What to do on 4 July?

[pjn1]

Hello all,

Anyone got any suggestions for any events in the Kissimmee area for 4 July? We're avoiding the parks that day and would like to find something special to do during the day.

thanks!

 

[dc1964]

I have checked in for 3 nights at Portofino bay Hotel at universal for the 4th July, That give us front of line passes for the period of the stay. Therfore it doesn't matter how busy the parks are. The atmosphere should be great.
Even if you book just one night you can use the room key for 2 days, the day you arrive and the full day after you check out. It would be about $250 for the night but is well worth it. You can have a drink in the parks or City walk, Watch the fireworks and take the water taxi back to the hotel.

 

[Red-Snapper]

Not sure about Kissimmee itself but they do a family fair type thing with fireworks at several locations - I think Celebration and certainly at the big lake/park thingy in the center of Orlando (which I have forgotten the name of ) They are advertised in the Orlando Sentinel several days before and on local TV.

Altenatively it is worth finding somewhere to view the fireworks over Disney as they have a lot more on 4th July - all going off together.

I agree that without front of line access giving the parks a miss is a good idea, we found MK to be far to crowded and we gave up by lunchtime and went back to the pool.

 

[expatscot]

Do you have a villa? We once stayed in Kisimmee over the 4th of July holiday. We decided to have a 'rest' day at the villa that day, avoiding the parks and held our own 4th of July BBQ Party! The stores are full of celebration foods, flags etc. The villa overlooked the lake and many of the neighbours had fireworks etc. One family even had swing boats and pony rides in their back yard!!! What a great atmosphere everywhere - pity we're going in August this year!!

 

[pjn1]

Thanks to all for the quick replies. Gives me something to think about.

The hotel sounds good, but we've already planned park visits either side of the 4th. I'll keep it in mind for future reference. Handy to know about.

I'll have a nosy at the Orlando Sentinel website. We do have a villa, so I'm thinking it'd be nice to go somewhere first and then come back for our own party.

If the atmosphere is as good as it sounds, I'm tempted to make our party a bigger slice of the day.

Big thanks again.

 

[disneyholic family]

the fireworks in WDW are supposed to be good...you can see them without going into the parks...so that's an option for you..

we're also going to be at the portofino bay on the 4th and for the same reason as the other poster...to get those front of the line passes.....
but i'm sure the crowds are going to be unbearable there as well...oh well....

and now i'm trying to remember why i picked july as the month for this trip...there must have been a reason....i'm sure there was...oh yes....we go every july.....you'd think i'd learn...

 

[pjn1]

Just back from a great holiday and thought I'd add a little extra to this thread for people doing a search for similar next year.

There's a firework display at downtown Kissimmee. Easy to get to and has all the usual food stalls etc. Thunderstorms and rain spoilt the run up a bit though - be prepared. Celebration and downtown Orlando also had big events, but was told by locals the traffic would be very bad. That was one thing I wasn't prepared for during the 4th holidays - bad traffic in the days prior. What would normally take a 15 minute journey took 2 hours. If in a car, avoid the peak rush hour times going anywhere during this holiday time.

Funny thing though, the best night time performance was the thunderstorms and cloud-to-cloud lightning. Never seen anything like it before. Just make sure you're standing beside someone taller than you and you'll enjoy this time of year ...