Refused access to the World Showcase entrance to Epcot from Beach Club?

[MrKnight]

Hi again everyone - an update on my experience:

Initially, when we finally got back to Beach Club on the bus, we went to speak with concierge at the hotel. They effectively told us that the problem was something we would need to take up with the parks and that it wasn’t a resort issue - they recommended filling in comments when we checked out if we wanted to flag it up. We went away and returned later, asking to speak to a manager the next day. They said they would raise it in the morning - when we never heard back we went back and spoke with another CM who again said she would raise it with the manager. We chased it up today with another CM who went and spoke to the manager and said the CM in Epcot made a mistake not allowing us to pass and that they were sorry. It is good to know that it was a mistake as the back entrance to Epcot was one of the main reasons for us choosing Beach Club. We changed our plans the next day because we ended up getting back after midnight, which was frustrating, but at least we know for next time that we have access.

This makes sense, there is truly not much the resort can do for you since the park is a totally separate operating entity from the resorts, did you ever end up speaking with a GR manager at Epcot? That probably would actually be the best of course of action, perhaps management at Epcot could have more jurisdiction over fixing the problem and they may have very well even issued you some type of recovery gesture for the inconveniences that you experience.

 

[CliftonParkGMan]

Do what? So you don't want the Value resort guests to use "your Epcot resort guest boat"? Ok........ That's a new one. Never realized it was an "Epcot Resort Guest boat". And I stay in the Epcot resorts most all the time. Never occurred to me to worry about who was using the boat. Pretty sure they already know about the boats by the way

And trust me, Disney knows it's ludicrous to make people go out the main entrance. They aren't doing that. Contact Disney to complain/raise holy heck to train the staff better. They aren't telling them to send guests out the main entrance.

Still, it's been pretty clear this is not a new policy it was a really badly informed CM. I hope the Daily Fix has included that in their video too

No they need to increase the capacity of the security and entrance lines. The reason I mentioned the value resorts is because of the quantity of the guests and the strain it will put on infrastructure.

Disney will need to add boats and / or increase frequency. I already feel bad for the Swan and Dolphin folks who always get very full boats going to DHS.

The bottom line is that Disney charges more for the Epcot Resorts and one of the major draws is convenience. It saves you time while on vacation and many pay more for that experience. Part of that experience is not waiting for multiple boats to come to take you to DHS / EPCOT.

I don't assume Disney knows about this because people have ongoing issues with taking bus to parks in the early AM from OKW and SSR because people are parking at DiS and filling up the park buses after going to SSR or OKW. This is causing those guests to see long times on the digital board followed by later and later times coming up then finding out the buses leave because they are full.

DVC Owners have a line on our dues statement to pay for transportation. So my other issue is going to be if Disney has higher costs for Epcot Resort transportation that I don't see it hitting my dues. Those costs are attributed to and should be incurred by those staying at the Skyliner resorts. My fear is that won't happen and it will result in higher costs for Epcot Resort rooms and DVC dues.

 

[georgina]

Love the boats from EPCOT to HS. NEVER used them prior to staying at BWV, in countless trips before that didn’t even know they existed and would not have considered using them anyhow.

The beauty of IG is its smallness (count them 2 turnstiles). The countries area except for the France bakery isn’t even open at park opening. So I hope and pray most guests will enter through the front EPcot turnstiles. And I hope IG remains a sleepy area. I am not counting on it though.

I don't think it's possible that the IG will remain a sleepy area. The gondolas will be bringing in large amounts of guests from Pop, AoA, Caribbean Beach and I think the new Riviera resort right to that entrance. Word is that bus service to Epcot and HS will be reduced from those resorts.

 

[CliftonParkGMan]

I can't say that I disagree with the gates and potential problems it's current size will create. But I'm not certain that being aware of no plans to expand the gates means there are no plans to expand it. It's just possible that those who do know haven't told everything they know. This does happen, even in this day and age
It was simply the PP's phrase of "non Epcot resort guests" and that their daring to use the boats that came across as oh, I don't know, elitist or something.

It is not elitist it is making sure that their is value in staying at the Epcot Resorts. Disney charges room rates off the hook and pitched the BWV and BCV about easy access. I definitely don't want transportation costs to increase in my dues because WDW put a strain on the existing transportation infrastructure.

I clearly know that people use the boats but the thousands of guests who don't usually or even know of the IG exists is going to put a big strain on the transportation.

