Has anyone been to DL right before and over 4th of July?

[Carrie in AZ]

If you've been to DL the couple days right before and over 4th of July, I'd love to hear your experience in terms of crowd size, etc.

We may be staying at the Disneyland Hotel, arriving on Mon. July 1st and staying until July 5th. Our niece and family visited at that time a couple of years ago and said it wasn't that crowded. We also heard a family in line on our last visit talking about that timeframe and they said the same, except that it was very hot.

Does anything extra special occur on 4th of July? Special fireworks display, characters in patriotic costumes???

Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

[tlovesdis]

We did 4th of July once and would never do it again! It was crazy busy days before and days after. It was super hot too, which made it even worse. We now avoid any major holiday at all costs!!

 

[DLVixen]

We were there last year from 7.3.06 - 7.5.06. They did have special fireworks, so it was pretty much 2x as long as normal. The crowds were very large although I didn't know that it was a peak time (my 1st trip ) but it was very hot, which made navigating the crowds a bigger pain. At DCA for Grizzly River we waited like 90 minutes to get cooled off (again before I knew about FP's ) The worse part for us was the shuttle back to the room and the end of the day. Lots of tired, hot & cranky people all pushing to make it on the shuttle. That was the only downside of my trip last year, and the main reason I'm dishing the extra bucks to stay across the street