Watch out! Some days are coming up when you may want to avoid EPCOT in Disney World.

A day spent in a crowded Disney World park is still usually better than just any old day at home, but if you can avoid the crowds, that’s even better. We’ve created a list of about 20 upcoming dates that are historically very crowded in EPCOT, based on our experience of visiting the theme parks every day for several years. If at all possible, try to avoid EPCOT on these days!

First, we have to share a disclaimer: Crowds in Disney World can sometimes be very unpredictable. We’ve occasionally been shocked by how busy the theme parks are on random days or how empty they are on days we expected to be popular.

However, some pretty reliable crowd trends have emerged over the last few years. This list is meant to help you prepare as much as possible for your upcoming vacation, but you should keep in mind that the park isn’t guaranteed to be busy on these days or empty on other days.

Here are the days when you should AVOID EPCOT:

• December 31st — New Year’s Eve — Park Pass Reservations are already completely sold out, so we know this day is going to be crowded!
• January 1st — New Year’s Day — Park Passes haven’t sold out for this holiday, but we usually see pretty heavy crowds on any holiday weekend.
• January 6th and 7th — runDisney Marathon Weekend — The half marathon (January 6th) and full marathon (January 7th) both finish in EPCOT, so the park is generally very crowded in the mornings with runners finishing the race and spectators cheering them on.
• January 12th — First day of the Festival of the Arts — The first day of any EPCOT festival tends to be crowded since many people want to try all the new eats ASAP!
• January 13th-15th — Weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — Some schools and workplaces will get this day off, which means that the parks will be busier than usual this weekend.
• February 17th-19th – Weekend of President’s Day — EPCOT will likely be busy for the holiday weekend!
• February 28th — First day of the Flower and Garden Festival

EPCOT also hosts Extended Evening Hours, which are times when guests staying at Disney World deluxe hotels get to stay a little later than everyone else. On days when Extended Evening Hours are happening in EPCOT, we expect crowds to be a little bigger, as more people head to the park to take advantage of this perk.

Here’s when Extended Evening Hours are scheduled for EPCOT in early 2024:

• January 1st
• January 8th
• January 15th
• January 22nd
• January 29th
• February 5th
• February 12th
• February 19th

EPCOT won’t close early for Extended Evening Hours the way some parks do for after hours parties and events, so you won’t lose any park time by visiting on an Extended Evening Hours day, but the park just might be a bit more crowded than usual.

If you’ve already planned to be in EPCOT on one of these days, don’t worry! Crowds might be totally fine, and even if it is super busy, you’ve got several options to help you cope with the crowds.

First, you could buy Genie+, which allows you to reserve Lightning Lanes for certain rides and attractions, meaning you get to SKIP the standby line and save lots of time. We don’t usually recommend buying Genie+ for EPCOT (since EPCOT has fewer rides than some of the other parks, which means you get less bang for your buck than you would at, say, Magic Kingdom), but it might be worth it on a busier day.

Don’t forget to utilize Rope Drop, too! Rope Drop just means you arrive at EPCOT well before the park opens so that you’re one of the first people in line for the most popular rides. We usually recommend being at the park entrance at least a half hour before opening time.

If you’re staying at a Disney World hotel, you can get inside the park a half hour early, too! Extended Evening Hours are just for guests at deluxe hotels, but Early Theme Park Entry is for guests at ANY Disney World hotel. This extra half hour can be super valuable, as you can get in a couple of popular rides before most of the crowds arrive.

Early Theme Park Entry applies to every theme park every day, so it’s a great perk that you can use throughout your trip. Combine Rope Drop and Early Entry by being at the park’s entrance a full hour before the park opens to other guests (which is a half hour before Early Entry starts).

We also tend to see ride wait times drop later in the evening, just before closing time. As long as you’re in a ride queue before the park officially closes, you’ll be allowed to stay in and ride the ride.

Some of the most popular rides in EPCOT that you’ll want to visit first thing in the morning (or later at night once the crowds start to mellow out a bit) include Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track, and Frozen Ever After.

Possibly the MOST exciting ride in EPCOT is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. This roller coaster does NOT have a standby line, so you’ll need to either join the virtual queue (for free) or purchase an Individual Lightning Lane (which typically costs between $14 and $17 per person).

You can join the virtual queue starting at 7AM, and if you miss that one, you can try again at 1PM. You must be inside EPCOT to join the 1PM virtual queue, but it’s not required for the 7AM virtual queue.

Click here for our complete guide to using virtual queues in Disney World.

Finally, don’t sleep on those less-popular attractions that have low wait times! You’ll definitely want to make a plan to get on the coasters and popular rides, but in between all that, don’t forget to check out rides like Living With the Land, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, Gran Fiesta Tour, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends, all of which tend to have shorter wait times but are still super fun to experience.

Soarin’ is something of a mixed bag — it’s a very popular ride, but you can sometimes catch it with a low wait time. We wouldn’t recommend rope-dropping this attraction (save that for Remy’s, Frozen Ever After, or Test Track), but keep an eye on wait times and head over to The Land pavilion to ride it once the wait time drops.

We’ll continue to update this post as Disney releases more event dates that could affect crowds in EPCOT, so stay tuned to DFB!

Click here to check out our complete guide to EPCOT!

Are you going to EPCOT in 2024? Let us know in the comments.