Golf Cart parade over 4th of July

[welovetocamp]

Hi All,

My family and I going to be at the Fort this 4th of July this year and I was wondering if they did anything special for it. Someone I ran into said they did a golf cart parade like they do at Halloween. I was just wondering if we had some more decorating we needed to be doing. If they don't do the parade do they do anything "extra" this week. Just wondering....thanks!

 

[fldisneymommyto2]

There is a golf cart parade, but we have never camped at the fort for the 4th. We are thinking about it this year so I want to hear the responses too!!

 

[AuntBJ]

Last year it was on the 3rd and started at 9:00 AM, I think.

Here is a link with some pictures:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2501186

 

[kmitchel]

We did the Golf Cart parade at Halloween and LOVED it! I bought 5 bags of candy and we were out by the time we got to the end of the main road. There were TONS of people lined up along the street and my son had a blast.

I highly recommed participating!

 

[PrincessNana]

We always participate in the 4th of July parade and we have a great time. We usually run out of candy and beads long before the end of the parade. Go to Youtube and do a search for WDW Ft. Wildnerness 4th of july golf cart parade. There are alot of good videos that will give you an idea of how many carts participate and how creative alot of people (not us) are with their decorations. We also decorate our site with all our patriotic decorations. We'll be there over the 4th also...we've rented a six person golf cart which we plan on decorating for the parade. Hope to see you there!

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

I camp at the Fort every July 4th and Halloween. There are golf cart parades for both. Usually the July 4th parade is on the 4th, last year it was on the 3rd!!! What a surprise for those wanting to watch the parade on the 4th to learn they'd missed it, even more so for those that arrived on the 3rd to participate in the parade on the 4th!! They had spent time and money on decorating carts & purchasing candy/gifts to throw, all for nothing. A LOT of people were ticked off. In addition to having about 25 POUNDS of candy left over, my family missed out on the parade & I refused to yell "Happy 4th", instead saying "Happy 3rd". For their sake, Fort management had better get it back on schedule this year. Anyway, the parade is fun, could be a couple of hundred carts, and bikes. Youtube is a great place to see previous years' parades.

 

[skyp4WDW]

Having the parade on the 3rd last year may have been managements attempt to spread out the action and control the crowds a bit. The prior year was a nightmare. There were so many "day visitors" in addition to the Fort being full, that the pool was over the legal limit (people were packed in the pool like sardines -too tight to move). It was horribly hot so everyone was in the pool area. People were loud, rude, drunk, and out of contol and Security was helpless against those numbers. It was not fun; it was a zoo. That was the only time I ever wanted to leave Ft Wilderness early. In fact, I called the airlines, but was unable to change my flight because of the holiday. Needless to say, it wasn't the charming All-American 4th of July that we were expecting. I doubt we'll ever go over the 4th again.

 

[DisCamper]

I bet the golf cart parade will be Sat. 2 or Sun. 3 this year also becouse 4th is on a monday and a lot of people will all ready have left the Fort. Thats why Disney had the golf cart parade on Sat. 3 last year

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

I think if the year before they had given fliers to customers (or sent e-mails for all with ressies on 3rd or 4th) that the parade date was changing so to plan accordingly, then it wouldn't have been a big deal. My DH changed his work schedule to arrive the night of the 3rd to help me on the 4th, due to my physical limitations, and ended up missing it. We weren't happy. He could have been there the night before if we'd only known. As for the pool issues, that could EASILY be controlled. There can be limitations on 'pool hopping' from one resort to another put into place. Other locations have restrictions on the holidays. And most of those people that were drunk & using bbq grills so others couldn't/took most of the chairs to the east/monopolized the tables in the pavilion, were locals, not guests! Yes, some followed them to the front when we saw they were getting on bus as they were leaving the pool area. The fort needs to have management there to check resort IDs. Not hard to do, we know that after watching how things worked for Halloween.