- Mar 13, 2024
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We just had the BEST night at EPCOT, and we’re about to spill all of the details!
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Wanna know the secret to enjoying attractions, entertainment, and character greetings around EPCOT for three hours with little to no lines? Welcome to Disney After Hours at EPCOT, a separately-ticketed event running select nights through September 24th, 2026! We recently went to one of the After Hours events at EPCOT and were blown away by how much we were able to experience in just a few hours. Let’s dive into a recap of our incredible EPCOT After Hours night!
Disney World’s After Hours events are a great way to experience a TON of rides and attractions with minimal lines. The events are hosted on select nights in Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT, and capacity for each one is limited, which means you can breeze through the lines at even the most popular attractions!
EPCOT After Hours
Ticket prices for the After Hours events vary by park and date, with 2026 After Hours prices at EPCOT ranging from $155 to $179, plus tax. We recently went to an EPCOT After Hours event, and we thought it was TOTALLY worth the $179 ticket price we paid!
EPCOT After Hours
Disney After Hours at EPCOT officially begins at 9:30 PM and runs until 12:30 AM, so the event itself is three hours. However, guests with After Hours tickets can enter the park as early as 7 PM, which means you can get up to five and a half hours of park time, all without needing to purchase a regular ticket for the day! Guests are given a wristband when they check in, which helps Cast Members easily spot ticketed guests once the event begins.
Check In
We started our recent After Hours night in France, where we found a good viewing spot for the fireworks show Luminous The Symphony of Us. Remember that since you can get in as early as 7 PM, you’ll have plenty of time to scope out a place to watch the fireworks if that’s on your priority list, even though they happen before the event officially starts!
EPCOT Fireworks
After watching the fireworks, we headed right to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, which we rode three times in a row with hardly any wait! We found it was super helpful to be right next to the attraction we wanted to start with as soon as After Hours began, so we definitely suggest arriving early and heading to whatever area of the park you’d like to start in so you can hit the ground running.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
When we had our fill of Remy, we started to make our way out of the World Showcase. But not before stopping in Canada for a snack! The After Hours events at each park include some complimentary snacks like ice cream treats, popcorn, and select bottled beverages. But one huge perk of EPCOT After Hours specifically is that you can get free MAPLE Popcorn in Canada, which is one of our favorite World Showcase snacks!
Popcorn and water at EPCOT After Hours
Since bottled water and soda are included with the ticket price, you can pack light. But we did still bring our park bag for storing bottled drinks when we were on rides or standing in line (even though the lines are light, they do still exist for the more popular attractions).
EPCOT After Hours
Another underrated part of After Hours that we absolutely loved was just soaking up the fact that there are almost NO crowds as you stroll through the park, and you’re getting an ultra-rare look at Disney World with hardly anyone else around!
EPCOT After Hours
Now, let’s make our way over to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind! We’ll start out with an unfortunate reality: even during special events, things can break. The Cosmic Rewind preshow broke twice while we were there at the very end of the night. We were chatting with a Cast Member who said the preshow breaks fairly often, and it tends to happen more frequently towards the end of the night. With that in mind, if this is a MUST-DO ride for you, we’d suggest heading there at the beginning of the event for your best shot at getting the full experience.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Pre-Show
Now, for the good news! We were still able to experience the actual ride; we just skipped the preshow and were led out a side door to the loading area. But if you’ve never ridden Cosmic Rewind before, the preshow adds a lot to the overall experience, so missing it can be a bummer.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Lines for Cosmic Rewind were WAY shorter than waits during normal park hours (it’s common to see wait times in the 90-120 minute range), but there was still a little bit of a line. Even so, we were able to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind FIVE times during After Hours!
Guardians of the Galaxy
Keep in mind, we did more than just this ride — we started with three straight rides on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, stopped for snacks in Canada, and then took our five rides on Cosmic Rewind, PLUS got one ride on Frozen Ever After to boot. And we did ALL of that in just three hours! That is a seriously impressive amount of rides to experience in such a short window on two of the park’s most popular attractions!
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind during After Hours
It was also fun to see how many of the ride’s five different songs we could collect during After Hours. We got three different songs over the course of five rides, and were thrilled to get the fan-favorite September twice!
Pre-show of Cosmic Rewind
Overall, between getting to experience nine total rides (three on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, five on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and one on Frozen Ever After), picking up free ice cream, maple popcorn, and bottled waters, and experiencing a nearly EPCOT, we’d say the price of the ticket was well worth it. Plus, you can get even more for your money if you get there right at 7 PM and take advantage of your bonus time in EPCOT!
Mickey’s Ice Cream Bar
If you’re looking for a way to knock out some of the most popular attractions without waiting in ultra-long lines or navigating through the crowds, the After Hours events can be a great way to level up your Disney World trip!
