Credit: Jonathan (IceNineJon), FlickrWalt Disney World Resort has officially removed some recently installed gates at the main entrance to EPCOT.
Last week, Disney Park guests first noticed some weighty metal gates at the World Celebration entrance to EPCOT. This entrance, closest to Spaceship Earth, serves guests using the Monorail, Disney bus transportation, or EPCOT’s parking lot.
The swinging metal gates were installed at several lesser-used “tap-styles,” preventing guests from walking into the park without scanning their ticket. They also served to funnel guests leaving EPCOT toward designated exits.
However, just a week after installing the gates, Walt Disney World Resort removed them. According to BlogMickey, the metal gates had disappeared as of Wednesday, August 20. The support poles they were attached to are still present, so it’s unclear whether the removal is temporary. Ropes hang between the poles in place of the gates.
Walt Disney World Resort hasn’t issued any public statements about the gates’ installation or removal. It’s assumed that a technical or structural issue caused Disney cast members to reconsider the initial design. Despite the changes, the EPCOT entrance procedure has not changed for guests.
New gates have not been installed at EPCOT’s other entrance, the International Gateway. Located closest to the France World Showcase Pavilion, this smaller park entrance serves guests using the Disney Skyliner, watercraft transportation, or the walkway from nearby Disney Resort hotels and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s unclear whether Walt Disney World Resort will expand the metal gates to the International Gateway.
EPCOT is the only Central Florida Disney park with two separate entrances. There are tap-styles into Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park from the Rainforest Cafe attached to the park entrance, but it funnels into the same main walkway onto Discovery Island.
Have you noticed any other changes at Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!