Epcot at night worth it ?

[Lexje06]

Hi everyone. I’m going to Disney for 4 days Labor Day weekend (Saturday- Wednesday) with my boyfriend and our 7 year old son. We land 7 am Saturday. Full disclosure- we are not morning people so rope drop is going to be a no. Saturday will be our only early morning day. We are buying genie+ and ILL every day. And we are staying at AKL.

After receiving some great advice on here I switched our Day 1 (Saturday) plan from HS to AK.

Day 2 was going to be HS.

Day 3 was for Epcot.

Day 4 for MK.

I picked this order because I got amazing advice on here about doing AK on Day 1 (Saturday) and after reviewing Thrill Data realized it’s a great Choice for Day 1- I think we can realistically ride everything we want with an ILL for FOP and Genie + for Na’vi, Safari, Everest and Rapid Rivers (and maybe dinosaur) and still be back at the hotel by 4.

I picked Epcot for Day 3 (Monday) because we have access to the late night there that night through our resort and it seems a waste not to use it.

I picked MK for Day 4 (Tuesday) because it’s going to be the slowest day of our trip and there is so much to ride there.

So, by default, HS fell into Day 2 (Sunday).

Now, I’m starting to rethink things and I’m extremely tempted to do Epcot on Day 2. This would mean giving up our “perk” of extended hours at Epcot which is offered on Monday (Day 3) but to be blunt there’s not a lot there we want to ride there. The only MUST DO rides at Epcot are Guardians of the Galaxy and Ratatouille. We also would like the Frozen Ride and Test Track but they aren’t MUST DOs. I’ve heard Monday is noticeably slower than Sunday on Labor Day weekend and we want to do a lot more at HS than Epcot.

I hate the thought of giving up the extended hours perk, but if there is any truth to the claim that actual Labor Day (Monday) is slower than Sunday it may be worth making the switch to get in everything we MUST DO at HS (slinky dog, ROR, smugglers run, toy story mania) and the rides we WANT (TOT, Mickey and Minnie).

Thoughts?

 

[Marionnette]

Epcot on weekends during the Food & Wine Festival can be extremely crowded. Lots of locals like to visit then and since it's a holiday weekend, they are more likely to spend the whole day at the parks because they don't have to work the next day. I don't think that switching HS on Sunday to Monday will be a big enough difference to make up for the Epcot crowds.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

I'm not sure what the right/best answer is, but I recently switched our days from using the Extended Evening hours at Epcot because of the wait times showing on Thrill Data. I didn't see much of a benefit to going if there were going to be longer lines, although in our case, we will likely be rope-dropping some of the days. Since you are doing Genie+ and ILL, you will likely be OK with whatever plan you use. I guess the only thing you would miss if you do switch Extended Evening is the potential of riding Guardians another time. But if you are getting ILL and do the midday virtual queue, I'd assume you would get to ride twice anyway. Good luck!

 

[2Lunds]

I wouldn't prioritize extended hours at Epcot - when we went in May it was actually really busy and the lines were long due to Ratatouille being down for most of the night. World Showcase is shut down during extended hours anyway - so I just don't think it's really worth it.

It's worth staying until close because the park is pretty at night - but I see the sun is setting around 7:30 that week, so you don't have to stay into extended hours to enjoy that.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Based on your other must-dos (FoP, GoG, Everest, etc.) it seems like Soarin would be right in your wheelhouse.

 

[ktink]

We were there in late January & the wait times were minimal. I'm disappointed that we are missing it this trip. We are going to MNSSHP on Labor Day night. I wish they had swapped the days out so that people don't miss out on the evening hours by attending MNSSHP.

 

[Lexje06]

Based on your other must-dos (FoP, GoG, Everest, etc.) it seems like Soarin would be right in your wheelhouse.

Yes ! I totally forgot to list that ride thank you!

 

[Lexje06]

We were there in late January & the wait times were minimal. I'm disappointed that we are missing it this trip. We are going to MNSSHP on Labor Day night. I wish they had swapped the days out so that people don't miss out on the evening hours by attending MNSSHP.

That was another consideration- halloween party. What do you think? It’s the cost that’s getting to me but I’ve heard it is amazing. Do rides stay open? What are the wait times like (if you know). For some reason I would think it wouldn’t be too busy since some people may not want to celebrate Halloween on Labor Day.

 

[jennab]

Do you have hopper tickets? If so, you can still do EP evening hours even if you do another park during the day. If you don't, I would stay away from Epcot during the day on the weekend, especially a holiday weekend as there will be lots of locals for F&W, so World Showcase will be busy.

 

[alex1913]

Harmonious is also a skip if that helps inform whether you go to EPCOT at night or not.

 

[ktink]

That was another consideration- halloween party. What do you think? It’s the cost that’s getting to me but I’ve heard it is amazing. Do rides stay open? What are the wait times like (if you know). For some reason I would think it wouldn’t be too busy since some people may not want to celebrate Halloween on Labor Day.

I've never attended before. I'm hoping it's going to be less crowded though.