Late openings, road chaos, and thousands of runners. Welcome to the most complicated Sunday of the spring at Walt Disney World.
Let’s get right to it: EPCOT is not opening at 9:00 AM today. The park will not open to general guests until 10:00 AM on Sunday, April 19, 2026, and Early Entry for resort hotel guests and eligible partner properties has shifted to 9:30 AM instead of the usual 8:30 AM. The culprit is the runDisney Springtime Surprise 10-Miler, which kicked off at 5:00 AM this morning and turned a significant chunk of Walt Disney World’s road network into a race course. Normal hours return Monday, April 20.
If you woke up this morning with a 9:00 AM EPCOT plan, this is your official heads-up to recalibrate.
The runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend has been one of the more charming race weekends in recent memory, theme-wise. This year’s concept is iconic Disney duos, and the race lineup owns it completely. The 5K sent runners off with Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde from Zootopia. Saturday’s 10K was a full Winnie the Pooh and Tigger celebration, which genuinely might be peak runDisney energy. And today’s 10-Miler belongs to Joy and Sadness from Inside Out, which, considering what some guests are about to experience trying to navigate road closures at 9:45 AM, feels a little on the nose. The full 19.3-mile Aladdin and Genie challenge wraps up the weekend for anyone who ran all three, and the Genie-themed Brooks running shoes from the expo collection have been generating serious buzz all weekend.
The expo ran Thursday through Saturday at Walt Disney World, with every participant required to stop by before their first race to collect their bib, shirt, and pre-purchased merchandise. Thousands of runners plus their families and friends have been layered on top of the regular resort population all weekend. Today is when all of that comes to a head for non-racing guests, specifically anyone whose Sunday plan involved EPCOT.
Here’s Where Every Park Stands Today
The good news, and there genuinely is good news here, is that three out of four Disney parks are running completely normal Sunday hours.
Animal Kingdom is open 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM with Early Entry from 7:30 AM. Magic Kingdom runs 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM with Early Entry at 8:30 AM. Hollywood Studios is open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM with Early Entry at 8:30 AM. Blizzard Beach is open 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. EPCOT opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM, with Early Entry from 9:30 AM.
If you can be flexible today, those other parks are right there and completely unaffected by any of this.
The Road Situation Around EPCOT Is a Lot
Here is the part that makes a delayed opening more than just an inconvenient late start. The roads around EPCOT this morning are a mess, and several closures are not lifting until 10:00 or 10:30 AM. Getting to EPCOT on time is not as simple as leaving your resort at 9:30.
These are the closures in effect for the 10-Miler today. Backstage Lane North at the Red Lot Entrance closes from 3:00 AM to 8:00 AM. Buena Vista Drive East from Osceola Parkway to Cypress Drive closes from 4:00 AM to 8:30 AM. The Buena Vista Drive West Ramp to World Drive South closes from 4:00 AM to 8:30 AM. The Crush Lot Exit Bridge to Epcot Center Drive East closes from 3:30 AM to 9:45 AM. Epcot Center Drive West from Bonnet Creek to World Drive closes from 4:30 AM to 9:30 AM. The Epcot Center Drive West Ramp to World Drive South closes from 3:45 AM to 9:30 AM. Floridian Way South at the Bear Island Road Exit Ramp closes from 3:45 AM to 9:30 AM. Overpass Road West at Bonnet Creek closes from 3:00 AM to 10:30 AM. The EPCOT Parking Exit Loops to Epcot Center Drive East close from 3:00 AM to 7:30 AM. The Vista Boulevard Ramp to World Drive South closes from 3:45 AM to 9:30 AM. Woodpecker Lane in the Yellow Lot closes from 3:00 AM to 10:30 AM. World Drive North Ramp to Buena Vista Drive closes from 4:00 AM to 8:30 AM. World Drive South to Buena Vista Drive closes from 3:45 AM to 9:30 AM. The World Drive South Ramp to Epcot Center Drive East closes from 3:45 AM to 10:15 AM. The World Drive South Flyover Ramp closes from 3:45 AM to 9:30 AM.
Disney buses, the monorail, and the Skyliner are all running behind schedule this morning, with delays estimated at 30 to 60 minutes beyond normal. GPS apps are not going to have all of these closures accurately reflected in real time. Leave earlier than feels necessary.
What This Delayed Opening Actually Means for Your Rides
Here is the thing about a delayed park opening that people do not fully appreciate until they are standing in a 90-minute Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind line at 10:07 AM wondering what happened.
On a normal EPCOT morning, the crowd disperses gradually. Early Entry guests get a quiet 30 minutes before the gates open to everyone else. The first hour has a gentle ramp-up. Today, none of that applies. When the gates open at 10:00 AM, the entire day’s crowd enters at once. Frozen Ever After will have a wait before the welcome show finishes playing. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will back up immediately. Test Track will follow. There is no rope drop advantage today, for anyone.
If you have Lightning Lane access, use it aggressively and early. Do not wait to see how the day develops.
Now, here is the silver lining, and as a food and theme park site we genuinely mean this: the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival is running right now and it is one of the best reasons to be at this park all year. The outdoor kitchen booths around World Showcase are excellent. The Citrus Blossom booth near the front of the park does a citrus soft-serve that has been getting talked about all season. The topiaries are stunning. A Sunday that leans into eating, strolling, and soaking in the festival instead of chasing headliner wait times is, honestly, a better Sunday.
Take the hint from Joy and Sadness and let the day be both things at once.
If you are at the resort right now trying to sort out your morning, bookmark this page. We are updating throughout the day as roads reopen and conditions shift. And if the food booths are your main event today anyway, you are going to be just fine.
