EPCOT Early Entry Strategies: Two Entrances, Two Strategies
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Early Entry to EPCOT is a strategy used by people staying in Disney World hotels to get lower wait times. To get the most out of your 30 minutes having a plan to use EPCOT’s two entrances to your advantage, and a ride strategy helps to get an EPCOT day off to the best start.
If you have a 7 or 14-Day UK Magic Ticket you've also got the advantage of being able to visit EPCOT during Early Entry more than once. With two entrances, EPCOT Early Entry strategy is entirely shaped by where you choose to begin your day.
Early Entry at EPCOT: The Basics
Early Entry at EPCOT doesn’t require a detailed plan if you just want to take in the park with fewer people inside, but you do need to know the basics of what to expect:
How long is Early Entry at EPCOT? | 30 minutes, |
|---|---|
What time does Early Entry start at EPCOT? | 30 minutes before official park opening: usually 8:30am but check opening times for your visit dates. |
Who can use Early Entry at EPCOT? | Anyone staying in a Disney World hotel |
Are all areas of EPCOT open? | Yes |
Are all EPCOT attractions included in Early Entry? | No |
At EPCOT, people with Early Entry are held away from people rope dropping, so check with a Cast Member where to go if you aren’t sure. To find out more about how Early Entry works in every Disney Parks head to the Early Entry guide.
Which Rides Are Open For Early Entry At EPCOT?
All of EPCOT’s headliner attractions are open during Early Entry, which means it’s a great time to ride with fewer people around and lower wait times. Here’s Disney’s current 2026 list of rides open during Early Entry at EPCOT opens in a new tab:
- Frozen Ever After
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Mission: SPACE
- Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
- Soarin' Around America
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Disney can change this list without notice, and some rides do experience downtime first thing. Test Track is renowned for going down first thing. If a ride goes down, I don’t recommend waiting for the ride to open during Early Entry, just move on to a different ride.
Getting the Most Of 30 Minutes EPCOT Early Entry
From my experience the key to Early Entry is to make the most out of EPCOT’s two entrances. The faster you get to the ride, by walking, the lower the wait time is. With 14-Day Magic Tickets you can use Early Entry 14 times, but you’ll only need 2 days to try both these strategies.
- Want to ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure or Frozen Ever After: start at the International Gateway Strategy
- Riding Guardians of the Galaxy or Test Track first, you want the Main Entrance Strategy
- If you want a quieter experience, head elsewhere: the chilled morning strategies
EPCOT Early Entry Strategies
When it comes to doing Early Entry with a Magic Ticket I have two specific tried and tested approaches which centre round choosing the best EPCOT entrance for Early Entry.
EPCOT Main Entrance Strategy
What is the strategy? | Enter through the main entrance and head to the most popular Lightning Lane Single Pass ride or Test Track |
|---|---|
Best for following EPCOT rides | Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Test Track |
Best option for visitors staying at... | Any Disney hotel, works well for all resort guests |
Best transport option | Hire car Monorail Resort bus |
This is the best strategy for skipping the cost of Lightning Lane Single Pass and getting free lower wait times for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Test Track during Early Entry. Heading to Guardians of the Galaxy first is my go to as long as I am at Early Entry from the start. You need to be at Guardians of the Galaxy at the start of Early Entry because the queue time goes up quickly as many people head here. Then hop over to Test Track within the 30 minute Early Entry window.
When staying in Disney’s Boardwalk Hotels and using Early Entry consider using a different strategy for a lower wait time. The 5 -8 minute walk can see wait times jump-up quickly even during Early Entry.
Riding Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind during Early Entry helps you skip the need for a Lightning Lane Single Pass. If you want to explore how much you can save by using your Magic Ticket and Early Entry perks to skip the need for a Lightning Lane Single Pass in all Disney World parks head to Is Lightning Lane Worth It With A 14-Day UK Magic Ticket?
Pros and cons of Main Entrance at EPCOT strategy
This strategy works very well and is one of the easiest Early Entry strategies with the shortest walking distance from the main entrance to get to the most popular attractions.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
You don’t need to set the alarm as early as you would to do Early Entry at other parks | Early start |
Perfect start for anyone looking to do a thrill-seekers ride day park hopping between parks | Wait times jump up quickly on busier days as hotels have more guests and more people are using Early Entry to ride with lower wait times. This includes Christmas, Easter, Independence Day weekend |
Free to do and you’ll feel like you’re getting value from your on-site perks | Can queue just as long as at other times in the day |
Save time queueing and money on Lightning Lane options to get a similar wait time. |
International Gateway Strategy
What is the strategy? | Using EPCOT’s International Gateway entrance for Early Entry |
|---|---|
Best for the following EPCOT rides: | Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Frozen Ever After |
Best option for visitors staying at: | Disney’s BoardWalk Inn and BoardWalk Villas Disney’s Yacht Club Resort Disney’s Beach Club Resort Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts Disney’s Caribbean Beach Disney’s Riviera Resort Disney’s Art of Animation Disney’s Pop Century |
This Early Entry strategy works best if you want the lowest possible free wait time for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. The International Gateway entrance at EPCOT is the closest entry to the ride, giving the shortest walk, therefore getting you into the ride queue faster than people walking from the main entrance.
If you want to ride Frozen Ever After first, we found this entrance is also a shorter walk, but not by much. We did get to the queue faster however.
As many guests head straight for these two rides, the closer you are to it when entering the park, the less distance you need to walk, and the lower your wait time will be. The downside tot his strategy is that you really need to be staying in one of the hotels listed above for it to be truly worthwhile. If you aren’t you can still use this strategy, but it’s going to add around 40 minutes onto your getting into EPCOT time, which makes it like getting into Magic Kingdom.
