Epcot Early Entry or Extended Evening

[Adili]

The week I'm at WDW, Epcot Extended Evening hours falls on Memorial Day when TP crowd forecast is a 9. My must-dos are Test Track, Frozen, Les Halles, and food booths. I have two kids (7, 11). I'm staying at a deluxe resort and don't have park hopper tickets.

I assume food lines would be longer that day than on other days, so I'm not sure if shorter waits during EE would be worth the pain of waiting for food. I've read about people's experiences with EE where it's hard to accomplish a lot given how much walking is involved, so I hope to do 2-3 rides during EE.

These are the options I'm thinking about:

1. Since food booths and most restaurants are closed during EE, arrive around 4 PM. Get some food. Check out some of the attractions and rides with low wait times before EE begins.

2. Go to Epcot when it opens at 10 AM and spend about 2 hours there focusing on food. Leave and then return around 7 PM for dinner, fireworks, and EE.

3. Do early entry at Epcot another day with forecasted crowds of 4-6.

Which of the 3 would you recommend?

 

[kilik64]

Id recommend not paying a lick of attention to a crowd calendar.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

We did them on Monday. A few observations -

- with fireworks at 9, and the EEH from 9-11, the crowds didn’t really clear out until 9:30 or so.

- food and shops all closed around 9. We were leaving at 9:30 and walked from Mexico towards the international gateway, and everything was closed.

- at about 9:25 the line for Frozen stretched from the outside of the attraction all of the way on the main path. It was posted at 35, but we didn’t wait, so I don’t know if it was accurate. But it looked long.

We had dinner at Space 220 then went to Test Track. It wasn’t quite 9 but close since we didn’t have to scan to enter the line. The fireworks were going off when we were on it. Not sure how, and it was posted higher, but it was pretty much a walk on. We walked right into the design room. But we did that and the Mexico boat ride during Harmonious. We did have to scan in, but at that point, we were about the only people inside the building and on the ride. Our boat and as far back as we could see were empty. But, when we were getting off, the show had ended and more people were in the area. We thought about trying frozen or Remy after the Mexico, but both had waits that looked longer than we wanted to deal with.

It’s hard to recommend not knowing about Guardians because that will certainly change it, but I like option 1 the best. I think option 2 will have you constantly fighting crowds and option 3 is too hard to say without knowing the rest of your plans.

 

[krybandt]

The week I'm at WDW, Epcot Extended Evening hours falls on Memorial Day when TP crowd forecast is a 9. My must-dos are Test Track, Frozen, Les Halles, and food booths. I have two kids (7, 11). I'm staying at a deluxe resort and don't have park hopper tickets.

I assume food lines would be longer that day than on other days, so I'm not sure if shorter waits during EE would be worth the pain of waiting for food. I've read about people's experiences with EE where it's hard to accomplish a lot given how much walking is involved, so I hope to do 2-3 rides during EE.

These are the options I'm thinking about:

1. Since food booths and most restaurants are closed during EE, arrive around 4 PM. Get some food. Check out some of the attractions and rides with low wait times before EE begins.

2. Go to Epcot when it opens at 10 AM and spend about 2 hours there focusing on food. Leave and then return around 7 PM for dinner, fireworks, and EE.

3. Do early entry at Epcot another day with forecasted crowds of 4-6.

Which of the 3 would you recommend?

I would say 1 if you have something you want to do earlier, like sleeping in and having a pool day. I personally would do 2 because you’ll have more time in the park and some down time in between. Option 3 seems the riskiest in case predictions are off and how much difference you’d feel between the levels.

 

[Adili]

We did them on Monday. A few observations -

- with fireworks at 9, and the EEH from 9-11, the crowds didn’t really clear out until 9:30 or so.

- food and shops all closed around 9. We were leaving at 9:30 and walked from Mexico towards the international gateway, and everything was closed.

- at about 9:25 the line for Frozen stretched from the outside of the attraction all of the way on the main path. It was posted at 35, but we didn’t wait, so I don’t know if it was accurate. But it looked long.

We had dinner at Space 220 then went to Test Track. It wasn’t quite 9 but close since we didn’t have to scan to enter the line. The fireworks were going off when we were on it. Not sure how, and it was posted higher, but it was pretty much a walk on. We walked right into the design room. But we did that and the Mexico boat ride during Harmonious. We did have to scan in, but at that point, we were about the only people inside the building and on the ride. Our boat and as far back as we could see were empty. But, when we were getting off, the show had ended and more people were in the area. We thought about trying frozen or Remy after the Mexico, but both had waits that looked longer than we wanted to deal with.

It’s hard to recommend not knowing about Guardians because that will certainly change it, but I like option 1 the best. I think option 2 will have you constantly fighting crowds and option 3 is too hard to say without knowing the rest of your plans.

Thanks for sharing the times for your experience. I'm hoping to catch the fireworks show from a spot where it will be easy to get in line for a ride right when it ends.

I did hear the rumor about Guardians possibly opening Memorial Day weekend. I looked at how far in advance opening dates for other rides were announced. If the sources I found were correct, Remy's opening date was announced 7 months in advance; while Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway was announced 3 months in advance. We're less than 2 months away from Memorial Day, so I assume Guardians won't be open then. But who knows?

As for the rest of my plans, Memorial Day is my first possible park day. I'm definitely going to MK's EE on Wednesday. I also plan to spend a day at HS and a day at AK. I'll have 2 non-park days to use the pool, hang out at the resort, and go to Disney Springs. I may use one of those extra days to add an additional park day, which we'll decide when we're there. We'll then move to a Universal hotel and spend 3 days doing all things Harry Potter.

