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

7 days ago in "Fourth of July at Walt Disney World"

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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

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gerarar20 hours ago

They do use three in front (technically five if you count the center-adjacent DE launchers used for the red comets) and three in back for the 4th of July fireworks. Last year 2023:

Starship82420 hours ago

Well I guess if full 360 can't come back what's stopping them from doing the same thing they do on new years with the three in front and three in the back for 4th of July. Epcot still does the full 4th and NYE shows. Why can't MK?

gerarar20 hours ago

imo, the castle dreamlights have a better chance at returning than the full 360° perimeters. They did a refurb on just half of them during Project Nugget/Disney Enchantment. The others were not and most likely decommissioned. The Tron site is near guests to be used anymore. It was still in use during construction until the parks closure in 2020. The one that mirrors that is near BTMR and also was decommissioned, especially with the beyond BTMR stuff happening soon. The rest was probably just a cost savings measure by Disney. As long guests show up for these special events, there's no reason for them to restore the perimeters to its full effect. More in this post I made previously:

TrainsOfDisney22 hours ago

Disney isn’t going to say “there were budget cuts” they will always use a reason. No reason the WDW Railroad has to close to early each night, it could just pause for fireworks.

DisneyFanatic1223 hours ago

And they close New Fantasyland (usually just everything behind 7D though) on all nights with “high” winds, which seems to be a lot of nights when I think about it.

Starship82423 hours ago

Well, there was one near Tron, but all the other ones should have been unchanged. Also if Tron is the issue why didn't that stop them in 2018 and 2019 when it was an active construction site? If it's a safety issue with guests why can't they just close Tron for the *checks notes* 4 nights a year they do them? They close toon town in DL for fireworks every night. Also about DE stops them from doing full 360?

jrhwdw23 hours ago

I thought old school 360 wasn't possible anymore with TRON and DE's setup? Or can MK find new Pyro Spots?

Starship82423 hours ago

Anyone have any idea on whether the full 360 will ever return to Magic Kingdom? I'm just going to assume it's not happening this year so will it ever happen? Next year maybe with the idea that they're trying to get entertainment ready for Epic Universe?

larryz5 days ago

...unless they're looking to book a room... This banner on the page caught my eye... Looks like the Era of "No Discounts!" Iger has come to an end...

DisneyFanatic126 days ago

Agreed, looks like a huge error from our side, but for someone on the marketing team the error might have been hard to spot. And it’s really close to the 3rd for there to be any large increase in travel. If they wanted to bring in a bunch of locals it would probably be cheaper just to offer a discount, but I don’t know all the financials and the estimated amount spent per guest. Still super sad, I love the fireworks shows show much.

Starship8246 days ago

Interesting, I didn't see anyone post about it.

jrhwdw6 days ago

There was supposed to be Fireworks Testing on June 19th.

Starship8246 days ago

Have they done any this year yet?

Squishy6 days ago

Have they always done a full test run thru of 4th of july fireworks at Epcot pre 2019? The past 4 years they've done 1-2 full test runs it due to equipment changes so they technically budget in 2-3 shows.