Historical Epcot hours

[DeeSee]

I've been to WDW twice but have never been to Epcot. The 11am opening... am I right in saying that's been a Covid-era thing? What time did Epcot typically open in the past?

 

[OhDannyBoy]

The part with the rides and stuff like that would open 9ish usually and the world showcase would open 10 or 11. I think. it's been a while.

Some one much better versed will be along to correct me shortly. LOL

 

[DisBuckMan]

The part with the rides and stuff like that would open 9ish usually and the world showcase would open 10 or 11. I think. it's been a while.

Some one much better versed will be along to correct me shortly. LOL

This is correct. Futureworld open at 9, World Showcase open at 11*.

* Mexico and Norway (also has a breakfast restaurant) opened at 9 due to having rides. France opened at 9 due to the QS serving breakfast items. Now that I think about it, Norway's Akershus restaurant may have opened at 8am, but I cannot remember for sure.

 

[maltdizzy]

Most of the time, Future World opened at 9, and World Showcase would open at 11 (with some exceptions that opened early because of the intenrational gateway and Frozen)).

The current hours started because of COIVD (after the shutdown, each park opened one hour after the next, so they could make the best use of the buses), but I have a feeling (purely a guess) that it's here to stay for the next year or so because of all the construction at Future World.

 

[gharter]

Most of the time, Future World opened at 9, and World Showcase would open at 11 (with some exceptions that opened early because of the intenrational gateway and Frozen)).

The current hours started because of COIVD (after the shutdown, each park opened one hour after the next, so they could make the best use of the buses), but I have a feeling (purely a guess) that it's here to stay for the next year or so because of all the construction at Future World.

I would agree. Outside of Mousegears, I don't think there is much of anything new going to open in Futureworld in the near future
Maybe as they get closer to the 50th and crowds get larger, they may open earlier to handle the crowds.

 

[_19disnA]

When we were last there in 2019 the front part of Epcot opened around 9 am. World showcase around the lake opened later at around 11 am as I recall. You could still walk around that area, but most of the stores/kiosks were closed, a few opened early. Can't say what Disney will do going forward or how covid will change things.

 

[sponica]

I would agree. Outside of Mousegears, I don't think there is much of anything new going to open in Futureworld in the near future
Maybe as they get closer to the 50th and crowds get larger, they may open earlier to handle the crowds.

I hope they open earlier, I WANT MY GARDEN GRILL BREAKFAST!

 

[Wandering Oaken]

They need to go back to at least 9am. I would prefer all of the parks open at 8am.

 

[Nick6300]

So I had my park reservations with no EP to start any day, given the later hrs. Now that Rat. will be opening, the current crowds, 50th stuff, F&W, etc., I'm guessing/hoping they make it a 9am start this Fall. I changed one of my 6 days for EP, just in case it's too difficult to get into Rat except for the early RDs. You guys really think they won't change it from 11?

 

[DeeSee]

Thanks! We get in late in the evening on our first day. We will likely do Epcot the following morning, but we will probably start the morning a bit later since we will have had a long day. Trying to decide how best to plan the day if we have to miss rope drop.

 

[DebbieB]

They need to go back to at least 9am. I would prefer all of the parks open at 8am.

That would be difficult for the busses. When they first reopened last year, it was AK 8, MK 9, DHS 10, Epcot 11.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

That would be difficult for the busses. When they first reopened last year, it was AK 8, MK 9, DHS 10, Epcot 11.

Not Always. EPCoT used to open at 9am.

 

[DebbieB]

Not Always. EPCoT used to open at 9am.

I was referring to post Covid close. Last July.

 

[Nick6300]

https://www.kennythepirate.com/2021/07/26/epcot-will-be-opening-earlier-than-it-has-in-a-long-time/
EP going to be open at 10am in Aug. maybe this will be a trend.

 

[SkyGuy]

https://www.kennythepirate.com/2021/07/26/epcot-will-be-opening-earlier-than-it-has-in-a-long-time/
EP going to be open at 10am in Aug. maybe this will be a trend.

So far, I’ve only seen that it will open at 10am on August 7th and August 14th. Those are also the only dates that show a 10am opening on the Disney hours page. Has there been an announcement stating more August dates will have a 10am opening? I would love this; I always feel as though I’m wasting half my day when I start at Epcot.

 

[Nick6300]

So far, I’ve only seen that it will open at 10am on August 7th and August 14th. Those are also the only dates that show a 10am opening on the Disney hours page. Has there been an announcement stating more August dates will have a 10am opening? I would love this; I always feel as though I’m wasting half my day when I start at Epcot.

Think it’s been fairly last min like just a couple weeks in advance when they revise upcoming hours, generally extending them slightly. I feel like this is a good sign though since we’ve been stuck on 11am for EP for a long time, until the announcement just now. Maybe the 10 am will stick (better than 11), maybe even 9 is possible once Oct rolls around and it’s even busier with the anniversary, Rat, and they need to spread those crowds out over longer hrs. But that would make sense… I showed my wife this news and her response was that it’s 11 this Fall as it’s currently stated, until it changes and it hasn’t.

 

[Heather07438]

Epcot also recently changed the closing hour for 2 days of our mid Sept trip. That week was closing 9pm, now Sun the 12th & Fri the 17th will be open until 10pm.

I think WDW is trying to make EP more enticing since people have gravitated to just hopping over or skipping it altogether.

We didn’t bother reserving any of our 6 days at EP. With 11am open we get a 3hr head start by hitting AK first instead (or 2hrs at MK/HS). We’ll hop over 2 or 3 afternoons, that’s plenty of time there.

 

[rainyvegandisney]

.

 

[Nick6300]

How crowded is it at EP on a Sat right now with F&W? The headliners have long wait times, but all of them do this summer. For now, it seems like EP would still be a less desirable park reservation without the new things like the space restaurant, Harmonious, Rat, SE lighting... even with F&W (lack of non local concerts, the later start time, etc.).

My internal debate has been to allocate 1 of 7 park reservations for EP in the hopes of an earlier start time, and in place of an AK reservation... so that if EP remains 11am, and we're still able to get to Rat late at night from PH to EP on a random evening at something somewhat reasonable, like 60-90 min, we could change the 1 EP back to AK a few days before (since more people go for HS, MK). Idk how comparable, but when Runaway was brand new, we waited 45-60 min on the few times we did last ride.

 

[MissionMouse]

Agree. It time for Future World to open once again at 9am. Based on recent Disney leadership comments on park reservation system, it's also time to drop the 2pm hopper restriction and provide the value back to their customer.