When I made our ressies, I asked for a room close to Epcot. I didn't care about preferred, just being close to Epcot. We were pretty close to a quiet pool, but when they told me we would be close to Epcot, they meant it. Right outside the sliding glass doors (we were on the bottom floor) was a walkway and then some woods (which turned out to be so peaceful and could be a good area for a smoker). The walkway went to the International Gateway so we could be inside Epcot within 2-3 minutes. The quiet pool wasn't very far either. Maybe 2 minutes if you were walking slow and others got in your way.
Have a great trip!!!