EPCOT Becomes a "Ghost Town" After Crowds Avoid Theme Park

EPCOT usually doesn’t need much help pulling in crowds. With its mix of nostalgic favorites, thrilling headliners, and mouthwatering festivals, it’s consistently one of the most visited parks at Walt Disney World.

Whether you’re starting your day with Spaceship Earth or ending it zipping through the cosmos on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, EPCOT is rarely the place you’d call “empty.”

But on April 1st? Something strange happened.

And no, this isn’t an April Fools’ joke.

For reasons no one can quite explain, EPCOT turned into a ghost town on Monday. The crowd levels were so low, it almost felt like a private event. Anyone who just happened to be there hit the theme park lottery—because wait times were shockingly low across the board.

Let’s start with the jaw-dropper: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind—a ride that usually posts wait times of 90 minutes or more—was showing 25 minutes for a good chunk of the day. That’s practically walk-on territory for one of the most in-demand attractions in all of Walt Disney World.

Soarin’ Around the World had just a 20-minute wait, which sounds like something out of a time machine back to the early 2000s. And both Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After were cruising along with standby waits under 40 minutes. Seriously, Frozen? Under 40? That line normally stretches halfway to Mexico.

It wasn’t just the rides, either. The pathways around World Showcase were wide open. Flower & Garden Festival booths had little to no lines. Mobile order times were immediate. It was the kind of day Disney fans dream about—and one that probably had guests refreshing the app just to make sure it wasn’t glitching.

So what caused this EPCOT exodus? Your guess is as good as ours.

There weren’t any major refurbishments or closures. The weather held up. Other parks weren’t reporting anything unusual. Some speculate that spring break visitors either flocked to Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom, or perhaps folks were wary of potential April Fools’ Day crowds and chose to avoid EPCOT altogether.

Whatever the reason, April 1st became a golden opportunity for those who showed up. No need to schedule return times or worry about Lightning Lane tiers (especially now that the whole system has been overhauled). It was just good, old-fashioned, show-up-and-ride Disney.

So if you were in EPCOT on April 1st, congrats. You got to experience the park in a way most of us only dream about. And if you weren’t? Well, it might be time to start treating April 1st like the new secret “low crowd” day at Walt Disney World.

Just don’t tell too many people.