I'm all about short waits on rides, so you know I am extra thrilled that Disney After Hours is now offered at a new park — EPCOT! The separately ticketed event offers a chance to ride the park's most popular attractions, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind! Dates currently run from June to August. (Psst ... tickets are on sale now — save some extra green by purchasing through your favorite frogs!) We attended the first event of the season and have updated our guide with all the frogciting details.
Overview of Disney After Hours at EPCOT
Disney After Hours is a three-hour, separately ticketed event that allows guests to stick around after normal park hours with limited crowds. That means you’ll encounter little-to-no lines while you wait for rides, character meet-and-greets and other experiences at the parks. Plus, you'll get complimentary popcorn, ice cream and bottled beverages throughout the night once the event officially starts!
Disney After Hours has taken place at both Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom in the past, and is currently also at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Check out our complete guide to Disney After Hours so you can get the full scoop, plus our guide for After Hours at Hollywood Studios for even more info. Also, back this year is H2O Glow After Hours at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park!
EPCOT After Hours Tickets
As of June 1, EPCOT offers an After Hours event about once a week, typically on Thursdays. Events run from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., and you may enter as early as 7 p.m. with an event ticket. If you plan to arrive at 7 p.m. or later, you do not need to make a Disney Park Pass reservation. (Though if you wish to enter before 7 p.m., you'll need regular park admission and a theme park reservation. You may then receive your After Hours wristband at select locations inside the park.)
- Thursday, June 1
- Thursday, June 15
- Thursday, June 22
- Thursday, June 29
- Thursday, July 6
- Wednesday, July 12
- Thursday, July 20
- Thursday, July 27
- Thursday, Aug. 3
- Thursday, Aug. 10
- Thursday, Aug. 17
- Thursday, Aug. 24
Tickets went on sale March 3 to the general public, with a special early booking opportunity for Walt Disney World Hotel guests. Dates can sell out, so be sure to book as soon as possible for this popular event!
What's Offered at EPCOT After Hours
While most of the park is open for you to explore, not everything will be open during the event. The good news is — all rides are available during Disney After Hours at EPCOT, plus select characters and entertainment.
Attractions
- Spaceship Earth
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Soarin' Around the World
- Living with the Land
- Journey Into Imagination With Figment
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Mission: SPACE
- Test Track
- Frozen Ever After
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
- Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
With the exception of Cosmic Rewind, we enjoyed little-to-no-waits on rides, either walking right on or waiting no more than 10 minutes! We saved Cosmic Rewind for our last ride to maximize our event time.
Characters
Select characters may periodically appear throughout the park. We hoppened upon Mickey in France and Pluto near Disney Traders. Plus, Chip 'n' Dale make appearances at the DJ Dance Party near Mission: SPACE!
Entertainment
EPCOT After Hours sure feels like one big party with the event DJ spinning some awesome tunes near Mission: SPACE and Cosmic Rewind. The music gets piped into most of the main speakers, so you can groove to "real" music throughout the night! Chip 'n' Dale rocked the house with some epic dance moves at the dance party — they typically do 30-minute sets so be sure to save a little time to dance with our favorite chipmunks!
In Mexico, enjoy beautiful traditional folk music from the Mariachi Cobre. Plus, select PhotoPass photographers are stationed throughout the park for photos.
We especially enjoyed the long exposure pixel stick photo near Cosmic Rewind, typically only available during the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts!
Dining
Enjoy complimentary ice cream treats (Mickey bar, Mickey sandwich and strawberry bar), popcorn and bottled beverages (bottled water, Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke) from snack carts:
- Near Mission: SPACE
- Near Creations Shop
- Near The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Near Imagination!
- Norway
- Canada
Select food and beverage are available for purchase at:
- Connections Eatery (until 10 p.m.)
- Connections Cafe (until 11 p.m.)
- World Discovery Hot Dog Cart
- Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe (select items available)
- Yorkshire Country Fish Shop (until 11 p.m.)
- Rose & Crown Pub
Shopping
- Creations Shop
- ImageWorks – The "What If" Labs
- Treasures of Xandar
- Mission: SPACE Cargo Bay
- Test Track SIMporium
- SeaBase Gift Shop
- Plaza de los Amigos
- World Traveler
What's Not Offered During Disney After Hours?
