4th of July in WDW...

[lauran cameron]

How is it during this time? Me and my friends are planning on going for a 5 day stay at the BWV. One of those days will include the nation's b'day...so what's it like? Days before & days after? Should we try and catch the fireworks at MK? Are there special events going on during the day we should know about? Any tip or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ducklite]

HOT HOT HOT HOT and INSANELY CROWDED.

Anne

 

[tiggrbaby]

We did not actually go into a park on the 4th. We went to one of the water parks, which was not overly crowded. We then went to 'Ohana's for dinner, and we were able to see the fireworks. I did not think they were as good as wishes, but it was very patriotic. They pipe the audio into the restaurant.

I had learned on these boards that it is very busy that day, and tried to convince my husband we needed to leave early to get to the restaurant. We were stuck in traffic waiting to go through the MK gates for the longest time as the park was closed and they were turning people away! Then we had to get behind those people before we could get to the Poly parking lot. I finally got out and walked to the restaurant to check in so they would not give our ADR away. They were taking no walk-ups that night, not even from registered guests. My husband came in burning mad because the self-park lot was full and he had to use valet. They did comp it, though. I told him that he should have listened to the disboards!

 

[misskrystal]

I went for 2 weeks beginning the 4th if July a few years ago.

It was very crowded and the queues were pretty long, but we had a great time anyway.

After all, it is Disney!

 

[mommaU4]

I went for 2 weeks beginning the 4th if July a few years ago.

It was very crowded and the queues were pretty long, but we had a great time anyway.

After all, it is Disney!

I take my hats off to all of you who go to WDW in the middle of summer and especially around a holiday. Yes, it's still Disney, but man, with the heat and crowds.... it makes for some very grouchy people! Not for me. I'll stick to the cooler less crowded months. But for you who go at that time at least you'll have 6 less people to contend with. Have fun!! Stay cool.

 

[LiteBrite]

First, let me say that the MK is insanely crowded on the 4th, and I would never attempt to be there that day. However, my family and I were at Epcot last 4th, and I actually just got done posting over on the restaurants board in response to someone's question about where to eat on the 4th of July - I'll paste that same response here:

This year we made a last minute decision to go to WDW for the 4th. We decided on Epcot for the day, since we believe it handles crowds better than the other parks. We got a room at the Dolphin for the night of the 4th only, because we wanted to watch the Epcot fireworks and then be able to walk back to our room, avoiding the huge crowds on the bus/tram/parking lot. We thought there was no way we would get an ADR (this was about 3 days before!), but when I called, I had my choice of several World Showcase restaurants for lunch (I didn't even try for dinner). We chose the San Angel Inn.

Our plan worked great - we enjoyed the day, even went back to the Dolphin for a swim in the afternoon, had counter service that evening at the food court at the Land, staked out a great spot for the fireworks about 90 minutes before time, and afterwards, just strolled back to the Dolphin, where we enjoyed a fabulous night's sleep on the "heavenly beds".

So, based on our experience, I can recommend: Epcot for the day of the 4th (handles big crowds well), a World Showcase restaurant for lunch and a counter service dinner (saves time in the evening, freeing you up to stake out your fireworks spot), *definitely* Epcot for the fireworks (they were amazing!!! and after all, you've gotta have your fireworks for the 4th), and staying at the Swan or Dolphin or any other Epcot area resort, so you can get back to your room after the fireworks without dealing with the incredible crowds on the transportation system or roads.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

We were at WDW for the 4th of July this year. We stayed at CR specifically for the fireworks. We went to MGM in the morning and then went back to CR after lunch. We spend the entire afternoon in the pool. The CM's even had special events around the pool for the kids; watermelon eating contest, water balloon toss, pool basketball, etc. My kids had a great time. We had a Tower room with MK view and the fireworks were amazing!! They launch the fireworks from all around the perimeter of the lagoon. They felt so close that we could touch them. The MK did close for capacity that day and you couldn't have paid me to be inside that park for the fireworks. However, July 5th is notoriously dead at the MK.

HTH

 

[Cinderella94]

Very very crowded and extremely hot from what I've heard. I have some friends who used to go around then and the heat was unbearable. I would recommend staying away from DW in June, July, and August, as they are extremely hot and extremely crowded.

 

[mhingher]

HOT HOT HOT HOT and INSANELY CROWDED.

Anne

I second this!! I went in 2004 from June 26-July 5th. There were normal summer crowds at first, but they just got longer and longer as the week went on. On the 4th we went to MK for the fireworks and it took FOREVER to leave the park afterwards. If you're going to be there around that time, I recommend you relax by the pool and maybe watch the fireworks from a resort instead of actually going into a park. We left on 7/16, but I heard the crowds died down a little bit after the holiday.

