Fourth of July at Disneyland
Like many American's on this most celebrated holiday, we chose to go out and enjoy the summer weather, eat some good but bad for you foods and take in a fireworks show.
Living in Southern California our options to accomplish these feats were vast and ranged in price from free to very expensive. There were options seemingly everywhere, from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, to the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood. Many of the famed beaches were also participating in fireworks displays as well as residential neighbors scattered throughout the area. Finding a fireworks show on July 4th was not a problem. Our issue was which one should we attend with low cost and little effort on our part?
Disneyland kept coming up as the best choice for us and the reasons may surprise you.
First off, Disneyland is notoriously busy during the summer months and can get quite hot as well. So crowds and the heat definitely played a part in our decision. Luckily both the crowds and heat were forecast to be low. For the past few years my friends who are still cast members in the parks tell me that July 4th is not as busy as it once was in the past. Taking this into consideration and seeing that the weather was also supposed to be in our favor (85 degrees) we could check off both of those reasons as a plus to go to Disneyland.
The last being overall price of the event, that was easy since we're already annual pass holders, it wasn't going to cost us anything more than we already pay to attend and that was the final thing that sealed the deal...we were going to Disneyland for the 4th of July!
We got into Disneyland at 8:30am. We tried to be there by 8:00am when they opened but we just couldn't get out of bed, that snooze button on my alarm was too tempting for us. But arriving by 8:30am was still great. We parked in the Mickey and Friends parking structure, which we had read prior to our arrival that sometimes they curb the attendance there by only filling up 70% or so then closing it down only to re-open later in the day to catch those who arrive just to watch the fireworks. I am not sure if this turned out to be true or not as we did not return to the parking structure until we left the parks for the day around 11:30pm. But we were happy to have parked in the structure and caught a tram over to the esplanade area.
We've been wanting to try out Disney's MaxPass feature and we thought that July 4th was the best day to try it out. We think we're going to add it to our annual passes when we renew, so this was going to be our "test" to see if we like the features and if it helps us save time like we think it will. I want to do a more in depth blog regarding the Disney MaxPass so I will reference it a bit throughout the remainder of this blog but very soon I will post a detailed blog about Disney's MaxPass option.
We booked our fast pass for the new Incredicoaster as soon as we entered the park thanks to our MaxPass, so that was taken care of. Throughout the day, we continued to book fast passes via the Disneyland app using our MaxPass saving us the hassle of physically walking to each attraction to obtain our fast passes.
The crowds were moderate at best which was fantastic! During the first few hours of our visit, we took our time strolling down Main Street U.S.A. and checking our the merchandise. We took advantage of some picture spots which had signs celebrating the 4th of July holiday that you could hold up for your photo.
In Toontown, we almost walked right up to Minnie Mouse at her house photo spot, which often has a 30-60 minute line, we waited less than 10 minutes. We walked right on Gadgets Go Coaster, literally zero wait time for us. Now Toontown is one of the farthest parts of the park, but even Toontown usually has some lines by this time (9:30/10:00am). This was a good indicator that the parks were not going to be too busy.
After Toontown we took the train back to Main Street where we exited Disneyland and made our way to Disney California Adventure park. While walking from the train station but before we got to DCA's main gate, I was able to use the MaxPass to book our second fast pass for the day, for Grizzly River Run for a return time of now! Yes, the return time was from 10:20-11:20am, with the current time being 10:18am, so by the time we walked there we were able to scan the fast passes and enter the queue which was only a 5 minute or less wait. We had not yet rode Grizzly River Run since we've had our annual passes, so this was on our list to check off before our year is up. The ride was a lot of fun, our fellow rafters were in good spirits and everyone was having a good time. As many know, sometimes you can wind up with some sour apples for people in those rafts, but we had a good experience. We did get somewhat wet, but nothing near enough to say drenched.
We then headed towards the Incredicoaster, and while walking there, we were able to yet again book another fast pass since we just redeemed the Grizzly River Run FP, so we got our next FP for Toy Story Midway Mania for a 12:45pm return time.
