BC and entry to EPCOT

[DisneyChristmas]

We'll be staying at Beach Club in November, and this is a big change for us after several stays in monorail neighborhood resorts. I have a couple of questions.

Can we walk through EPCOT Showcase before regular opening hours to get to Future World?

Does Yacht Club concierge have a reciprocal arrangement with Beach Club? In other words, can the YC concierge level be reached with BC pass key?

Thanks to all of you BC experts for any help you can provide! Beth

 

[betterlatethannever]

We'll be staying at Beach Club in November, and this is a big change for us after several stays in monorail neighborhood resorts. I have a couple of questions.

Can we walk through EPCOT Showcase before regular opening hours to get to Future World?

Does Yacht Club concierge have a reciprocal arrangement with Beach Club? In other words, can the YC concierge level be reached with BC pass key?

Thanks to all of you BC experts for any help you can provide! Beth

1. yes you can get to FW through the IG even if WS is closed.
2. no.

Ed

 

[NCombs]

You can walk through WS before the regular opening hours of 11:00 am. The WS entrance will open at the same time as the FW entrance so it will take you a few minutes longer to get to a FW attraction than it would if you entered through the FW entrance.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Can you rent ECV and strollers at the IG or do we have to walk all the way to the FW entrance?

Is there a ticket booth at the IG or only at the FW entrance only?

When taking the boat, where exactly do you get dopped off, is it at the place where they do bag search? Thanks.

 

[aladdinsgirl]

Fantasia--There are ticket booths at the IG entrance and the boat does drop you off right at the bag check. I'm not sure about the ECV or stroller rental though. I don't have any kids and I have never had a need for a ECV, so I've never paid attention. I've seen people return ECV and strollers at the IG at the end of the day, so I would assume you can rent them there too.

Krista

 

[Aneille]

Can you rent ECV and strollers at the IG or do we have to walk all the way to the FW entrance?

Is there a ticket booth at the IG or only at the FW entrance only?

When taking the boat, where exactly do you get dopped off, is it at the place where they do bag search? Thanks.

First off I am not sure what IG stands for, can someone tell me?

You can rent strollers at the entrance to the WS. I am unsure about ECV's.

There is a ticket booth at the entrance to WS, complete with bag search and finger scan. I believe the ticket booth is also a guest relations booth.

The boat drops you off near the bag search, about a 50 feet away. It usually is much faster to walk to Epcot from that area than take the boat, but sometimes we take the boat just to relax.

 

[aladdinsgirl]

First off I am not sure what IG stands for, can someone tell me?

IG= International Gateway

Krista

 

[*Fantasia*]

Thank you both so much for your help. IG means International Gate or Gateway. It's the walkway to Epcot from the Epcot resorts and it's the entrance to get in Epcot to WS. I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Aneille]

Thank you both so much for your help. IG means International Gate or Gateway. It's the walkway to Epcot from the Epcot resorts and it's the entrance to get in Epcot to WS. I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Yup, after I posted I realized what IG meant. I guess I had a memory lapse!

 

[Mcbruns]

Can you rent ECV and strollers at the IG or do we have to walk all the way to the FW entrance?

Is there a ticket booth at the IG or only at the FW entrance only?

When taking the boat, where exactly do you get dopped off, is it at the place where they do bag search? Thanks.

Yes - - you can rent strollers at the entrance to International Gateway. We did last year and returned it to the same spot. It's a little shop tucked in the corner. I'm pretty sure ECV's too.

 

[micks]

Yes - strollers and ECVs too at the IG. I've done both.

 

[d-r]

yes, you can rent strollers and ecvs at the little gift shop at the international gateway. You can't ecv on back to the beach club though

 

[*Fantasia*]

Great! Thanks so much! That's the answers I want to hear!!

