getting myself together at 12:01 a.m. New Year’s day.
I love new years eve. That and Halloween are my favorite nights of the year.
I don’t drink alcohol, so it doesn’t mean the same thing to me that it means to a lot of folks, but I actually do enjoy it as a time for looking back on the year that has passed and spending time with the family. Oh, and any excuse for time off work is all right with me. 
Those are my two favorite holidays, too! I’ve had some great New Years, including dancing in the streets of Vienna and partying on multiple boats in Annapolis harbor, and I’ve had some low key, but still great ones hanging out with friends or just with my family. I honestly don’t get people feeling “compelled” to celebrate in a way they hate…why not celebrate in whatevery style you want, and enjoy yourself? This year we’ll be going to an awesome tiki bar, and I can’t wait.
I like New Year’s Eve and Day. I don’t go out, but I like the little rituals of getting some treats to eat, and spending the evening getting happily baked, watching the year roll over, and all the fireworks. It’s hard not to like a holiday that has fireworks! You have to decide for yourself whether and how to celebrate any holiday: with family, with friends, alone…at a club, a party, at home, whatever you find pleasant. It’s up to me to make my holiday different from other days.
I believe that every day is pretty much what we make of it. Holidays are society’s reminder to each of us that we should take the time and make the effort to create a few days that are extra-special every now and then.
I usually have a good time on New Years’ Eve. If I’m not traveling (last year, I was in London, the year before in Chiang Mai, Thailand), I typically go to a party with friends. This year should be the most exciting yet–I have a c-section scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. My baby will have the same birthday as twickster!
Anaamika is right. The holiday is what you make of it. No one says you have to go out to a bar and get sloppy.
I loved it when I was younger and there was always a big concert to go to and party with loads of friends. Now it’s just another night and a reason to have a day off but that’s all. Neither of us wants to drive with all of those drunks on the road.
It’s just another day to me.
Congratulations! And welcome to the new arrival.
QFT. This, along with Paddy’s Day are the two big holidays where normal people attempt to consume a professionals ration of intoxicants, usually to poor results.
New Years Ever is my parents anniversary, so I don’t have to hang out with them then like I do for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So NYE is the time I get to catch up with my friends.
Two of my friends have been hosting a NYE party at their place for a while now, maybe 10 years. But they up and moved to California. So this year I offered to host their party (with their friends!) at my place and we’ll be hooking up with the two - and their new baby - via Skype Video Call. I think it’ll be way cool!
Like some of the others, we just play games and chit-chat. Some people get drunk, some don’t. It’s great to catch up with everyone and we have a lot of fun.
Previous to that, I would work for my cousin’s catering company on NYE and work the kitchen for swanky expensive parties. That was also fun, as I spent the holiday with my work friends and got a nice champagne toast out of it.
Yes! I stay up till just before midnight playing computer games. Then I turn on the TV to watch the ball drop, then have some champagne. What’s not to like about that?
I learned long ago not to try to do anything big for New Years Eve. This year my man and I will be snuggled in bed watching Burn Notice and Coupling which should be much more fun than standing around in Times Square or paying $50 to go someplace that would be free the other 364 days per year.