Want to experience Disney World like you never have before? You can, with After Hours events!

During these events, you can experience rides with lower waits and crowds, complimentary snacks, and more. And now, it’s time for the first After Hours event at EPCOT in 2023 — but are these events worth it? Come with us to the FIRST event of the year to take a look at everything offered and find out!

Disney has had after-hours events for Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios so far this year, but now it’s time for EPCOT after-hours events that were announced for Disney World this year as well. You can enjoy attractions, entertainment, and character meet-and-greets on select nights from June 1, 2023 – August 24, 2023!

Here’s a look at what’s included, and then we’ll take you with us to explore the FIRST EPCOT After Hours event:

Attractions

The capacity for this special event is limited so guests have easy access to select park attractions (including headliner attractions such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind).

• Spaceship Earth
• Journey Into Imagination with Figment
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Mission: Space (both Orange and Green)
• Test Track
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Living with the Land
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends
• Gran Fiesta Tour
• Frozen Ever After
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Food

Included with event admission (so these are FREE):

• Popcorn, select beverages, and ice cream treats from various snack carts, located in the following locations:
  • Near Mission: SPACE
  • Near Creations Shop
  • Near The Seas with Nemo and Friens
  • Near the Imagination pavilion
  • In the Norway pavilion
  • In the Canada pavilion

The free snacks are not available before the event officially starts, so you can grab those starting around 10PM (even if you enter the park at 7PM).

The following restaurants are open during After Hours events, and you can buy food there (not included in your event admission):

• Connections Eatery (until 10PM)
• Connections Café (until 11PM)
• World Discovery Hot Dog Cart
• Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe (select menu items available)
• Yorkshire County Fish Shop (until 11PM)
• Rose & Crown Pub

Note that most of EPCOT’s many restaurants are NOT open during the After Hours events, and some of the ones that are open close early. The event runs from 10PM to 1AM (although you can get into the park at 7PM), so only the Hot Dog Cart and Rose & Crown Pub stay open the whole time.

We highly recommend getting your snacks early so that you can enjoy the festival booths before they close and get dinner at a delicious restaurant. If you wait too long, you’ll only have hot dogs and popcorn to choose from!

Entertainment

• Event DJ (in World Discovery)
• Mariachi Cobre (in the Mexico pavilion)
• Character Meet-and-Greets
• Disney PhotoPass

Shopping

Some gift shops remain open during the After Hours events:

• Creations Shop
• ImageWorks
• Treasures of Xandar
• Mission: SPACE Cargo Bay
• Test Track SIMporium
• SeaBase Gift Shop
• Plaza de los Amigos
• World Traveler

Now that you know the details, come with us to the first event of 2023!

Checking In

When we arrived at EPCOT at 7PM, we found the check-in spot by following the signs.

We showed our ticket to a Cast Member and received a wristband.

Once you get your wristband, you’re all set to enjoy the party!

We’re live at the first EVER EPCOT After Hours! Stay tuned for no lines and late night fun ✨🌐🌙 pic.twitter.com/2JyMUTU40d

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 1, 2023

Remember that some offerings — like the free snacks and standby line for Guardians of the Galaxy — don’t start until the event officially begins at 10PM, so you can just enjoy EPCOT while the rest of the day guests trickle out. (And don’t forget to get your food early, before all the restaurants close!)

Crowds and Wait Times

After Hours events are limited in capacity, but if you arrive before 10PM then you’ll be there at the same time as all the normal guests as well. When we arrived, crowd levels seemed pretty normal.

There were several people around Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind…

…and lots of people were waiting to sample sodas at Club Cool as well.

However, in some parts of the park, it was already starting to feel pretty empty!

Parts of World Showcase were still pretty crowded as guests waited for EPCOT Forever (the fireworks show in this park) to begin. The show is at 9PM.

At around 8:15PM, wait times were fairly normal. Some popular rides — like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Test Track — still had wait times over an hour. That should change once 9PM hits!

Sure enough, once it was 9PM, the standby queue opened for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and we walked straight onto the ride — no wait at all!

Other ride wait times also dropped dramatically — Test Track was only a 10-minute wait!

This is UNHEARD OF. 10 minute wait for Test Track! 🚗💨 pic.twitter.com/YpQnym7KzG

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 2, 2023

Over in World Showcase, it felt like a ghost town!

THIS is why you buy tickets for After Hours events.

All of the rides had wait times of 20 minutes or less, except for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, which was temporarily closed (it reopened shortly after the closure with a 15-minute wait).

Is this real life?! Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure was a walk-on! 🐭✨ pic.twitter.com/36cw5kADUp

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 2, 2023

Note that World Showcase is partially closed during this event — you can’t go past Norway or France, so about half of the countries are inaccessible.

Still, the part of EPCOT that you can access is practically empty, which we loved.

Snacks

We stopped by an ice cream cart and picked up a few treats! There were Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars…

…Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches…

…popcorn…

…and a variety of bottled soda options.

Characters

We spotted a few characters along the way, like Pluto…

Pluto is out to play tonight at EPCOT After Hours! 🐾🌙 pic.twitter.com/YRNLudUzZF

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 2, 2023

…and Mickey!

Whether you’re heading to an after-hours event in Disney World or not, we’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest happenings, so stay tuned to DFB for more!

Learn more about the EPCOT After Hours event here.

Have you been to a Disney World After Hours event? Tell us in the comments.