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Guide to Epcot Park Hours in 2024

Guide to Epcot Park Hours in 2024

Epcot is home to nearly year-round festivals and for most guests visiting Walt Disney World, they’ll plan to make at least 1 stop there during their trip.

Understanding what to expect when it comes to the Epcot Park Hours is an important piece of putting together your daily plan.

Ready to learn more?

Epcot Park Hours by Month

Disney releases park hours about 75 days in advance. It may be as few as 71 or as many as 78. But, in general, park hours come out around 75 days in advance.

Note: In the past, that used to be around 180 days, but the release schedule changed when the parks reopened in 2020.

We keep track of all the park hours and update them every week on our Monthly Crowd Calendars.

monthly crowd calendar

If you are within that 75-day window, when you click on the month below you will see the current Epcot park hours, plus other important information like refurbishments and entertainment schedules.

Note: If you want to see historical information outside that 75-day window, you can navigate to a previous month or even a previous year to get an idea of what to expect.

Typical hours

One of the most significant changes to park hours that we have seen recently can be found at Epcot, so if you haven’t been in a while make sure you keep reading:

Epcot used to open in 2 parts. Future World (the section at the front of the park) would almost always open at 9 am and the World Showcase (the place where all the countries are) would open at 11 am.

But, that has changed since the reopening and now the entire park is opening at the same time – usually around 8:30 or 9 am.

As for closing, outside of the weekends during Food and Wine and busy holidays, Epcot almost always closed at 9 pm.

But, more and more often we are seeing that closing time regularly being pushed to 9 or even 10 pm.

Take a look at the park hours for the other parks:

Frequently Asked Questions

How often are the Epcot park hours updated?

When Disney first publishes their park hours, you’ll often find that they are rather generic, meaning they will typically show the same park hours for Epcot every day of the week.

However, park hour updates are based on demand. The busier the parks are projected to be, the higher the likelihood that Disney will extend the hours.

And, now that the parks are getting busier, we are definitely seeing Disney go in and make adjustments to those hours.

Of course, the reverse of that is also true. Although not nearly as common as seeing the hours extended, it isn’t totally unheard of for Disney to cut back on hours, too.

Epcot Flower and Garden lion king topiary

Disney issues updates for park hours on a fairly regular basis, sometimes as often as once per week. However, not every park (or even every day of the week or year) will see hours updated. Having the park hours extended is never a guarantee.

Historically, Epcot tends to have its hours updated semi-regularly, typically by Disney extending the closing time later into the evening.

Like we said, it isn’t a guarantee, but if you are traveling during a busy time of the year you may luck out and get to enjoy Epcot past the standard 9 pm closing time.

Updates are more likely the closer you get to your trip

Since Disney updates park hours based upon projected attendance, the closer you get to your trip the more data they will have to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to make any changes (or not).

That’s why if the park hours are going to be updated for your trip, it is more likely to happen closer to your travel dates.

It is also why we recommend you check your park hours daily while on vacation! You don’t want to show up to a park only to discover it opened before you expected it to.

When does Epcot let people in?

Long-time Disney visitors know that there is the “official” opening time for a park and then there is the time Disney typically starts letting guests inside, which can be up to 30 minutes (or even more) before the official opening time.

Disney has put a formal stamp on this unofficial opening time by allowing onsite resort guests to always have access to the parks 30 minutes before non-Disney Resort guests. This access for on-site guests is called Early Theme Park Entry and we have more info on that below.

Epcot World Showcase

So, if you want to be there for Rope Drop at Epcot, we recommend arriving to the front of the park no later than 45 minutes before the official opening time.

That means if you are taking the bus to Epcot you’ll need to be down to the bus stop 90 minutes before the official opening time. That should put you on the first or second bus of the day (and make your morning go that much more smoothly).

If you are driving to Epcot, aim to be to the parking lot plaza about 1 hour before the parks open.

If you are taking the Skyliner, be to your station around 90 minutes before the parks open.

If the monorail is running, you’ll want to be to the station about 60 minutes before park opening.

What about Early Theme Park Entry?

Disney has retired Extra Magic Hours but in their place they have implemented a new system called Early Theme Park Entry.

This benefit allows Disney Resort guests (as well as guests from other select hotels) the opportunity to enter any of the 4 theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) 30 minutes before non-Disney Resort guests.

If you qualify for this benefit, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the extra time to get ahead of the regular park crowds and head to Norway to ride Frozen Ever After.

For more information, check out our Guide to Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World.

What attractions will be open during Early Theme Park Entry?

During Early Theme Park Entry, not every attraction will be operating. Here is the list of the attractions that will be open (note: attractions labeled with an * are our best choices for Early Theme Park Entry):

Frozen Ever After sign

Attractions that never open at park opening

There are a few things that rarely open up with the rest of Epcot.

If you are interested in any of these, make sure you check the operating schedule inside of My Disney Experience:

Shows & characters:

Anna Epcot Park Hours

Attractions:

  • In the past, the entire World Showcase (minus Frozen Ever After and the Gran Fiesta Tour) would open 2 hours after the rest of the park. However, Epcot is currently opening around 8:30/9 am, which means the World Showcase is opening with the rest of the park.

What About Extended Evening Theme Park Hours?

Disney World now also has Extended Evening Theme Park Hours for Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resort hotel guests (and other select hotel guests) to spend 2 extra hours past closing in select parks (usually Magic Kingdom and Epcot).

These are available at Epcot, typically on Mondays.

Dates and hours are released sporadically, which you can keep tabs on here.

If you qualify for this benefit, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the extra time to ride attractions at the park — and enjoy fewer crowds.

spaceship earth points of light epcot

What Attractions Will Be Open During Extended Evening Theme Park Hours?

During Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, not every attraction will be operating. Select merchandise and food and beverage locations are also available. Here is the list of the attractions that will be open:

  • Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
  • Frozen Ever After
  • Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
  • Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (available via virtual queue — learn more here)
  • Mission: SPACE
  • Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
  • Soarin’ Around the World
  • Spaceship Earth
  • Test Track
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Read more about how to tour Epcot right now.

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