Epcot Report: Fireworks & Crowds Return!
Epcot Forever is back, filling the sky above World Showcase to end every night. We attended for Independence Day at Walt Disney World, and will share photos of the fireworks and other random stuff, plus thoughts on our experience, crowds & congestion, and more.
As you’re likely aware, after a year-plus hiatus, fireworks have returned to Walt Disney World in the form of both Happily Ever After and Epcot Forever. Two new nighttime spectaculars–Disney Enchantment and Harmonious–will replace those shows at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, respectively, on October 1, 2021.
Walt Disney World has not yet made any announcements about Fantasmic or Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but the latter should be back before fall. Our expectation is that nighttime is once again pretty normal by the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. See What’s Returning to Walt Disney World in 2021 & 2022 for more on all of that.
Before we get started, I’ll level with you–this Epcot Forever photo report is not nearly as good as “Happily Ever After’s Emotional Return.” If you haven’t read that and your limit is one fireworks update, head on over to that post.
Our day in Epcot began in late afternoon, after the forecast cleared up and the temperature started cooling down a bit. As a reminder, it’s storm season in Florida right now. If you’re visiting in the near future, we’d strongly recommend reading our 2021 Storm Season at Walt Disney World & Elsa Update.
Part of the reason this update isn’t going to be particularly great is we visited entirely for fun, and I didn’t have a post in mind at the time. Consequently, I took photos of random things that caught my eye, rather than what we did or what will be commented on here. After that fact, I figured it would probably be worth recapping the return of fireworks at Epcot, since this is likely a topic of interest.
Unsurprisingly, it was a busy Fourth of July at Epcot.
The vibe was also very different at Epcot as compared to Magic Kingdom a couple nights earlier when the fireworks first returned. Understandably so. That felt like an emotional and heartwarming reunion–a collective sense of relief in reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.
If I had to describe the mood at Epcot succinctly, it would be “party in the USA.” A pretty sharp departure from how things felt at Magic Kingdom. That description probably doesn’t require further explanation, much less flowery language to romanticize. If you’ve ever visited during a Food & Wine Festival weekend, you know the vibe–but with more overtly patriotic drinking around the world shirts.
This typically is not our favorite way to experience Epcot, but we embraced it. Normalcy is one of those “warts and all” types of things. You don’t get to cherry pick only what you enjoy to return.
There are few things more normal than a big drunken crowd at Epcot. Even this was “good” to see after last July when Epcot was a ghost town the last two hours of the day. There were rumors Epcot might go to a seasonal schedule last August and September; I’ll certainly take this over that.
The parks being devoid of guests to the point of having to scale back operating schedules feels like the distant past now. Fourth of July was the most crowded we’ve seen Epcot since the New Year’s Eve before the closure. That’s not really saying much–Independence Day and NYE are always the two busiest days of the year at Epcot. This was the first holiday since then with Park Hopping and fireworks–both of those variables in tandem undoubtedly helped draw significant crowds to Epcot.
It was a foregone conclusion that it would be a busy day, and doesn’t necessarily reflect what you’ll encounter in the coming days or weeks. Still, dramatically different than late last summer and fall, and in a way that’s good for both guests and Disney.
This should also put to rest any lingering questions about whether guests trying to Park Hop will be turned away due to reduced capacity and attendance limits. This has still yet to happen anywhere at all. If it didn’t happen on the Fourth of July at Epcot or Magic Kingdom, it’s not going to be an issue.
This is a question that has come up frequently, and one we’ve previously addressed in our 2021 Guide to Park Hopping at Walt Disney World. (That’s been updated to account for fireworks, with strategy and recommendations.)
Our afternoon and early evening were largely uneventful. We stopped for a bunch of PhotoPass shots, did Spaceship Earth, Impressions de France, and, of course, American Adventure.
Other than that, our time was mostly just spent doing laps around World Showcase Lagoon.
Naturally, I have a photo of Test Track even though we didn’t do it.
This had the longest wait time in the park, peaking at 65 minutes during our visit. Soarin’ Around the World and Frozen Ever After weren’t nearly as bad, both dropping under 30 minutes at various points of the day.
We noticed many guests staking out spots for the fireworks several hours in advance and, frankly, I’m not sure why. Perhaps just habit since this was “necessary” with IllumiNations or the Heartbeat of America tag?
In our Best Epcot Forever Fireworks Viewing Spots we cover why this is totally unnecessary. In case you missed that or didn’t want to read it–almost everything of interest during Epcot Forever occurs overhead. The jet skis and kites are gone due to the Harmonious barges, and the screens on those are not in use. There is some lower level pyro, but you can see that perfectly well from just about anywhere, so long as you’re not behind a large tree, boulder, or building. Common sense stuff, really. Can you see the sky directly in front of you from where you’re standing?
Our go-to fireworks spot since the debut of Epcot Forever is the Japan pavilion. That’s probably obvious given that over 75% of my photos are from there. It offers numerous advantages–a deep pavilion, few obstructions, great foreground objects for photos, and a few spots for an elevated view.
Rather than going with the tried and true, we opted for Italy, which offers some of the same upsides.
After wandering for a while and enjoying our two favorite World Showcase attractions, we grabbed a spot for Epcot Forever about 10 minutes before it started.
I thought this would be a good location, providing nice symmetry and framing for the fireworks.
