Why Your Rope Drop Strategy Needs to CHANGE at EPCOT in April 2025

While many people focus on the Disney World parks and experience all they have to offer when they head to the resort, many other guests, including frequent park-goers, branch out with all the different offerings available.

Multiple times a year you’ll find runDisney races happening throughout the parks and resort areas that can affect areas of the park for other guests. During these big runDisney race weekends, we often see EPCOT hours change a bit, and as expected, if you’re heading to EPCOT on April 6th, you’ll experience a delayed opening.

EPCOT typically opens at 9 AM (which means hotel guests can get in for Early Entry at 8:30 AM), but on April 6th, the park will instead open at 10 AM (which means Early Entry will be at 9:30 AM).

This means you’ll have one less hour to enjoy the park, so keep that in mind when planning your to-do lists for that day. It’s also important to note that runDisney race weekends are often quite crowded, this one especially because many families’ spring breaks fall around the same time, so pack your patience!

However, many people will also see that EPCOT is opening late that day and may choose to experience a different park that day instead. We’ve seen this happen often when there are after hours events in the parks — people see that they’ll have less time in the park and choose to visit a different park with full park hours available.

With that being said, it’s possible EPCOT may be a less crowded park on April 6th due to this delayed opening, and it may be a better day to visit the park than others, in terms of crowds. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the latest crowd news as the week approaches to help you prepare.

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