July 4th weekend plan - thoughts?

[micheledb49]

We are planning a quick trip to Disney over July 4th weekend. It will be myself, my husband & our 4 year old boy. This will be our 6th trip to Disney as a family. We have family in Florida, so we go often for short trips because we tack them onto seeing family.

We are staying at Yacht Club because we love the pool, love the freedom of walking to DHS & Epcot.

Even though we've seen & done almost everything at every park, we've never gone on such a peak weekend. It's not my first choice but we are already in town for something else.


Here is what I am thinking:

Saturday, July 2
check in to Yacht club around 10:30
drop bags, get bus to MK
have 3 fastpasses lined up for 11:30 – 3:30
Hoping for Splash Mountain, BTMR, Pirates of Caribean
scheduled lunch at BOG at 12:20

Head back to hotel around 3:30
Pool/relax from 4:30 – 6:30

Epcot for dinner. Have 7:30 reservations at Coral Reef.
Will try for any fast pass available.

Sunday, July 3
EMH for DHS. Get there at 7:45. Sign up for JITA
Do movie ride right after JITA sign up.
Hope to have FP for Toy Story, Indiana Jones stunt spectacular & Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Lunch reservation at Mama Melrose at 11:55
Book 1 fast pass for MK since we used all 3 originals at DHS & we plan on doing MK at night.

leave park by 1:30.
Pool/relax 2:30 – 5:30

Head to MK at 6:30
The park is open until midnight for EMH. We plan to stay until at least 11. We'll only be able to make fastpass reservations as we use them, so I'm not sure how much we'll actually be able to do with such large crowds. Do any rides close during the 10pm – midnight EMH?
Quick service at the park for dinner.

Monday, July 4
breakfast at Cape May
pool/relax day, no parks due to crowds
dinner at Trattoria on the Board Walk

Tuesday, July 5
Epcot by 9.
Hoping to get fastpasses for Soarin, Frozen ride & Test Track.
Lunch at Epcot
Head back to hotel. Head to airport around 3.


What do you think of this plan for July 4th weekend?

 

[famy27]

We'll be there the same weekend, also at YC. Just booked yesterday. I do want to caution you that you won't be able to prebook those three FPs for EP. Even though the final tiers haven't been released, I'd be shocked if those aren't tier 1s. Due to crowds, I would not count on being about to get additional FPs for any of those either. You might be able to snag someone's cancellation, but there is no guarantee. I'd prebook FEA or Soarin' and ride the other ones at RD. I'd normally recommend single-rider for TT, but you're in the same boat as we are with a small child. My DD turns 4 a few weeks before our trip, so we are out of luck with that.

 

[maxiesmom]

Getting in to the Magic Kingdom at 6:30 on the 3rd could be a little tricky. The crowds will be enormous by then. You will be looking at very long waits for both rides and food. I'd eat at your hotel, and then head over, unless you can make it over to the Magic Kingdom much earlier.

If you can, hit Epcot for the 4th. The park is so large it doesn't feel that crowded, and the fireworks are phenomenal!!!!!

 

[micheledb49]

Thank you for your replies! Famy27, I wasn't even thinking about tiers! A very good point! I am reworking our parks/days based on both of your feedback! Thanks!

 

[iona]

They normally preview the MK July 4th fireworks on the 3rd which is why it'll be so busy.

Do you have annual passes? If so I'd book fastpasses for Epcot on the 4th too. It's so close to the resort that you could definitely pop in just for those rides.

 

[Skywise]

How do the July 4 crowds compare to the NYE crowds? About the same?

 

[micheledb49]

Thanks Iona! We do not have AP but I think we are going to go ahead and buy an extra day with the PH for July 4 too so we can rearrange some of our days/times.

Updated schedule is now looking like:

Saturday, July 2nd
arrive Yacht around 11.
MK 4-10 (or later if they change closing time)

Sunday, July 3rd
Epcot RD
Stay until lunch.
Pool rest of day.
Return Epcot for dinner

Monday, July 4th
DHS Hollywood & Vine 8am
morning at DHS.
Pool/rest
Dinner at Boardwalk.
If possible, pop into Epcot for late night if hours are extended.