The "new" Incredicoaster looks great. Even though we have not yet watched the Incredibles 2, we could appreciate the new architecture with its modern look and colors. The track itself remains the same as it was for California Screamin' but with some additional effects and features. First off the soundtrack is all new to reflect a story line for the attraction. Edna Mode is tasked with watching Jack Jack (the baby) but he suddenly disappears via his teleportation abilities and he's gone. The rest of the family is now on the search to retrieve Jack Jack safely and bring him back home. The roller coaster still uses the magnetic propulsion system which propels riders from 0-55mph in just a few seconds. The older son, Dash runs beside you as you launch from the starting point and you can see his footsteps as he skips across the surface of the water beside you. The new sound track also provides his voice to add to the water effect. As you ride through the multiple tunnels, the rest of the family are inside doing different things to try and capture Jack Jack. The addition to these props and the new sound track fit in together nicely and make for a solid ride. Surprisingly the Incredicoaster was not the longest wait time in DCA, that honor went to the Radiator Springs Racers, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. The new Pixar Pier was crowded as lots of people were anxious to check out the new buildings, food and games.
Now lets fast forward a bit, we continued to book fast passes via the MaxPass app, there were a couple we ended up not using but we booked them anyways just in case. Beside the obvious crowds gather for the parades throughout the day, we never felt that either park was busy. It was around 8:20pm that we headed to Main Street to see how the crowds were forming as by then, we expected people to be waiting for the fireworks show which was scheduled to be the regular summer fireworks at 9:30pm followed by a special Fourth of July fireworks show immediately following that. The crowds around the hub and most of Main Street were dense, however many people were still sitting on the ground. We knew at some point, the special events cast member would "ask"...tell, everyone to stand up and move forward to fill as many people as possible into the view areas. The cast members did this around 9:00pm. Until then, we took a seat on the ground at the end of Main Street, probably technically in Town Square. Once we were told to stand and move forward, we ended dead center of Main Street on the farthest end closest to Town Square, literally standing on the trolley tracks, where the tracks join together to one track. We had a great spot, no one too tall in front of us and only one kid on their parents shoulders, but even they were probably 7-10 people in front of us so it really wasn't a bother to our view.
The summer fireworks show this year is called: Together Forever: A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular! We've caught this show before, but not from the best vantage points and our last time, we only caught glimpses of it as we walked past it. So this was really our first go at trying to watch it and again, we had a great spot so we rather enjoyed it. They project many images throughout the entire show on the castle, the buildings along all of Main Street and if you are else where in the park, they also do it in New Orleans/Frontierland on the Rivers of America and at It's a Small World in Fantasyland. The images accompany the fireworks and the songs and add a nice touch to the show. In our opinion, we had the best view of just about anyone because we could see all of Main Street and the Castle. Just a quick note for those who choose to watch it at Rivers of America or It's a Small World, you will not be able to see the fire effects or Buzz Lightyear/the Up House fly over the castle. (We did not see Buzz Lightyear fly across the sky on this night, as we believe there was some malfunction or error in the show, but the Up House did fly across and looked amazing!) Beyond that, you will get to experience the projections in different ways at all locations.
Immediately following the Together Forever fireworks, the fourth of July show began with a short narration about America then "God Bless America" blared over the speakers and the fireworks began. In the middle was another short narration, then Main Street lit up proudly and brightly with the American flag flowing over the buildings as "You're a Grand Old Flag" played loudly. This show was about 15 minutes long, but well worth it. The fireworks themselves were big and plentiful. The music was beautiful and well chosen for the occasion. The flag projection during the last portion was worth it alone. It looked amazing to see Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and all of Main Street draped with the stars and stripes of our great nation. Well done Disneyland!
Marzz and I already discussed what to do after the show ended, seeing how thousands of people were going to be trying to exit once the show ended, so as planned, we made a bee-line for the fire house in Town Square where we took shelter from the massive crowds trying to exit the park. There was no one else inside when we arrived and only one other person joined us while we sat on the fire engine for 20-25 minutes. It was a welcomed rest for our legs, to finally sit down and it was beyond the chaos so we could sit and watch the madness unfold from a safe spot.
All in all we had a great day and really enjoyed our time in the parks. As Doc Brown would remind us, the future isn't written yet, for anybody, but if this year is any indication of the future, I would recommend going to Disneyland for the 4th of July as the crowds are moderate and the fireworks show is first class.
Thanks for reading and very soon we will be posting some videos on our youtube channel, NateandMarzz so stay tuned for those!
NOTE: I included a screenshot in our photo gallery below to give you an idea of how many people decided to watch the fireworks show. The screenshot notes the current time being 9:05pm and Indiana Jones, one of the most popular attractions that generally carries a wait time of 45 minutes or longer, only has a 15 minute wait time!