To get to the International Gateway Entrance of EPCOT to use this strategy from All Star Music I headed to Hollywood Studios and got the Disney Skyliner over. This means either driving and parking or getting the resort bus, then heading over. Resort buses start about an hour before Early Entry, so aim to be on one of the first buses.
Pros and cons of this strategy
In my opinion, it works. I don’t mind the extra effort at the beginning of a two week trip, but here are the pros and cons:
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
It works: I waited about 20 minutes for Ratatouille when using this strategy and about the same for Frozen Ever After | You add 40 minutes on to the time it takes to get into EPCOT if you are not in a Boardwalk or Disney Skyliner Hotel |
It’s convenient if you’re in a Boardwalk or Skyliner Hotel | You have to go back to Hollywood Studios if you have a hire car and park there to do this strategy so it can add more time onto your day |
Helps to keep costs down instead of using Lightning Lanes Multi Pass to be wait times, leaving money to spend on other things | It’s a lot of effort when you’re tired in the second week |
It’s free, you keep moving, and you spend less time in a slow-moving queue line. | It’s time consuming, and does not work well if you have a pushchair or younger children |
Epcot Chilled Morning Strategy
This is for any Disney Resort Guest and you can use any entrance as this strategy is not about ticking off rides and getting lower wait times for free, it’s about taking in EPCOT while the park is quieter. If you’re looking for a chilled half an hour in EPCOT here are some of my favourite things to do:
- Grab a coffee and wander World Showcase
- Head to rides like Soarin’ which are usually a walk-on during Early Entry
- Take pictures with fewer people in the background
What Time Should You Head To EPCOT For Early Entry?
Aim to be there 30 minutes before Early Entry begins. Getting to EPCOT before Early Entry is due to start is a good idea because I have been let in around 10 minutes earlier than the start time on a couple of occasions. Although never during Christmas week.
If you’re using Disney Transport know how long it takes to get to EPCOT from your hotel and add 15 minutes onto that time to reach your transport, and 15 minutes onto your arrival time. This gives you a buffer for any unexpected hiccups.
Lots of sites will tell you to get there earlier than this, but for a holiday a 30 minutes buffer feels realistic, especially if you’re not a morning person.
How Many Days To Do Early Entry At EPCOT With A 14 Day Magic Ticket?
Two to three days of Early Entry at Epcot with a UK 14-Day Magic Ticket will help you get lower wait times for the popular rides. EPCOT is not a day one of the holiday Early Entry park because you don’t need to get up as early to do it as you do for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. I tend to do Early Entry at EPCOT on:
- Day 3
- Day 7
- Day 10
EPCOT Early Entry is best when you’re awake as you have not quite adjusted to the time difference but your legs know you’ve walked further than you might in a morning previous days. IT’s also great for a more relaxed Early Entry if you find yourself waking early.
Use Early Entry with Magic Tickets To Save Money on Lightning Lanes in EPCOT
UK visitors often spend more days in the park on a holiday than US visitors because they fly further and have a UK Magic Ticket which gives 7 or 14 days entry to the Disney Parks. When it comes to visiting EPCOT, this means UK visitors staying in Disney World hotels can combine the often quieter park experience and lower wait times for participating rides during Early Entry with longer access to avoid buying Lightning Lane Single Pass and Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
In EPCOT, only Guardians of the Galaxy uses Lightning Lane Single Pass so it is possible to ride this one morning during Early Entry with a lower queue time and avoid the cost of paying to skip the queue line.
But as UK visitors staying on-site can visit EPCOT more mornings, they can then spend another one or two mornings riding the most popular Tier One Lightning Lane Multi-Pass attractions to avoid paying for Multi-Pass too. There are only three rides worth getting Lightning Lane Multi Pass for on most days:
- Test Track
- Frozen Ever After
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
They are all Tier One rides though which means when you book your Lightning Lane Multi-Pass you can only choose one, so you chance getting a lower wait time for the other two later in the day, or pay to use it again. By using Early Entry to ride you can skip the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, as it isn’t really needed for other EPCOT rides outside of Christmas and Thanksgiving weeks.
Is it Worth Setting The Alarm for 30 Minutes Extra in EPCOT?
Yes, for UK visitors staying on-site you’ll want to experience Early Entry at EPCOT at least once during your trip. Here’s why:
- Jet lag and adjusting to the time difference can last up to 4 days, so make the most of waking early. I’d pick EPCOT for a fourth day early waking because Early Entry here can be done with a later alarm depending on were you’re staying and what you plan to do with your 30 minutes.
- EPCOT is quieter
- Temperatures are lower, so you don’t need to dive in the pavilions instantly when visiting in the summer months.
- It’s making the most of your perks, your holiday, and doing something you don’t get to do if you stay off-site.
- Getting lower ride wait times without spending more money and time trying to get Lightning Lanes for EPCOT.
- Potentially save money on buying Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy, and maybe even save money on buying Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
Some people say that it’s not worth setting the alarm because you can get lower or similar wait times at other times of the day. This is right, but it’s not taking into account the whole Early Entry experience or the benefits above. While doing Early Entry every day is not needed, it is something UK visitors should try.
Using Early Entry For A Quiet Stroll and Coffee
Early Entry is also not all about the lower wait times, although using this time strategically for lower ride wait times is an option. Walking around World Showcase with a coffee from Joffrey’s at 8:30am when it’s not busy and there are sections of the World where you meet no-one is something to treasure. It is one of the most peaceful experiences, once you pass the frenzies at Norway and France.
If you’re staying in one of the Boardwalk Hotels this is definitely something to try, even if you are planning a more relaxed day during a two week trip with a 14-day Magic Ticket.
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