About 30 seconds into the show, it dawned on me that I had tried this spot (many times!) in the past, and it doesn’t work when centered on Spaceship Earth.
This should’ve been obvious given the positioning of the giant Stargate, but I’ll nevertheless blame it on being a bit rusty. It’s been 18 months since I’ve photographed fireworks at Epcot and nearly two years since I’ve shot the fireworks from Italy!
I’m not the world’s biggest Epcot Forever fan, but it was still great to have fireworks back in World Showcase.
With the kites and jet skis are gone, there’s now more pyro in Epcot Forever than before (for all of its many faults, Epcot Forever is fairly photogenic). So that’s at least one plus to the modified show.
Obviously, Fourth of July weekend is something of an anomaly.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with evening crowds at Epcot once locals get their fill of fireworks. Epcot Forever is not exactly beloved like Happily Ever After, so I could see things quieting down a bit by mid-month. Of course, that’s when the Epcot Food & Wine Festival begins, so perhaps not.
While it’s nice to see “warts and all” normalcy returning to Epcot, one thing I could’ve done without is the congestion leaving the park. This is our first busy night in Epcot since the walls engulfing the central spine of Future World went up (last February), and using the bypasses to leave was not the most pleasant experience. It’s really a shame work has progressed so slowly on this. I don’t expect new walkways to open between now and October, but I’d love to be wrong about that.
Other than that, it was mostly an excellent if mostly uneventful Fourth of July at Epcot. It’s great to have fireworks back, even if it is only Epcot Forever. The nighttime spectacular gives the park more energy and life–two things it has needed for the last year. Things should only improve, with Food & Wine starting in a couple weeks and more shopping, dining, and entertainment likely to return in the coming months. After that, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Harmonious, and Space 220 will debut before we know it. There’s still a long way and several years to go on Epcot’s overhaul, but it feels like we’re (slowly) starting to turn a corner, and things should be getting progressively better from here.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you watched the Epcot Forever or Happily Ever After nighttime spectaculars since they’ve returned? Did you spend Fourth of July at Walt Disney World? Thoughts on the experience? Looking forward to seeing the fireworks soon? Have your own thoughts on the overhaul of Epcot? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi Tom, I always enjoy reading your posts!
Do you anticipate the Test Track Design Studio to open soon? My boys love to design their own custom virtual concept vehicle and see how they perform against other cars! Thank you!
In many of your EPCOT posts, you reference the extensive overhaul the park is undergoing. In your opinion, what state do you feel the park will be in for its 40th celebration next year? I assume, pre Covid, there was a more complete plan, but curious how they’ll ready themselves for the anniversary given the set backs. I’m planning a trip for the celebration, so was just curious about speculation from those more ‘in the know,’
Hi – I’m the reader who said hello at Impressions de France. I forgot to mention that despite growing up in FL, this trip was my first time watching Country Bear Jamboree and Journey into Imagination – thanks to your influence – and they did not disappoint! And of course, your virtual queue guide was super helpful for scoring Rise of the Resistance boarding groups twice. This was our first time at Disney in 2 years and it was a perfect trip in many ways – Thanks for doing what you do 🙂
Awesome to hear all of that–thanks for the kind words and saying hello!
Good luck on the cross-country move, too! 🙂
Is there any problem bringing a tripod into the park these days?
It’ll get you kicked over to the secondary screening at security most of the time, but other than that, I’ve encountered no issues whatsoever! I’ve seen more tripods in the parks over the last few days than all of the previous few months combined.
I do have some concerns about park hopping on the 50th Anniversary, but I wonder if they aren’t taking that into account with the number of park passes they sell. I imagine anyone who can’t get a pass for Magic Kingdom or Epcot will be hopping to them both at some point in the day. I don’t really need to see Epcot on Oct 1st though, as none of the offerings seem really worth it to me. But I’ll definitely be heading to Magic Kingdom, and hope I won’t get turned away…
I think that day will be incredibly busy, but with staffing improvements and capacity increases between now and then, I doubt it’ll be an issue.
Unlike this year’s Fourth of July–an actual holiday occurring amidst unprecedented pent-up demand for travel and a school break–the 50th Anniversary is a weekday in Florida’s fall off-season. Sure, there will be a TON of Walt Disney World fans, but the casual guest demographic should be smaller.
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t put my money where my mouth is on that–we’ll be getting to Magic Kingdom early that morning with no plans to leave all day. If I had to start at DAK or DHS, I’d hop to MK or Epcot as close to 1 pm as possible.
VERY disappointed not to see a second fireworks show after Epcot Forever saluting THIS country’s 4th of July holiday. NO red, white and blue lights on the American pavillion, no real feel in the park of USA pride, no special flags-almost like Disney is embarrassed to be here in the USA Walt would be so sad. Too bad.
There was no holiday tag because the pyro for that needs to be special ordered months in advance. That would’ve needed to happen at a time when face mask and physical distancing policies were in full force. The lack of Independence Day tags was entirely due to a lack of foresight and nothing else. Whether Disney should’ve predicted this is where things would be by July 4 and planned accordingly is another question entirely. (Up until the middle of last month, the plan was no fireworks for the Fourth of July at all.)
There were stars & stripes projections on Cinderella Castle all weekend. Even with all of the changes, Disney’s parks are unquestionably the most patriotic theme or amusement parks in the United States.
Looks like you and Sarah had a very nice Independence Day.
We did, thanks! Hope you did as well. 🙂