Tuesday, July 5th
BOG 8:15am MK
MK until 12:30
Return to hotel by 1:30 for 3:00 departure

Does anyone know when they will announce extended hours for July 4 weekend?

 

[maxiesmom]

I wouldn't do Epcot on both the 3rd and 4th. The Magic Kingdom fireworks are spectacular! If you don't want to go into the park you can view them from the TTC.

 

[ariel3]

We are planning on spending the day at Epcot on 7/3/16. Will it be so busy that we have difficulty getting from Epcot to the TTC in order to watch the fireworks at MK? If so, what time should we leave Epcot? And will the monorail be running? Thanks.

 

[TexasPrincess1]

Thanks Iona! We do not have AP but I think we are going to go ahead and buy an extra day with the PH for July 4 too so we can rearrange some of our days/times.

Updated schedule is now looking like:

Saturday, July 2nd
arrive Yacht around 11.
MK 4-10 (or later if they change closing time)

Sunday, July 3rd
Epcot RD
Stay until lunch.
Pool rest of day.
Return Epcot for dinner

Monday, July 4th
DHS Hollywood & Vine 8am
morning at DHS.
Pool/rest
Dinner at Boardwalk.
If possible, pop into Epcot for late night if hours are extended.

Tuesday, July 5th
BOG 8:15am MK
MK until 12:30
Return to hotel by 1:30 for 3:00 departure

Does anyone know when they will announce extended hours for July 4 weekend?

Hi! We have a reservation for 8am at Hollywood and Vine, too!
FYI, they probably will do something special for July 4th at DHS in the evening if they follow what they did last year.

 

[Shellyb84]

We'll be there over the 4th but at BC! We went the same time last year. EMH for MK on the 3rd could likely change. They changed shortly before our trip and it ended up not closing until 2 or 3am. After the pool and dinner, we went to MK. It was crowded but they were letting people in the side entrances. None of the attractions were closed to my knowledge. We stayed after the fireworks until around 1:30am. DD fell asleep in the stroller. We mostly wandered around and ate Dole Whips at 1am On the 4th, we went to HS, which we will not do again! It was so crowded and so hot! We ended up skipping our last FP+ and returning to the resort pretty soon after lunch. We had dinner at Le Cellier and watched Illuminations, it was amazing! It was great to be able to leave through IG after the show. This year, we plan on dinner at the Poly and then heading to MK on the 3rd, and we plan on AK on the 4th and Illuminations again.

 

[Shellyb84]

We are planning on spending the day at Epcot on 7/3/16. Will it be so busy that we have difficulty getting from Epcot to the TTC in order to watch the fireworks at MK? If so, what time should we leave Epcot? And will the monorail be running? Thanks.

I would leave Epcot by 7-7:30. It took a long time to get into MK and find a spot to watch Wishes.

 

[TexasPrincess1]

Anyone know what it is like to be at Disney when they reach capacity? How impossible is it to do the rides?

 

[Skywise]

Anyone know how busy DHS is on the 3rd? I'm really not planning on riding any rides but my family would like to see Fantasmic so the working plan is to eat at Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk at 6 then take the boat over to DHS to see Fantasmic at 9.

Even with a heavy crowd that should be doable... right?
(The real trick will be getting to the Boardwalk from the Polynesian as that will probably be bus to DHS)

 

[TexasPrincess1]

Hi,
I am writing to share my plan.
We are planning on going to Magic Kingdom on July 3rd to see the Fourth of July Fireworks. I figure it will be less crowded than July 4th. Then, on July 4th, we are going to Hollywood Studios. I reserved the Fantasmic package to help cut down on the wait time. According to Undercover Tourist, DHS is supposed to be the least busy of the 4 parks on July 4th. There is also rumored to be some special July 4th things in the evening at DHS.

https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/july-2016/#calendar