I hear July 4th is very busy, and some say not?

hilaryjudsong

hilaryjudsong

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 25, 2006
Help! booked June 29-July 6, 2017 for my DBF, and 2 DD's. Celebrating DD's high school graduation. Last year, I heard it was quiet during Fourth of July. This year, it is on a Tuesday. Thoughts??
 
the parks kind of have some signs when it's really crowded or they are expecting it to get really crowded.. I'm just going to focus on MK as it's similar in all parks. they also appear to happen in this order..

1: more security then your used to seeing and they aren't ghosting each other (training appears to have a period of time where 2 security guards work together and 1 is doing more overseeing of the other). If it's just more security available to check you, the park is either your going to get nothing done crowded or it's expected to turn into that before the shift ends.

2: more counter service locations are opened. I look across to the one that is in with the desert party or the one that is across from the pirates ride. those are usually closed unless they are expecting more capacity then the usual always opened ones are getting.

3: cast members start to hold signs in narrow walkways telling you to stay right. commonly found in the back to help people walk around between the carousel all the way to liberty square.

4: the line of castmembers is more of a wall of castmembers and they are verbally louder in staying right and calling out people not staying right to get right.

Meanwhile..

A: rides that generally are short wait start to have 20-30 minute waits and the popular rides start to break an hour.
B: all rides are long waits.
c: peopel hang out for hours in the hub for the best spots.

Now that all happens without any type of phased closing. July 3rd and 4th or any major holiday, magic kingdom will be the experience of all of them, however it doesn't really start to get heavily crowded to the point you start to give up on rides until closer to dinner when everyone just coming for fireworks start to pack the place. If it's a place where drinking is common with the celebration, then expect epcot to also be crazy full. If there is a special fireworks or show for the holiday in the park it's disney trying to get people to spread out to many parks and everyone is crazy... daytime holidays are more common to be more crowded near lunch like xmas when people think they are going to be in the live parade that isn't live.

The holidays with special fireworks at MK (july 4th and new years eve), it's an amazing time to rope drop, get out of there by early afternoon and then plan to catch the fireworks from a monorail resort. Those fireworks displays are the largest you'll find with only a couple exceptions of some shows elsewhere in the world being larger. They even close the boats down for about an hour to bring out barges loaded up with extra fireworks. I have some friends that love celebrating those holidays by booking a room at poly and just watching from there never setting foot in the parks at all. (check youtube to see the fireworks, they are great and to be honest, in the park might actually be the worst place to see them).
 


We have been going the 4th of July for the last few trips. On the 4th we like to go to a water park for as long as we want and then have dinner at one the hotels with reservations.
 
Our neighbors went this year and said it was crowded on the 4th. they go at least 3 times a year so they have something to compare the crowd levels too and said that the 4th was busy.
 
The third and the fourth are super crazy busy. We were there on the 3rd several years ago and tried to go to MK in the evening to see the fireworks. They have the same fireworks show on the 3rd as well as the 4th. We left over an hour before they were to begin and were stuck on the Disney resort bus in traffic and missed most of the fireworks. So, if you go and want to be in MK for the fireworks go for the full day or get their by mid afternoon before they stop people from entering.
 


Quite on the fourth in comparison to what?

It won't be quite, a midweek celebration is better than one on or attached to the weekend. But it will be very crowded that time of year (without a holiday thrown in)... you'll just want to plan according and prepare yourself, and it will be manageable.
 
You are the first person I have ever "heard" that said the parks may be "quiet" for 4th of July. :)

Just make sure you all have a plan and keep your deadlines for FP, Dining, etc.

Have fun!
 
hilaryjudsong said:
Help! booked June 29-July 6, 2017 for my DBF, and 2 DD's. Celebrating DD's high school graduation. Last year, I heard it was quiet during Fourth of July. This year, it is on a Tuesday. Thoughts??
Click to expand...
4 of July is one of the 4 most busy times of the year. have fun and plane your FP and be ready for very long lines for all rides ( I was there last 4 and there was even a line for carousel of progress, the people mover had a 30 minutes wait.
 
We were at MK on the 4th last year and I was pleasantly surprised. I prepared for the worst. We were off site so we got there super early, then just in case there were some closures and we had trouble getting there in the am I had made a lunch ADR (since that helps with the initial closure levels). All of my concern was for nothing. We did soo much! Before our ADR (at noon) we went from attraction to attraction with very little wait! After our ADR we found a spot to watch the parade and then we had all of our FP pretty much back to back. This worked out perfectly because when the park was the busiest we could just by pass the majority of the lines. After our FP rides we went and found a place to watch the fireworks, then got something to eat and went to watch the parade. After the parade we were heading out and stumbled across CTM so we watched that before leaving. I know some of these things are no longer options (parade & CTM) but was just trying to give an idea of how we planned our day. It was a fantastic day, not at all the craziness I expected and really just a lovely time. Now, some say it was less crowded because the weather was expected to be less than stellar (keeping the locals away) and yes, it did rain but we were prepared and it didn't stop any of the entertainment we were excited for so it worked for us.

My thoughts are go with a bit of a plan (ours was rope drop, lunch time ADR to cool off/relax/regroup, afternoon FP then night time entertainment), prepare for the heat and crowds and have a fantastic time!!
 