Some tips...

Make any ressies as soon as you can, they fill up quickly
Drink lots of water
Take breaks back at your resort


have fun!

 

[ehaley]

We were there 4th of July 2004. AGREE was very hot. We went to AK that day at opening and WALKED ON EVERYTHING with no wait until about 1PM. I have never EVER just walked right on Dinasaur - but we did twice. I mean no wait except for the pre board movie area and that only had about 20-25 people. On safari was a little wait when you get down to boarding the buses. Tough to be a bug just waited by the doors of the theatre,but not outside. Overall was a WONDERFUL morning. It did get very crowded as the day went on and we had a long wait for the rapids. We did do most of what we wanted by the time the parade started. After the parade we left and went back to hotel to swim/relax.

 

[donnab2005]

We were there this past July 4th. It was HOT HOT HOT HUMID HUMID HUMID. Honestly the heat was just awful. The crowds were terrible. My suggestion is to stay away from the Magic Kingdom on the 4th. The crowds there are so bad that you can hardly move. I'll put is this was, my husband said he loves WDW but he will never go back on the July 4th Holiday again. We had thunderstorms every single day. Our next trip will be planned for the spring of 2006.

 

[TENIA66]

HOT HOT HOT HOT and INSANELY CROWDED.

Anne

i agree with hot, and crowded, so crowded in 2002 that they shut the park down. the display was beautiful as always

 

[lauran cameron]

Thanks for all the tips my fellow Dis'ers. hahaha..oy vey to july!

 

[pooh2001]

We'll be there 7/4/06.
Like the idea of AK on 7/4 and MK on 7/5.
We were thinking MGM on 7/4 - but since no DDE discounts,
might as well do AK in the AM and rainforest cafe for lunch
- we can get AP ticket holder discounts at RFC and have a
safari card.
Rainforest Cafe AP - 10% discount off the regular price (excluding tax and gratuity) of food and non-alcoholic beverages daily from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm.
and use the Safari card for free chefs appetizer - such as cheese sticks for the family to munch on.



Then do the pool in the afternoon - or just relax at the resort
until our Spirit of Aloha ressies at 5:15 PM on 7/4/06.

Summer months our only time we can travel.
Kids in school - I can not take them out during the year.

 

[billsfan]

We went to the MK on July 4th 2004. It did get extremely busy by noon but what we did was we go there at opening and did the popular attractions before noon (Space Mountian, Buzz, Haunted Mansion, It's a small world, Jungle Cruise, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Pirates, Peter Pan and Winnie The Pooh) . At noon we ate lunch at Tony's. During the afternoon we went onto the less popular attractions that we never have been on. Never had to wait for any of these(Hall of Presidents, Enchanted Tiki Birds, Liberty Belle Riverboat, WDW Railroad, The Diamond Horse Saloon, Country Bear Jamboree, Carousel of Progress, Tomorrowland Transit Authority and Tom Sawyer Island). We used fastpass in the afternoon for Splash Mountian and Big Thunder Mountian. We then ate a late dinner at Cosmic Ray's (7:00 PM)(Longest line we waited in all day, 20 minutes). Then after dinner we just walked aroun the MK waiting for Spectro and the Fireworks. It took a while to get out of the parks but we wern't in a big hurry. We had the 5th planned as one of our down days.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

We were there this past July and 2 years ago in July. This year was more crowded. But we did the extra magic hours in the morning and it worked out well. We did everything at magic Kingdom we wanted to do by 11:30, then the crowds came. Same with Epcot and Animal Kingdom.

We did not go to the parks on the 4th. We went to Sea World that day. Magic Kingdom closed by, I think, 2:00 because of crowds. However we went to Magic Kingdom on the 3rd and they had the patriotic fireworks that evening as well as the 4th. I'm a patriotic girl, and I thought they were wonderful.

Just think early...we had an awesome time. Heat and crowds...Who cares? You're at Disney!!!

 

[PamNC]

and had a blast. We went 7/2-7/10 and stayed at the Beach Club, so you'll be in the same vicinity. Honestly, we were warned and warned on these boards that it was so crowded and it really wasn't that bad. One tip: I would stay away from MK on July 4th. We did Epcot instead and it was very manageable. Illuminations has a special fireworks display and it was out of this world. We had a wonderful trip and wouldn't hesitate to go again during this time. It's very festive and everything is open late. We loved it.

PamNC