Avoid Epcot on After Hour Event Days?

[Duke07]

Are the crowds generally higher on the special ticketed event days at Epcot? I’m considering going on a Thursday in late April when there is a ticketed after hours event (not going to the event though). Thanks!

 

[Melissa622]

Since after hours events don't affect park hours in any way, they typically don't affect crowds either.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Nope

 

[jadejazzkayla]

I would not go to a park that has an after hours event on the same day. Thousands of event people will be flooding the park several hours before parks close. Nope. I like when the day crowd thins out and I have less wait time the last few hours of the night.

 

[brockash]

I would not go to a park that has an after hours event on the same day. Thousands of event people will be flooding the park several hours before parks close. Nope. I like when the day crowd thins out and I have less wait time the last few hours of the night.

This is our opinion as well. We plan our park days to avoid deluxe hrs and after hrs. The caveat to this is I would plan a MK day on a Halloween or Xmas party day for the low crowds with the expectation that we'd park hop before the party guests are allowed to enter.

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

The other consideration there is that for event days the park often will close for the general/non-event public significantly earlier than on a normal day. If you are trying to maximize your park time, that may be a reason to avoid days which have a separate evening ticketed event unless you are also attending that event. You will want to find out if the park will be closing early due to that event, and plan accordingly if that is meaningful to you.

Edit:
It looks like the event in question in this case starts late enough that park hours will not be impacted, so that shouldn't be a concern in this instance.

 

[jadejazzkayla]

Thousands of event people will pour in at 7pm and the park closes for day guests at 9pm. I would call that a significant impact.

 

[Brian Noble]

I've been to both AK and EP when they were hosting Moonlight Magic events---events that I was not attending. I think I knew when the events were, but never put two and two together until I saw the check-in locations. Yes, there were noticeable guests hanging around with wristbands, but I would hardly call it "pouring in." It was fine. After Hours might be a larger crowd, but I don't know.

If it works out best for your overall trip's flow to attend on a hard-ticket day, it will be fine. If it's not that big of a deal, it is easy to avoid. But personally I would not sweat it.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

There are far more people going to Extended Evening Hours than Disney After Hours, as they limit the number of tickets sold. Having been to the parks on days where there was a DAH event, I didn't notice a significant difference in crowd. It won't be as light as the holiday parties at MK, but still shouldn't be a huge difference.

 

[lynch34]

I would never let that stuff decide what you do. There's too much that is unpredictable about the crowds at WDW.