How’s Disneyland on July 4th?

[disny_luvr]

I’m putting our trip together for next summer and wondering how busy July 4th is? Right now we are planning on being there the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th but I could shift our dates to July 1st-3rd if that would be better.

Also, does Disneyland do anything special for July 4th?

 

[LKing]

July 4 is busy, especially in the evening for the fireworks. I saw pictures of empty World of Color performances at DCA on 7/4 this year. If you don't care about fireworks, you might spend that evening in DCA and enjoy having the park to yourself.

There are videos of the fireworks show on You Tube

 

[gelatoni fan]

I didn't go on the 4th this year but when I went in the past, Disneyland had relatively low crowds in the morning compared to other days in July. Main street area was packed starting a couple hours before the fireworks and World of Color was quite empty for the 2nd showing.

Given the opportunity, I would absolutely go on the 4th for the special fireworks and pre-show for World of Color. Mickey may also appear in a special July 4th outfit although this year, he wore that for meet & greets during the weekend before July 4th as well.

 

[DLgal]

July 4 is busy, especially in the evening for the fireworks. I saw pictures of empty World of Color performances at DCA on 7/4 this year. If you don't care about fireworks, you might spend that evening in DCA and enjoy having the park to yourself.

There are videos of the fireworks show on You Tube

The 4th is never busy. We go every year. It ONLY appears busy AT fireworks time.

DCA this year on the 4th was a literally ghost town. I felt bad at how empty it was. It was shocking, to be honest. Lots of walk on rides, restaurants with 3/4 tables empty. Disneyland was also fairly quiet, based on other people's observations.

 

[DCLMP]

We were there on the 4th and 5th. It was empty in the morning on both days. It did get very crowded later in the afternoon. If you get there at the opening you should be able to do everything you want to do by 1 pm. We were at DCA on the 4th. We used Genie plus and did everything we wanted. Nothing was walk on in the afternoon, but it was manageable.
I would book a hotel where you can watch fireworks from the roof of your hotel. We stayed at the Westin and watched them from our bed.

If it's hot do Grizzley run in the morning. It was a 55-minute wait in the afternoon.

 

[pineapplepalms]

We were there that whole week this year. July 4th wasn’t bad during the day, but at night in DL it was packed. They blocked people from going to the Main Street and Small World viewing areas since they were full for fireworks viewing, so we had to maneuver through tons of people trying to find a spot in the Rivers of America area and it wasn’t a great view. Not fun with a double stroller and my mom with a walker. We might go during the same week next year and I would opt for DCA for July 4th evening instead.

 

[disny_luvr]

Thank you, everyone, for the feedback. Our plan is to hit the parks hard on both the 2nd and the 3rd which will leave the 4th for us to do things we’d like to do again. Maybe we’ll plan on starting in Disneyland and heading over to DCA as the day goes on.

 

[DLgal]

Thank you, everyone, for the feedback. Our plan is to hit the parks hard on both the 2nd and the 3rd which will leave the 4th for us to do things we’d like to do again. Maybe we’ll plan on starting in Disneyland and heading over to DCA as the day goes on.

You can always walk into DL about 15 minutes before the fireworks and have a decent view at the train station/town square. That is what we do. Can't handle being in the middle of a large crowd, so we hang back a bit.

 

[GoBills]

You can always walk into DL about 15 minutes before the fireworks and have a decent view at the train station/town square. That is what we do. Can't handle being in the middle of a large crowd, so we hang back a bit.

Wondering if you ended up going to Disney for the 4th this year, and how the parks were. I'm considering a trip for similar dates next summer.

 

[OlliePop27]

Wondering if you ended up going to Disney for the 4th this year, and how the parks were. I'm considering a trip for similar dates next summer.

I was there July 2-6 this year, including the 4th. It was great. Crowds were not heavy the entire week. As others noted, it appeared busy for fireworks but not the rest of the day. You can always do WOC with it's special preshow.

I would absolutely plan another trip for the 4th.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

Until late afternoon its pretty dead

the Wait times on the app looked so darn good

 

[KPeterso]

We went on the 4th this year. We started in DCA and like previous years, the crowds were not bad at all. We hopped in the afternoon to DL. We really wanted to see the flag retreat with the special guests the Camp Pendleton Marine honor band. That was definitely a highlight for us. We always enjoy the flag retreat though and it was amazing to see so many active and retired military there being celebrated in the ceremony. We did leave after that though so no idea what the evening looked like.