Hello from EPCOT, which seems to have construction going on everywhere you look. This time, we focus our attention over on the entrance and exit to the International Gateway. Our last update in September was even back before the Skyliner opened! Lots of progress has been made in this area in a short amount of time.
Construction work connected to the Skyliner project prompted some concrete work by the entrance and exit point at the International Gateway into the World Showcase. A large swath of concrete was torn up in this area with rolling hedges placed to guide guests up to security screening and MagicBand touchpoints.
Recently, the walkway flow has changed due to the completion of a section of concrete work. The construction zone has been split into two sections, still surrounded by those same rolling hedges. Now there is a gap between the sections and guests are able to use the restroom before they enter security screening, or after they exit the park on their way to the Skyliner.
Some facade work on the building that houses the restrooms and the World Traveler gift shop has pushed that section of rolling hedges further out into the MagicBand touchpoint queues. That area is set to become the new ticket booths for the area, replacing the temporary kiosk that’s set up right before you reach the Skyliner. Currently, one of the MagicBand queue lanes has been shut down and repurposed as an exit lane, since the original exit lane has been taken over by the hedges.
It looks like work is moving along quickly in these areas and soon we should see a wide open plaza with restrooms and space to walk freely between the Skyliner and the World Showcase.
What they also need to do now is make a path to the Monorail station from here so you don’t need a hopper pass to go through Epcot to get to the monorail from the Skyliner so you can get to Magic Kingdom!!!
Amen! If you look on google maps, there’s a backlot path “Avenue of the Stars” that would take you around the west side of Epcot to the monorail. I can see them prettying this up to make a walkway to the monorail, or maybe even dedicate a parking tram or two to running service between the two points. Could be done fairly easily.
i will have to check that out…its a win win for everyone if they do this now that the skyliners are running and so efficient,,,the week we were down we cut our bus riding probably over 50 %cause of riding the skyliner…we were at pop century so the only place we needed to bus was downtown disney and animal kingdom…i hope they build more skyliners…its so much more enjoyable than riding the bus.time will tell!!