New Year’s Eve is board game night! WOOHOO! Par-tay!
This year, it’s going to be Sorry! or dominoes. That’s right. Drool. I know you’re jealous.
I don’t usually get a New Year’s kiss, though. I usually get a New Year’s boink.
Sort of in the middle - we usually go for a nice (early) dinner out, then watch movies at home. If we’re really ambitious this year, it may be dinner **and **a movie out.
We’re party poopers. My husband is an OTR truck driver, and he refuses to risk possibily losing his life (or hurting/killing someone else), or losing his drivers license (therefore, his job) by driving after he’s had ANY amount of alcohol.
We just stay at home, have a few drinks, make some appetizers and enjoy the evening together!
I’ve never gone out for New Year’s Eve. I don’t even drink or party at any time of year. I’m content to just stay home and watch the ball drop on TV in Times Square. Once the confetti has settled and the action shifts back to whatever flavor-of-the-month band happens to be booked for the event I shut the TV off and go to bed. I wake up mid-morning well-rested and, more importantly, sober.
I can’t remember the last time I “rang in the New Year” - I’m usually asleep by 10. Best NYE was eons ago when a bunch of friends got together to play games and hang out. We laughed ourselves silly that year, and almost missed the dropping of the ball because we were carrying on.
This NYE, at least in the afternoon, we’re going to pick up our new (to us) cat. So we’ll probably spend most of the evening getting her acclimated to our house and our dog. And we’ll likely go to bed early.
Party on!
I’ll make a nice standing rib roast and all the goodies that go with it. My guy friend and I will feast, drink and watch the ball drop at home, where it’s safe. On New Years Day we’ll be partaking of that local area ritual of the Polar Bear swim in the icy waters of Lake George.
Wow, I expected a much more half and half split in this thread.
Ok, for New Year’s 2000 I went to New Orleans with a few buddies. It was a great time. Since then every year all of my friends and others get together at another friends house (always the same friend, she {well her parents} has a VERY nice house) we get a cylinder of beer or 2 (cylinder being half a keg), have it catered, have it outdoors actually (yes in Canada, Toronto to be specific) have a roaring fire going in her outdoor fireplace, rent a couple heaters, dress up and drink. The bars are no fun, done that before, its much better to just have a party with friends. It is a party though.
As stated in another thread…I will be home in my pajamas watching videos. 
I used to be a HUGE partier. Some of my fondest New Years memories are NYE 1999 (well, '98 I guess, it turned into '99), in some huge flashy bar in Portland, OR, and at midnight they played Prince’s “1999” of course and the whole place just went crazy. Also, 2000, when we weren’t quite sure if the world was going to implode or not, so we all donned crazy costumes (I was a “post-apocolyptic slut”, with ripped stockings, black bodice, blond wig, gas mask and pellet gun) and whooped it up until…well, I don’t think we actually ever did to go bed that night/day.
However, now I’m a cranky old lady and I’m lucky if I even stay awake until midnight. This year however, Mr. Bunny and myself are going to make a real effort to get downtown and check out the fireworks, have a martini or two in the Roxy and take a cab home.
Usually say home.
1999 I had just bought my house (closed Dec 28, 1998). No furnature yet, but I did have a TV in the house. I decided to establish residency and stayed overnight in a sleeping bag in the living room. (watched Star Wars ANH)
2001 was the geekiest Christmas ever. I watched “2001” - but here is the geeky part. I timed it so the bone turned into the space station at midnight 
Brian
I hate the idea of wasting my time waiting 20 minutes for a drink at the bar, so I go to whichever friend is throwing a house party. Although last year I spent New Year’s Eve at my fiance’s house as he had it all to himself.
I forgot one of the most important traditions in our house on New Years Eve. The Three Stooges marathon. 
The past 6 years I have had a tradition of going up to my neighbors cabin. Middle of nowhere helps when wanting to avoid drunk drivers. I then, can get drunk off my ass and not worry. Well. I do worry, but it’s only about my bowels the next day. There is no indoor plumbing afterall. Just an outhouse. And it’s northern Minnesota.
We’ve gone out twice for New Years in 22 years. Generally we’ll watch the ball drop, then go upstairs and start the year with a bang.
New Year’s is for my SO and I. We stay home, play games and drink some wine like other Dopers…but we have our own custom of ringing in the New Year. We’ve done it every year for several years now. It…reaffirms our closeness.
Guess I’m a party pooper kinda. See, my thing is to feed a bunch of folks on New Year’s Day, so NYE is spent cooking. ACBG and I will have a couple of friends over at my house. There’ll be munchies and stuff. We’ll all hang out around the kitchen so they can watch me wash and cook collard greens. We’ll toast the new year and then our friends will leave unless they’ve had too much to drink then they’ll stay because I don’t let anybody drive drunk. Heck, they’ll be there at four for dinner on New Year’s Day so they might as well stay. NYD there’ll be twelve people coming over for dinner. I’ve invited people to come at two p.m. for appetizers and drinks. Dinner is at four and will consist of grilled pork chops (usually it’s fried chicken but I thought I’d mix it up a bit this year), black eyed peas, collard greens, rice, potato salad, cornbread and peach cobbler. Most everybody has Monday off this year so I imagine some people will hang around a while that night to have a few drinks and visit. Again, if anybody has too much to drink they’ll stay the night. That’s the number one rule for any gathering at the swampcave. You drink too much, you stay and sleep it off.
Sometimes we go out, sometimes we stay home. This time we’re going to Paris for New Year’s, so I guess this counts as a “going out” year.
We generally have a celebratory dinner at the grandparents’ and hit the bed sometime soon after the ball drops in New York (we’re in California.) The real celebration is watching the Rose Bowl Parade the next morning and then having a nice brunch.
I am very much a party pooper.
The past few years, we’ve gone over to my husband’s best friend’s house for his & his wife’s NYE party. This year, I don’t really want to go. I’m only going to know half the people there, and will want to leave pretty much right after midnight. The group of friends who’re invited aren’t really a group of friends that I know very well, or that I’m very comfortable with. In contrast, my husband will probably want to spend the night, since it’s his best friend, and since he can function in just about any social circle.
At this point, it’s looking like he might go and I might stay home (or hang out with some local friends). I kind of wish this wasn’t how it was going to end up. . .but NYE isn’t that big of a deal, and I’d rather he get to hang with his friends and I get to veg than any of the other options.
I forgot to mention that January 2nd is ACBG’s birthday, so the New Year’s day dinner is also his bday bash. Since we’re both off on the second this year it has been decided that that day is slug day. I’ll take him out to lunch (provided we can be bothered to actually get dressed) and I’ll make him waffles and bacon for breakfast since that’s his favorite breakfast. We’re both the don’t go all out types for occasions, prefering to save up our money to do stuff like take a trip together. There’s talk of another cruise this fall. We like being the big spenders on vacation, so neither one of us wants the other to spend money on presents and stuff.
We’re big time party poopers we are!