4th of July-- HH or BWV?

[BWVDenise]

We are trying to start planning for next year since our 11 month window is coming up. I haven't been to WDW over the 4th of July and our first trip to HH is coming up (but not over the 4th this year).
For those who have been to either (WDW or HH) during that holiday, how was it? I'm wondering how crowded it is, how festive, etc.
Looking forward to hearing your experiences!

 

[DownNeckBoy]

My understanding from reading the boards is the the 4th of July @ MK is not for the faint of heart. That is one reason why I decided last year to travel down to HH from 7-1 to 7-4 and follow that with a trip down to WDW from 7-5 to 7-12.

I'll let you know how it works out for us!

 

[DeeP]

We have gone to WDW over the 4th of July and it is very, very crowded especially the MK but they have a fireworks display that is incredible! The only day that it is really packed due to a lot of locals coming is the 4th, you can avoid the massive crowds by staying out of MK that day and you can get a nice view of the fireworks from the beach at GF, however the fireworks view is still better from within the park. Good luck with your decesion.

 

[Candace]

I have been to WDW twice for July 4th. I will never, repeat never do the MK again on 7/4. Last year we were at Epcot and it was ok. Crowded, but doable. I expected there to be a special Illuminations, however, to acknowledge the holiday (since it was the actual "4th" the day and night we were there), but it was the usual, nothing different. We positioned ourselves near the International Gateway, and as soon as Illuminations was over, we headed for the bridge back to BWV. In 1989, it took us til 2:30 in the morning just to get out of the parking lot at MK. Never again!

 

[disneydawn6]

Several years ago (10 ?) we were there on the 4th of July. We new it would be crowded and only wanted to see the fireworks so spent the day at a water park and then went to MK just before the the fireworks (9?). We actually stayed outside the park and viewed them from just outside.. they were also having duplicate ones over Bay lake at the same time so saw those too. We then hopped the first bus to the Swan before the crowds left MK (Boardwalk wasn't finished yet) and could see the fireworks going off at the studios.(9:30?) Walked through the international gateway just in time to see the ones at Epcot.. (10?) It was hard getting out of there.... but we managed to catch a bus to Pleasure Island and watch those fireworks too. They use to be alot better then they are now and had confetti my kids use to love to collect.. We did have a blast.... They had special longer firworks at both MK and Epcot could just see MGM from the distant so not sure about those.. This is when they had fireworks at MGM. Have not been there in July since though.. try to go in the cooler months now

 

[mickeys#1fan]

...but haven't actually been. We've done Blizzard Beach two years in a row around that time, and it reached max crowds by 11 am.

Kind of a cool thing to do is to take the hay ride from Fort Wilderness. You'll tour around that resort and see all the campers' Americana decorations, then park at Bay Lake, overlooking the MK. They pipe the music in from the park, and you get a great view of the fireworks over the castle. Word of caution...bring mosquito repellant.