My parents have lived in Orlando for 30 years now and I've been to the Disney parks many, many times, pretty much every time of year. Do not do a summer holiday weekend (Memorial, Independence or Labor Days). In addition to the heat and humidity of central Florida, you have unbearable crowds. You will often be stuck in crowds or lines out in the summer baking sun. Every place has lines. You will get to experience less than half of what you would any other time and what you do experience will be less enjoyable. For example, if you go someplace without fixed seating (like EPCOT's China pavillion or the Tiki Room) they will crowd more and more people into the room so that it is hot as the body heat overwhelms the A/C and packed with people. You should plan to wait at least an hour for virtually every attraction and at least 30 minutes to order counter-service food. Plan for 2 hours at any non-counter venue that you do not have a reservation for. In a number of places the indoor waiting is not long enough for the crowds, so bring at least SPF 50 for the hours that you'll be outside in the very hot Florida sun. Many, many people have gotten their vacations cut short by sunstroke in the summer crowds or gone home at night with a severe case of sunburn. Even the gift shops will be grossly overwhelmed with wall-to-wall people, so you only want to go in for an item you want, not to browse. It will take you forever to browse as you navigate the crowds. Under normal conditions, it is slow and difficult to navigate anywhere near the parade from about 30 minutes pre-parade to about 30 minutes post-parade. On summer days, you should just plan to avoid anywhere within about 100 yards of the parade route as those areas will be completely packed and unpassable. So, you should plan carefully what you plan to do during this time. This is about the least bang for the buck that you can get from Disney and frankly, from my perspective a waste of $100/day plus food.

Nuts Crazy ! !!!!

We went with my daughter in May one time and it was really, really hot. Can't imagine it in July. But if it is the only time you can go then do it and pace ourselves. Sunscreen. Hats. Lots of water. Go early and/or late. Consider returning to the hotel in the middle of the day or only doing half days at the park. Take advantage of fast pass attractions and indoor rides and shows.

I think you're crazy. My secretary went with her family over the 4th of July week, though, and had a great time. Plan carefully, get any sit-down meals reserved as early as you can, and use a touring plan.

I really like the Unofficial Guide to WDW. You need a copy of this book to make plans.

ATM is an acronym, not an abbreviation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course you can do it! Have a plan, go to the parks early, take afternoon breaks if need be, use fast pass, make dining ressies--it will be a lot of fun!

"Ressies"? The word is "reservations".

8:23 is obviously a Dis-er. They like to use a lot of abbreviations.

Saying "ATM" instead of "automatic teller machine is using an abbreviation. Saying "ressies" instead of "reservations" is baby talk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course you can do it! Have a plan, go to the parks early, take afternoon breaks if need be, use fast pass, make dining ressies--it will be a lot of fun!

"Ressies"? The word is "reservations".

8:23 is obviously a Dis-er. They like to use a lot of abbreviations.

Anonymous wrote:Of course you can do it! Have a plan, go to the parks early, take afternoon breaks if need be, use fast pass, make dining ressies--it will be a lot of fun!

"Ressies"? The word is "reservations".

Of course you can do it! Have a plan, go to the parks early, take afternoon breaks if need be, use fast pass, make dining ressies--it will be a lot of fun!

It sounds like your daughter is up for it...so do it! Disney always does an amazing job with holidays and since your daughter will be heading overseas maybe a patriotic week of 4th of July activities and lots of fellow Americans will be just the right "send-off"

Take her to Italy instead!

Disney/Universal would be a no-brainer for her were it not for the week. She's a big Harry Potter fan and we haven't been down there since Harry Potter World opened at Universal, so she wants to go there. And DD and I are both in education-related fields and so we still appreciate child-like fun

We would be going through our time share company, so not a Disney property. And we would also be able to use the time share for another affordable trip to visit her overseas (and are planning to do so at Christmas).

It will be hell on Earth....from a Disney veteran.

The humidity and the crowds will be beastly, but if you are really up for it, then do it! bring/buy some of those hand-held mister fans, lots of cold drinks, and lots of sunscreen. Personally, I wouldn't do it, but I imagine there will be some fun 4th of July happenings and probably some really great fireworks displays. Perhaps you would want to consider renting a house with a pool nearby so you could escape the crowds in the parks and the hotels and get a bit of relief from all of the intensity.

And are you sure this is something your daughter really wants to do for her college graduation? If not, perhaps it would be better to save your money and plan to do a big family trip overseas during part of the time she is there.

Considering a trip to Disney and the week of 4th of July is the only week our schedules work that we can go. Will the crowds/heat be completely unbearable? No young kids, so that's not a concern. This would be a trip for DDs college graduation, it's been a while since we've last been and DD is going out of the country for grad school so it may be a while until we can go again. Will it be so unbearable that we regret the whole thing?

(PS. Tried to look on disboards, but everyone was so GUNG HO DISNEY! there that it was hard to get an accurate read. Looking for the more cynical DCUM point of view )