Three days scheduling conundrum at 4th of July

[CTDisneygal]

Good morning,

I should be prepping for the Pinewood Derby which begins in an hour, yet I find myself trying, once again, to get our plans set down. our dates are 7/1-7/12, but it is one of those split stays, with us arriving earlier than the rest of our travel party. Initially we were planning on Universal for the first few days, but our son isn't tall enough for many of the attractions he wants to go on and our older children also really want to go, but will not be on this trip (aside from our 22 yr old who will be babysitting).

Anyhow, we decided to go directly to Disney instead, which is great, but I really need to nail down the parks so that I can schedule ADRs. Our last Independence Day experience at Disney was 2008, so 12 years ago. We've been several times since, just not at he 4th. Of course, it is an entirely different park now, but our experience was so good at MK that day, I am having a hard time deciding against going there again, although my brain does know it is probably the last place i should be at. Every crowd calendar puts MK at red and AK as a caution, since the have AM EMH

SO, Option 1
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 AK
7/3 MK (fireworks from resort)
7/4 DHS

Option 2
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 MK
7/3 DHS (fireworks from resort)
7/4 AK (AM EMH)

Option 3
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 AK
7/3 DHS (fireworks from resort)
7/4 MK

My ultimate goal is to hopefully take advantage of early morning, since MK is open late on Friday night, but keeping in mind that the holiday falls on a Saturday, On the 4th, the rest of our travel party, including our oldest daughter, arrives around 4 and we move offsite, so our park day essentially ends about 3:30. Sunday 7/5 is a MK day, since our friends little girl has never been to the world and wants MK to be her first park

Thanks so much

 

[CastAStone]

I don’t think EMH will make much of a difference on July 4th. It’s not like other days.

July 4 is typically among the few busiest days of the year at MK. It will be BANANAS. The other parks don’t draw crowds the same way that day. I would do whatever I could to avoid it. I think AK is your best bet for 7/4 personally (honestly I think it’ll be relatively quiet) so I’d go with plan 2.

 

[CTDisneygal]

Thanks.

My experience was that MK was empty in the AM, but I am sure that isn’t the case any longer.

 

[CastAStone]

Thanks.

My experience was that MK was empty in the AM, but I am sure that isn’t the case any longer.

I think that it is still true until like 11 but after that it goes nuts. People want to see the special fireworks on July 4th.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I was there last July 4th. It was fine until about 3pm at the MK. We had a dessert party booked, so we stayed for the fireworks. I would not stay for fireworks without that party booked.

Honestly I wouldn't do it again and mainly because of the insanely loud music they had blaring through the park for hours before the fireworks. It totally ruined the vibe.

We had no trouble getting more FPs or walking around the lands. It's the Hub that you want to stay away from.

 

[CTDisneygal]

We had no trouble getting more FPs or walking around the lands. It's the Hub that you want to stay away from.

We are leaving for the day by 3/3:30. I am really trying to figure out which park to do that day in order to maximize efficiency

 

[SaintsManiac]

We are leaving for the day by 3/3:30. I am really trying to figure out which park to do that day in order to maximize efficiency

Sorry I missed that part. Saturdays, especially a holiday, are busy everywhere. If you rope drop and head out by 3 it really doesn't matter which one you go to, IMO.

 

[CTDisneygal]

Sorry I missed that part. Saturdays, especially a holiday, are busy everywhere. If you rope drop and head out by 3 it really doesn't matter which one you go to, IMO.

Thanks!

 

[CogsworthTN]

Good morning,

I should be prepping for the Pinewood Derby which begins in an hour, yet I find myself trying, once again, to get our plans set down. our dates are 7/1-7/12, but it is one of those split stays, with us arriving earlier than the rest of our travel party. Initially we were planning on Universal for the first few days, but our son isn't tall enough for many of the attractions he wants to go on and our older children also really want to go, but will not be on this trip (aside from our 22 yr old who will be babysitting).

Anyhow, we decided to go directly to Disney instead, which is great, but I really need to nail down the parks so that I can schedule ADRs. Our last Independence Day experience at Disney was 2008, so 12 years ago. We've been several times since, just not at he 4th. Of course, it is an entirely different park now, but our experience was so good at MK that day, I am having a hard time deciding against going there again, although my brain does know it is probably the last place i should be at. Every crowd calendar puts MK at red and AK as a caution, since the have AM EMH

SO, Option 1
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 AK
7/3 MK (fireworks from resort)
7/4 DHS

Option 2
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 MK
7/3 DHS (fireworks from resort)
7/4 AK (AM EMH)

Option 3
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 AK
7/3 DHS (fireworks from resort)
7/4 MK

My ultimate goal is to hopefully take advantage of early morning, since MK is open late on Friday night, but keeping in mind that the holiday falls on a Saturday, On the 4th, the rest of our travel party, including our oldest daughter, arrives around 4 and we move offsite, so our park day essentially ends about 3:30. Sunday 7/5 is a MK day, since our friends little girl has never been to the world and wants MK to be her first park

Thanks so much

We went last year during the 4th of July week. We went to magic kingdom on July 4th and had a great time. We did arrive at opening and we were able to accomplish 9 ride attraction including our 3 FP and a couple of shows before 2:00. I’m not sure if it was just an unusual magical Disney day, but I would definitely do it again. We went back to our resort to swim and enjoyed the fireworks from our resort.

 

[CTDisneygal]

Thx! That is similar to our experience from 2008. My concern for this year is that it is a Saturday which may draw tons of more local people earlier.
That said, I am also wondering if it being on a Saturday would benefit us at a different park, especially since neither AK or DHS have anything special for 7/4.

I guess I am only questioning since we also have MK scheduled for 7/5

 

[CTDisneygal]

Thanks for the help, folks. In the end, I created another option and went with that.


Option 4
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 DHS
7/3 MK (fireworks from resort)
7/4 AK (AM EMH)

REMAINDER OF TRIP ITINERARY

7/5 MK
7/6 EPCOT/ VAH
7/7 NO PARK DS BBB
7/8 AK
7/9 DHS
7/10 NO PARK TL(PM)
7/11 EPCOT

Fingers crossed MK is manageable during the morning hours on the 3rd.

 

[TTA Rider Matt]

Thanks for the help, folks. In the end, I created another option and went with that.


Option 4
7/1 Arrival day (no park)
7/2 DHS
7/3 MK (fireworks from resort)
7/4 AK (AM EMH)

REMAINDER OF TRIP ITINERARY

7/5 MK
7/6 EPCOT/ VAH
7/7 NO PARK DS BBB
7/8 AK
7/9 DHS
7/10 NO PARK TL(PM)
7/11 EPCOT

Fingers crossed MK is manageable during the morning hours on the 3rd.

I have been to WDW many times on the 4th, and the week leading up to the 4th has not been too bad in my experience, and you should be fine in the morning at MK. Late afternoon/early evening, if you want to get anywhere in the park, expect to have to battle your way through, as there is not a single area in the park that will not be body to body.

 

[Twitterpaited]

I would do MK on the 3rd. They have the Indpendence Day fireworks on both the 3rd and 4th. Epcot has Independence Day fireworks on the 4th. If you do HS on the 4th, you could take the Skyliner over to Epcot in the evening for the fireworks.