 

[Danthesand]

Note - if you are planning on being at Epcot at opening (to hit the major attractions in FW), entering through the IG is not a good idea. The staff there inthe morning is limited, so bag checks and entry take longer, and they do not open the gates early. So the mobs entering through the main Epcot entrance in front of Spaceship Earth will beat you to things like Soarin' and Test Track.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Note - if you are planning on being at Epcot at opening (to hit the major attractions in FW), entering through the IG is not a good idea. The staff there inthe morning is limited, so bag checks and entry take longer, and they do not open the gates early. So the mobs entering through the main Epcot entrance in front of Spaceship Earth will beat you to things like Soarin' and Test Track.

Thanks for the tip! But how do we get to the front entrance? BC do not have bus to Epcot. Isn't the only way for the Epcot resorts to get to Epcot is through the IG?

 

[BriarRosie]

Thanks for the tip! But how do we get to the front entrance? BC do not have bus to Epcot. Isn't the only way for the Epcot resorts to get to Epcot is through the IG?

Don't let the bag check post scare you. If it takes time for you
to get the bag check, stroller or ECV, head to Soarin' first. If the
lines are longer than 25 minutes, get a FastPass and head to Test
Track.

Also, I never take the boat from Beach Club to Epcot. You have to
go out of your way for the boat, and it's much faster just to walk to
the IG entrance.

 

[Danthesand]

Thanks for the tip! But how do we get to the front entrance? BC do not have bus to Epcot. Isn't the only way for the Epcot resorts to get to Epcot is through the IG?

Do what we did at the Boardwalk:

- Before leaving room, call hotel bell desk and tell them you need a cab.
- Go out front of hotel to waiting cab.
- Tell cabbie "Epcot, please."
- Three minutes later, hand them approximately $5-6.
- Exit cab and walk 40 yards up to Epcot main entrance.

By the way, cabs are a wonderful, under-appreciated option to get from hotel to hotel at WDW. My favorite trick here? If you are at the MK at closing, avoid the horrific bus and Ticket/Transportation Center boat or monorail mobs. Repeat, don't use either.

Instead, take the relatively uncrowded resort monorail to the Contemporary. Disboard, and go downstairs four levels to the main lobby. Walk outside and ask the bellman to call you a cab (scores will be waiting there). Take said cab back to your hotel. You'll be back in your room relaxing long before other resort guests at the MK have even boarded a bus.

 

[Danthesand]

Don't let the bag check post scare you. If it takes time for youto get the bag check, stroller or ECV, head to Soarin' first. If the
lines are longer than 25 minutes, get a FastPass and head to Test
Track.

At opening at Epcot, 2/3 of the crowd at the main entrance streams directly for Soarin' the moment the rope is dropped. I know, we were there on both 8/16 and 8/21 and saw that happen both times.

Half that group (thousands of people) will easily beat anyone coming in from the IG. If you are standing by the entrance to the land Pavillion at that time, you will literally see hundreds of people a minute streaming by you on their way to Soarin'. In other words, seconds count here, and by 9:12 or so -- when people who were at the front of the IG line at 9 and ran to Soarin' finnally get there -- the standby lines (outside really slow seasons) will already be 30+ minutes.

Now, if you enter with the main entrance mob, you can do what we did back on both days we were at Epcot:

Get to the front of the crowd at the far right hand side of the rope. When it drops, head directly for Soarin, as you "ride the crest" of the mass wave of with the huge crowd heading for it. When you get downstairs in the Land Pavillion at the Soarin' entrance, grab a fastpass on the way in before riding the attraction on a short (5-8 minute) standby line. By 9:20 you'll not only have ridden Soarin, you'll also have a Fastpass in hand for a second ride later - which you will want to do.

Now, the return time on that Soarin Fastpass will 9:40. Which means you can then walk over to Space , do it and then grab a Fastpass for Test Track. Return will likely be 10:30, possibly even earlier.

If you do the IG entry and stop at Soarin' to get a Fastpass, by the time you get to Test Track the standby line will already be 30-40 minutes.

So it will be 9:35-9:40 before you ride anything. By then, we'd already done Soarin and Space. Afterwards, we also did Spaceship Earth and The Living Seas before doing Test Track right at 10:30. So by 11 we had all the headliners in Future World done - because we avoided the IG morning delay. We then did a re-ride on Soarin on our way to a comfortable counter-clockwise tour of the World Showcase.