Park strategies for July 4th

[Anal Annie]

So we went once during the week of July 4th several years ago and really didn't think the crowds were THAT BAD. I mean they were BUSY but no worse than Easter break. And we really enjoyed the special July 4th fireworks. I know it's going to be a busy vaca week & I think the new Genie+ system is going to be an expensive cluster you-know-what but I still booked a 5 night trip from June 30th - July 5th because we have AP's and are DVC and we had a few extra points to use. Bonus - my birthday is on the 2nd so that's always a good excuse too.(And I know there's no guarantee that they'll do "special firework" displays but that was always a thing in the past.)

ANYWAY, the last time we went (pre-covid) the recommendation from most people was to go to MK on the 3rd and EP on the 4th as they were doing the special fireworks at both parks on both nights but MK would likely be more crowded. Not sure that really matters as much now with with the stupid park reservation system & Genie+. But I'd like some thoughts from ya'll because I want to go ahead & make our park reservations. Since they've been doing the extended evening hours for deluxe resort guests I'm HOPING they'll still do them at EP on that Monday night (although I realize until they officially announce the dates it's hard to even guess). Would you say it probably doesn't matter as much which night we do which park or go ahead & do EP on Monday and MK on Tues this time????

 

[MrKnight]

IMO would recommend to sticking with the MK on the 3rd and EP on the 4th approach... MK is historically always the busiest and most crowded especially on holidays, meanwhile EP is always the most manageable as it is the larger and more spread out park with the highest capacity, even during holidays and peak periods.. Typically during any holiday weekend park hours for all parks are typically extended later into the evening so hopefully that won't be a factor..

 

[Anal Annie]

IMO would recommend to sticking with the MK on the 3rd and EP on the 4th approach... MK is historically always the busiest and most crowded especially on holidays, meanwhile EP is always the most manageable as it is the larger and more spread out park with the highest capacity, even during holidays and peak periods.. Typically during any holiday weekend park hours for all parks are typically extended later into the evening so hopefully that won't be a factor..

So you don't think the reservations system will play into anything???? I like the idea of the possibility of the extended hours for EP on Monday night as it gives that extra chance to ride GotG. But they may skip that this year given the dates / timing.

 

[MrKnight]

So you don't think the reservations system will play into anything???? I like the idea of the possibility of the extended hours for EP on Monday night as it gives that extra chance to ride GotG. But they may skip that this year given the dates / timing.

Considering that Disney manages their own self-imposed park reservations system and sets their own park capacity limits, this doesn't really seem to have had a huge impact on crowd levels, recent trip reports show that the parks remain extremely busy during holiday periods (just like pre-pandemic levels).. I would expect the parks to be busy..