How was July 4th at DL?

[Aspencreek]

We were going to be in the parks on the 4th but had to change plans last minute. Leading up to the day I read lots of conflicting views on how busy it might be - some saying it would be insanely packed, others saying ghost-town. Anybody in the parks yesterday that can give some report on crowd levels, etc? Thinking about trying again next 4th. Thanks!

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I wasn't at the parks yesterday, but I'd make one observation and recommendation to you...stop listening to anybody who would report that July 4th would be a ghost-town at any domestic Disney park. Unless its a COVID-19 shutdown situation or something similar, the domestic Disney parks are going to be busy (I mean very busy) with guests on July 4th. The fireworks display alone is sorta legendary.

 

[bwvBound]

We showed up around 3:30p and stayed through fireworks. For that period, I'd describe the crowds as 6 or 7 out of 10.
* Flag retreat was waaaaaaay under-attended compared to our prior 7/4 visits.
* Mobile ordering of food seemed to be available for near-immediate pick-up times.
* Attraction wait times were pretty close to "on par."
* We hopped, briefly, to DCA around 730p and found ourselves moving "against the crowd" as everyone was swarming to DL.

Back in DL, things got a bit thick in around 8p as folks staked out their spots for MSEP + Fireworks. We found a quiet spot near Small World and relaxed for ~45 minutes before the fireworks started. It was a great day!

Edited to add rundown of our short visit:
* Entered park ~3:30p
* Starbucks to hold us over to/through Flag Retreat. (Which was awesome, as always. Well done USMC Camp Pendleton, Dapper Dans, current and former military who participated!)
* Leisurely meal at Hungry Bear
* Smuggler's Run, some Datapad PLAY and enjoying Galaxy's Edge
* Small World and enjoying Fantasyland
* Star Tours (20 minute wait, I think)
* Hop to DCA for a walk about (and to purchase Boudin's bread)
* Back to DL
* MSEP
* Fireworks
* Left the park ... walked back to Toy Story Lot as the bus lines looked crazy busy ...

A pretty full afternoon!

 

[dina444444]

I did the 9pm world of color (left at the end of the pirates segment) and caught the back half of the Disneyland fireworks form the top of the parking garage after taking the tram back. Worst crowd encounter was definitely the sea of people in the esplanade and start of dtd just before 9:30 trying to get back to the tram. Otherwise the park was less crowded than my last park day on Saturday 6/25.

 

[DLgal]

We were supposed to be there the 4th, but we were there the 2nd and 3rd and I'd say it was a 5/6 crowd wise, both days. Very pleasant and amazing weather to boot.

Covid required us to tap out early.

We go every 4th, and it's never that busy.

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

It was definitely busier today than yesterday. We didn’t get here until 1pm yesterday. We did space, big thunder, soarin, guardians, incredicoaster, little mermaid, ate quick service dinner and reported to our WOC party at 7:40. The area between the parks was crazy after the party!!!!! My kids were park hopping and could not get through the crowd. Glad we have genie plus. We feel the crowds are not that bad but we are used to Disney World. We came here for spring break in March 2014 and feel it was more crowded then than today.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I was there today (7/5) and met a nice family who was at DCA all day yesterday and were surprised at how low the crowds were.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Busy but not excessively so. And I loved the special July 4th fireworks; so refreshing to see something that was all about celebrating America as opposed to featuring all of the Disney IP they could shoehorn in.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I wasn't there this year but my experience in past years is that it's relatively low crowds in the morning but becomes very packed for the fireworks. I'd never describe it as a "ghost town" but I could imagine someone feeling that way if they were only there in the morning and comparing to adjacent days during summer vacation. The "ghost town" part could also be at the DCA side at night when everybody is over at Disneyland for the fireworks. But then a person who only goes in for the fireworks would be experiencing the "insanely packed" part of the day.

 

[evilmommie]

We were at Disneyland on Sat the 2nd. Super pleasant. Low crowds, beautiful weather. We never attend DLR on the 4th, as we have dogs and want to be with them with all the firework sounds and such. If I lived out of town and booked the 4th weekend it would have seemed like the perfect time of summer to go.

 

[KPeterso]

We went to DCA on the 4th. We got there right after rope drop and left around 1:30. It was one of the most pleasant and calm days we have had in the parks in a long time. I have been on weekdays during off season that were busier than we experienced on Monday. Admittedly, we were long gone prior to the fireworks, but I kept expecting it to get busier and busier, but it didn't. The only of the major ride we did not get to ride that we wanted to ride was Toy Story and I think it was down a lot of the day as I checked the app probably 10-12 times for it and it was down each time. We did skip Guardians and Incredicoaster as those are not faves for us.

 

[DonnerB]

It was one of the most pleasant and calm days we have had in the parks in a long time.

I would agree with you, except I rope-dropped the Disneyland side. I had done Pirates, Big Thunder x2, Splash, Alice, Snow White, Pinocchio, Buzz and Matterhorn single rider by 10:35, when I went over to wait for the first show of Tale of the Lion King. The only negative for my day was the slowwwwww service I had at River Belle. The food itself was surprisingly good (can't remember the last time I ate there).

I was last in the parks 6/21 and it was hell, even rope-dropping. I gave up by 10:30 that morning!

 

[KPeterso]

I would agree with you, except I rope-dropped the Disneyland side. I had done Pirates, Big Thunder x2, Splash, Alice, Snow White, Pinocchio, Buzz and Matterhorn single rider by 10:35, when I went over to wait for the first show of Tale of the Lion King. The only negative for my day was the slowwwwww service I had at River Belle. The food itself was surprisingly good (can't remember the last time I ate there).

I was last in the parks 6/21 and it was hell, even rope-dropping. I gave up by 10:30 that morning!

We were there 6/24 and it was crazy busy compared to on 7/4 at DCA.

 

[tmoney007]

The park was very crowded the weather was good

 

[gudenufmom]

I was at DL 7/4 as my 5th and final day of our trip, so I headed into the park late like a lot of folks, wanting to catch the fireworks. I did stalk ride wait times on the app beforehand and the times looked similar to the previous 4 days we went to DCA and DL.

We booked the Plaza Inn fireworks viewing package and it was great. Food was decent enough and we had a table with adequate viewing space. Some of the other tables had the Plaza banners and hedges partially obstructing the view. (Umbrellas were thankfully down.) We could see some of the projections on the castle and most of the pyrotechnic action.

We sat at the table awhile after the show to let the post-fireworks traffic subside and then rode a couple of rides before going back to the hotel. I set my expectations low for “getting things done” that day since my main focus was seeing the special fireworks that I hadn’t experienced before. By that 5th day we were pretty tired and just wanted to enjoy the feeling of Disneyland one last time. The fireworks were the perfect ending ceremony.

If it had been my first or only day there I would’ve felt cheated out of the time it took to get my food and table for the package. It took 45-50min of standing/waiting in 3 different lines. This was nothing compared to the lengthy curb-sitting that other people did, albeit for free. It felt really good on my back to have real chair!

Lines for counter service and food carts were really long at night. Was going to bring food back to my son at the hotel but decided against in when I saw the lines.

Everyone thought I was crazy for going to DLR over a holiday weekend, but it turned out alright. Definitely crowded, but I’ve seen worse.

 

[BillFraser29]

Main Street and the immediate surrounding areas were very busy on the 4th during the two hours prior and then the hour following the fireworks, as to be expected. The rest of the park was very manageable. The whole weekend (we were in the parks from the 2nd to the 5th) was busy but not crazy. I would call it a 6 or 7 out of 10 all four days. That said, the two first hours and last two hours of park operation the parks were dead.