WDW on the 4th of July

[Mackenzie McCarthy]

Help! For some reason I thought it would be great to travel to WDW during the week of the 4th (June 27-July 6). I've done Disney in the summer but never during this busy week. We are thinking of doing the water-parks (either/or) on the 4th (mostly because even at 10 after the hour all the fastpass+ for all 4 parks were taken up for the 4th).

Has anyone done this? Any tips for a first timer on the 4th to best enjoy ourselves? It will be my sister (9), best friend (24) and me (also 24).

Any suggestions or tips would be much appreciated!

 

[Accident]

MK usually has fireworks on the 3rd and 4th and then epcot or somewhere else will also have fireworks on the 4th.... It's a really big fireworks show that surrounds the magic kingdom so it's a great one to check out from outside of the park.. It's also a great time to rope drop the park. I did MK on the 3rd last year and found it rather uncroweed until about 3pm in the afternoon when everyone started to pack the place for fireworks.. it was ride things fast before 3, and good luck riding anything after 3 or 4..

There is also a lot of things in the area outside of property that happens for the 4th. I suspect you'll want to stay on property though

 

[BaseballMoM2007]

I can tell you what NOT to do. We wanted to avoid the parks because of crowds but wanted to see the fireworks from Contemporary. So we ate at Chef Mickey's. Took a bus after fireworks from there to Downtown Disney and then swapped to our resort bus and was in traffic for over two hours holding a sleeping 5 year old. If the fireworks are not a priority I would definitely recommend to eat dinner early and get back to your resort before the traffic gets bad. Water park or anywhere besides Magic Kingdom is probably a great idea.

 

[dbavis]

this year will be our fifth time going to WDW during July 4. Our dates are very similar to yours and i made our FP reservations this morning. Are you saying that you don't see FP availability for July 4 at MK? I just checked and I see plenty of options available. We're doing Typhoon Lagoon on 7/3 and then we'll probably head back to the resort (Poly) and watch the MK fireworks from there.

 

[amberpi]

I've done it a bunch and LOVE it! The park hours are super long, so I hit RD, take a huge break with pool and nap, and then get refreshed and head back around 7, and do dinner after the fireworks, like 9:45 and shut down the parks. I do lots of hopping and just see where the crowds are or stay until they close Epcot and then hop to MK and close that down. I'm a nightowl, but don't mind getting up in the morning either. The long breaks are awesome because we're away from the hottest, most crowded, I'm not sure how your sister will do, but as a kid that way and due to my dad owning and running newspapers (the one he ran day to day was a daily that printed at night) I had whackadoodle bedtimes, so I could have gone late any time. If your sis can keep up, ya'll could ROCK my plan. Either way, you'll have a freaking blast!

 

[wareagle57]

this year will be our fifth time going to WDW during July 4. Our dates are very similar to yours and i made our FP reservations this morning. Are you saying that you don't see FP availability for July 4 at MK? I just checked and I see plenty of options available. We're doing Typhoon Lagoon on 7/3 and then we'll probably head back to the resort (Poly) and watch the MK fireworks from there.

I'm curious what the OP did as well. We are going the 29th-3rd so this post freaked me out a bit. There is no way FP availability is gone 60 days out, no matter how crowded it is.

 

[AGoofykindagirl]

I can tell you what NOT to do. We wanted to avoid the parks because of crowds but wanted to see the fireworks from Contemporary. So we ate at Chef Mickey's. Took a bus after fireworks from there to Downtown Disney and then swapped to our resort bus and was in traffic for over two hours holding a sleeping 5 year old. If the fireworks are not a priority I would definitely recommend to eat dinner early and get back to your resort before the traffic gets bad. Water park or anywhere besides Magic Kingdom is probably a great idea.

How was the viewing at the Contemporary? Were you on the 4th floor observation deck and if so, how crowded was it? Sorry for the questions, but was thinking of doing this since we are actually staying at CR Garden wing on the 3rd. Thanks for your input.

 

[firsttimemom]

We check in the 2nd so can't see FP availability for a few more days. Hoping there are a couple left at AK on the 4th....

