International Gateway while NOT staying at an Epcot resort

[jennab]

It already got out as a "trick" as soon as Uber and Lyft start operating in Orlando. Guests did not want to use the ridehare dropoffs at the Park parking lots.

When the CR stopped allowing massive park opening guest drop offs ridehares started stopping and dropping guests on World drive just outside of the Resort Bus loop. It got crazy and not safe for a while but Disney and the Sheriff Dept got it to stop.

The Crescent lake resorts have always been impacted by "extra" guests entering the IG beyond the guests at the Epcot resorts. For a while there was an issue at the Swan & Dolphin hotels over the use of their self parking lots. They fixed it by always charging high prices to park and not allowing in and out for anyone that was not staying at one of the resorts.

Disney knows this and when it gets to be a problem they have a simple solution.

Dave

So what about people who legit want to visit a resort to tour, shop, eat? They may not even be going to the park but just want to hang out on the boardwalk. I get not wanting this at rope drop timeframes though.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

Depends on the security guard. In February my sister and I wanted to shop around the Epcot resorts so my nephew drove us over. Told the guard what we wanted to do and he let us through. My nephew told the guy he could watch him drive around he wasn’t going to park.

 

[jennab]

I think it’s pretty understandable that if you are paying a lot of money or using your DVC points to stay at Beach Club or Boardwalk that you would not want you lobby, amenities, and walkways flooded by guests of other resorts.

I’m not sure why people think “OH it’s just my family what is the big deal?” NO. It would be hundreds of families and would be a huge deal…. that is literally why they had to make a policy about it.

I’m usually also staying at a deluxe resort but I also like to visit other deluxe resorts when I’m there. It helps me decide if I want to stay there next or I revisit places I’ve been to shop and eat.

 

[Dave006]

It's in no way a semi-exclusive perk of the Epcot resorts. You can get there using the Skyliner

You do know the Skyliner has not been there that long (9/2019) in the overall scope of the Crescent Lake resorts and the IG entrance.

Dave

 

[Dave006]

I’m usually also staying at a deluxe resort but I also like to visit other deluxe resorts when I’m there. It helps me decide if I want to stay there next or I revisit places I’ve been to shop and eat.

Simple just use Disney provided transportation for access to all resorts. You are able to visit all resorts by bus or Skyliner. Most resorts near the Parks will also allow you to visit by car during the day 11-3 without any issues unless the resort is hosting an event.

Dave

 

[focusondisney]

So what about people who legit want to visit a resort to tour, shop, eat? They may not even be going to the park but just want to hang out on the boardwalk. I get not wanting this at rope drop timeframes though.

You can get to any resort using Disney transportation. If you’re turned away from an Epcot resort, you could park or ride share to Studios & walk, skyliner or boat from there. Just as you can park at TTC to visit a MK resort. This restriction has been going on for years, it’s nothing new.

 

[jennab]

Simple just use Disney provided transportation for access to all resorts. You are able to visit all resorts by bus or Skyliner. Most resorts near the Parks will also allow you to visit by car during the day 11-3 without any issues unless the resort is hosting an event.

Dave

This is very inconvenient! Like if I’m staying at Poly I don’t want to go to MK to take a bus to BW. That takes wayyyy longer than a rideshare. But good to know midday it is usually not an issue to get dropped off at a resort just to visit.

 

[Newsies]

I even tried it once at Yacht Club as I was doing a fireworks cruise and was turned away.

Turned away from a rideshare drop-off when you had a reservation for an enchanted extra at the resort is crazy. Omg. I would have been very unhappy.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Turned away from a rideshare drop-off when you had a reservation for an enchanted extra at the resort is crazy. Omg. I would have been very unhappy.

Beach Club turned me away too but Boardwalk let me through.

 

[Newsies]

Beach Club turned me away too but Boardwalk let me through.

That's insane! For a $449 cruise that leaves from Y&BC? Oof. Glad Boardwalk let you in & hope you got to enjoy the experience but what a mess.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

This is very inconvenient! Like if I’m staying at Poly I don’t want to go to MK to take a bus to BW. That takes wayyyy longer than a rideshare. But good to know midday it is usually not an issue to get dropped off at a resort just to visit.

Rideshare pickup at TTC is never an issue. You can walk there from Poly.

 

[jennab]

Rideshare pickup at TTC is never an issue. You can walk there from Poly.

Pickup is never the issue - it’s drop off right?

 

[AstroBlasters]

I’m usually also staying at a deluxe resort but I also like to visit other deluxe resorts when I’m there. It helps me decide if I want to stay there next or I revisit places I’ve been to shop and eat.

Ok, I see what you’re saying now. I was thinking more about park open/early entry and park close.

Does Riveria have a similar restriction?

 

[kylenne]

If I was paying deluxe prices to stay at that resort, I would probably feel annoyed if hundreds of cars were pulling up at 7am to drop people off so they could walk through the hotel I was staying at. I don't know, maybe that's just me. But, in my opinion, if you want the perk of staying at Epcot-area resort, then stay there or stay at a resort that's on the Skyliner. Otherwise, enter through the main entrance.

