What to do on 4th of July?

[afcgirl]

I know this is early, but with the new 180-day ADR schedule, I thought I better get moving on this.

What should we do in the day and night on the 4th of July?

I know it will be extremely hot and crowded, we go every year in July and still love it.

I am thinking we should avoid MK, what about Epcot? Is there a night-time firework show at Epcot? Or should we go to Epcot in day then brave MK crowds for night-time show? We may just stay at the Poly pool during the day, but we want to at least see some fireworks somewhere at night.

Any help would be great.

 

[iluvcountry]

I have been to WDW on the fourth of July, so my advice... STAY AWAY FROM ALL THE PARKS! Unless you want to fight to get seats to watch fireworks, not really be able to go on any rides, and all that stuff, I would make a reservation at a restaurant to watch the fireworks.

Ohanas- MK Fireworks
or
Yacht and Beach Club, you can eat at Beaches and Cream, (no reservation needed, but you might be waiting a while) and head to the walkway to Epcot afterwards for the Epcot Fireworks.

Hope this helps .

 

[lovmy2girls]

Run......Run far away!....Just kidding.

Been twice now and I have to say I don't think ever again.

I would enjoy the day at my resort. Although, at the Poly, it was crowded on the fourth because a lot of people were there to sit on the beach and watch the fireworks.

 

[Tiffany]

We were at WDW over the July 4th holiday back in 1999. We enjoyed the day at Epcot very much. The American Adventure Pavillion had great activities going on when it opened. We head back to the BWI for afternoon nap and pool time and then headed back to EC for the night. They did the regular Illuminations show and then a special display in honor of July 4th. We enjoyed it very much.

 

[civileng68]

First of all, you ask if Epcot has fireworks. Epcot's fireworks on the 4th are 10X better than the MK's. I dont know why but they are.


The place is SUPER crowded and SUPER hot and SUPER LONG LINES. if you pay for a ticket on the 4th. You are basically paying for fireworks, becuase you wont get to do much else.

 

[afcgirl]

Run......Run far away!....Just kidding.

Been twice now and I have to say I don't think ever again.

I would enjoy the day at my resort. Although, at the Poly, it was crowded on the fourth because a lot of people were there to sit on the beach and watch the fireworks.

Thanks for the advice. Were you able to get a seat at the Poly beach? Was it enjoyable?

 

[afcgirl]

We were at WDW over the July 4th holiday back in 1999. We enjoyed the day at Epcot very much. The American Adventure Pavillion had great activities going on when it opened. We head back to the BWI for afternoon nap and pool time and then headed back to EC for the night. They did the regular Illuminations show and then a special display in honor of July 4th. We enjoyed it very much.

Sounds like a great day. I have heard Epcot is able to handle crowds better than MK. Did you find this to be true? Thanks for the advice.

 

[afcgirl]

First of all, you ask if Epcot has fireworks. Epcot's fireworks on the 4th are 10X better than the MK's. I dont know why but they are.


The place is SUPER crowded and SUPER hot and SUPER LONG LINES. if you pay for a ticket on the 4th. You are basically paying for fireworks, becuase you wont get to do much else.

Wow, I didn't know Epcot's fireworks were better. Was World Showcase hard to manage with the crowds or just Future World? We plan to stay away from the rides in Future World. Just want to possibly go to World Showcase in the evening after spending the day at the Poly pool. Thanks!

 

[pooh2001]

We'll be there 4th of July too - Our plans so far....

Go to AK park in the AM.
Lunch at Rain Forrest Cafe - since there is no DDE dicsounts on July 4th.
We can get a 10% discount at RFC with our AP's &/or RFC card.

Then after lunch head back to our resort - WL (I think) - relax by the pool.

In he evening we have 5:15 PM Spirit of Aloha reservations at the Poly.
The show will end around 7 PM.

If we are at the WL, then we will watch the MK fireworks from the WL beach.
If we are at an EPCOT resort - we will watch the fireworks from the Boardwalk.

We do not need front row seats for fireworks.
Nor do we need the crowds

 

[civileng68]

Wow, I didn't know Epcot's fireworks were better. Was World Showcase hard to manage with the crowds or just Future World? We plan to stay away from the rides in Future World. Just want to possibly go to World Showcase in the evening after spending the day at the Poly pool. Thanks!

Actually World Showcase handles the crowds better than ANY park.

