Why you need to attend EPCOT’s Extended Evening Hours

Do you want to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind three times in one day? Check out our full review of EPCOT’s Extended Evening Hours with our tips to have the best night ever and the one tip to avoid.

Extended Evening Hours

One of the more recent perks added for some guests at Walt Disney World is the option to attend Extended Theme Park Hours for Deluxe Resort guests. On select nights, guests with a valid hotel reservation at a Disney World deluxe participating resort can stay in the park for two extra hours to experience select attractions.

This is a relatively new offering that might just be enough of an incentive to book a stay at a deluxe resort, whether direct through Disney or through the process of renting DVC points. In order to participate in these extended hours, guests must be booked to stay at a deluxe resort.

This offering includes several headliner attractions at both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. While not all attractions are included as part of this offering, most of the major attractions are included.  Even the newest attraction at EPCOT is included as part of this special perk!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind welcomed guests in May 2022. Since that time it has become my (Donna) favorite attraction. There are two ways Disney will load Guests onto the ride: virtual queue and Individual Lightning Lane Selections. The morning that we were planning to enjoy Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT, we actually started our day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

At exactly 7:00 am, I made an Individual Lightning Lane selection for Cosmic Rewind for 2:20 pm-3:20 pm. Since I did not have a Park Reservation for EPCOT, I was unable to enter the virtual queue for this attraction at 7:00 am. Be sure to check out this detailed guide to obtain a boarding group HERE.

We intended to park hop from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to EPCOT at 2:00 pm. Once we scanned into EPCOT we could then enter the virtual queue. The virtual queue officially opened at 1:00 pm, so we hoped that spots would still be available.

Thankfully, we were able to secure a boarding group to enjoy later in the day. Do note that during busier times of the year, this may not be possible. While at EPCOT, my daughter and myself (Donna) were able to enjoy Cosmic Rewind for the first time this day using our paid Individual Lightning Lane. Afterward we enjoyed a few snacks, and we hopped back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Since we had already tapped into EPCOT, we were then able to join the 6:00 pm virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind while at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Typically EPCOT only offers two virtual queues for Cosmic Rewind (7:00 am and 1:00 pm). For Extended Evening Hours, a third virtual queue is available at 6:00 pm. Since we had already tapped into EPCOT, we were then able to join the 6:00 pm virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind while at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

When we entered the park

We entered EPCOT at 8:15 pm on the night of Extended Evening Hours. Our first stop was at Cosmic Rewind. The boarding group that we made a 2:00 pm was called a little earlier. However, they still let us through. As many guests were preparing for the nighttime show Harmonious, we were easily able to walk through the queue for Cosmic Rewind.

As many guests were preparing for the nighttime show Harmonious, we were easily able to walk through the queue for Cosmic Rewind.

We simply walked straight through the queue and rode Cosmic Rewind in less than 20 minutes. By the time we exited Cosmic Rewind, it was 8:46 pm. We enjoyed Test Track with no wait and then made our way around the World Showcase.

World Showcase

We had two main points of interest during the World Showcase. Our first stop was in Norway. When we entered the queue for Frozen Ever After, it had a posted 30-minute wait.

Since this was now officially after 9:00 pm, we were asked to scan our Magic Bands prior to entering the attraction. This allowed Cast Members to see that we were, in fact, staying at a deluxe Disney Resort.

Although the posted wait time was 30 minutes for Frozen Ever After, we were enjoying this attraction in less than 10 minutes. After exiting, we enjoyed the final scenes of Harmonious from the Norway pavilion.

Our next stop along the World Showcase was in France. This was my (Donna) daughter’s first time riding Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. The posted wait time for this attraction was again 30 minutes such as with Frozen Ever After. I hoped that the line would move quicker than expected.

We entered the line at 9:41 pm and by 10:03, we were scurrying through the kitchen in search of the best ingredients. My daughter loved his attraction! When we exited, the queue line was no longer extended outside. We quickly jumped back in line experienced the attraction again within 5 minutes.

After our second ride, we took a few moments to have pictures taken with low crowds both waiting for a photo and in the background. Our PhotoPass Photographer was so much fun and really made this a “must do” during the Extended Evening Hours.

Third time at Cosmic Rewind

Our big mission for this evening was to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind as many times as possible. At this time it was 10:48 pm. They were calling boarding groups 216-219 on this day. We again made our way through the virtual queue entrance, but there was no line.

We easily made our way to the pre-show rooms and were soon aboard our Starjumper. There are a total of six different songs that guests can enjoy while aboard Cosmic Rewind. I still haven’t figured out how this is even mathematically possible, but on this day that we rode the attraction three times, we had “Conga” from Gloria Estefan each time.

Later in the trip, we enjoyed two different songs, and my daughter finally believed me that the attraction offered different songs (ha). Many have wondered if Extended Evening Hours are really worth it. I think if you prioritize which attractions you want to do most, it can be a great advantage at EPCOT.

After arriving at 8:15 pm, we were able to ride Cosmic Rewind two times and watch part of Harmonious. We also rode Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure twice and Test Track and Frozen Ever After once.

Be sure to check out Jaelyn’s review of Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT HERE and Monica’s review of Extended Evening Hours at both Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Big Mistake to Avoid

Our evening enjoying Extended Evening Hours was amazing at EPCOT. The only downside to our evening was our journey back to our resort. We exited EPCOT at 11:18 pm and saw a HUGE line forming to board the monorail. It took over one hour to make our journey to Bay Lake Tower.

If there was one thing I could change for our evening I would have purchased a Lyft or Uber to take us to our resort to avoid these long lines.

Have you enjoyed Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, and/or Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Which attractions would you prioritize? Share your thoughts with us on our Facebook Page.

Using a Travel Agent can help you navigate the ins and outs of planning! I am here to help! Please fill out this form and put my name (DONNA) in the Special Request box.