ITA, and as someone who pays the money to stay at monorail and Crescent Lake resorts pretty much exclusively, due to that proximity to the parks? It is annoying. I find it a very Me First mentality. Just like the people who think having breakfast at ‘Ohana entitles them to park for free at the Poly all day while they’re at MK. “What’s the big deal?” all of these people think. “It’s just me” except when everyone thinks that way it’s not just them, and then guests can’t get mobile order slots at their own resort QS in the morning bc non guests want to be able to walk to a park without paying the money to stay there, or guests can’t find a parking space at their own resort, etc. No one ever thinks they’re part of the problem or understands the impact their actions can have on others.

 

[Becky Mouse]

So what about people who legit want to visit a resort to tour, shop, eat? They may not even be going to the park but just want to hang out on the boardwalk. I get not wanting this at rope drop timeframes though.

It's been the policy for a long time that you can't park at a deluxe resort without a dining reservation, and then you can only park for a few hours. They had to put policies like that in place because people would park over at, say, the Contemporary and walk over to MK. They'd leave their cars all day, and then guests couldn't park at the resort they were staying at. So, you can visit other resorts, but only if you have a reservation here or if you take Disney transportation here.

It includes ride shares, too, because of the flood of people who would be arriving and using the resorts as a park entrance. It's not right to have hundreds to thousands of people flooding through an expensive hotel to get the parks.

I'm actually surprised at how many people seem bothered by this or are trying to cheat the system asking if various resorts are as restrictive as others. Just follow the rules. The rules are in place because of previous problems and abuse. I hope the moderators start deleting all the comments that mention some resorts being less strict than others, or people asking which resorts are less strict than others. It just leads to bad guest behavior and bad experiences for other guests. If you really want to enter through the International Gateway Entrance, then get dropped off at Hollywood Studios and walk over. Otherwise, just enter through the main entrance.

 

[tony67]

Beach Club turned me away too but Boardwalk let me through.

Yeah - Boardwalk should really have a drop off\pick up area for the boardwalk area IMO - that said Ive had no issues taking an uber from Universal to Boardwalk and then heading over to Epcot.

Worst case Id just redirect to Swan\Dolphin - the only reason I pick boardwalk is its often cheaper for some reason - they have a "flash sale" that does not apply to Swan Dolphin for some reason.

 

[WEDWDW]

That requires going to the hub at CBR and getting in line to change to the Epcot line. If you're trying to get there for rope drop, that's going to be very busy.

And seems a lot more time consuming than walking or boating from the Swan/Dolphin.

IF there is a FriendShip sitting at the DHS Dock,travel time to the IG will be 25-30 minutes.

Boating to a Resort and walking from there the rest of the way may shave some time off.

It "may" be possible to speedwalk to the IG in 20 minutes but that is a hard NO for me!lol

The benefit of Skyliner over FriendShip is continuous loading-Skyliner travel time from DHS to the IG is around 17 minutes plus any wait time at CBR Station.

I really don't think any of the travel methods is going to be enough time difference to make a huge difference.

Therefore I will pick the most FUN way and FLY THE FRIENDLY SKIES!

 

[baggs32]

For situations like this we alway take a MinnieVan because you are guaranteed to get to wherever you want without hassle. In April we took a MV from GF to BC to go through IG for a LL for Remy and it was a great trip with great CM interaction. For split stays we move from one resort to the next via a regular Lyft but we have a reservation at both resorts during that trip so pick-up and drop-off are not an issue in those cases. In fact we also just did this in April when moving from CR to GF where we took a regular Lyft and had no issues. I know Disney will transport your bags but we didn't want to wait for them or risk anything getting lost so the $6 plus tip Lyft was a no-brainer. Our GF room ended up being ready before noon too so it worked out for the best.

I totally agree with Disney's rules because, like others have mentioned, the deluxe resorts are obviously a big premium over everything else and you should not be hassled by hoardes of people who want to go there only to use them as a shortcut. The MinnieVan is your only fast and guaranteed way to take those shortcuts, where the other options mentioned above are reliable but much slower. Yes they are more expensive and yes Disney is taking advantage of us by having a double standard when it comes to rideshares (MinnieVans are technically a Lyft if anyone didn't know that), but thems the breaks as they say.

I'm glad this conversation started because I was totally confused as to why we could only mobile order if we were guests of the monorail resort the restaurant was located in back in April. I wanted to order Steakhouse 71 while staying at GF but couldn't so we went there and sat down instead which was just fine too.

 

[Dug720]

So what about people who legit want to visit a resort to tour, shop, eat? They may not even be going to the park but just want to hang out on the boardwalk. I get not wanting this at rope drop timeframes though.

Still a nope without an ADR. Too many people saying they "just want to hang out" who just keep right on walking to the IG.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yeah - Boardwalk should really have a drop off\pick up area for the boardwalk area IMO - that said Ive had no issues taking an uber from Universal to Boardwalk and then heading over to Epcot.

Worst case Id just redirect to Swan\Dolphin - the only reason I pick boardwalk is its often cheaper for some reason - they have a "flash sale" that does not apply to Swan Dolphin for some reason.

In that situation I was trying to be dropped off at Yacht/Beach for a scheduled fireworks cruise and was denied at both resorts. Boardwalk didn't seem to care and let us through. If they would still deny me for a cruise that LEAVES from the Yacht Club, then people wanting to shop/dine would be denied too.