Four Disney hotels surround the lake that makes up the boardwalk and waterway that all connect to EPCOT:
- Disney’s Boardwalk
- Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club
- The Disney Dolphin
- The Disney Swan
The Dolphin and Swan are the furthest away from the EPCOT back entrance (you enter in between France and England) with the Yacht & Beach Club and Boardwalk hotels being about the same distance.
Each hotel has a location for boat pickup and transportation to the EPCOT “back entrance” which is officially called the International Gateway and the boat system also can get you to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios). You can also walk around to Hollywood Studios but that is quite a haul, unless you have rented a mobility scooter, and there is nothing on the way to visit compared to walking around the Boardwalk which is lined with restaurants, shops and even an art gallery.
Mobility Scooters (a.k.a. electronic convenience vehicles (ECVs)) are a lot of fun and definitely reduces the drain and strain of just getting to EPCOT and of course can be ridden directly onto the buses as well as boats and monorail for transportation to the other Disney World theme parks. Many times visitors think, oh we will just use a wheelchair, but there is a lot of walking which translates to A LOT OF PUSHING, which makes the person using the wheelchair feel like a burden.
Don’t forget to arrange for your mobility scooter rental in advance, just as you reserve your hotel room, as they do get sold out quite regularly and you don’t want to spend your precious vacation time calling around trying to find one.
