So Much America: A Happy July 4th

Truth be told, I was not really looking forward to the trip to Epcot. It’s been extremely hot, with excessive heat warnings for the past few days. Not exactly the type of weather to spend all day in the park.

But we trudged on. Usually, I would have spent yesterday (the 3rd) at Magic Kingdom. But since I’m on the clock with my job, I decided to skip that park.

Since we are staying until fireworks at night, we walked into the park at noon. Big mistake! The crowd was packed and lines for everything.

I had two items in my list for today: Mickey in his patriotic gear and listening to the Voices of Liberty.

Our first stop was in the United Kingdom to toast our cousins. Enjoy working this Thursday!

After that, we headed to the American Adventure pavilion for photos. The line can’t be that long, right? So, there’s a crowd of people. I walk up to the Cast Member and he said it was a “2 hour wait.” He add that we’re lucky this year because last year was 4 hours. 

The whole point of the day was to see Mickey, so I stood in line under the blazing Florida heat with temps near 100 to see Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy. And it did take the full two hours to move through the line. Thankfully, most of my fellow line waiters were nice, except one woman who cut behind me. She was called out and insisted that she was there the entire. Then, 10  minutes later, she left the line. Okaaay!

The Cast Members were really great. They brought out water for people and gave everyone plenty of time to take pictures, which is why it took 2 hours. Big groups would go up and every one needed their own selfie with the characters.

After that, we went over to the Chip and Dale line, but they already closed it down by 2pm. I had to stand like a weirdo to snap a few pics.

Next on the list was the Voices of Liberty.

Which turned into the backside of the Voices of Liberty. It was so packed, about five to six people deep in the crowd.

At certain performances, all the singers will come out to sing in the second floor of the rotunda.

The lighting is in a Stars and Stripes moods.

We stuck around for a bit to catch the last show. Luckily, we scored a seat towards the back, which usually is a good thing. But a big group walked in front of us and stood for the entire performance. Now we had people’s butts in our faces. My mom was in a scooter and could notsee anything. I had to crane my neck to even get a glimpse of the singers. Did they care? Nope! And that groups wasn’t even the worst offender.

Usually, in the middle of rotunda, you are suppose to sit down. This one lady delegated to sit. She’s standing throughout the entire performance, filming with her phone. And the worse part, she’s blocking a little kid’s view of the Voices of Liberty. Absolutely trash people today!

I did get a few shot of the last performance as I’m not having to lift my phone over my head and block the people behind me.

Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto had finished up for the day, and we caught them as they headed back inside to applause.

Now it was time for dinner, and guess where we went? Regal Eagle Smokehouse with about 100 other park goers. I placed a mobile order and waited almost a half hour for my meal. And trying to find a table, forget it!

To make matters worse, I’m trying to grab silverware and sauces, only to have people bump into me and cut me off to try to grab their stuff. Like seriously? It was like the barnyard let out today.

We could even eat anywhere near Regal Eagle, so we grabbed our stuff and headed over to the American Gardens Pavilion to sit on a bench.

Of course, there was a thunder and lightning storm, which meant everyone took shelter under the pavilion.

At this point, I was really ready to just call it a day. Tons of rude, pushy people. It was super hot and now extra humid after the storm. But Mom really wanted to see the fireworks. So we had to wait around for the next three hours.

After cooling down in the American Adventure Pavilion, which has the best AC in the park. I ventured out. The pavilion was all decorated with red, white, blue, especially under the patio.

There were also special signs honoring the Cast Members who work under the Heroes Work Here program at Disney.

Now it was time to find a spot. About two hours out, almost everywhere was starting to fill up. Since my Mom had a scooter, I suggested the designated area by area, but she wanted to stay near the American pavilion. Guess who won?

We saw the guy load up the explosives for the show.

Almost a good spot if it wasn’t for the trees and the loud obnoxious family next to us, who were letting their kids play with their empty plastic wine and beer glasses. 🤦🏼‍♀️

A few nice shots of a patriotic Spaceship Earth and the American Adventure pavilion.

What a nice lovely spot, and then some guy next to me whips out his phone and starts recording right in my face. Mind you, I’m against the gating by World Showcase, and he’s next to me and puts the phone right in front of my sight lines.

I may or may not have gently nudged him with my shoulder. Then, he had a friend who kept using flash to capture the fireworks, and then wondering why his pictures are not coming out.

I swear, people today have no shame about getting in front of you, encroaching on personal space, and being all-around assholes.

Usually, the people visiting for the July 4th holiday are not bad, but it was like the lunatics came out today.

While we couldn’t see most of the Luminous fireworks, we did have a great spot for the Heartbeat of America finale.

After that finished, we were treated to the fireworks over Magic Kingdom.

You can still hear the drunken loud mouths next to us. They would not leave. Shoo!

A little ambiance for the holiday.

Amazing, after the fireworks, the funnel cake stand was open. We grab a funnel cake with ice cream because it had just been one of those days. After the heat, rain, and rude people, we had a little respite in Japan, eating a yummy funnel cake.

Now on to getting out of here…

We checked on the new recreational area. Looks like a few bags went missing.

Red, white, and blue for the 4th.

Communicore Hall was empty but filled with glorious cool air conditioning.

The lighting looked great for tonight.

A few more shots of Spaceship Earth in the colors of Old Glory.

And that’s a wrap for tonight. It was really a mixed bag. While it was nice to see Mickey and the Voices of Liberty, the people in the park were absolutely trash. Like the type that might climb out the boat in Living with the Land or scale the Mexico temple. I’ve been to the parks on the 3rd and 4th, and this was by far the worst group of animals in the parks. I might have to rethink about next year. Maybe get a hotel room to take a break from the craziness and the heat. Ugh!

Until next time…