Going on 4th of July--will I be locked out?

[Epcotfan64]

Although I've had APs in the past I've never been to WDW on a major holiday.

I was thinking of spending most of the day at AK, then heading over to Epcot for fireworks, or maybe MK, not sure.

I read that parks can reach capacity on busy days pretty early, so I'm wondering:

1. What if I want to leave the park to get something from my vehicle? Would that be a mistake?

2. Should I risk leaving AK for the day with the possibility I won't get into Epcot or MK?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[kickash]

We went the week of the 4th two years ago. Went to DHS all day on the 4th as I had read that MK is the most crowded on this holiday. DHS was pleasant but became crowded as the day wore on... To be expected of course. It is Disney in the summer after all . I have so read that MK has/can reach capacity on that day so we stayed away from it. We didn't mind missing MK fireworks; we have pretty impressive ones where we live and we had already seen Wishes, etc that week.

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[Mrsjvb]

if the park is at capacity and you leave you won't get back in.

 

[photo_chick]

There are different levels of closure when the park gets full so it's not as simple as saying if the park reaches capacity you're out of luck. What I can tell you is my experience and that is that the parks have not reached capacity on July 4th when we've been there. That doesn't mean they haven't before or that they won't when we're there this year, just the experience I've had on previous trips. That said, we generally plan on not leaving the park we choose to spend the day in on the 3rd and 4th just in case.

 

[bluwater]

We've been in the parks on multiple occasions when they closed for capacity but this doesn't lock you out all day.. In my experience,it is only for a couple of hours or so. Late in the afternoon things opened up again.

 

[dmband]

This yr will be worse because it's a "weekend"
I have gone all different days and weekend is always much more crowded because people can make a short trip out of it where, say a wed they can not - at least not as easy

 

[grannyminnie]

Anyone who is familiar with the week of the 4th...what about, say, July 2nd? Any chance that it would be a capacity crowd day?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1. What if I want to leave the park to get something from my vehicle?
. . . leaving the par is leaving the park
. . . regardless of reason or purpose

Would that be a mistake?
. . . possibly
. . . you are outside looking in, while your family enjoys the park

2. Should I risk leaving AK for the day with the possibility I won't get into Epcot or MK?
. . . usually, EPCOT does not reach "Stage 4" capacity where guests are not let in
. . . MK frequently reaches "Stage 4" on July 4th.

Any thoughts?
. . . once in MK, DO NOT LEAVE
. . . if it reaches Stage-4, you cannot get in
. . . can't get in if you are AP
. . . can't get in if staying on-site
. . . can't get in if you have a pre-paid ADR at CRT
. . . can't get in until groups of others leave

 

[Jenny-momof3]

We've done the 3rd of July at magic kingdom the last 7 years since they do the special fireworks that day too. No problem with taking a mid day break to swim then come back.

We spend the 4th at Epcot or Dhs... Again no problem going swimming for a few hours then coming back.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I can't speak for this year since every year can be different. With that being said I have been at the MK several times on the 4th, and have left and gotten back in. Yes it was wall to wall guests but not closed to any of them. I was even there for our Country's 200 birthday, July 4th 1976 and super crowded then. I think it was worse then than any other time as that was only park to go to

 

[staceyrhood]

MK closed to capacity at 10am last year on the 4th.

 

[Epcotfan64]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. I think I'll stay with my original plan of going to AK for the day, the heading over to Epcot for the evening and its fireworks.

 

[andyman8]

MK closed to capacity at 10am last year on the 4th.

Hate to be "that guy" but it was just the parking lot that closed. Guests were being redirected to Epcot lot and bussed to MK. The park did briefly close (phase 2) for a couple of hours towards the afternoon/evening.

That said, OP, are you staying at a Disney Resort? If you are, you don't have that much to be worried about. You have access to the park unless it reaches phase 4, which (particularly with all the recent added capacity) I cannot imagine happening next month (can't remember a time actually when MK closed to phase 4; usually phase 2 or 3 alleviates the pressure).

 

[MakiraMarlena]

MK and DHS are the only parks that even have a chance of reaching stage 4 and that might happen only near the fireworks show. I've only heard of it actually happening with MK though. AK has no fireworks, and Epcot has such a large capacity I believe I have heard it only reached stage 4 once - on January 31, 1999.

Especially with Mk you may have to plan to park someplace else if you get there at the wrong time, because the first thing they do is close the parking lot.