Disney World Reverses Fourth of July Plans: No Double Fireworks at EPCOT, Adjusted Magic Kingdom Hours

Jun 20, 2024 in "Fourth of July at Walt Disney World"

Gallery / 4 Photos
Fourth of July at Walt Disney World

Posted: Thursday June 20, 2024 4:18pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney made a surprise announcement via the official Disney Parks Blog earlier this week that EPCOT's Fourth of July show, "The Heartbeat of Freedom," would be shown on both July 3 and July 4 this year, the first time that EPCOT would have celebrated on two nights.

It seems that the wires had somehow crossed, and Disney has today updated its news release to say that EPCOT's show will only take place on July 4 as normal, at 9 pm.

Additionally, Magic Kingdom has backtracked on plans for extended hours on July 3 and 4. Disney's original release said the park would be open from 8 am to midnight on July 3 and from 8 am to 1 am on July 4. The updated calendar now says July 3 hours are 9 am to 11 pm (11 pm to 1 am for Extended Evening Hours guests) and 8 am to 11 pm on July 4.

Here are the updated plans for Fourth of July 2024 at Walt Disney World:

Park Hours

Magic Kingdom will be open from 9 am to 11 pm on July 3 and from 8 am to 11 pm on July 4.

Fourth of July at Walt Disney World

Fireworks Over Magic Kingdom

One of the highlights of the holiday will be "Disney's Celebrate America! A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky," scheduled for July 3 and July 4 at 9:20 pm.

Disney's Celebrate America firework show

Heartbeat of Freedom Fireworks at EPCOT

At EPCOT, guests can enjoy "The Heartbeat of Freedom," a patriotic fireworks display that will follow the new nighttime show, "Luminous: The Symphony of Us." This show will take place on July 4 at 9 pm.

Dance Parties at Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom will host lively dance parties with DJs spinning tunes in front of Cinderella Castle and throughout the park.

Voices of Liberty at EPCOT

Throughout the day at EPCOT, visitors can enjoy the harmonious sounds of the Voices of Liberty. This renowned a cappella vocal group will perform patriotic numbers in the rotunda of The American Adventure, adding a special touch of Americana to the celebrations.

Patriotic Disney Character Photo Opportunities

Guests will have the chance to meet and take photos with their favorite Disney characters dressed in their patriotic best. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy will be donning their "Spirit of '76" attire and meeting guests throughout the day at The American Adventure in EPCOT.

Fourth of July at Walt Disney World

Spaceship Earth in Patriotic Colors

As night falls, Spaceship Earth at EPCOT will be illuminated in red, white, and blue.

Spaceship Earth July 4 ambient lighting design

Discuss on the Forums

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RoyWalleyJul 06, 2024

Wow, what a fantastic picture, thanks for sharing it.

DisoneJul 06, 2024

Yeah that guy's a real tool. I don't now what his problem is either. 🤔 ;)

TrainsOfDisneyJul 06, 2024

Where did you end up going for dinner and fireworks? I hope it worked out well for you. People on this site get really upset when i criticize Disney security but at WDW they often seem to make up their own rules with no rhyme or reason - obviously management allows it. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was TTC security going way over the top and they were initially told to just discourage guests by saying “all viewing areas are closed except for resort guests.” I think fully closing resorts is overboard - it’s going to be crowded no matter what - reserve some viewing spots for resort guests if you want and call it a day.

YodaManJul 06, 2024

Not sure why the OP is so insistent on being adamant in his stance. Parked at the TTC on the 4th and tried to use the pedestrian path to go to the Poly around 6ish (even had a mobile order for Kona) and security was blocking entrances and wouldn’t let us in. We were told the resort was hard-closed to anyone that didn’t have a room and said we’d have to cancel our mobile order. Only kind of overheard the party trying to go in after us but sounds like they had a dining reservation and they weren’t being allowed in either. Maybe the security guards weren’t supposed to be so strict? Maybe something was miscommunicated? But we definitely were not being allowed to enter the Poly on foot from the TTC.

