Entering MK after July 3rd Fireworks

[famy27]

We are doing the fireworks dessert party at CR on July 3rd. We'll have to walk over to MK to grab the bus after the party, so I'm thinking we might want to wander into MK for a bit before we go.

Assumptions:
MK will not actually close at 10:00 pm as crowd calendar states
We would get to MK around 10:15, with the fireworks having started at 9:00

Questions:
Will this even be possible, or will the park be at capacity? I would think lots of people head for the exit after the fireworks
Would MK potentially have a parade running after the fireworks?
How crowded will it be at 10:30 or so?

We don't plan to do much. Maybe ride the PeopleMover and take some pictures. We're doing a super-short trip and don't have any time set aside for MK, since we are focusing at the new stuff at EP. It's hard for me to imagine being at WDW (and at MK's gates) and not going inside, but I'd like to keep my sanity as well. I also wonder how quickly the bus crowds will have cleared after the fireworks. Spending some time in MK might help with that as well.

 

[Oswin]

The park did not reach capacity on July 3 last year. It was busy from about 1pm-4pm, and PACKED from 4pm-9pm, but it never reached a phased closure according to CMs we asked. It was much easier for us to move around on July 3 than it was any of our Christmas or Easter visits to MK, though. I don't believe it reached capacity on the 4th either. There were storms all evening/night on July 3, which helped thin out the crowds making the park VERY manageable after the fireworks (they were delayed until 10:00 pm so a lot of people left around 9:15-9:30). They did have a second main street parade at 11:00 pm that night. They had 2-3 showings of the celebrate the magic castle show, too. I would also assume MK will be open past 10:00, and if you're staying on property there will be night EMH that night. Last year they closed at 1am and had EMH from 1am-3am. I would guess it will look something close to that. Maybe closing at midnight with EMH until 2 am.

If the weather cooperates this year, I expect July 3 will be crowded at night but the crowds to thin down some after fireworks. I think we waited about 10 minutes to get on the people mover at night on July 3, because the line went into overflow. But it was constantly moving so it was not a bad wait at all. I would say that as long as you make it in about 30-40 minutes after fireworks end, you should be pretty okay with being able to keep your sanity. And if you're staying on property, you'll be able to take advantage of even later nighttime hours with EMH so that will help with the crowds as well.

 

[kj2mom]

Not exactly July 3rd but we were there 4th-10th last summer and because of the peak times I did a bunch of research to try to make our trip the best it could be (even with thousands of hot, sweaty friends). The one thing I was surprised about was how MK did not clear out after the fireworks. Our last night was an MK night where we had Wishes FP then decided to head back to ride Space one more time before leaving (the park closed at midnight). We were among a huge herd of people making our way to Tomorrowland which I thought seemed odd since I had read crowds at night thinned out. Once we finally got to Space it was our longest wait of our entire vacation. It was fine because my children had wanted to play the games in the line (the other 2 times we rode we had FP) but it had to be a good 45 minutes-1 hour in that line (I checked one time to see the time of our ride photos but now I forget). We left Space and I wanted to go on 7DMT again (we had not gone at night, just during the day) and that line was only about 15 minutes but by then the park was closed and we worked our way out of the park. Anyway, all of that to say the after fireworks crowds were larger than I anticipated. We still had a great end to our evening just wanted to share our experience.

 

[freediverdude]

If you're trying to make your way into the park during the 2 hours or so after the fireworks, and especially that first hour after, you should be prepared to be pushing your way down Main Street against a huge crowd exiting. It won't be pleasant. Once you get past Main Street it might be better. I have stood outside one of the Main Street shops before on those days, and basically just watched a thick herd exiting and exiting and exiting for about an hour and a half before I thought it would even be pleasant exiting, much less going the other way.

 

[hakepb]

If you're trying to make your way into the park during the 2 hours or so after the fireworks, and especially that first hour after, you should be prepared to be pushing your way down Main Street against a huge crowd exiting. It won't be pleasant. Once you get past Main Street it might be better. I have stood outside one of the Main Street shops before on those days, and basically just watched a thick herd exiting and exiting and exiting for about an hour and a half before I thought it would even be pleasant exiting, much less going the other way.

I'd agree don't walk down Main St. Although the "back way" should be open.
There may even be a dance party in the back lot letting you walk basically straight from Tony's to CoP through the cast parking lot.

 

[CarrieR]

You won't have an issue with park closure. You'll be swimming upstream, but once you get there, park will empty significantly as it matches towards closed.

And yep, probably a second MSEP.

 

[famy27]

Thanks! We are onsite at YC, so we would be eligible for any EMH. We'll probably try it. If it's too crazy, we'll just head back out. We have APs, so there's no money on the line, just time. As long as we can go the back way and avoid Main Street, I think we'll be fine.

 

[CarrieR]

With how they now route folks (out the back way from the rear of the park,) even Main St shouldn't be too bad.

We travel almost always over holidays, and post-fireworks on the big holidays the park seems to empty quite quickly. My theory is that people are just beat from fighting the crowds all day. YMMV of course, but we usually have a lot of success (at least on NYE etc. Been a few years since I've done 4th of July.)

Like you, I'm not sure I could be AT MK's gates and not go in!