Epcot front entrance v international gateway

[Dano13]

Just curious because in a few weeks we will be staying at BWI, our first stay on Crescent Lake. We have always stayed on he monorail loop, so we are excited for something different. Anyway we are huge Soarin fans, will it take more or less time to get to the Land Pavilion from the IG at rope drop? Ideally we would like to open the day there and use a FP+ later in the day.

 

[Aliceacc]

We stayed at BC in 2012, and will be at the YC in a week and a half.

International Gateway is a little further from Soarin than the main gate.

But there are NO CROWDS!! A typical summer morning had 30 or 40 people at the turnstiles instead of hundreds.

As a result, we were able to actually get into the park a lot faster.

So it's pretty much a wash, but with a lot less aggravation

I'll meet you at the standby queue for Soarin'!! Our FP is for later in the day.

 

[winthropf]

It will take slightly longer than from the front entrance. You should still have little wait entering at rope drop. You will probably not make the first ride of the day but should have no problem being on the second or third, depending on the crowd level that day.

I would ride first without FP+ and then use the FP+ to ride again right away or later.

 

[Dano13]

Thanks to you both! Just what I was hoping for. I thought distance wise it would be slightly longer, but relatively comparable. I was really curious about the volume of people at IG though. I have watched a bunch of YouTube videos and i have yet to come across any showing tons of people. That will be a nice calming was to start the day!

 

[POOHsie]

It's a little farther to the International Gateway. Be sure to use the shortcut "garden" path just after Canada and the Refreshment Port. Here's the latest map: https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/media/wdpro-assets/parks-and-tickets/destinations/epcot/Epcot.pdf

 

[Aliceacc]

You are going to LOVE being in an Epcot resort!

 

[PlutoFan10]

It's a great walk through International Gateway in the morning, even though a bit longer. Not having to deal with transportation is a plus.

 

[fanoforlando]

We were able to get to Soarin fairly quickly at rope drop, we immediately went to The Land and were the 1st ones there. We waited a total of about 10 minutes from entering the qeue line to watching the pre flight show with that actor from Seinfeld

 

[Dano13]

All of my friends that are Disney fiends have been telling me to stay at BWI or BC because they know that Epcot is our fave and DHS is probably the park we haven't been too enough. And we like DHS, but being on the monorail it is just so easy going to MK and not too tough getting to Epcot. We can't wait to be smack in the middle of the two parks that we are really looking to target this trip. Great info, I really appreciate it!