We did almost the exact same dates, July 2-9, 2015. I agree with a PP that said that if you don't mind missing a park on the 4th, a great alternative is an ADR at a monorail resort. We chose the 4th as our rest day, went to Vineland Outlets, enjoyed airconditioned stores, and came back for an 8:00 p.m. ADR at the Cali Grill. Had the BEST view of the MK fireworks, Epcot fireworks, and HS fireworks. So many fireworks! Cali Grill pipes in the fireworks music from MK. We actually had glitches with the sound system, and the whole room sang. It was very magical.
 
SanDiegoDayTripper said:
We did almost the exact same dates, July 2-9, 2015. I agree with a PP that said that if you don't mind missing a park on the 4th, a great alternative is an ADR at a monorail resort. We chose the 4th as our rest day, went to Vineland Outlets, enjoyed airconditioned stores, and came back for an 8:00 p.m. ADR at the Cali Grill. Had the BEST view of the MK fireworks, Epcot fireworks, and HS fireworks. So many fireworks! Cali Grill pipes in the fireworks music from MK. We actually had glitches with the sound system, and the whole room sang. It was very magical.
Click to expand...
Love this idea! Thank you!
 
I met my family over at Disney on the 5th and 6th last year. I drove over after work on the 5th and went to AK with my younger sister and walked on everything that was still open. On the 6th a group of 8 went over to MK. We did pretty much anything and by adding additional fast passes on the app throughout the day we had little waits for everything. Be smart and somewhat strategic and youll be fine. Stay hydrated! It can be killer out there if youre not used to it. My brother and his family were no longer used to FL hear and struggled.
 
I'm not sure about Disney, but Universal was way less crowded than I expected on the 4th this past summer. I got the impression from everyone that all the parks were experiencing lower than average crowds. It's one of the reasons I was able to get a great last minute deal. Honestly, I wouldn't expect that trend to continue next year. I think the only reason crowds were so low this year was because of the shooting right before. People were nervous about attacks and backed off going for awhile. That was my impression at least.
 
We were at Disney over the July 4th holiday in 2015 and we were pleasantly surprised by the crowds. I went in with low expectations and it was much better than what I thought. We went to the MK on July 3rd and watched the fireworks that night. It was crowded but very, very manageable. On July 4th we watched the fireworks from the Poly beach (our hotel). It was crowded but, again, manageable. We actually wanted to go again over the 4th last summer but it didn't work for our schedule. Go and enjoy yourself! The MK fireworks are unbelievable!
 
siskaren said:
If by closed to capacity you mean no one is allowed in, no, it's unlikely to reach that level, even on the 4th of July. There are, however, 4 levels of closure, and MK has closed for the 2nd and 3rd level on July 4th in recent years:

https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/capacity-closures
Click to expand...
Accident said:
the parks kind of have some signs when it's really crowded or they are expecting it to get really crowded.. I'm just going to focus on MK as it's similar in all parks. they also appear to happen in this order..

1: more security then your used to seeing and they aren't ghosting each other (training appears to have a period of time where 2 security guards work together and 1 is doing more overseeing of the other). If it's just more security available to check you, the park is either your going to get nothing done crowded or it's expected to turn into that before the shift ends.

2: more counter service locations are opened. I look across to the one that is in with the desert party or the one that is across from the pirates ride. those are usually closed unless they are expecting more capacity then the usual always opened ones are getting.

3: cast members start to hold signs in narrow walkways telling you to stay right. commonly found in the back to help people walk around between the carousel all the way to liberty square.

4: the line of castmembers is more of a wall of castmembers and they are verbally louder in staying right and calling out people not staying right to get right.

Meanwhile..

A: rides that generally are short wait start to have 20-30 minute waits and the popular rides start to break an hour.
B: all rides are long waits.
c: peopel hang out for hours in the hub for the best spots.

Now that all happens without any type of phased closing. July 3rd and 4th or any major holiday, magic kingdom will be the experience of all of them, however it doesn't really start to get heavily crowded to the point you start to give up on rides until closer to dinner when everyone just coming for fireworks start to pack the place. If it's a place where drinking is common with the celebration, then expect epcot to also be crazy full. If there is a special fireworks or show for the holiday in the park it's disney trying to get people to spread out to many parks and everyone is crazy... daytime holidays are more common to be more crowded near lunch like xmas when people think they are going to be in the live parade that isn't live.

The holidays with special fireworks at MK (july 4th and new years eve), it's an amazing time to rope drop, get out of there by early afternoon and then plan to catch the fireworks from a monorail resort. Those fireworks displays are the largest you'll find with only a couple exceptions of some shows elsewhere in the world being larger. They even close the boats down for about an hour to bring out barges loaded up with extra fireworks. I have some friends that love celebrating those holidays by booking a room at poly and just watching from there never setting foot in the parks at all. (check youtube to see the fireworks, they are great and to be honest, in the park might actually be the worst place to see them).
Click to expand...


I know this thread is a bit old, but hoping maybe you'll see it anyway so I don't have to start a new one. Does Epcot ever really close to capacity? We have an ADR there on 4th of July for 2017 at around 6:00.
 
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