 

[kimieko]

Im not too afraid of the gondola system, yet. Im just wondering how many people could be getting off of them, how fast do they move, is there only 1 unloading at a time? Will they go through bag check/security at loading so they can skip bag check at the entrance to help move them through faster? Im thinking it is going to be more of a trickle of people, and not like any of the main entrances where there are people coming off of multiple busses or the monorail at a time, coming in much larger groups.

 

[Patches Lee]

WOW!

Heard about this on the DIS Daily Fix video and see what happened.

Our family's home DVC resort is BCV and one of the reasons we bought and added on at BCV was the walking access to Epcot and DHS.

I hope this is not some new policy because quite frankly I will raise holy heck. I'd actually refuse to go out the front. EMH is a bonus to all of us staying on property.

In the past Disney staff have been really flexible. I remember a few years ago being on the outside of main entrance after park closing. Talked to security and they let us go in the park to walk through to Int'l Gateway.

We are not too happy Disney is bringing the new Skyliner traffic to the Int'l Gateway which is a small entrance already. Now they will funnel traffic from the value resorts which have very high room and guest counts. This is also going to cause capacity issues with the Boats to DHS as thousands of new guests experiencing the Int'l gateway will see and subsequently use the boats to go from Epcot to DHS. This will end up having no room on the boat by the time it reaches the dock at YC and BC. Trust me these non Epcot resort guests will not take the Skyliner back to CB station then transfer to DHS - they will use the boats.

People pay more to stay at the Epcot Resorts and DVC member pay for transportation as part of our dues. We chose to buy at BCV and to add on points because of the ease of access to the 2 parks. During this time of year people pay a premium to stay at the Epcot Resorts specifically for Food and Wine. Being able to stumble back to our rooms after drinking around the world is pretty standard.

My advice to you and to any guest who experienced this to contact Disney by phone, e-mail or snail mail. They need to know that it is ludicrous to make people go out the main entrance if they are staying at BC, YC, BW or Swan / Dolphin. You paid a lot of money to stay at these resorts.

Technically Carribean is an Epcot resort.
So adding the 3 skyliner resorts adds over 6800 rooms, just average to 4 people staying, with 1/4 going to Epcot that's 6800 more bodies to go through. But you can't expect everyone to be going at the same time either. Wouldn't adding boat to HS alleviate some boat traffic you mention?

 

[danikoski]

Im not too afraid of the gondola system, yet. Im just wondering how many people could be getting off of them, how fast do they move, is there only 1 unloading at a time? Will they go through bag check/security at loading so they can skip bag check at the entrance to help move them through faster? Im thinking it is going to be more of a trickle of people, and not like any of the main entrances where there are people coming off of multiple busses or the monorail at a time, coming in much larger groups.

They only times it should be a noticeable impact is before park open and after park close. Park open will probably be the worst, in my opinion, because during park close, the gondola will be constantly moving. And it will move a lot of people quickly and efficiently. Security will most likely be pushed to the resort boat docks or the park boat docks and the CBR main change station for DHS/Epcot. Everything I've read points to it being like Security at MK with monorail resorts and boats.

 

[bumbershoot]

This makes sense, there is truly not much the resort can do for you since the park is a totally separate operating entity from the resorts

Doesn’t make sense to me.

I’m quite sure management of Epcot resorts speaks to management of Epcot. I’m sure bw and bc mamagement want to know what’s going on to impede access to their resorts.

 

[snappy]

Doesn’t make sense to me.

I’m quite sure management of Epcot resorts speaks to management of Epcot. I’m sure bw and bc mamagement want to know what’s going on to impede access to their resorts.

Maybe management of resorts and parks might speak to each other but apparently not so much to the front line CM’s including concierge. That’s a big miss.

 

[AngiTN]

Im not too afraid of the gondola system, yet. Im just wondering how many people could be getting off of them, how fast do they move, is there only 1 unloading at a time? Will they go through bag check/security at loading so they can skip bag check at the entrance to help move them through faster? Im thinking it is going to be more of a trickle of people, and not like any of the main entrances where there are people coming off of multiple busses or the monorail at a time, coming in much larger groups.

The numbers are posted in the gondola thread but they move way more than buses do in the same amount of time

 

[MrKnight]

Doesn’t make sense to me.

I’m quite sure management of Epcot resorts speaks to management of Epcot. I’m sure bw and bc mamagement want to know what’s going on to impede access to their resorts.

