A Salute to All Nations but Mostly America: Celebrating America at Disney

It was July 4, 2013.

My roommate, Erika, had just gotten home from an early morning shift at the Magic Kingdom where I was eagerly awaiting our afternoon plans.  We were going to the Magic Kingdom to see the Fourth of July fireworks.

Or so we thought.

We were naive little Disney Cast Members who were excited to spend their first July 4th watching the fireworks on Main Street.

What we didn’t anticipate is this:

Robyn Fleenor

So there we sat, on the Showcase Plaza area between the Port Entry and Disney Trader stores, and waited.  We figured the park would reopen later and we would get in.

We wandered around Epcot and to different resorts just trying to pass the time.  Eventually, as the sun began to set, we found ourselves perched on a bench outside the Magic Kingdom turnstiles.  I was furiously checking Twitter to see if someone...anyone was posting about the Magic Kingdom opening back up to guests.

And then it happened.

Robyn Fleenor

Less than an hour before the fireworks began, we were able to get into the park; however, we did not get too far inside the park.  We were stuck right in the middle of Main Street USA with a few thousand of our closest friends.

But the fireworks didn’t disappoint, and once they were over, we looked at each other and almost without words headed straight to the monorail to try and catch the fireworks at Epcot.

We made it and it was hands down one of the best memories of my time with the Walt Disney Company.

Although the Fourth of July only comes around once a year, you can see Walt Disney’s love for America and history all around the parks any day of the year.  

Walt Disney World

Main Street USA

From the moment you walk into Disneyland or Walt Disney World, you are transported back to the early 1900s in small town America.  There are bakeries, penny arcades, and City Halls.  The pinstripe-clan barbershop quartet, the Dapper Dans, can be heard harmonizing to Americana music and Disney classics.  The smell of freshly popped popcorn wafts through the air.  An American flag waves high in the air just pass the turn of the century train station where the steam locomotive passes through.  As you’re making your way right down the middle of Main Street USA, if you look up, you will notice various names painted on the windows.  Each one represents a different Imagineer or someone integral in the founding of Disneyland and Walt Disney World.  Time stands still on this street, and I think that’s just the way Walt Disney wanted it to be.  He wanted us to always remember the small town America, like the one he came from in Marceline, Missouri.  

All Ears

Liberty Square and Frontierland

When you make your way out of Main Street USA at Walt Disney World, if you take the second bridge to your left, you’ll wind up in Liberty Square. The early, colonial American themes of the lands show a progression and history of the nation from east to west beginning with the 1660s-1880s: upstate New York-themed Haunted Mansion and traveling clockwise around the Rivers of America to end up in the late 1880s in Southern California at Frontierland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  America’s Founding Fathers come to life in The Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square.  The show features a short film on the history of America as well as all of the presidents’ likeness as an Audio-Animatronic.  Similarly, in Disneyland, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is located on Main Street USA and offers a brief film on American history before the sixteenth president gives a speech.

Walt Disney World

American Adventure

Over at Epcot, The American Adventure offers a journey through America’s history.  The half-hour presentation is narrated by Audio-Animatronic historical figures Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain. As the different periods of time change, different Audio-Animatronic characters and sets rise from the stage floor to tell their story.  The Audio-Animatronics follow American history from the American Revolutionary War to the Great Depression while a film montage brings viewers into the present day. In the rotunda of the World Showcase host pavilion, guests are treated daily to the Voices of Liberty. The eight member a cappella group performs in costumes from the 1800s and uses the rotunda’s dome to perfect their acoustics and amplify their voices.  Similar to the Dapper Dans, the Voices of Liberty sing a variety of songs, from classic Americana tunes to Disney classics.


Unlike Halloween and Christmas, the July Fourth holiday can be seen year-round at the Walt Disney World Resort. What is your favorite America-themed land or attraction at the Disney Parks? Let us know by tweeting us @TMKBpodcast!

Robyn Fleenor is a contributing writer for The Mouse Knows Best Podcast. She is an avid Disney fanatic and would rather be at Walt Disney World eating glazed almonds than anything else.  When she isn't working to pay for her next Disney vacation, she likes to binge watch TV shows and fall in love with fictional characters. She can be found tweeting at @rahrah6263.