Yes to most of that. Everything is still open between 9 & 10, they just want to see the event issued wristband starting at 9. You can enter the park prior to 7 pm if you have valid park admission (and park reservation if necessary) and there will be an event check in location inside the park.
I would add, it depends. This is our first EP MM and I'm going with an adult friend, so we are eating at Flying Fish early and very well may try to stock up on my favorite snacks if the lines aren't too long. 1-2 years ago we went to AK MM with young kids and made the mistake of having dinner around 5pm at GF Cafe - we didn't get to the park until after 7, we were stuffed, they decided to go to FOP first, which took an hour... I now think we should have skipped dinner, gone straight back for dumplings for dinner, and then had free (non voucher) ice cream and popcorn for dessert. We were stuffed and had a ton of vouchers left over.
I'm guessing the skyliner would be down too? We are staying at Riviera.
That is a good question. I assume so. I am not even sure if that back entrance was open at the end of the night at MM. They closed off half of Epcot after the fireworks around 10 pm. From like France to norway. We decided to leave the world showcase at that point. We had just gotten “evacuated” off of the ratatouille ride and when we came out everything it world showcase seemed closed at that point. Not sure what happened with that ride but it broke down. We stayed to the very end of the event (which we’ve never done before at MM). Everyone was flowing towards the main entrance at close, but we thought we were taking the monorail so I never even considered whether that back entrance was open or not. We were staying at Poly. We almost drove to the event but at the last minute dh was like it would be fun to walk to the transportation ticket center and take the monorail. It was totally out of character for him because he always wants to drive everywhere at wdw lol. He was let’s say “not happy” when we got out and saw the monorail roped off. He couldn’t believe that all deluxe monorail resorts were funneled to one bus line and that the line was insane. The bus stopped at contemporary, then poly, so GF had it the worst. That was my one and only monorail ride because I will never convince him to go to a park without a car again.
The Skyliner continues to operate during the DHS MM events, so I would guess it will operate during the Epcot MM so that members staying at Riviera can get back to the resort. You should receive an email from DVC a few days prior to the event night with check in and transportation details.
The back entrance (IG) will be be open through the duration of MM.
Just curious if you have actually taken it after a MM event? Because on the Disney website it says that monorail closes 2 hours after epcot closes and skyliner closes 90 minutes after Epcot closes. We left Epcot at closing of MM and monorail was closed and you could tell it had been closed for a while. So I am assuming that two hours after close means after regular park closing. If that is the case, it might be 90 min after regular park close for skyliner. There was a real skeleton staff as well. Just one person working in the bus area (besides drivers).
Some food/snack places are open after 10pm (start of party), but lines start getting longer the towards the end as people rush to cash out vouchers. Mickey Bars also don't star until after MM has started.
At the January 2025 Epcot Moonlight Magic, we walked out from the International Gateway at about 11:30 PM.
We've taken the Skyliner back to Riviera after MM at DHS in 2022 and 2023.
You’re right. I went back and looked at the email and it does say the monorail stops at 10. Ugh I really wish I’d seen that ahead of time. But it didn’t say anything about the skyliner which makes no sense. Bizarre. Here’s what mine said about transportation.