Yes the fireworks at Epcot are MUCH more intense. We were amazed. Epcot literally lights up like a candle (and I really not exhagerating!). The finale is really just a big ball of fire in the sky, well about 5 balls of fire in various areas.

Anyways, rides will be packed but the showcase will be easy to navigate with very little problems.

IN WS we didnt wait any time for American Adventure and very little wait for Maelstrom.

Also just a note, if you sit on the north side of the lagoon, you can watch MGM's 4th of July show from just across the lake. It's generally an hour before epcot's.

Get to your seated spot for the Epcot show 1 1/2 hours before the fireworks if you want a decent front row seat.

 

[MagneticxBoy]

I will be there then too! and we are definately going to be at epcot the night of the 4th!

 

[TheresaNY]

We were there for the past 2 years on the 4th of July. Went to DTD and Epcot 2004....DTD was very crowded but Epcot (pre-Soarin') was empty up front and the fireworks were crowded but manageable. We stopped and shopped on the way out which was the worst part of the entire day !! Last year we went to Ohana's and Epcot. Dinner was delicious but we didn't have a very good table to see the fireworks (which we had seen the night before on a GG Fireworks cruise). I would head out to where you prefer to be and if it gets to be too overwhelming then hop out and go someplace else. As you know from being there in the summer, everything is open real late. So I say, go with your first choice and give it a try...you might end up with at least some great stories and memories from it !!

 

[iluvcountry]

I heard that you can't go on the beach at Polynesian unless you are a guest there... I don't know why, but that's just what I heard.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We were there last July 4th and it's not as bad as you expect as long as you stay away from MK on the 4th. What we did was to go over to MK on the night of the 3rd and watch the 4th of July fireworks (they had them on the 3rd and 4th). We went to Epcot on the 4th and it was really nice and not too crowded (considering the time of year). We originally had ADRs for WCC but dd didn't feel well so we just got burgers from Gasparilla's and watched the fireworks from our GF patio. Being you are staying at the POly you can watch them from the beach. We could see the Poly beach from our room and saw tons of people with lawn chairs set up early on their beach. It was really nice and the fireworks were spectacular.

 

[Tiffany]

Sounds like a great day. I have heard Epcot is able to handle crowds better than MK. Did you find this to be true? Thanks for the advice.

We found the crowds to be very manageable. EC is so much bigger than the MK that it can handle more people without making you feel overwhelmed.

 

[lovmy2girls]

Thanks for the advice. Were you able to get a seat at the Poly beach? Was it enjoyable?

We found a place on the beach among the crowds. I mean a sea of people. I asked my husband if there was anyone left in the MK, because they must all be here. They all cleared out afterward and we got the resort back if you know what I mean. We enjoyed it.

 

[afcgirl]

Thanks for all of the great advice! I feel much better now. I think we will stay at the Polynesian pool during the day and then head to Epcot in the evening for 4th of July festivities.

 

[mhingher]

I was there once last year for the 4th of July and I'll never go again! My best advice is to spend the day by your resort's pool, maybe do some shopping at DTD or mini golf. You can always watch the fireworks from somewhere outside of the parks. If you must go into a park, I would say go 1st thing in the am, get some attrations in and leave after lunch.

 

[afcgirl]

One more question, when do the fireworks start? 10 pm? Trying to decide when to make ADR for dinner that night. Thanks!

 

[julie.uk]

We were there for 4th July in 2003 and unlike most people on here we wanted to totally embrace the celebrations. Being from the UK we were keen to see how Americans celebrated this special day, so in the morning we went to MK which although busy wasn't unbearable, we walked up to the castle and immediately booked dinner there with no problem despite being told it was full on the telephone.
We really enjoyed the day, everywhere was decorated and many of the characters were in special costumes.

We stayed for the fireworks which went off all around the MK and I have to say were truly spectacular, then quickly we made our way by monorail over to Epcot, virtually running through Epcot to get to where we neded to be to see the fireworks. They started shortly after we arrived and were indeed wonderful and moving as there was a special tribute for the American forces.
There was rather a lot of smoke and the noise was incredible.
Immediately after the fireworks finished we hurried ouot of Epcot and back on the Monorail to MK's car park to collect our car. We drove back to the Wyndham Resort & Spa where we were staying and there from our room looking down on DTD we watched the 4th July fireworks of Pleasure Island with a glass of champagne in our hands. :thewave: A truly fabulous day.

Julie