SoFloMagicJul 06, 2024

The show was great. Including "lift every voice and sing", jfk, mlk was beautiful. They just needed to put a ww3 barge out there and have the final 20 seconds over the lake

AylaJul 06, 2024

That fireworks ending seems like a hot mess and honestly, looks and sounds like a major malfunction at the end. I can't honestly believe that is how it was designed to end.

TimeTripJul 06, 2024

FWIW, the luminous hardware lends itself really well to ambient lighting especially on the 4th. That plus the MK fireworks hitting in the background.. you might say it was magical...

davis_unoxxJul 06, 2024

Yep there was Disney security officer right on pathway past the first tiki torches asking for last names and room numbers. I turned around and just got on monorail to MK

MisterPenguinJul 06, 2024

I was at the Epcot fireworks on the 4th. Found a good spot between UK and Millennium where I could see the barges and in between trees so I can see the higher-launched fireworks. Saw the first half of the Independence Day tag on the lagoon. But, I didn't know the second half was going to be over the AA Pavilion. And a tree blocked it all. Sorta like this...

DisoneJul 06, 2024

I have confirmed with one blogger, mouse steps, that fort wilderness was not locked down July 4th. They took the bus from Epcot to fort wilderness and absolutely no issues getting into the camp ground And recording the parade. Thank you for the super civil way to end your post. Just to agree to disagree. I do appreciate your hospitality on that. You rock.

DisneyFanatic12Jul 06, 2024

I was a resort guest at Fort Wilderness, so I can’t say if it was or was not closed. However, I know that it was completely closed off to day guests for the Halloween parade and beach blast in 2023. Sadly, I guess I never took any photos of the checkpoints, which is sort of surprising. However, there were two (obviously deployed, both had different costumes) CMs with iPads scanning at the dock at MK. Additionally, there was one CM scanning at the Contemporary boat dock. We took the resort boat, and they made sure every last one of us that hadn’t been confirmed to be a FW resort guest got off at Wilderness Lodge. They had a CM with an iPad at the Wilderness Lodge boat dock as well. They would radio a description of the guests that weren’t FW guests, just in case someone was trying to sneak in. Also to be noted, I know that there were CMs with iPads at the bus stop at MK, and I believe one of my family members said there was one at Epcot as well (though I wouldn’t trust that as much since I didn’t personally see it). Impenetrable? Absolutely not. But they clearly did not want people there and there were plenty of deployed CMs with iPads to keep it that way. I don’t know the exact process they did if you didn’t have MDE, a room key, or a magic band, but they were giving someone a lot of grief at the Contemporary boat dock since his name was not on the reservation. Didn’t see how it played out though, we got on the boat to Wilderness Lodge before the conclusion of that interaction. But I don’t think that July 4th was that locked down. It was really busy, but the parade had no where near the crowd of the 2023 Halloween parade. Anyways, hope you have a great day, and if all else fails, we’ll agree to disagree!

DisoneJul 06, 2024

Heard and thank you. I will just have to leave it at this. It's not whether I've seen it it's whether anyone, including and perhaps most especially the Disney lifestylers and vloggers, has seen it and posted about their experience being blocked out of a resort using resort transportation. I'll leave it at that and bow out now.

TrainsOfDisneyJul 05, 2024

I don’t think you are lying, but just because you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean other guests have. They typically roll out phased closings and are only trying to deter guests at certain times. I’ve never not gotten into MK on New Year’s Eve, you just have to know the routes to take during various phased closings.

DisoneJul 05, 2024

It's not that. I'm just interested in providing accurate information and this rumor comes out every year. Every year. It's just not true. You'll never find a YouTube video or a picture on the internet of security scanning magic bands or iPhones for proof of resort ID to get on any resort transportation or walk to a resort from the Magic Kingdom. It's 2024. If they did it the pictures and the videos would definitely be readily available on the internet. I too have seen them close a portion of the Polynesian Beach. The Polynesian itself has always been open. You may continue to think that I'm the liar should you choose to do so.