 

[Adili]

Id recommend not paying a lick of attention to a crowd calendar.

Yes, from the crowd reports lately, it seems that it's crowded all the time now.

 

[Adili]

I would say 1 if you have something you want to do earlier, like sleeping in and having a pool day. I personally would do 2 because you’ll have more time in the park and some down time in between. Option 3 seems the riskiest in case predictions are off and how much difference you’d feel between the levels.

Thanks for the input. We don't have any plans earlier that day. If we go with option 1, we'll have a relaxing morning and probably use the pool before going to the park.

With option 2, I would nap in between the park visits, but the kids probably won't. I'm a little worried about tiring them out by going twice in one day.

That's a good point that how crowded it feels to me may not match the predictions. I think I'll keep my park reservation for Epcot for that Monday then.

 

[pens4821]

I would do your second choice, but I don’t think you’ll have that much time if you get back at 7 to do food, fireworks and rides. I know you said weren’t sure about tiring out the kids, but I’d try to do some rides at rope drop before snacking at booths. Then leave maybe tt and frozen for after the fireworks.

We went to HS for rope drop our extended hours day. Rode a few rides, ate lunch, then went back to swim. Had dinner at 6 at ale and compass then went to ep. We got there about 8. Did nemo, lwtl, soarin, tt (got there about 915), and remy. So we really only got 2 rides done for the extended hours.

It took about 10-15 minutes to get right before the design studio in the line for tt, then it went down for about 15 minutes. By the time we got off both frozen and remy (wanted to do both) were posted 45 minutes. We didn’t know if we’d have time to get to frozen then walk way over to remy so we just went to remy. It was just about 45 as posted. Got off about 1055. We may have been able to get frozen in and over there and in line before 11, but didn’t want to chance it.

Without the breakdown on tt we would’ve been ok.

 

[isabellea]

For our July trip, we plan on doing early morning, ride a few rides then take a long break at resort before going back to Epcot for the fireworks and extended hours. My daughters are 9 and 12yo so in order for them to also do the extended hours at MK on the Wednesday, I am planning a quiet no-park day on the Tuesday so the youngest, who has chronic back pain, can relax and have an early (very early) bedtime.

 

[ZerasPride]

We plan to be at Epcot on May 30th too! The plan will be to be at the International Gateway by 9:00. Ride Remy and wonder around the France pavilion a while and head back to the Yacht and Beach Club for a late breakfast at Ale and Compass and then some R&R back at our room. Then return to Epcot for dinner at Rose and Crown at 6:00 (hoping to snag a Fireworks dinner package) and enjoy the evening and take in some rides while we close the park out at 11:00. I feel like this is doable mostly because we are staying at the Beach Club Villas.

 

[jwolfpack]

I would go with option 2 or 3. I think attempting to take on the food booths around 4:00 that day (with predicted holiday crowds) would be setting yourself up for frustration and exhaustion. We will actually be there that night too, and our plan is to spend our morning at another park (HS), break at hotel after lunch, and enter Epcot for a 6:30 ADR. I may try to snag an ILL for 8:00 pm-ish to help us get a head start on riding our must-dos.

 

[RoseGold]

May 30 is blacked out for Pirate and Pixie Dust, so that eliminates the locals, which might make the food lines better, but the ride lines worse. The only way to know is to try option 2 and see how much of your list you can get done.

I rode Frozen during after hours in the marathon crowd, and it was still a frustrating wait.

I'd be watching the GOTG news. If that is launching, Epcot will be swarmed. If they are doing the AP preview, it will be swarmed with Sorcerer and Incredipass holders.

I think your must do list is achievable, even with a crazy crowd. But I'm not sure I would want to fight a GOTG crowd to do it.

 

[Adili]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I think we'll go with option 2 and try to get some things done early to be on the safe side. Then we'll return to the park around 5-6 pm for the evening hours.

 

[Adili]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I think we'll go with option 2 and to get some food and rides in early to be on the safe side. We'll rest in the afternoon. Then we'll return to the park around 5-6 pm for the evening hours.

 

[Adili]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I think we'll go with option 2 and to get some food and rides in early to be on the safe side. We'll rest in the afternoon. Then we'll return to the park around 5-6 pm for the evening hours.

 

[DisneySyd]

We did Epcot on March 14th (crazy busy week) and accomplished all the rides you listed without Genie+/$ILL.
7pm - arrived and rode Spaceship Earth (couple minute wait)
- rode Nemo (walk on)
- rode Soarin (went straight into theatre C queue)
- rode Figment (couple minute wait)
- rode TT 3 times single rider (last ride photo showed 9:37pm) - you could watch fireworks instead
- rode Frozen (ride photo at 10:06pm)
- rode Remy (longest wait cause it had been down earlier…off at 10:54pm and could have done it again with 5 min wait but we were done).
- walked back to YC
We don’t rope drop so I was the only one up the next morning at 7am to book FOP and our 1st Genie+ (for stacking rides that afternoon).

I’m sure GoTG opening on May 27th will change things but thought I would share our experience of EE on a crazy busy day that I posted on another thread.
My kids are also 7&11. They’ve been on TT before so had no issue with single rider…oldest first, then youngest, then me. We met in the photo room after the ride.
We slept in, hit the pool, and then went to the park after dinner.