Have you been to an After Hours event in Disney World? Share your experience in the comments!
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Wanna know the secret to enjoying attractions, entertainment, and character greetings around EPCOT for three hours with little to no lines? Welcome to Disney After Hours at EPCOT, a separately-ticketed event running select nights through September 24th, 2026! We recently went to one of the After Hours events at EPCOT and were blown away by how much we were able to experience in just a few hours. Let’s dive into a recap of our incredible EPCOT After Hours night!
Disney World’s After Hours events are a great way to experience a TON of rides and attractions with minimal lines. The events are hosted on select nights in Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT, and capacity for each one is limited, which means you can breeze through the lines at even the most popular attractions!
EPCOT After Hours
Ticket prices for the After Hours events vary by park and date, with 2026 After Hours prices at EPCOT ranging from $155 to $179, plus tax. We recently went to an EPCOT After Hours event, and we thought it was TOTALLY worth the $179 ticket price we paid!
EPCOT After Hours
Disney After Hours at EPCOT officially begins at 9:30 PM and runs until 12:30 AM, so the event itself is three hours. However, guests with After Hours tickets can enter the park as early as 7 PM, which means you can get up to five and a half hours of park time, all without needing to purchase a regular ticket for the day! Guests are given a wristband when they check in, which helps Cast Members easily spot ticketed guests once the event begins.
Check In
We started our recent After Hours night in France, where we found a good viewing spot for the fireworks show Luminous The Symphony of Us. Remember that since you can get in as early as 7 PM, you’ll have plenty of time to scope out a place to watch the fireworks if that’s on your priority list, even though they happen before the event officially starts!
EPCOT Fireworks
After watching the fireworks, we headed right to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, which we rode three times in a row with hardly any wait! We found it was super helpful to be right next to the attraction we wanted to start with as soon as After Hours began, so we definitely suggest arriving early and heading to whatever area of the park you’d like to start in so you can hit the ground running.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
When we had our fill of Remy, we started to make our way out of the World Showcase. But not before stopping in Canada for a snack! The After Hours events at each park include some complimentary snacks like ice cream treats, popcorn, and select bottled beverages. But one huge perk of EPCOT After Hours specifically is that you can get free MAPLE Popcorn in Canada, which is one of our favorite World Showcase snacks!
Popcorn and water at EPCOT After Hours
Since bottled water and soda are included with the ticket price, you can pack light. But we did still bring our park bag for storing bottled drinks when we were on rides or standing in line (even though the lines are light, they do still exist for the more popular attractions).
EPCOT After Hours
Another underrated part of After Hours that we absolutely loved was just soaking up the fact that there are almost NO crowds as you stroll through the park, and you’re getting an ultra-rare look at Disney World with hardly anyone else around!
EPCOT After Hours
Now, let’s make our way over to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind! We’ll start out with an unfortunate reality: even during special events, things can break. The Cosmic Rewind preshow broke twice while we were there at the very end of the night. We were chatting with a Cast Member who said the preshow breaks fairly often, and it tends to happen more frequently towards the end of the night. With that in mind, if this is a MUST-DO ride for you, we’d suggest heading there at the beginning of the event for your best shot at getting the full experience.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Pre-Show
Now, for the good news! We were still able to experience the actual ride; we just skipped the preshow and were led out a side door to the loading area. But if you’ve never ridden Cosmic Rewind before, the preshow adds a lot to the overall experience, so missing it can be a bummer.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Lines for Cosmic Rewind were WAY shorter than waits during normal park hours (it’s common to see wait times in the 90-120 minute range), but there was still a little bit of a line. Even so, we were able to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind FIVE times during After Hours!
Guardians of the Galaxy
Keep in mind, we did more than just this ride — we started with three straight rides on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, stopped for snacks in Canada, and then took our five rides on Cosmic Rewind, PLUS got one ride on Frozen Ever After to boot. And we did ALL of that in just three hours! That is a seriously impressive amount of rides to experience in such a short window on two of the park’s most popular attractions!
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind during After Hours
It was also fun to see how many of the ride’s five different songs we could collect during After Hours. We got three different songs over the course of five rides, and were thrilled to get the fan-favorite September twice!
Pre-show of Cosmic Rewind
Overall, between getting to experience nine total rides (three on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, five on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and one on Frozen Ever After), picking up free ice cream, maple popcorn, and bottled waters, and experiencing a nearly EPCOT, we’d say the price of the ticket was well worth it. Plus, you can get even more for your money if you get there right at 7 PM and take advantage of your bonus time in EPCOT!
Mickey’s Ice Cream Bar
If you’re looking for a way to knock out some of the most popular attractions without waiting in ultra-long lines or navigating through the crowds, the After Hours events can be a great way to level up your Disney World trip!
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Have you been to an After Hours event in Disney World? Share your experience in the comments!
