4th of July (w)eek! Is Top of the World Open to All DVC guests?

bobbiwoz said:

For July 3 & 4 you must be staying at BLT to access the lounge. Even then, there is an occupancy limit.

This year I was at TTOTW on the 3rd, and went to Epcot on the 4th. Both fireworks were incredible!

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keishashadow said:

Just found out the mr has to take this week of vacation in 2017. Had booked early June at 11 months. Naturally, this time frame for resort/type of unit isn't available at this stage of the game, but could still book something @ home resorts and WL for what I really want.

I"m trying to decide if we really want to brave 4th of July with 6 y.o. GD. Wouldn't want to go to WDW both in June & July, will work that week in later in the year for just he & me. We have been to WDW same time frame but always a day before or after the 4th, never on the actual day.

I know one park will be open to on-site guests, and figure it'd be best to skip MK in any event. However, wondering if anybody can recall if ToW is open to DVC but non-BLT guests on July 4th.

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bobbiwoz said:

For July 3 & 4 you must be staying at BLT to access the lounge. Even then, there is an occupancy limit.

This year I was at TTOTW on the 3rd, and went to Epcot on the 4th. Both fireworks were incredible!

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Anal Annie said:

....

What time did you have to go up there to be sure to get in? I doubt we'll stay there, just curious... Are the fireworks at Epcot different than the usual Illuminations fireworks on the 4th???

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bobbiwoz said:

We probably went up about 2 hours before the fireworks on the 3rd. They were very good fireworks. We stayed at BLT on the 3rd just to be able to be up there. For the 4th we moved to BCV.

On the Fourth, we think that Epcot's were even better. It was very crowded, but rather than wait in the crowd, we decided to see Canada's film. So just as we were leaving that movie, the Illuminations was about to happen. We did not have great viewing of Illuminations, but the fireworks afterward were spectacular! However, what made it extra special was after all the fireworks, music for "I'm Proud to be an American" came on, and just about everyone sang! It felt amazing! Then as we walked out, music for such American classics like "Daisy, Daisy" was playing. That whole experience was very special!!
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As we were walking out, the globe was featured in red, white and blue! This is how people stood to sing after the fireworks.
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Anal Annie said:

Wait, what? The rules change for these days? You HAVE to be staying onsite to get into MK? Or did I read that wrong?



What time did you have to go up there to be sure to get in? I doubt we'll stay there, just curious... Are the fireworks at Epcot different than the usual Illuminations fireworks on the 4th???

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Anal Annie said:

So they had other fireworks AFTER Illuminations? LOL I'm confused!! And they do special fireworks at both MK and EP on the 3rd and 4th?!

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Anal Annie said:

The more I think about it the more I want to go for this week. We live near DC and I have always had zero interest in going downtown for the fireworks for some reason - don't want to fight the crowds I guess. But I am intrigued about going to Disney now for the 4th. Playing with the numbers now. Would like to resort hop BUT could actually go for longer if we stick to SSR std. view....then could maybe go someplace diff. for F&W & splurge a little for BWV or something. AKV is always an option too. Don't have enough points to do a week at BLT & don't want a split for that short of a time. Decisions decisions decisions.

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Anal Annie said:

Wait, what? The rules change for these days? You HAVE to be staying onsite to get into MK? Or did I read that wrong

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bobbiwoz said:

Hey, if you do, let's plan a meet, just to say hi!!
We are in BLT and BCV again.

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supersnoop said:

I think they were saying that, in the even of phased capacity closures, there would always be one park open to on-site guests. In reality, no park has closed to on-site guests since 2009 (or maybe 2012?)

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Anal Annie said:

Scary thought but one of our DIS'ers was at EP today and she sent me pics - people were parking on the grass....closed to further admission at 5:00 - sent people to MK instead!!!

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supersnoop said:

My understanding is that the parking lot was full, but you could still park at the TTC and take the monorail over to Epcot. The park was not closed. There are four phases of closure, and Epcot didn't reach any phase today.

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