International Gateway while NOT staying at an Epcot resort

[Anthony1971]

Years ago the Boardwalk was always advised on Disney TV in the rooms as a destination that had Jello rolls and Atlantic dance as well as food and drinks much like they advertised what was Downtown Disney and pleasure island. It was never an exclusive perk it is another way for Disney to make $.
There is a simple solution for the rideshare especially at BW…. Get out at the gate there is a sidewalk it goes to the resort as well as to swan and Dolphin. Up to I believe 2019 there was a sidewalk and crossing signal to the gas station.
We have owned DVC for over 20 years and paid for deluxe prior there is just no such thing as exclusive anything anymore…. However Back in the early 90s they did not allow access to the local monorail unless you were staying or had a reason to go to one of the resorts on the loop. For the record I do miss when some of the resorts especially the POLY where less visited…. The main building is a disaster in the morning and night and the beach can get very crowded around fireworks. I have never seen the walkway from the EPCOT to IG crowded although I am sure Disney would love to see it and the income from the shops/bars/games.
Adding at one time you needed a park ticket period to use Disney Transportation as well. Long gone as well.

 

[Mle8308]

I’m sure they don’t want to deal with a steady traffic stream of ride shares, especially at park open & close. Resort hotels are not meant to be additional park entry points.

THIS

 

[baggs32]

There is a simple solution for the rideshare especially at BW…. Get out at the gate there is a sidewalk it goes to the resort as well as to swan and Dolphin. Up to I believe 2019 there was a sidewalk and crossing signal to the gas station.

I was wondering about that and glad you mentioned it so I could ponder it a little more. Never tried it but would the guards at the main gates still ask you to prove you have sometihng going on to get in? I guess you could get dropped off at another lot where there's a gate and not a guard too. For example, the DVC/Wedding/Spa lot at GF right outside the unmanned entrance gate then you could just walk right into the resort. Or at the YC convention center entrance where again there's no guard, just a gate.

I still think MinnieVans are the way to go but get that they are not in everyone's budget and honestly we limit ourselves to one or two a trip when we need them. To get to the Remy LL I mentioned earlier we would have had to go from GF to TTC via the monorail, then catch the Epcot monorail to the front of that park and walk all the way back to France. That takes forever and the $40 or whatever it was for the MV was well worth it to us at the time, but a regular Lyft was probably less than half that price.

 

[Dave006]

There is a simple solution for the rideshare especially at BW…. Get out at the gate there is a sidewalk it goes to the resort as well as to swan and Dolphin.

Please this is not a good idea or even remotely safe. Guests tried the same thing at the Entrance to the Contemporary years ago and still occasionally.

It will cause backups on Epcot Resorts Blvd. congestion and is dangerous to Guests exiting vehicles on the driveway. There is no sidewalk at the gate. Maybe you are thinking about the automated bus entrance loop which has a sidewalk?

If you are turning into the BW Entrance you will have to wait at the Guard Gate and then make the U-turn after the Guard shack.

ETA: still learning to spell...

Dave

 

[kylenne]

Back in the early 90s they did not allow access to the local monorail unless you were staying or had a reason to go to one of the resorts on the loop.

I honestly wish they would bring this back. I know that ship has long since sailed but it's honestly so annoying. I don't even mind people using it if they legitimately want to go visit the monorail resorts just to look around or what have you, but having to stand up on the monorail completely exhausted at the end of the night and watching the train almost completely empty out at the TTC with ppl who are clearly day guests going to their cars is one of the few things I dislike about it. We take the resort launch home most nights because of that, unless we just missed it.

 

[jennab]

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.

Oh this is good to know. I hadn’t thought of a Minnie van!

 

[traveler9]

I honestly wish they would bring this back. I know that ship has long since sailed but it's honestly so annoying. I don't even mind people using it if they legitimately want to go visit the monorail resorts just to look around or what have you, but having to stand up on the monorail completely exhausted at the end of the night and watching the train almost completely empty out at the TTC with ppl who are clearly day guests going to their cars is one of the few things I dislike about it. We take the resort launch home most nights because of that, unless we just missed it.

Fun fact - the resort monorail is the only way to get back to TTC from MK in the mornings. The express monorail and ferry are one way (to MK) only in the morning.

 

[baggs32]

Fun fact - the resort monorail is the only way to get back to TTC from MK in the mornings. The express monorail and ferry are one way (to MK) only in the morning.