As one who used to work as a WDW Resort Concierge CM several years back, I can tell you that unfortuneatly they do not they do not talk to each other, even though they are all part of WDW they are actually two totally separate divisions of management and two total different operations. The only type of interaction that would happen between those divisions would be at higher levels (WDW executives, administration, etc.)..

A front-line manager at a park or resort would never be part of these type of higher-level interactions, their job is strictly to provide supervision in their immediate area and handle guest situations that occur in that area, anything beyond that is above their pay grade and anything that happens outside of their immediate area they have very little authority over let alone any type of ability to resolve such a situation.

This is why as a guest, it is always best to speak to management at the actual location where the issued happened, the management at the actual location is the only entity that can actually take action on something that happened in that area or involving a CM assigned to that area.

 

[kimieko]

The numbers are posted in the gondola thread but they move way more than buses do in the same amount of time

Thanks, I will check it out! I think I am thinking of this as more of a ride and not transportation, which wouldn’t be very effective for moving a lot of people.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

Its really troubling to hear about this. We have never been to the boardwalk before and will be staying there this Christmas. We normally take cheaper trips but a big reason for spending more on this trip was the convenience of the IG and being nearby DHS with our two young kids. Being stranded with a double stroller at Epcot's main entrance is frankly my worst nightmare.

OP, I would raise Cane at guest services in the parks. I wouldn't settle for FP's either. I have heard of people emailing Disney guest services after incidents of this type and getting free tickets for a future trip. Its unacceptable and Disney needs to put their money where their mouth is and make this right for you.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I did not have a problem in the evening, but in 2016, I could not enter World Showcase in the morning because they were filming for Christmas. Security would not let anyone through the locked gate before you get to IG at the scheduled opening time. I went back to guest service who called a cab (free of charge to me) so that I could get to front of the park in time to make Destinations tour. That tour meets over by the front of World Show Case, so had to do additional walking through Future World.

In fairness, that was an anomaly. Wrong of Disney, but a one-off.

They were lucky that a kind bus driver, assigned to another route, took pity on them and drove them back.

I would say SUPER outrageous since there are no Resort buses at TTC!lol

Again not agreeing that the no-IG was reasonable, but probably the best solution woukd have been to take the bus to DHS, then the boat (if running) or walk. Annoying as all heck, but more efficient than heading to MK.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I hope this is not some new policy

Clearly it's not.

I don't stay at Epcot resorts and I've been using the boats for decades.

Actually I try to avoid the boats because I find them maddeningly slow, and I'm pretty sure the skyliner is going to be faster.

Ditto. Thanks, Unofficial Guide!

 

[SL6827]

So, was this determined to be a result of an uniformed cast member, or a new hire that didn't know any better or what? Honest mistake?

 

[dansdad]

So, was this determined to be a result of an uniformed cast member, or a new hire that didn't know any better or what? Honest mistake?

Definitely one of those. Which one, nobody knows for sure.

 

[SL6827]

Definitely one of those. Which one, nobody knows for sure.

Ok, well then that good to know. People make honest mistakes, that is life, it happens. I remember checking in at the Beach Club this past June and the cast member checking us in had no idea that guest were given a special wristband just to enter the pool area, he thought your Magic Band sufficed.

 

[AngiTN]

Ok, well then that good to know. People make honest mistakes, that is life, it happens. I remember checking in at the Beach Club this past June and the cast member checking us in had no idea that guest were given a special wristband just to enter the pool area, he thought your Magic Band sufficed.

You know, to me, that's not an honest mistake. That's a let down in the most basic of training. Just like the issue OP had was.
There aren't many basic rules that CM need for a given position. But in these cases, the one you encountered at BC, and the one OP encountered at Epcot, should have been told the basic of their positions in these cases.
At BC, anyone working there should be told that a guest will need a wristband for the pool. It should be one of the top 5 things you learn on day 1.
At Epcot, anyone working there should know that guests can exit IG. It should be one of the top 5 things you learn on day 1.
No excuses, zero tolerance to not learn it either.
Some rules are too important to not know to pass on and in the cases of these 2, they are on that list.

 

[snappy]

I agree. Many people travel to Disney without benefit of the info that is shared on the dis boards and elsewhere. We are fortunate to have the time to research here, and know how to navigate the parks, the resorts and how to travel between them. It’s not surprising that people get frustrated when they run into these unfortunate situations. IG is not new. It may be changing a bit with gondolas but walking through it to get to your Epcot resort isn’t a changing dynamic. And the resort personnel trying to pass the buck back to the park CM’s does nothing to solve the problem. Leave this to guests to solve?? I don’t think so.