July crowds

[tb1972]

We took DD17 on a college tour of UCF in July. Since we were in the area and have AP’s, we stayed a couple extra days and went to MK for July 4th fireworks. wow what a huge crowd! It was packed and extremely humid. After the fireworks, we waited for the monorail nearly an hour to get to our rental car. After boarding the monorail, it was stalled and a fight broke out in our area between two middle-aged women. One apparently looked at the other the wrong way which resulted in shouting, near physical fighting, profanity and their children bursting in to tears. A very long night and folks were irritated ~ but still no excuse for two adults behaving this way.

I don’t think we’ll visit in July again! The spring and fall are so much more pleasant.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

We took DD17 on a college tour of UCF in July. Since we were in the area and have AP’s, we stayed a couple extra days and went to MK for July 4th fireworks. wow what a huge crowd...I don’t think we’ll visit in July again! The spring and fall are so much more pleasant.

July 4th week is busy, as you'd expect for any holiday week in the year, but mid to late July is no longer particularly busy at WDW.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Humidity, heat and a crowded monorail will make people do strange things.

 

[paults]

the way Disney has been packing them in anything can happen. I know we get on some monorails and the AC is terrible on some of them.

 

[Ben E N]

I was there from the 7th-12th. Other than the Magic Kingdom on the evening of the 7th, the crowds were quite pleasant everywhere. We just went early, went back to the hotel mid-day, and then went back in the evening. I wouldn't group the evening of July 4th at the busiest theme park in the world alongside all the other parks during the whole month of July. Other than the heat, it's actually a pretty nice time to visit. Rides aren't down due to refurbishment at least.

 

[jbh275]

I'm activating my AP next July 4th, just to have the opportunity to make two 4th of July's.

 

[pineapplepalms]

I was there from the 7th-12th. Other than the Magic Kingdom on the evening of the 7th, the crowds were quite pleasant everywhere. We just went early, went back to the hotel mid-day, and then went back in the evening. I wouldn't group the evening of July 4th at the busiest theme park in the world alongside all the other parks during the whole month of July. Other than the heat, it's actually a pretty nice time to visit. Rides aren't down due to refurbishment at least.

I would agree. We went last year for TSL opening and July 4th and found the crowds to be pretty manageable. We avoided the worst of them by doing a fireworks dessert party at MK on July 3rd and going to EP on July 4th since we were staying at BWV and could easily walk back afterwards. We went out in the mornings, went back to BWV to rest in the afternoons (this was often when there were storms anyway, plus it was the hottest part of the day), and went out for dinner and evening fireworks/shows. Given our experience I would definitely go back for July 4th week in the future. The special programming including the fireworks and the Voices of Liberty performance were great.

 

[mousestruck]

We have visited over 7/4 twice, including this year, and had a fabulous time both trips. The key, for us, is avoiding MK on the holiday itself. First time we enjoyed a resort day and watched fireworks from our balcony at the Poly. This year was a much shorter trip, so we spent the morning at DHS, swam in the afternoon, and had dinner at California Grill with spectacular view of fireworks. We’ve found the crowds to be very manageable that week - lighter than crowds we’ve experienced in the fall. If you plan well, avoid MK on the 4th, prepare for the heat and have realistic expectations it is a great time to visit. We will definitely celebrate the 4th at Disney again!

 

[NoTime42]

if you thought that was bad, then never ever accidentally show up at WDW for NYE.
(Or the entire week of Christmas to NYE)

 

[bobbiwoz]

We usually are in WDW for July 2-8, and we have our reservations for next year. We live in a resort town, Cape May NJ, and DH absolutely hates our town during the first two weeks of July. So, we see fireworks at MK on the third, Epcot on the 4th and then enjoy BCV, and take a cruise.

This year’s Heartbeat of America’s fireworks and patriotic music were fantastic.

 

[tb1972]

I think going to MK on actual July 4th was our mistake! Due to DD's college tour, we couldn't make fireworks on July 3rd which I'm sure was much more manageable.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

We took DD17 on a college tour of UCF in July. Since we were in the area and have AP’s, we stayed a couple extra days and went to MK for July 4th fireworks. wow what a huge crowd! It was packed and extremely humid. After the fireworks, we waited for the monorail nearly an hour to get to our rental car. After boarding the monorail, it was stalled and a fight broke out in our area between two middle-aged women. One apparently looked at the other the wrong way which resulted in shouting, near physical fighting, profanity and their children bursting in to tears. A very long night and folks were irritated ~ but still no excuse for two adults behaving this way.

I don’t think we’ll visit in July again! The spring and fall are so much more pleasant.

Welcome to the "Happiest Place on Earth". This is so sad, unfortunately people tend to overdo it when they go to Disney, they become over tired and irritable trying to do and see everything. Combine that with the heat and being overcrowded into WDW transportation systems and peoples nerves are frayed to the point of breaking. Still no excuse for behaving that way and especially in front of children...

The last time I went to WDW in the summer months (Aug) I was with my sister and girl friend. It was so hot my sister got heat stroke, after that I decided never to go again in the summer, I'm not a huge fan of very hot weather.

 

[CarolMN]

This really isn't a DVC subject so I'm moving it over to Theme Parks