MK on July 4th- What time should we get there?

[puffkin]

We are honeymooning in WDW over the 4th. We are going to be in Universal staying at the Royal Pacific for July 1-4. We are transferring over to WDW on the 4th and staying at the Pop Century that night before checking into the Polynesian on the 5th. Anyway, I would really like to go to the MK for the fireworks that night (I know it will be crowded, but it is my honeymoon and that is where I want to see the fireworks ). We have a PS at the Liberty Tree Tavern that night for dinner.

I know that the parks close to capacity that day, but do they start letting people in later in the afternoon? The earliest we could get to the park would be noon, but we would prefer to just hang out at the resort and get into our room and heading over in the late afternoon. Which would be the better strategy this day? Thanks for the replies!

 

[puffkin]

Sorry, meant to post this on the theme parks board. Hopefully a moderator can move it over.

 

[nicdanh]

Get there as early as you can. I have been there for the 4th and it get VERY crowed fast. You should be ok if you arrive by 2:00pm. Good luck!

 

[KFISCHER]

Hop on the bus and get to the Magic Kingdom ASAP.
It will be extremely crowded.

And Pop Century is the hotel furthest away from the MK.

So don't waste any time.

We were in MK New Year's Eve. If the July 4th fireworks are anything like the ones we saw. battling the crowds will be well worth it.

Enjoy, and congrats!

 

[TigerLaw]

one point to remember is that by staying on site, you can still get into the park even if it is closed to non-resort guests due to the crowds. I was there two years ago when this happend and I was so nosey I had to look after our tony's dinner at the ride time board and all the e ticket's were at 2hours plus. I know you want to watch the fireworks at MK, but just to throw it out there, there will be fireworks at MGM that are incredible. we did that instead of MK b/c of the crowds and also we thought it was uniqure in that there are only fireworks at mgm a couple times a year. also, remember that illuminations is jazzed up for the 4th as well. I think if you time it right, you could do mgm and then see illuminations as well. just a thought.

 

[TigerLaw]

one point to remember is that by staying on site, you can still get into the park even if it is closed to non-resort guests due to the crowds. I was there two years ago when this happend and I was so nosey I had to look after our tony's dinner at the ride time board and all the e ticket's were at 2hours plus. I know you want to watch the fireworks at MK, but just to throw it out there, there will be fireworks at MGM that are incredible. we did that instead of MK b/c of the crowds and also we thought it was uniqure in that there are only fireworks at mgm a couple times a year. also, remember that illuminations is jazzed up for the 4th as well. I think if you time it right, you could do mgm and then see illuminations as well. just a thought.

 

[YCFAN]

Sorry TigerLaw but that's not always correct. There are 4 stages of park closure at WDW. The fourth and final stage is the park is closed to everyone not already in the park because of the extreme number of guests inside. This happened last year and I believe the year before. If it happens it doesn't even matter if you have a PS in the park and are a resort guest, you're not getting in the park. Our itinerary planner at YC last year let us know about it ahead of time and sure enough around 3:00 pm the park closed and we would not have been able to get back in!! Go as soon as you can and just enjoy what's available, sometimes with the crowds that might mean sitting on a curbside watching people, but it's WDW and it's July 4th. You'll find pleasure in the little things (eating ice cream and just thinking about the fireworks to come). Enjoy, but get in the park by early afternoon.