July 4th crowds

[beyondinfinity]

I've read repeatedly that July 4th is the busiest day of the year at the parks, especially Magic Kingdom. Have you been? I am going down to officiate the girl's AAU Nationals in basketball at Wide World of Sports from the 5th through the 9th....staying to play without refereeing on the 10th! Last year we were there later in the month and there were substantial crowds, especially foreign tour groups.

If you've been around the 4th and stayed both before and after the actual 4th what were the crowds like? With the 4th on a Tuesday this year my guess is that people will likely come down on the weekend and stay through the week.

:wave:

 

[WDWRLD]

Try a search, this topic has come up a few times in the past weeks. The crouds on the 4th will be HUGE and the days before and after will be large also. Mk will close to capacity on the 4th and I think last year it happened by 10 or 11 am.

 

[TimonRulz]

I'll be there on the 4th as well. How do they work that "closing the park" thing? If people leave, will they let more in or once they close it, no one else can get in even if they have people leave?

 

[iheartdisney91]

im arriving on the 4th! i cant wait! just hope i will be able to move around the park lol. is there going to be a special firework show?

 

[typhoonguy]

Stay Away

im arriving on the 4th! i cant wait! just hope i will be able to move around the park lol. is there going to be a special firework show?

DANGER DANGER Will Robinson! Avoid at all costs! Avoid at all costs!

 

[TimonRulz]

I'll be arriving on the 4th as well and stayin at POP. It WILL be crazy, yeah, but one awesome experience, I'm sure. I don't plan on going during the 4th of July ever again, but once in a lifetime will be great!!

 

[mousermerf]

July 4th falls on a weekday ths year, and even Disney is expecting the crowds to come the weekend before but not so much the day-of. Look at the park hours for that period.

As for sepcial shows, they have special fireworks at MK on the 3rd and 4th (so the savvy folks watch the MK ones on the 3rd and hit Epcot on the 4th) and as mentioned Epcot has a special 4th tag to illuminations.

I need to go have a gander, but i think MGM is jsut doing 3 Fantasmics that night and no fireworks.

The 4th can cause phase-closing at any of the parks, and which park does what varies by year, but MK is pretty reliable in closing by atleast midday for a few hours. In years past both AK and Epcot have phased, MGM not so much.

 

[mousermerf]

I'll be arriving on the 4th as well and stayin at POP. It WILL be crazy, yeah, but one awesome experience, I'm sure. I don't plan on going during the 4th of July ever again, but once in a lifetime will be great!!

Check-in before you do anything else, even if it's early morning. Your room key card and resort transport will get you into the parks when they start to phase. Resort guests are the last ones locked out. Also, you can avoid the evil parking lots those days - Epcot's overflow lot is a hike.

 

[WDWRLD]

Once they reach their capacity they close. Last year in te afternoon they would reopen briefly after some people left after having enough of the crowds but that was hit n miss and I wouldnt count on it. Mainstreet will be so crowded that you will not be able to move from your spot from around dusk till the fireworks. Its really hard to explain other than its packed. Last year we found a spot at the hub and after a few minutes there wasnt even enough room to sit down where you were. We were literally elbow to elbow.

 

[spoiledmarie]

We were at Magic Kingdom last July 4th and it was insanely busy!! It was our first day of the trip and we got to the Magic Kingdom at lunch time and they had closed the park right after that. The lines were crazy and we only got to do 2 attractions in the whole afternoon. We left at 4 and went back to the hotel for a swim. We were going to go back for the fireworks, which I hear are amazing on July 4th, but did not feel like fighting the crowds and at that point we probably would not have even gotten back into the park anyways. The next day we were told that there had been 92,000 people in the Magic Kingdom that day!! So if you are going on July 4th, be prepared to fight the crowds and go early to the park!!

 

[isitingood]

Avoid the 4th

It's not worth it. I don't care if the 4th is on tuesday, the MK will sellout by noon and you are in hurricane season so it will probably rain quite a bit:lol:

 

[TimonRulz]

Check-in before you do anything else, even if it's early morning. Your room key card and resort transport will get you into the parks when they start to phase. Resort guests are the last ones locked out. Also, you can avoid the evil parking lots those days - Epcot's overflow lot is a hike.

Awesome, thanks!

Bad part is we'll be getting there on the 4th, so we will miss one of the fireworks shows. What do you guys think? If you had to pick only one to see, which one would it be? I haven't seen a 4th of July fireworks special at any of the parks, but which one would be most awesome?