BWV on 4th Of July

[1SickPupe]

We booked two standard view studios for the 4th of July holiday. We are taking my wifes friend, and family with us.
I was wondering if WDW does anything special over the 4th of July holiday, and what to expect as far as crowds, and weather?

 

[rocketriter]

Crowds and weather will both be intense. My family will be at the BCV. We plan to watch IllumiNations that night and then walk home, since the transportation system will be swamped for hours.

 

[TDC Nala]

Planning to go to OKW for the week, just waiting for the 7 month window. OKW is good for me, as I generally end up at PI. It'll be hot and crowded and most likely rain every day for a little while, but FUN. If you want to see the MK fireworks, plan on staking out a spot in the park early.

 

[loribell]

We were there a couple of summers ago for the fourth. We spent the day in AK which was pretty much empty then went to the MK to get dinner at a counter service restuarant and head back out of the park to watch the fireworks.

The MK was absolutely jam packed with people. It took forever to get back out of the park and it was still well over an hour or so before time for the fireworks to start. I didn't think we were going to get back out. I would never ever go into the MK on the 4th again.

That said, we had a perfect spot for watching the fireworks on the boat docks. The fireworks were being shot off from all around us on bay lake and behind us in the MK. Even better was that when they were over we were the first people to the bus stop and were back at our room before most of that crowd could even get out of the park.

The weather is always very hot at that time and expect the afternoon rain showers.
Drink plenty of water/poweraide and take afternoon breaks to get out of that sun. Most importantly have a great time!

Lori

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We've been twice for the 4th holiday, one we stayed at the GF and the other at BWV. Crowds weren't too bad, except on the actual 4th. IllumiNations was awesome on the 4th, and we really enjoyed Wishes! Have fun!

 

[1SickPupe]

Great responeses. Thanks a lot.
The boat dock sounds like a good idea. Illuminations is within walking distance. It will be a hard decision.
Thanks again.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I go down every year over the 4th, and will be there next year at BWV. This year we were at OKW in a grande villa, which was awesome, but we waited over an hour for a bus from MK, it was just awful! After the fireworks, there were so many cars on the roads trying to get home, that traffic crawled along bumper to bumper, at about 10 MPH. so the buses couldn't go any faster. Never again, which is why we are going back to BW, where we can walk back from Illuminations. Two years ago they doubled the fireworks, and there were so many that you could actually FEEL it on your chest when the shells exploded. It was really something!!

 

[msdis]

We were there this year. Hot and crowded. Fireworks were worth the trip but we will probably pass on this holiday in the future unless we plan to stay out of the parks.

 

[Granny]

We were also there this year for the 4th of July.

By noon, MK and MGM were closed for additional attendance. They were letting people into the parks if they were staying on-site, but you had to wait outside and they'd only let people in as others left.

We found out the hard way that about 15 minutes before the fireworks started, they shut down the monorail until the fireworks are finished.

The bus situation at MK was a complete zoo getting out of there during the fireworks. I can't even imagine what it was like after they were done.

We have always taken our WDW vacations during the summer time. We can handle the heat....we can handle the large summer crowds.

If we ever find ourselves in WDW during the 4th of July again, we'll plan on a nice evening in the villa that night!