Want to visit EPCOT with shorter lines and smaller crowds? Extended Evening Hours might be a great option for you, but you’ll want to be CAREFUL.

EPCOT

This special perk lets guests at Disney World Deluxe Hotels and Deluxe Villas (as well as a few other qualifying spots) stay LATE in select parks (usually Magic Kingdom or EPCOT) on certain nights after the regular park guests have left for the day. During those bonus hours, certain rides stay open, giving you the chance to hop on popular attractions like Frozen Ever After or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with much shorter waits. But there is a big complication you’ll want to be aware of before going to these events.

While we were in EPCOT today, we got a push notification from the My Disney Experience app (download that right now if you haven’t already!) about the Extended Evening Hours that will be offered in EPCOT on May 1st (from 9PM to 11PM).

Spaceship Earth

In that notification, the Vice President of EPCOT shared that the France pavilion, including Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, would be UNAVAILABLE during the night’s Extended Evening Hours offering.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Rodriguez apologized for the inconvenience and advised that guests enjoy the pavilion before it closes at 9PM.

Disney Message

Typically, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure would be available during Extended Evening Hours, so this could be a big disappointment for those who were hoping to get on the ride during that time. Disney did not provide a reason for this closure, but it is worth noting that their Extended Evening Hours website does warn: “attractions are subject to change and may not always be operational.”

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

So, there are 3 key things we want you to take away from this experience:

1. Download the My Disney Experience app and make sure you’ve enabled push notifications — that can help you get the latest information throughout your trip!
2. Remember that things are ALWAYS subject to change so don’t assume that something will be open for the entire day or throughout all special offerings (technical issues and other things can cause unexpected closures)
3. If something is a must-do for you, do it sooner rather than later — leaving it for later in the day could be risky if a closure like this is announced or the ride otherwise has technical issues and cannot reopen

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

We’ll keep an eye out for more updates and let you know what we find. For more about Extended Evening Hours, click here!

Are you a fan of Extended Evening Hours? Tell us in the comments.