Epcot After Hours: Is It Worth It?

Sometimes you can stay later at Walt Disney World parks. 

For a fee, of course.

They call it After Hours and there's benefits to forking over the extra cash. For example, you get unlimited popcorn, Coke products, Mickey bars, Mickey ice cream sandwiches, and fruit bars. 

You get access to popular rides. 

There's usually special After Hours events like a DJ and access to characters. 

When we were at Walt Disney World, they had Epcot & Hollywood Studios After Hours. Obviously the benefits to Hollywood Studios would be access to Galaxy's Edge and the popular Rise of the Resistance ride. But Tommy's favorite park is Epcot, and we were celebrating his graduation from community college so we went for that one. 

Epcot has the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, which is a plus. 

You can purchase After Hour tickets on the Walt Disney World website. The event starts at 10 PM, but you can get into the park at 7 PM. 

You will get an armband when you check in so the cast members know you can stay when the park closes. 

You'll also get a paper of what will be included in the event:

We got there right as the Epcot fireworks were happening:

It was around 9, and the park was technically closed, so most of the wait times on the rides were already low. We walked right onto Journey Into Imagination and the kids got to play the games after the rides that are usually packed with people:

We waited around until 10 PM so the free food would start. As soon as the carts open, we got Mickey bars!

We also got popcorn:

I got all the Diet Coke that I wanted which I NEEDED because the event goes until 1 AM and I am usually passed out in bed by 11. 

There was a DJ set up near the Guardians of the Galaxy ride and he was spinning some awesome songs. That's Tommy dancing:

Chip & Dale came out too:

So what were the wait times. I took this screenshot at around 11:

As you see, the popular Guardians of the Galaxy ride was the longest. I would recommend doing it first and then making your way to the other rides. My kids opted to do Guardians of the Galaxy twice. One wait time was the 55 minutes, the other was 45. 

I am a baby and did not go on the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. So what did I do? Pig out on the free treats and people watch. Disney World is the best place to people watch. 

So is Epcot After Hours worth it?

I think so.

See above for the low wait times on rides. 

Plus the free snacks & drinks. Most of them are at least $5 each in the parks. They are all unlimited for the duration of the party. 

There was a DJ and characters out. Mind you, we only saw Chip & Dale but there could have been others when we were on other rides. 

Tommy said it was the best After Hours party he had been to. We had previously done Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom a few years ago. I personally think the best bang for your buck is the Magic Kingdom After Hours parties since there are more rides, but there wasn't an After Hours option there when we visited. 

Oh and bonus, on our way out, the Canada booth was passing out maple popcorn:

If you love Epcot and don't want to wait in lines during the day for rides like Remy, Guardians, or Frozen, I recommend After Hours. You can book it on select nights up until August 24th from $129-$139 a person depending on the day. Book here!

Have you ever done an After Hours party at Walt Disney World?