Yeah, learned that the hard way in April when trying to get to the TTC to go to Epcot. We went from GF in the morning to MK and wanted to jump on the express that was letting folks off from the TTC and ride it to the TTC skipping the CR stop. They kindly pointed out that we could not do that until after 12 PM so we had to wait for the next monorail and stop at CR then TTC anyway. I would have walked to the TTC form GF but the out of place looking tower construction canceled that option.

Apparently they will not disembark guests at the TTC in the morning due to the really long lines to get on there. It took us nearly an hour to get to Epcot from GF that day and without our mistake it still would have taken about 45 minutes. This is precisely why we took the MinnieVan to Epcot the next time we went, as mentined above, and when I stay in a monorail resort again I'll know better.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Fun fact - the resort monorail is the only way to get back to TTC from MK in the mornings. The express monorail and ferry are one way (to MK) only in the morning.

That’s not true about the ferry. While occasionally they restrict traffic to one-way, usually it’s not.

 

[BlueGreen5]

I honestly wish they would bring this back. I know that ship has long since sailed but it's honestly so annoying. I don't even mind people using it if they legitimately want to go visit the monorail resorts just to look around or what have you, but having to stand up on the monorail completely exhausted at the end of the night and watching the train almost completely empty out at the TTC with ppl who are clearly day guests going to their cars is one of the few things I dislike about it. We take the resort launch home most nights because of that, unless we just missed it.

Aaaaaaagreeee....

But, I don't know if I'm convinced the ship has long since sailed. They are going to have to change something when Poly tower opens or have some very annoyed VGF owners.

 

[RSHale]

Deleted my post - I realized I was responding to a post that was a few days old and decided that what I posted wasn't really adding anything important to the discussion. Carry on.

 

[vinotinto]

Having stayed many times at BC, YC and BW, and many times not, I think the idea that the International Gateway provides some sort of advantage at entry is a complete myth, going back to pre-Skyliner.

The reality is that despite the expansion of the IG that took place for the Skyliner, the IG is a smaller gate than the main gate, and the IG is *packed* pre-rope drop with guests from YC, BC, BCV, BW, BWV, Swolphin, CBR, Riviera, Pop, AoA, and anyone else that is planning on going between DHS and Epcot on any given day and is taking the skyliner.

They will time the entry with the main gates as well, so no advantage there, and Remy is the only ride that is closer to the IG. Guardians, Frozen and Test Track are closer to the main gate. And, I mean, Remy is cute, but it's not worth all that. I believe starting at the IG is actually a disadvantage at Epcot.

And, coupled with the security guards turning people away from being dropped off and likely having to be dropped off at DHS and taking the skyliner, this will put you much behind the crowds (and they *will* turn you away, unless you are getting dropped off with an ADR for for one of the table-service restaurants).

For those that say "I want to eat at one of the quick services," at the crescent lake resorts, I say, "why?" because they are very small and they don't even open until 7am, and don't really have much in the way of seating. Definitely not enough for those staying in those resorts, much less for the public at large. And for those that want to "shop," the merch is similar as what you will find in other places, and it's not open at rope drop, so just walk there in the afternoon from Epcot, if you really want to shop.

Just my opinion, but the best is to simply use the main gate.

 

[focusondisney]

Having stayed many times at BC, YC and BW, and many times not, I think the idea that the International Gateway provides some sort of advantage at entry is a complete myth, going back to pre-Skyliner.

The reality is that despite the expansion of the IG that took place for the Skyliner, the IG is a smaller gate than the main gate, and the IG is *packed* pre-rope drop with guests from YC, BC, BCV, BW, BWV, Swolphin, CBR, Riviera, Pop, AoA, and anyone else that is planning on going between DHS and Epcot on any given day and is taking the skyliner.

They will time the entry with the main gates as well, so no advantage there, and Remy is the only ride that is closer to the IG. Guardians, Frozen and Test Track are closer to the main gate. And, I mean, Remy is cute, but it's not worth all that. I believe starting at the IG is actually a disadvantage at Epcot.

And, coupled with the security guards turning people away from being dropped off and likely having to be dropped off at DHS and taking the skyliner, this will put you much behind the crowds (and they *will* turn you away, unless you are getting dropped off with an ADR for for one of the table-service restaurants).

For those that say "I want to eat at one of the quick services," at the crescent lake resorts, I say, "why?" because they are very small and they don't even open until 7am, and don't really have much in the way of seating. Definitely not enough for those staying in those resorts, much less for the public at large. And for those that want to "shop," the merch is similar as what you will find in other places, and it's not open at rope drop, so just walk there in the afternoon from Epcot, if you really want to shop.

Just my opinion, but the best is to simply use the main gate.

. Absolutely this.