Something to keep in mind for Disney After Hours is while all the rides are open, there are no stage shows and limited characters. Here are some offerings that are not available during Disney After Hours:
- Shows such as Turtle Talk With Crush, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along, Awesome Planet, Canada Far and Wide
- Characters such as the princesses around World Showcase, Joy and Vanellope
- Festival booths
Note that the section from China through Morocco is closed during the event, so you'll need to go from Norway, Mexico, the entrance to World Showcase, Canada, the United Kingdom and then France.
Tips and Strategy for EPCOT After Hours
In order to maximize your time at After Hours, we've compiled our top tips and strategy for your night at EPCOT (and we'll add more once we attend!).
- Arrive as close to 7 p.m. as possible to get the most park time for your money. We recommend eating dinner during this time if you have not already. Since most of the restaurants are closed during the event, the bonus time is a perfect way to try some of the great EPCOT restaurants or many booths from EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival or EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival.
- The pre-event time is also great for doing anything not available during the event, such as the EPCOT Forever fireworks, meeting characters and watching any shows. Be sure to hop on some smaller rides such as Journey Into Imagination, Living with the Land, The Seas With Nemo & Friends and Spaceship Earth, since they usually have low wait times toward the end of regular park hours.
- There is typically an hour between when the park closes and the event starts. Fireworks start at 9 p.m. and day guests can enter a ride up until 9 p.m., so there will still be some longer ride lines and crowds until the day guests are fully filtered out. During the in-between time, you can hop on any available ride by showing your event wristband. The complimentary snacks and drinks will not start until 10 p.m.
- Check the My Disney Experience app just before park close to get an idea of wait times. Ride wait times will not appear in the My Disney Experience app during the transition time, but all event attractions should remain open (wait times will reappear at 10 p.m.). If you're looking to do all rides, this is a great time to knock out a shorter wait before the event starts.
- You'll want to decide if your goal is to either do as many rides as possible or ride your favorites multiple times.
- The shops and food carts close when the event ends at 1 a.m., so grab any last complimentary snacks and drinks before then.
- Nearly every ride we did was a walk-on or at most a 10-minute wait. Cosmic Rewind remained listed at 60 minutes for the entire night. We decided to hop on right before the event ended at 1 a.m., and though we did wait almost an hour, it did not take up any valuable event time. So if you are able to stay up extra late, leave Guardians for your last ride!
What We Love About Disney After Hours at EPCOT
Just How Much You Can Get Done
Even with only three hours, you can get just as many rides done as a full park day, and even potentially more. With Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind being offered, this is the first time there is a standby option since it opened, which we're very excited about!
Experiencing the Parks in a Whole New Way
It's always fun to see the theme parks at night, especially with the glow of the Spaceship Earth lighting. It feels extra magical all lit up — plus, it is a great way to escape the Florida heat. We think EPCOT really shines (get it) at night and is so much cooler, as it can be hard to find shade during the day.
The Calmness and Lack of Crowds
Tickets are limited for this event so you'll find the park nearly empty in some places. It's very peaceful with such low crowds. Staying up late can be draining but with very little standing in line, you hardly realize how late it is. Plus, at any point, you can get a pick-me-up with free popcorn, ice cream and drinks!
Is It Worth It?
We think EPCOT After Hours is worth the cost, especially with the addition of Cosmic Rewind. In general, we highly recommend this event if:
- You aren't planning to go to EPCOT during the day with a regular park ticket, which will have similar costs, especially if you factor in purchasing Disney Genie+ and/or costs for a Guardians individual Lightning Lane.
- You can book for your arrival day if you know your family can stay up late after a day of traveling. This could be especially ideal for those traveling from the West Coast. Reverse jet lag for the win!
- You are looking for a standby wait for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. We know for many, this might just seal the deal!
After Hours might not be a good fit if ...
- You can only get to EPCOT once during your trip and you want to experience everything that a park has to offer. The park has a variety of characters, entertainment and cultures that are definitely worth experiencing!
- You have young tadpoles that won't make it past midnight (or perhaps you're a fully grown frog who wants to catch up on sleep — we get it!).
Do you plan on attending Disney After Hours at EPCOT? Let us know your experiences in the comments below!
Related: How to Make the Most Out of Disney After Hours Events at Disney World
Keep hopping!
