Happy 4th of July folks! In honor of America's birthday, I decided to diverge a bit from the usual DCP posts and focus on taking a Disney vacation during the holidays.
Ah Disney during the holidays, it can be both an extremely magical time (more so than the rest of the year) and an extremely stressful time. I have had the pleasure of spending two holidays, 4th of July and New Years, in the Disney parks, and I'm here to give you some insight into how to make it out alive. Just kidding! But it can become really hectic, so it's good to be aware of what you're getting yourself into. Below are my top 5 things to be aware of to make the most out of your magical vacation and not let any unforeseen circumstances ruin it.
1. LOTS of waiting around
If you've ever been to the parks during high season, you may think yeah I already know this, but I'm here to tell you holidays are a whole other beast. The parks are even crazier on holidays than a typical high season day which means unfortunately there will be a lot of waiting around. You may be thinking, but I have my Fastpasses booked, so I'm good. But the Fastpass lines will even have a line and it will be nearly impossible to get any Fastpasses beyond the three you booked prior to arriving. Which means lines. Long long lines from everything from attractions to food to even the bathroom! If you're going to Disney during a holiday be prepared to wait.
2. Stake out fireworks spots early
With crowds comes longer waits (as we established earlier). That includes fireworks. Normally when I go to the Magic Kingdom I can play in the parks up until 15 minutes before the fireworks start and squeeze my way into a good spot, however, I've learned that if you want a good spot during a busy period, such as during the holidays, you're going to have to be prepared to wait.
When I celebrated New Years Eve in Disneyland a few years ago I started waiting for a fireworks spot at 8 PM. Now some of you may be thinking that's absolutely ridiculous, but hold your horses. The neat thing about celebrating New Years Eve in Disneyland is you get New Years Eve fireworks twice! You read that correctly. The first set of fireworks goes off at 9 PM to celebrate Walt Disney World in Orlando entering into the new year and the second set of fireworks happens at midnight to celebrate Disneyland entering the new year. So I staked out my fireworks spot at 8 PM because not a lot of people were aware of the two fireworks showings and I wound up with the perfect spot standing in the center of the park with Sleeping Beauty's castle directly in front of me!
3. Maximum Capacity
We hit maximum capacity when I celebrated New Years in Disneyland in 2015. The thing with maximum capacity though is you never quite know when it's going to be reached. It could be reached at 11 AM that day or 5 PM, it really just depends. So I highly recommend getting into the parks early on the holidays. And once you're in the parks plan to stay there for the entire day. It will be a long day, especially for something like New Years Eve, but there's nothing worse than being in the parks then going back to your hotel for a mid-day break only to come back and find out that maximum capacity had been reached and you're not allowed back into the park.
It's also important to be aware that maximum capacity closures happen in phases. There are plenty of resources online that explain what the different capacity levels are for Disney. All you need to do is Google Disney maximum capacity phases.
4. Watch fireworks elsewhere!
There are plenty of places throughout the Walt Disney World properties that offer excellent views of the fireworks, so if crowds aren't your thing just watch the fireworks somewhere else like your resort! If you're staying at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, or Contemporary resorts you will still be able to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks with much lower crowd levels. Some places at these resorts also will play the music that accompanies the fireworks, so all you would be missing out on would be the castle projections.
You can also see fireworks from the Caribbean Beach main pool (at least you could 12 years ago). I remember when my family vacationed to Disney for 4th of July being in the Caribbean Beach main pool and watching the fireworks go off. To this day it's still one of my favorite Disney memories.
5. Call your family
Since this is a DCP related blog I figured I should throw in one DCP specific thing. It can be really hard to be away from family during the holidays, so regardless of how busy you are or what you have planned, make sure you call and chat with your family. While it's not the same as being there with them it definitely will help combat the homesickness a little. Or better yet if you are lucky enough not to be working when the fireworks are being shown in any of the parks, why not FaceTime your family and share a magical moment with them?
Hopefully by being aware of these things you can have a more pleasant holiday trip to Disney and save yourself and your family from any unforeseen disappointments. Have a magical 4th of July!
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