We are currently planning a trip for January 2016. Our trip will likely occur during the NFL conference championship games and we may want to watch it should our team be playing. Our trip is long enough where a break in the day can be scheduled without missing out on anything. We’ll likely be in Epcot on the day in question. As of now, the schedule does not indicate any extra magic hours for that day, and there will be a crowd level of 5 at the park (and a 6 resort-wide).
We are staying at Pop Century.
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Should we plan on returning to the resort to watch the game (likely around 3pm) and then attempt to return to Epcot for a couple hours after dinner (grabbing a quick bite at pop)? The game will be likely be aired on CBS, so will we be able to watch it in our room?
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Or would it be better to walk to the ESPN Club (that’s at Boardwalk right?) and watch the game there before returning to Epcot?
Thanks!
ESPN (yes, on the BW, very close to the EP side) is a great location to watch any game, but for for a “major” event like a championship, it is likely to be VERY crowded; you may have to get there well in advance to get a table. If you’re looking for the “party” atmosphere, many of the resort bars/lounges have TVs, and they may be a bit less crowded.
Watching from your room will be no problem, it would be more “relaxing”, and beer and snacks purchased from the gas station would be MUCH cheaper than what you would pay for at any Disney bar/club/lounge. Returning to EP after the game is certainly a viable option.
A third option might be the Petals Poolside bar at POP. If I remember correctly there IS TV there, and although “open air”, if it’s a nice day it might be an enjoyable place to watch…
Thanks! I was concerned about crowd levels, but I’m also concerned about the time it’d take to get back to Epcot from the resort. Of course, we could have dinner in our room while watching the game so leave as soon as it is over, and hopefully we’d be able to get a couple evening hours in. It’d be better if there were extra magic hours at Epcot that night.
Hmm…we aren’t big on crowds (that’s why we go in late January!) so maybe Pop would be the better option.
Tell me who your team is and I’ll let you know if this should even concern you!!
LOL…Well, I was specifically avoiding that since we have…ahem…been the subject of some controversy lately which can lead to debates and arguments among football fans. 
Also, I retract my statement about Epcot not having extra magic hours. If they DID then the crowd levels would likely be higher that day and I’d be going to a different park!
It’ll be on our second Epcot day, so I’ll just make sure we get everything we want to do into the touring plan for day 1 and morning of day 2, and then if we get the bonus time from there not being a game to watch, that is when I’ll ride Nemo several more times (it’s my favorite movie, and it never has a line, so I made my poor husband ride it like 4 times with me in January, LOL).
Then your biggest concern should really be hoping a blizzard doesn’t close Logan that time of year. Your real park hours won’t even come out for a few more weeks, so I’d sit tight until then, right now it’s just educated guesses.
Nope! While you guessed my team correctly, I’ll be driving down from central Virginia. 
Pssh. I know things will change plenty of times before my actually plans are set, but obsessive planning and replanning is half the fun of the vacation! Lots of stress in my life right now, organizing the details of a Disney vacation that I haven’t actually booked yet is how I de-stress!