On Thursday, crowds descended upon EPCOT after the park experienced multiple operational changes. The Walt Disney World Resort theme park closed early on Wednesday, May 21, due to a private buyout, leading guests to flood the gates when it opened on May 22.
The early closure on Wednesday came after the abrupt cancellation of EPCOT’s highly anticipated nighttime show, Luminous The Symphony of Us, on Tuesday, May 20. Regular Disney Park guests, who had been hoping to catch the dazzling fireworks, were left disappointed for two nights in a row.
On Wednesday, EPCOT closed its gates earlier than usual. The park had previously announced that it would shut down at 5:30 p.m., instead of the typical 9:00 p.m., due to a private event—the 2025 SAP Sapphire & ASUG Annual Conference Orlando, which ran from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. This left Disney cast members two hours to clear out daytime guests in preparation for the private event.
As a result of EPCOT’s early closure, many guests who had single-park tickets decided to visit other Disney parks like Magic Kingdom Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park on Wednesday, May 21. Even though some Annual Passholders and Park Hopper guests still made their way to EPCOT, the park felt eerily empty. Reddit user u/Tedanyaki shared their experience, posting a photo of themselves riding Living with the Land with no other passengers in sight:
Epcot is so busy we got an entire living with the land boat to ourselves.
Epcot is so busy we got an entire living with the land boat to ourselves.
byu/Tedanyaki inWaltDisneyWorld
This calm atmosphere didn’t last for long. On Thursday, May 22, EPCOT saw a sudden surge of visitors. Guests who missed the fireworks show on Tuesday and single-park ticket holders looking to experience a typical day at the park flocked to EPCOT, making it one of the busiest days in recent memory.
u/hollysk8 shared their experience on Reddit: “EPCOT [is] absolutely mobbed today,” they wrote. “25 minute wait for Living with the Land. Remy’s is down and my Lightning Lane redemption pass cannot be used for Frozen? Ugh!”
Other Disney Park guests agreed that the crowds were overwhelming, leading them to avoid EPCOT on Thursday.
u/harmacist87 commented: “Everyone who decided not to go to EPCOT yesterday due to it closing at 5:30 is going today. If you ever see a park has an early closing, like MK for party nights, and you don’t care about seeing fireworks, go to the park that day. The park will be way less crowded and you will probably get more done in that shorter timeframe than you would with the full day, because like you are observing, everyone will go to the park the day with longer hours.”
“Correct. Was at EPCOT yesterday and it was a ghost town,” u/SlurnieKosar added. “Hopped to MK for fireworks and it was jam packed. I figured EPCOT would play catch up today.”
How do you manage the crowds at Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park? Share your tips with Disney Fanatic in the comments!
