International Gateway from AS Sports

[rpmaill]

Ive been searching for a recent answer to this and cant find one so here goes.

Ill be staying at all Star Sports and want to rope drop the International gateway at Epcot.

Ive read that you can Uber to the Speedway across the street and some say the Beach Club, others say Swan.

Is there a great way to get to International Gateway for rope drop from AS Sports without risk of being turned away?

Its been almost a decade since ive been so I have no clue whats near what anymore. Any advice is appreciated as Im taking my 7yo daughter. Thanks!

 

[SteveH]

I don't see you getting turned away at the Swan Dolphin resorts, I'm not sure I'd be wanting to run across of traffic with a 7yo. But the only way to guarantee you don't get turned away is to go through the front of the park, everything else has some level of "risk".

 

[rpmaill]

I don't see you getting turned away at the Swan Dolphin resorts, I'm not sure I'd be wanting to run across of traffic with a 7yo. But the only way to guarantee you don't get turned away is to go through the front of the park, everything else has some level of "risk".

Thank you!

 

[CarolynFH]

Ive been searching for a recent answer to this and cant find one so here goes.

Ill be staying at all Star Sports and want to rope drop the International gateway at Epcot.

Ive read that you can Uber to the Speedway across the street and some say the Beach Club, others say Swan.

Is there a great way to get to International Gateway for rope drop from AS Sports without risk of being turned away?

Its been almost a decade since ive been so I have no clue whats near what anymore. Any advice is appreciated as Im taking my 7yo daughter. Thanks!

There are no guards at the entrances to Swan or Dolphin - so a rideshare vehicle can drive up to the front door and let y'all out without being stopped or questioned. Then you just walk through the building to the boat dock or the walkway to Epcot/DHS and go from there. That would be the easiest, safest and quickest, especially with a 7 year old.

 

[MelRavenswood]

In Feb., we took the bus to DHS(which usually opens earlier, so the buses start earlier), and then walked from DHS to the IG. It was a pleasant walk, and we got to the IG in plenty of time to rope drop early entry.

 

[Boopuff]

Just curious, but is there a reason you want to be at IG rather than front of the park? (Remey?). It’s a Bit of a walk from Swan (imo)

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Just curious, but is there a reason you want to be at IG rather than front of the park? (Remey?). It’s a Bit of a walk from Swan (imo).

The walk from the Swan is not really that bad. Certainly it’s comparable to the walk from the Speedway station and probably safer, when you consider that starting from the service station means walking all the way from the entrance to the BW resort. Also, if the boats are running already, which they might be if the Studios are open or opening soon, that may be an option as well.

 

[rpmaill]

Just curious, but is there a reason you want to be at IG rather than front of the park? (Remey?). It’s a Bit of a walk from Swan (imo)

Yes we wanna get to Remy for rope drop

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We've not walked from the speedway but have walked from Swan/Dolphin to IG and it's about a 15-20 min walk. I'd be less inclined to walk from the gas station given there's no crosswalk just to save a few mins. As others have mentioned you can get dropped at the Swan/Dolphin but it's a little longer than if you were staying at the Boardwalk.

 

[rpmaill]

We've not walked from the speedway but have walked from Swan/Dolphin to IG and it's about a 15-20 min walk. I'd be less inclined to walk from the gas station given there's no crosswalk just to save a few mins. As others have mentioned you can get dropped at the Swan/Dolphin but it's a little longer than if you were staying at the Boardwalk.

Awesome! So what time would you think Id need to be at the Gateway to Ropedrop Remy? Park opens at 830 so I can enter at 8. I figure Id call an uber at 645, start walking from Swan by 7, get to gateway by 730?

 

[Douglas Dubh]

There’ll be a friendship boat leaving Swan & Dolphin for Epcot round 7 am. Get you to Epcot by 7:20.

 

[rpmaill]

Thats good to know. So the boats run that early? Hmm now im thinking I need to be at Swan earlier to get on that boat. I suppose even if I miss it at 7, Id get to the gateway by 730 walking regardless. I know she would have fun taking the boat though. Do you know if the boats have been starting by 7 recently? I know things are always changing

 

[Best Aunt]

I have not tried to take a Friendship boat for rope drop. Keep in mind the route:
Friendship Boat Route from Hollywood Studios to Epcot:

• Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Swan and Dolphin Hotel (includes Swan Reserve)
• Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort (One Stop)
• Disney’s Boardwalk Inn
• Epcot

So it's not a direct shot, and it's not fast. I googled it and saw this: "I recently took a Friendship boat from the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel to Epcot, and the total trip was less than 30 minutes."

