EPCOT Set for Early Closure Today, October 22, 2024

Oct 22, 2024 in "EPCOT"

Gallery / 4 Photos
EPCOT overview

Posted: Tuesday October 22, 2024 6:23am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Guests visiting Walt Disney World today, October 22, 2024, should be aware that EPCOT will close significantly earlier than usual due to a private event.

EPCOT will close to guests at 5 pm on October 22, 2024

The park will close to guests at 5 pm to accommodate the Gartner IT Symposium, a large-scale conference running from October 20 to October 24 across the resort.

Despite the early closure, the price for a single-day EPCOT ticket remains $174, the same rate as on days this week when the park operates from 9 am to 9 pm.

For those planning their day, EPCOT will be open from 9 am to 5 pm, with early entry for resort hotel guests beginning at 8:30 am. Guests with park hopper tickets can explore other parks after EPCOT closes, as they will remain open later:

Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 10 pm (Early entry at 8:30 am)
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 8 am to 6 pm (Early entry at 7:30 am)
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 9 pm (Early entry at 8:30 am)

Make sure to adjust your plans accordingly if EPCOT is your park of choice today.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

SirwalterraleighOct 23, 2024

No…events are mostly con jobs

MisterPenguinOct 23, 2024

Indeed. Saw it from my Pop balcony. Disney was kind enough to help the Gartner folks identify their hotel...

HarrisburgMouseOct 22, 2024

Luminous is the show tonight but at 11 pm.

Fido ChuckwagonOct 22, 2024

Correct. And people will pay more for certain days and times of the year, hence why they charge more at times when the parks tend to be more crowded.

jrhwdwOct 22, 2024

Honestly..

HauntedPirateOct 22, 2024

A glorious 3 hour fireworks show about all things but mostly America.

jrhwdwOct 22, 2024

Any special Fireworks for the Event tonight?

JMcMahonEsqOct 22, 2024

Disney sets prices on what they see from data people will pay for them. Nothing else. The parks have closed early for certain events for years, either with private corporate events, or after hour events, parties, ect. If customers continue to purchase general admission tickets for those days, despite the parks closing earlier, then there is no reason to offer any discount or reduction in pricing.

JIMINYCROct 22, 2024

We are at EP now and the park is presently empty of guests. Pleasure walk around . Kiosks beginning to open. We have PH so we are taking full advantage of it being less crowded. We stopped in yesterday morning and it was wall to wall guests.

wdwmagicOct 22, 2024

I don't know for sure but I would think its a given that it is.

AylaOct 22, 2024

The conference happens every year and is probably booked years in advance.

mattpetoOct 22, 2024

Any idea if Luminous is playing tonight at the event? I wanted to try to encourage somebody I know to attend if they are running it.

PuertoRekinSamOct 22, 2024

I over simplified my answer, but unless something has drastically changed in the last 15 years from when my brother worked in the parks as an attractions coordinator as he explained to me, Disney tries to optimize the “ride percap”. A magic number that says if the average Guest does X number of attractions in a day they feel they got their money’s worth. There are many levers they can use to get this number to hit where they want it. In the 2000s I remember many times my brother having his hours extended the day of at MK because they were not hitting these numbers. Now they have more levers they can use to adjust the equation. Need more attractions for the expected Guest? Increase park hours.(a cost to Disney) Need less Guest? Increase the price.(no cost increase, but less revenue … so many less profit) Another factor to consider is when the conference was booked? Were tickets already available for that day? I wouldn’t be happy if I bought my tickets a year out only for the price to be dropped six months later. This isn’t an airline.

Fido ChuckwagonOct 22, 2024

Disney sets their park prices based upon expected crowd levels, not based on how many “things” you can do in the hours the park is open. The higher the demand level and the higher the crowds, the higher the price point. This isn’t how supply and demand pricing works at all. Disney sets its pricing to maximize profits, not to hit some “breakeven” point. On days with higher demand Disney knows it can charge more. That’s it, pure and simple. Disney isn’t leaving money on the table.