Quickest way to France pavilion (International Gateway entrance) with elderly

[ethanwa]

My in-laws are in town and are slow movers. They refuse to be in a ECV or anything. They can walk, just slowly, and are overweight so they get overheated. They probably walk half-speed as me, a normal paced guy.

What’s the quickest/shortest way to get to the International Pavilion at Epcot? Which resort is the easiest to walk from? Or should we take in the boat from a resort? We will be using valet at a resort as nessecary and may walk the Boardwalk as well. Or is there a bus drop off at International Gateway?

Advice on what to do here? What’s the quickest way to get to Paris pavilion with the least amount of walking?

 

[Stephy811]

Beach club resort is closest...maybe 5-10 minutes to international gateway entrance. France is literally right there to your right as you walk in. Yacht club/boardwalk are also very walkable but are a little further than bc. All three of those plus swan and dolphin offer boat service right to the intl gateway entrance. I believe buses from other resorts drop you off in the front by future world which is a haul through the park.

 

[Stephy811]

Should’ve added that from beach club it would probably be farther walk to the boat launch than just walking to the park. Boat is shared between BC/YC and is right in front of YC. I have never stayed at the others so I can’t comment on how far to catch the boat.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My in-laws are in town and are slow movers. They refuse to be in a ECV or anything. They can walk, just slowly, and are overweight so they get overheated. They probably walk half-speed as me, a normal paced guy.

What’s the quickest/shortest way to get to the International Pavilion at Epcot? Which resort is the easiest to walk from? Or should we take in the boat from a resort? We will be using valet at a resort as nessecary and may walk the Boardwalk as well. Or is there a bus drop off at International Gateway?

Advice on what to do here? What’s the quickest way to get to Paris pavilion with the least amount of walking?

As PP said, Beach Club will offer the shortest walk. At a normal pace, it's about a 5 - 10 minute walk to International Gateway. You then walk uphill a little bit, cross a bridge and then walk downhill to the France pavilion.

If you want to take the boat, Boardwalk and YC would be your best bets. Epcot is the next stop after Boardwalk, but you'll need to walk through the lobby to an escalator and then walk the path through the boat dock (there are stairs as well, but I don't know if that would work for you). At YC, you can walk straight through the lobby and walk on a path a bit to get to the boat dock. None of these are incredibly short walks, however.

You can ask to valet at Boardwalk or YC/BC. If they give you a hard time and won't valet, you can also go to the Swan or Dolphin, park there and take the boat.

 

[Claudia1]

Take the boat from Yacht & Beach Club or Boardwalk. There is a significant hill walking from the resorts to International Gateway. If you are at a different resort, take a bus to Hollywood Studios, then it is a short walk to the boat that goes all the way to Epcot's International Gateway. We do this in the horrid summer heat instead of walking all the way to the back of the park from the buses.

 

[ethanwa]

Does Beach Club offer valet?

 

[ethanwa]

Take the boat from Yacht & Beach Club or Boardwalk. There is a significant hill walking from the resorts to International Gateway. If you are at a different resort, take a bus to Hollywood Studios, then it is a short walk to the boat that goes all the way to Epcot's International Gateway. We do this in the horrid summer heat instead of walking all the way to the back of the park from the buses.

Great idea! We need to go to Hollywood Studios that day as well so that’s perfect!

 

[focusondisney]

Great idea! We need to go to Hollywood Studios that day as well so that’s perfect!

When is your trip? The boat service between the resorts & Disney Studios is not currently running due to work on the bridge near Swan/ Dolphin. Not resuming til the end of the month. There is bus service between the resorts & Studios right now.

Also, you can bypass the hill on the walk from Beach Club. At the beginning of the hill, there is a walkway down along the water, to the right as you walk to Epcot. I hate that hill. I use the other walkway all the time.

 

[focusondisney]

Does Beach Club offer valet?

Yes

 

[ethanwa]

When is your trip? The boat service between the resorts & Disney Studios is not currently running due to work on the bridge near Swan/ Dolphin. Not resuming til the end of the month. There is bus service between the resorts & Studios right now.

Also, you can bypass the hill on the walk from Beach Club. At the beginning of the hill, there is a walkway down along the water, to the right as you walk to Epcot. I hate that hill. I use the other walkway all the time.

We are local. My in-laws flew in. We go tomorrow.

Thank you for letting me know it’s closed! Beach Club it is then.

 

[hiroMYhero]

We are local. My in-laws flew in. We go tomorrow.

Thank you for letting me know it’s closed! Beach Club it is then.

As you leave Beach Club, walk along the water’s edge and the waterway path is level without an incline. You won’t have to walk up and over at all.

Same for the return: veer to the water’s edge when you exit Epcot.

 

[focusondisney]

Just to clarify, the boat will still go to Epcot from the resorts, just not past S/D to the Studios. So if you want to take the boat from Yacht Club you could still do that. But the walk from the Beach Club is only about 5 minutes. I'd still suggest skipping the hill tho!

 

[ethanwa]

I think we might do Yacht Club boat. That way they can sit down until we get to International Gateway.

 

[dachsie]

I think we might do Yacht Club boat. That way they can sit down until we get to International Gateway.

Should’ve added that from beach club it would probably be farther walk to the boat launch than just walking to the park. Boat is shared between BC/YC and is right in front of YC. I have never stayed at the others so I can’t comment on how far to catch the boat.

May need to reconsider.....

 

[DisneyOma]

And you might not be able to park at BC without a reservation if the lot is getting full, so you might have to have a backup plan.

 

[CarolMN]

For the least amount of walking, you should valet at the BWV. The boat is MUCH closer to the valet drop foff (at the resort lobby) than it is from either the YC or BC lobbies. The boat drops you at the IG entrance. After the entrance, there a short walk up a low hill and then you take a right over the bridge to get to the French Pavilion. Here are some maps by ROBO that will help you decide:

 

[ww52]

This is how unobservant I am - I never knew there was a hill walking from BC to the International Gateway.

Understand we've stayed at BC twice and Swan 3 times and walked to Epcot every time. We always took the waterway walk - not because it was easier than the hill, but because we literally didn't realize there was another way to go! So I just got on Google Maps (satellite) and sure enough, there is is.

And it is essentially the only way to go if you're walking from BW. I'm told it's a slightly faster walk from Swan to IG via BW - but we always went via YC/BC from our habit of having sayed at BC.