4th of July Crowds, how big were they?

[Mickey_Maniac]

We are thinking about going down for the 4th of July holiday next year. Anyone recently back, can you tell me how big the crowds were yesterday and also how they are this week?

 

[DisneyPoly]

Aloha!

We're at WDW now and did not think the crowds were bad yesterday. We've been here a few times on the 4th and I never think it's bad.

This is the first time we've attempted to visit a park on the 4th and chose EPCOT. It was not overly crowded. I did see an increase in the size from the previous day, but not the mob scene that I had anticipated.

I did appear that everyone was heading to the MK. And, if I heard correctly on the local news last evening, all active military were offered free admission yesterday.

Hope that helps! Go for it!!!!!

 

[CarolA]

Rumor has it MK closed at 10:30 to all but resort guests so I would rank that as VERY crowded.

AK was not crowded by comparison. At noon, the wait for Safari was 10 minutes or a 30 minute wait for fast pass, at one the fast pass time for the Rapids ride was 1 hour.

I went to MGM last night and it was PACKED. However, I got there around 7 and was able to walk into Indiana Jones and had a 5 minute wait for Star Tours. The Firework viewing was packed however.

I then hoofed it from MGM to Epcot. Epcot was fairly crowded, but I found a spot to watch Illuminations and the 4th fireworks from where I had a pretty good view.

Don't know if that helps, but....

 

[gshoemate]

We went to MK just for the fireworks. We arrived around 7:00. We parked at Epcot and took the tram over, good thing because we heard that MK closed their parking lot. We thought it was very crowded but we have never been their on the 4th before. The seats that we usually watch the fireworks at were already taken so we headed down to the rose garden. By time the fireworks started there was no walking room down there, everyone was sitting everywhere. After the fireworks we took a few minutes to go to the playground at decided to leave at 9:45. We didn't get to Epcot until a little after 11:00. We were surprised that there was such a crowd leaving that early. Next year, we might try Epcot.

 

[wdwguide]

I got to WDW at about 12:45 yesterday - all parks were still open at the time. We got to park in Amaze row 33, believe it or not - that's RIGHT in front of Epcot's main entrance. Waits were very short compared to past years (60 minutes for Test Track, FastPasses still available shortly after we got there), and we didn't have any problems hopping between Epcot and the Disney-MGM Studios to see both fireworks (which were brilliant as usual, but there was a LOT of fallout this time).

 

[mykidsmom]

for anyone else back from the 4th!

 

[Mickey_Maniac]

Thanks for all the feedback. What is everyone's opinion of which park has the best fireworks on the fourth?

 

[wdwguide]

The best overall show in my opinion is Sorcery in the Sky. My vote for the best "July 4 encore" goes to Epcot.

 

[Jamieb]

We saw Illuminations the night of the 3rd, and spent most of the 4th in Epcot as well. Then we headed over to MGM for Sorcery in the Sky and liked it alot as well. It was neat to have fireworks going of to the sound of movie tunes. We decided to see the firworks at MGM since they only happen a twice a year from what a CM said at MGM.

We thought about going back to catch Illuminations as well but decided to get out of the parks right after the fireworks ended at MGM and were surprised we were able to get out as quick as we did.

You really can't go wrong, all three parks with fireworks will have great shows. We just didn't want to deal the the larger crowds at the MK so we planned on Epcot for most of the day. It was a good decision as the lines were not very long for it being the 4th of July.

Just make sure if you want to sit down for a nice dinner in the park on the 4th, to plan ahead and get a PS. While we waited for our seat at San Angel Inn we saw so many people turned away as they were not able to accomidate any walk-ups. When we passed by at lunch we overheard that they were booked solid all day long.

 

[ToriLammy]

We did Epcot on the 4th, got there early and it was already open at 8:30AM. Walked right on Spaceship Earth, did Test Track right away (they let us ride twice because of my daughter's wheelchair--which meant the line was not that long). The crowd wasn't really that large until around 11am. We left around 3pm and at 8PM went to our PS at Ohana. Couldn't be seated (folks who got there earlier were eating very, very slowly) so we watched the MK fireworks from the beach. They were excellent (made my SIL whose DH is currently in Iraq cry with their salute to the Armed Forces).

 

[Kteacher]

we just returned last night. The crowds were very manageable the whole week. we went to AK during the day on the 4th, and the most we waited in line weas 5 minutes. we went to Epcot the evening of the 4th, and had a great dinner at Rose and Crown (had made PS for this ) All in all the crowds were no where near what I was expecting. we were in Epcot on 7/6, and the park was practically empty! I wouldn't hesitate going for the 4th- have fun planning!!!

 

[crazelion]

The MK was very busy on July 4th but you can ride all the rides. This fool made a mistake got it's the Small World thinking it was only a 10 minute ride. It was the slowest ride and history and miss the fireworks. We back on July 5 and seen the fireworks and someone forget tell me they will set off from the back of the Castle. I was not impress with the fireworks. I guess I spoil by our fireworks show for Riverbend Festival that lights up the bridge and have really awesome fireworks show. MGM Studios on July 5th was not busy was finish with the park by 5:00 p.m. To me that park was not the great. I like the shows in all but it's not that much to ride.

I would I go back for July 4. Yes I will.

 

[Praise2Him]

Even though we stayed at FW Campground, we checked into the CR on July 3 for 1 night, so on the 4th we stayed at the pool until about 1:00. (BTW, it was very crowded, and they were checking resort ID's!) We went to MGM at about 3:00 and it wasn't bad at all - 35 min. for RNR, 30 min. for TOT and 5 min. for Star Tours. We stayed for the fireworks and it was wonderful! Then we walked quickly to EPCOT for Illuminations. There was already a huge crowd when we got there at 9:30. We watched from Canada - not the best location, but okay. Illuminations is my favorite fireworks show, and the extra fireworks afterward were THE BEST I've ever seen!!! Totally worth it! Then we walked slowly (huge crowd) to our car that we'd previously parked at EPCOT and drove to the MK (yes, we're crazy! LOL) We got there at 11:00 and lots of people were leaving. Our DS's rode Buzz 4 times in a row. DH, DD & I rode Splash Mtn. and BTM. Then at midnight they had Spectro and we watched it. We wanted to get an ice cream and wait for the Kiss Goodnight (everyone but me had seen it before and I wanted to), but the ice cream shop and most of the other food places closed immediately. We did get a Coke from the popcorn vendor. They finally did the Kiss at 1:00 am and then we left. The guy at the back of the tram was giving us all sorts of info on the ride to the parking lot, so I asked him if they had closed the MK that day. He said that, Yes, they had closed around 3:00 and re-opened around 7:00. If you go next year my advice would be to avoid the MK that day and go to MGM or EPCOT!