Crowds over 4th of July long weekend??

[ballarinamom]

Thinking of tacking on a few days to our vacation to check out Island of adventure for two days. Next summer the 4th is on a Thursday. We are thinking of coming in late on the 4th and doing two days in the park and one day at a hotle/resort. How bad will crowds be on Friday, Saturday or Sunday after the 4th??

 

[mesaboy2]

Thinking of tacking on a few days to our vacation to check out Island of adventure for two days. Next summer the 4th is on a Thursday. We are thinking of coming in late on the 4th and doing two days in the park and one day at a hotle/resort. How bad will crowds be on Friday, Saturday or Sunday after the 4th??

Probably the busiest weekend of the summer, and among the busiest of the year.

 

[macraven]

listen to mesaboy.........
he knows his parks.

 

[ballarinamom]

That's what I thought. But if we stay onsite for the express passes and get there early and in line for the opening, will we be able to do most of the stuff at IOA in two days?

 

[macraven]

you'll be using the express lines but they could have waits of 15 minutes due to the crowds.

you can cover a lot of ground in those 2 days.
you will be able to get a lot done in both parks, if not all, of the things you want to do.
use the park early entry option that onsite hotel guests are allowed.

you will see crowds of people all over.

walking in the park, using the restrooms, the food places, etc.
those are the crowds you will be dealing with.

it's like going to the motherland for those 2 days.
lots of people in the parks.

 

[mesaboy2]

That's what I thought. But if we stay onsite for the express passes and get there early and in line for the opening, will we be able to do most of the stuff at IOA in two days?

Just IoA over a two-day period with Express privileges? Yeah, you'll be able to do all the rides there I would think. But as macraven pointed out, you'll be in the same masses anywhere there isn't Express--restaurants, shops, carts, and restrooms. There are only three attractions within IoA that don't accept Express: Forbidden Journey, Pteranadon Flyers, and Ollivander's.

If by chance you also mean the Studios (a separate park), you still stand a good chance of doing most every attraction there, or at least the majority. The only attraction at the Studios that doesn't accept Express is Rip Ride Rockit.

 

[ballarinamom]

We've done Disneyland several times at Thanksgiving and I know how crowded it is there. EEKS! LOL!
But if we do sit down meals with reservations each day and stay onsite, would it be more manageable?
Or should we do a different weekend in July? And would it make THAT much of a difference>

 

[mesaboy2]

We've done Disneyland several times at Thanksgiving and I know how crowded it is there. EEKS! LOL!
But if we do sit down meals with reservations each day and stay onsite, would it be more manageable?
Or should we do a different weekend in July? And would it make THAT much of a difference>

Onsite definitely makes it more manageable--Express is like gold in your pocket that time of year. All of July is busy, the difference within is not that huge. On a scale of 1 to 10, the Fourth is a 10, the rest of the month won't likely drop below 8ish.

 

[Metro West]

Onsite definitely makes it more manageable--Express is like gold in your pocket that time of year. All of July is busy, the difference within is not that huge. On a scale of 1 to 10, the Fourth is a 10, the rest of the month won't likely drop below 8ish.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I spent this past July 4th at the parks and noticed how low the crowds seemed to be.. I did spend most of the day (from around 4 to park close) at USF, though. Was able to do Mummy, ET, MIB, etc... even Forbidden Journey (if I recall correctly) had a 30 minute wait that day. Did this all without express pass. I think everyone decided to do Disney instead of Universal for the 4th! But I have a feeling that the subsequent weekend next year will be pretty packed.