MK Park Closure July 3rd - how often has it happened?

[MACfamily4]

We have always been a hard-core, rope-drop-to-close family, so despite the fact that we are usually there over the 4th of July holiday, we have never concerned ourselves with possible park closures. We plan to RD Magic Kingdom on July 3rd this year, but would like to leave about 2:00 and return for our Dessert Party ADR about 7:00. We are resort guests with multi-day tickets and will be using Disney transportation. I understand the phases and how park closures work, but what I can't find is a record of when and in what phases MK has closed. I know there are risks in leaving, I'm just trying to determine, from a historical perspective, how high the risk might be. What do you think?

 

[FINFAN]

We have always been a hard-core, rope-drop-to-close family, so despite the fact that we are usually there over the 4th of July holiday, we have never concerned ourselves with possible park closures. We plan to RD Magic Kingdom on July 3rd this year, but would like to leave about 2:00 and return for our Dessert Party ADR about 7:00. We are resort guests with multi-day tickets and will be using Disney transportation. I understand the phases and how park closures work, but what I can't find is a record of when and in what phases MK has closed. I know there are risks in leaving, I'm just trying to determine, from a historical perspective, how high the risk might be. What do you think?

I think you will be OK, but personally I would call WDW and ask, since you have the dessert party ADR's booked, and you have to cancel that a day out to not be charged $ per person...how this works.
We have been over the 4th and have not run into an issue, arriving about 6 pm on the 4th itself one time~but so many things/policies have changed, I would ask WDW directly.
Have a great trip

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . about 2:00 and return for our Dessert Party ADR about 7:00. We are resort guests with multi-day tickets and will be using Disney transportation. I understand the phases and how park closures work, but what I can't find is a record of when and in what phases MK has closed. I know there are risks in leaving, I'm just trying to determine, from a historical perspective, how high the risk might be. What do you think?

1) If the park hits Phase/Step-4, no one enters. as you already know.
2) Period.
. . . even if you stay on-site
. . . even if you were there earlier in the day
. . . even if you have a ADR, with a $10 no-show penalty
. . . even if you have a pre-paid eating event
3) If you are concerned, cancel now, because you WILL be charged if you don't show.
. . . the $10 no-show penalty per-person for an ADR
. . . the full meal price at pre-paid meals
4) Not being admitted due to capacity is not an excuse for missing an ADR.
5) As for some history,
. . . MK usually gets to at least Stage-3 on July 3rd
. . . MK usually gets to Stage-4 on July 4th, and frequently multiple times during the day
. . . typically, the closure only lasts 2-3 hours
. . . but, around fireworks time, it can close well before the fireworks
. . . after all, July fireworks (3rd and 4th) are the best ones at MK

NOTE: Your resort Concierge can tell you the "closure" status. However, they
only know the current status or closures earlier in the day. They cannot at all
predict the next 5-minutes, let alone the next 5-hrs or 5-days.