Will Epcot close on July 4th?

[mousestruck]

We will be at WDW over the Fourth of July, which is a first-time experience for us. My daughter is dancing there for a special event, so no choice on the dates!

We're staying at the Poly and planning to completely avoid the parks on July 3 - watching the MK fireworks from the Poly beach. I understand the Epcot fireworks are special on the 4th, so I'd like to brave the crowds to see them. As of now, I have a late reservation at Tokyo Dining - hoping we can view the fireworks from there. However, I am worried about how early we need to get to Epcot. Is it likely that the park will close in the morning or afternoon? How early do we need to get there to be safe?

Advice appreciated!

 

[supersnoop]

Traffic will be backed up. Buses will be slow. The monorail might not be running. And it might take two hours to get through bag check and the gates. But, no, Epcot won't close. I doubt it will reach any stage of phased closure.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Epcot sucks up massive amounts of people. I worked a 13-hour shift there on New Year's Eve and it was non-stop from morning to night, and there was no phased closure. I wouldn't expect it to phase on the 4th.

 

[Robo]

Nope.

 

[Oswin]

Nope. You could probably walk in right before your dinner and not have any issue getting in.

 

[CAS239]

You'll be fine. Traffic might be backed up to get into MK, but you'll be fine getting into Epcot. We went to Epcot on New Years Eve and it was great. Had no issue getting into the park around 10/11am. Traffic was heavily backed up to MK and I couldn't imagine how long it took them to get to the park..but getting to Epcot was a breeze

 

[piccolopat]

You might also consider taking the bus from MK to the Beach Club and go through the International gateway.

 

[BenandMorgsMom]

That's what we are planning. We will also be there on the week of the 4th. We will take the bus from MK to Beach or BWV and walk thru the back entrance. Getting back will be trick! LOL

 

[mousestruck]

Thanks, everyone! What a great idea to take the bus to Beach Club. That's the new plan!

 

[skuttle]

A few years ago we were at WDW for the 4th. We went swimming the morning of the 4th, then later in the afternoon went to AK until it closed, then hopped a bus to Epcot for fireworks. We had no problem finding a spot to sit and watch the fireworks in a grass area they opened up for seating kind of across from the Imagination pavilion. We hung out there after the fireworks for a while, letting the crowds clear out a bit.

 

[WEDWDW]

Yes,it will definitely close but not until 10:00 PM.(It's open an extra hour on the 4th.)

 

[fla4fun]

That's what we are planning. We will also be there on the week of the 4th. We will take the bus from MK to Beach or BWV and walk thru the back entrance. Getting back will be trick! LOL

You can always go back to Beach or BW and either taxi or Uber from there, if you are concerned about Disney transportation being overcrowded and busy.

 

[Shellyb84]

We went in IG around 5pm, no wait at all. We were only in WS, but the crowd didn't seem any worse than any other day of our trip, up until about an hour before Illuminations. Then it got crazy! As the PP said, walking back out through IG and taking a taxi from BC is an excellent idea! Even having to go against the flow of traffic out of IG, it was still super easy leaving.