Epcot Monorail Wheelchair transfer question

[DisneyBrat]

Mom and dad will be going to Disney with us in November YEAH!! Dad has a wheelchair and mom a scooter. My question is do they have some sort of cross over from the Resort monorail to the Epcot monorail? If not does that mean down the ramp back up the other ramp to get on the Epcot monorail?

Is there anyother way to get to Epcot from Contemporary via Disney Transportation? All I see is monorail service with no bus transportation listed.

Thanks for any help you can give me
Lew

 

[KPeveler]

I am pretty certain you have to take the monorail to Epcot, I don't think they have a bus from the CR.

also, when i was there i was allowed to cut through the gates at the top of the platform, but I think it depends on the track you come in on...

 

[mechurchlady]

I will go and see if I can get one of the pilots for you. Wallaby and another guy on SGT are monorail drivers. I posted over at SGT and they should be awake and answer soon.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

When you get to the transporation center, there are small signs showing you the way to go from one monorail to the other, you turn "Opposite" the exiting crowd, go down a ramp, UNDER the monorails, and back up the ramp to the other side. No steps, so an ECV/wheelchair should have no problem.

If you are on the resort one, the signs will say "To EPCOT monorail" and if you are on the Epcot monorail it will say "To RESOTS Monorail"

That is the only way to change between the monorails.

You could take a taxi to Epcot from the Contemporary, but I think the monorails would be easier, even with one change.

 

[AuntTink]

While it is true you do have to transfer between the two monorails to get to Epcot from the resorts and that you have to go down a ramp and back up another one and as you say there is not another option to get to Epcot. I was in a scooter an found negotiating the monorail very easy even with the transfer. I loved it! I even went by myself several times. It was great. They radio ahead telling where you are going to get off so that the man will be there with the ramp ready for you. A manual wheelchair maybe more difficult with the transfer to epcot monorail but if it is powered it should be no problem. They can be rented. I used Randy's and it was great to keep it the entire stay. But it maybe that you're Dad needs more assistance that a push wheelchair would give so I shouldn't make assumptions.

The only thing I found difficult was when one of the parks (not epcot) was really crowded, people would cross the path of the scooter so I really needed someone to walk in front so I would not accidently hit someone. Sometimes they would cross between anyways. So be prepared to run interference if it gets crowded.

The bus to AK and HS was good too but the monorail was fun. Have a great trip.

 

[clkelley]

Another solution is this, so you can do the crossover on top, is from the Contemporary walk/wheel over to the Magic Kingdom by way of the sidewalk, then board the EXPRESS monorail at the Magic Kingdom, then you will be able to crossover on the top level at the TTC.

 

[clkelley]

One other option. Walk/wheel over to the Magic Kingdom, then take a bus to the Beach Club, then it is a short walk/wheel to the back entrance of Epcot.

 

[mechurchlady]

Well, I don't know about the bus service, but there is a ramp from the Resort monorail platform to the Epcot platform. The problem is that it's not much better than just exiting like everyone else and going back up the Epcot ramp. The "direct" ramp descends to the right -- away from the plaza -- turns and goes under the two Lagoon loop tracks, and the ascends to the platform level between the Epcot loop and the Lagoon loops.

A monorail driver agreed with W. who posted that.

That is what GP also said and would be the easiest way. It is a long standing, many year battle to get them to put in elevators there. Personally I think that it will take death or major lawsuits over injuries to get it fixed.

 

[SueM in MN]

A monorail driver agreed with W. who posted that.

That is what GP also said and would be the easiest way. It is a long standing, many year battle to get them to put in elevators there. Personally I think that it will take death or major lawsuits over injuries to get it fixed.

I've heard rumors at times that they were going to install elevators, but they have never panned out. When I have looked at the stations with an eye toward where an elevator could be installed, it looks like quite an engineering puzzle.

 

[SueM in MN]

A monorail driver agreed with W. who posted that.

That is what GP also said and would be the easiest way. It is a long standing, many year battle to get them to put in elevators there. Personally I think that it will take death or major lawsuits over injuries to get it fixed.

I've heard rumors at times that they were going to install elevators, but they have never panned out. When I have looked at the stations with an eye toward where an elevator could be installed, it looks like quite an engineering and space puzzle.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

They could install elevators, but it would entail shutting down the monorail for at least three months to get the necessary work done.

 

[DisneyBrat]

Thanks everyone! I will just wing it when we get there. I like the idea of going to MK but not sure if they want to use the extra battery power. couldn't we just take the monorail to the MK then get on an express monorail? That seems like a long way of getting things done so maybe we will just use the ramps I did call the transporation dept to see if there would be anyway of just opening the other door to let them out and was told if the crowds weren't too busy sure that would be an option just to ask the TTC personnell when we get there.

Thanks again!
Lew

 

[mechurchlady]

They would not need to shut the Monorail for three months if they did a bridge to a separate elevator building. It can and must be done and I will wait for death and injury to magically make it happen.