And if you miss a boat, you don't know exactly when the next one will arrive.

If someone is at an Epcot Resort Area hotel and they want to get to Epcot in a hurry, they usually walk if they are able. From the Swan, it's about half a mile and about a 10 minute walk to Epcot.

If you're in a hurry to get on that ride, I wonder if taking the bus from your hotel to the front of Epcot would get you there earlier than taking an Uber to the Swan and then a Friendship Boat from Swan to Epcot.

 

[rpmaill]

I wany to get to the gateway though not front of park. Also not looking at coming from HS. Im staying at as sports.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Thats good to know. So the boats run that early? Hmm now im thinking I need to be at Swan earlier to get on that boat. I suppose even if I miss it at 7, Id get to the gateway by 730 walking regardless. I know she would have fun taking the boat though. Do you know if the boats have been starting by 7 recently? I know things are always changing

So we were there in April and were told that the boats start about 45 min-1 hr before park opening. We were never super early so I can't comment if they were there really one hour prior but I did talk to one of the crew members and that's what they told me when I asked that same question. We were never early birds enough to actually test it out. However, I do know they run up to one hour after park close, we did test that one out.

 

[Best Aunt]

I wany to get to the gateway though not front of park. Also not looking at coming from HS. Im staying at as sports.

a) I know you want to get to the gateway; my comment was that if you want that to save time, it might not make sense
b) I know you're not coming from HS, but the boats go 2 directions and that's the route for getting from Swan to Epcot.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thats good to know. So the boats run that early? Hmm now im thinking I need to be at Swan earlier to get on that boat. I suppose even if I miss it at 7, Id get to the gateway by 730 walking regardless. I know she would have fun taking the boat though. Do you know if the boats have been starting by 7 recently? I know things are always changing

To walk to Epcot from Swan or Dolphin, you pretty much have to pass the boat dock. If a boat is approaching the dock from the DHS side, you can take it (it will stop at the YC/BC dock and again at the BW dock before it gets to Epcot). If not, walk.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

To walk to Epcot from Swan or Dolphin, you pretty much have to pass the boat dock. If a boat is approaching the dock from the DHS side, you can take it (it will stop at the YC/BC dock and again at the BW dock before it gets to Epcot). If not, walk.

That’s not quite true. With both parks opening at 8 am, two boats will go to Swan and Dolphin from Epcot, and get there around 7. Could be 6:55, could be 7:05, but around 7. First boat will go to Hollywood Studios, second boat will go to Epcot. If you miss the boat to Epcot, the first boat will leave Studios around 7:15 and arrive at Swan and Dolphin between 7:20 and 7:25, and take guests toward Epcot. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to get to Epcot from Swan and Dolphin via boat because it stops at Yacht and Beach Club and Boardwalk.

 

[MouseyMin]

How about taking the bus to Hollywood Studios and then taking the Skyliner to Epcot?

 

[CarolynFH]

That’s not quite true. With both parks opening at 8 am, two boats will go to Swan and Dolphin from Epcot, and get there around 7. Could be 6:55, could be 7:05, but around 7. First boat will go to Hollywood Studios, second boat will go to Epcot. If you miss the boat to Epcot, the first boat will leave Studios around 7:15 and arrive at Swan and Dolphin between 7:20 and 7:25, and take guests toward Epcot. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to get to Epcot from Swan and Dolphin via boat because it stops at Yacht and Beach Club and Boardwalk.

Interesting! So one of the boats will come from YC/BC, dock at S/D, then go back to Epcot without continuing on to DHS? That certainly makes it more difficult to decide whether to go for the boat, if the one you can see is coming from Crescent Lake! In that case, I'd just walk it, unless I had someone with me who couldn't walk the distance from the S/D to Epcot. We've never stayed at S/D, only at BW, where it's easy to tell which direction a boat is going by which direction it's coming from.

Edited to add - I just realized that both of the first boats of the day are coming from their moorings at Epcot, so of course one would be the first boat to DHS and the other would be the first boat to Epcot. So, @Douglas Dubh , does the "first boat to Epcot" stop at BW and YC/BC before stopping at S/D and then turning around, or does it go straight to S/D and then continue to Epcot (with stops at YC/BC and BW on the way)?