 

[Regan117]

OP are you sure about the fast passes? Here's what I'm showing for July 4th in MK...it's pretty much everything:

 

[dmband]

Fp at 9 am is a waste imo

As for the 4th, it's a circus!
It will not be as bad as whenit falls on a fri/sat/sun though because lots of people need to work Mon/wed

 

[wareagle57]

Fp at 9 am is a waste imo

As for the 4th, it's a circus!
It will not be as bad as whenit falls on a fri/sat/sun though because lots of people need to work Mon/wed

I tend to agree. If it's the only time you can get mine train or frozen I think it's worth it though. There are so many other things you could be doing at 9:59 with almost no wait.

However, with the ability to book 4th FP on the app and the seemingly more same day availability, I'm starting to come around on the idea of morning FP. I've always been a strong proponent of booking them in the mid to late afternoon when crowds are at their worst. But then by 5 or 6 when you use them, There won't be anything left. Whereas when I look now each day, the mountains and toy story and tower of terror have availability even in the early to mid afternoon. So if you use your 3 by 12, at 10:59, 11whatever, and 12:01, you could make probably at least two E ticket FP the rest of the day.

 

[Regan117]

Fp at 9 am is a waste imo

As for the 4th, it's a circus!
It will not be as bad as whenit falls on a fri/sat/sun though because lots of people need to work Mon/wed

There's FP availability all day on the 4th. That was just the default times that came up when I looked.

 

[DVC Jen]

this year will be our fifth time going to WDW during July 4. Our dates are very similar to yours and i made our FP reservations this morning. Are you saying that you don't see FP availability for July 4 at MK? I just checked and I see plenty of options available. We're doing Typhoon Lagoon on 7/3 and then we'll probably head back to the resort (Poly) and watch the MK fireworks from there.

This makes me feel much better. Our FP+ day is this coming Friday. We check in on the 3rd. I was a bit concerned that we won't be able to get anything.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

How's AK looking on July 1st and 2nd for the new Pandora rides? I can't book until May 2nd and hoping to get the new rides.

 

[Regan117]

How's AK looking on July 1st and 2nd for the new Pandora rides? I can't book until May 2nd and hoping to get the new rides.

Looks fine right now.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Looks fine right now.

View attachment 234033 View attachment 234034

Great! Thanks so much for the super-quick reply. Still may stay up late on the 1st and try to grab the times I want.

 

[Regan117]

Great! Thanks so much for the super-quick reply. Still may stay up late on the 1st and try to grab the times I want.

No prob. You caught me while I was tweaking mine.

 

[Shanti]

Help! For some reason I thought it would be great to travel to WDW during the week of the 4th (June 27-July 6). I've done Disney in the summer but never during this busy week. We are thinking of doing the water-parks (either/or) on the 4th (mostly because even at 10 after the hour all the fastpass+ for all 4 parks were taken up for the 4th).

Has anyone done this? Any tips for a first timer on the 4th to best enjoy ourselves? It will be my sister (9), best friend (24) and me (also 24).

Any suggestions or tips would be much appreciated!

We did Blizzard Beach on the 4th in 2015 and it was fine. Less crowded than it was in late July of 2016, actually. I do recommend water parks on the 4th rather than one of the dry parks that day. We did MK on July 3rd, which was crowded with long lines, but still bearable (no capacity closures, inability to move around, or anything like that). The special fireworks on July 3rd were great, and there were 12 - 2am EMH, which were fantastic. Would love to do a July 4th WDW trip again.

 

[dbavis]

Great! Thanks so much for the super-quick reply. Still may stay up late on the 1st and try to grab the times I want.

Remember that the FP window opens up at 7:00am eastern, not at midnight like it used to.

 

[preemiemama]

I made all my FP reservations this am. Had groups from 3 to 21 people from 6/28-7/5. Made a FP for the Navi River Journey for 21 on the am of 7/3. Had slots open for both rides all day. Also had no issues with availability of anything in any park for any of those days- Frozen and Mine Train included. I'm sure it will be busy, but there are plenty of FP still available for that week!