Why Disney Experts Are Avoiding EPCOT on October 26th

While Disney World park hours are usually pretty set in stone and rarely shift more than a few hours when it comes to opening and closing time, sometimes that can change.

The Walt Disney World Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend is taking place at the resort October 23rd–26th, and crowds are usually higher during this time, so watch out for those wait times, but we just found a reason for you to AVOID EPCOT in particular on the final day of the race.

On October 26th, EPCOT will have a DELAYED opening due to the race. This means that instead of the park opening at 9 AM, it will instead open at 10 AM. Early Entry will take place at 9:30 AM instead of 8:30 AM.

World Showcase restaurants should still open around 11 AM, as well as food booths for the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival. Don’t worry — you’ll have plenty of time to eat!

The AllEars YouTube cast (and DFB Breea) at Food and Wine!

This could also affect some of the non-race crowds around the park as well. Typically, when we see something like this affecting park hours, we see that crowds are lower. This is especially true when parks close early for After Hours events, like seasonal parties. As people won’t be able to rope drop this park as early, or use Early Entry as early in the day as normal, it’s very likely that many people may choose to visit a different park, especially Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, since that’s a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party night for Magic Kingdom.