We’ve seen EPCOT crowds rise pretty exponentially over the past few weeks, thanks to both the Food & Wine Festival and the fact that it’s the only park without major construction walls right now (we find ourselves gravitating there too).
Crowds entering EPCOT
During festivals, especially Food & Wine, which is one of the most popular of the year, if not THE most popular of the year, crowds can get pretty intense, so it’s important to pack your patience. Though, based on new data that’s just come out from the TEA Global Experience Index, the theme park isn’t NEARLY as busy as about seven others that have been experiencing higher crowds.
What is the TEA Global Experience Index, you ask? It was formerly known as the Theme Index and Museum Index Report, and it provides a bit of insight into how many guests are visiting theme parks around the world each year. The most recent report was for 2025, and while we often just look at the North American theme parks, there are hundreds of popular vacation spots all over the world that are important to take into account.
Crowds
According to the 2025 report, while EPCOT ranks as the third most popular park in North America, behind only Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park, on the global list, it ranks number seven. Now, at the top of the list in the WORLD is none other than Magic Kingdom. Yes, even though you’ve heard us talk about how we’ve been surprised at low crowds in the park more days than we expected, it still is the most crowded park in the world.
Crowds at Magic Kingdom
At number two is Disneyland Park, so yes, the two most popular parks in North America are ALSO the most popular parks in the entire world, which is quite impressive. We’d be shocked if it wasn’t Disney. However, the third spot was taken by Universal, as it’s Universal Studios Japan, and Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort isn’t far behind, sitting in fourth place.
Cinderella Castle in Tokyo Disneyland
5th place goes to Shanghai Disney, so yes, the international parks are high on this list too, and for good reason. Have you seen their design? It blows our minds! Finally, in 6th place is Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, located in Hengqin, China, which is a marine-themed destination. It opened on March 29th, 2014, and is one of the world’s largest ocean-themed parks.
©Shanghai Disney Resort
Since the beginning of this month, we’ve noticed higher crowds in EPCOT than we anticipated, even knowing about Halloween season and the festival. October is often a hit-or-miss month for crowds, seeing as the spooky season makes things pretty crowded, but not a ton of schools have fall breaks during the month, especially towards the latter half. However, while we were in the parks the other day, we did overhear a few families from the United Kingdom mention that their kids were on fall break, so that can also affect crowds.
Cosmic Rewind Crowds
Want to see what things are looking like in the parks in real time? Check out our video below!
We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest Disney news, so stay tuned to DFB!
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