International a Gateway to close 11/27 to 12/17?

[MermaidMommy]

Yep, we were called yesterday that our 12/9 Illuminations cruise is cancelled. I am so bummed. I worked really hard to put this together as a surprise for my husband's 40th birthday. Their "replacement" idea was pretty lame and I don't have any time to come up with something else. Everything else is already booked up!

How many people did you have in your party for your cruise? We had a problem once and were able to get a great private viewing spot for illuminations as guest recovery, but it’s only big enough for a few people.

 

[Trinity88]

I’m not sure if this is reputable site or not:

https://wdwnt.com/2018/10/rumor-epc...-to-accommodate-disney-skyliner-construction/

It’s the first thing I’ve seen posted anywhere other than FB or here that says IG might be closed. But still a rumour at this point.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I’m not sure if this is reputable site or not:

https://wdwnt.com/2018/10/rumor-epc...-to-accommodate-disney-skyliner-construction/

It’s the first thing I’ve seen posted anywhere other than FB or here that says IG might be closed. But still a rumour at this point.

They are classifying this as a Rumor so I still don’t believe it is reliable information at this point.

Things can change and this Rumor May firm up but for now I am not altering our plans except to make a backup dining reservation if IG is indeed closed.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

He’s already backtracked (SHOCKER) to say it’s only closed for boats. You can still walk. There also will be buses to front gate of Epcot.

 

[jlundeen]

I'm putting my faith (I know... might be just as wrong) in what this poster found out....

My husband sent an email last night to George Kalogridis , an executive at Disney. We received a phone call this morning with the following answer:
1. There will be no pedestrian impact on the IG during the construction of the skyliner.
2. Yes there will be an impact on the Friendship Boats to Epcot.
3. There will be no impact on the Friendship boats to HS.
4. There will be no impact on the walkway to HS.
5. They apologized that no formal notice has gone out and they are working on a formal notice to be sent out.

 

[Trinity88]

Looks like Disney contacted him:

https://wdwnt.com/2018/10/update-fr...ember-international-gateway-will-remain-open/

So we now have 2 Disney sources saying IG will be open. Yay!!

 

[PuppyJonathan]

Yay!! If only I didn’t like the friendship boats so much

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yay!! If only I didn’t like the friendship boats so much

My understanding is that the Friendship Boats will still be running between DSH, Boardwalk and Beach/Yacht Club. The poster who received a call from Disney said that he was told that the Friendship Boats would still be running from DHS so they have to go somewhere. If Swan/Dolphin says their dock is closed and Disney has said that the Epcot dock is closed then that only leaves the Beach/Yacht Club and Boardwalk. Both of those docks are a walk from IG but doable and closer I believe then taking a bus to the front of Epcot and walking back to the World Showcase.

Time will tell but I think this is what we understand to be happening as of right now.

 

[DanBoris]

My understanding is that the Friendship Boats will still be running between DSH, Boardwalk and Beach/Yacht Club. The poster who received a call from Disney said that he was told that the Friendship Boats would still be running from DHS so they have to go somewhere. If Swan/Dolphin says their dock is closed and Disney has said that the Epcot dock is closed then that only leaves the Beach/Yacht Club and Boardwalk. Both of those docks are a walk from IG but doable and closer I believe then taking a bus to the front of Epcot and walking back to the World Showcase.

Time will tell but I think this is what we understand to be happening as of right now.

Swan and Dolphin has update the message on their web site:

https://www.swandolphin.com/aboutus/transportation.html

"As Disney Skyliner construction continues near International Gateway at Epcot in the coming months, International Gateway will remain open to Guests traveling along the connected pedestrian walkway.

During construction, Friendship Boat service will remain available to the resort hotels around Crescent Lake as well as Disney's Hollywood Studios. While Friendship Boat service to Epcot is expected to be unavailable from late November until mid-December, Guests will be able to use bus service or the walkway to access Epcot. "

 

[scrappinginontario]

Swan and Dolphin has update the message on their web site:

https://www.swandolphin.com/aboutus/transportation.html

"As Disney Skyliner construction continues near International Gateway at Epcot in the coming months, International Gateway will remain open to Guests traveling along the connected pedestrian walkway.

During construction, Friendship Boat service will remain available to the resort hotels around Crescent Lake as well as Disney's Hollywood Studios. While Friendship Boat service to Epcot is expected to be unavailable from late November until mid-December, Guests will be able to use bus service or the walkway to access Epcot. "

So glad to hear they updated their information to provide more detail! Their partial information was causing huge stress to many people!! Glad they updated as this now makes far more sense!!

 

[Bing Showei]

So glad to hear they updated their information to provide more detail! Their partial information was causing huge stress to many people!! Glad they updated as this now makes far more sense!!

Disney could’ve easily gotten ahead of this to assuage a lot of that stress if they had just issued their own official statement.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Disney could’ve easily gotten ahead of this to assuage a lot of that stress if they had just issued their own official statement.

You are spot on here, Disney should have been first to make the announcement about any change to the IG. It shouldn't be up to their paying guests to make multiple inquiries and get everybody upset when it could have and should have handled as soon as they knew about the change. This is a very poor way to treat their guests. Maybe they were afraid of cancellations? Regardless IMO this was handled very poorly by Disney.

 

[Kms943]

You are spot on here, Disney should have been first to make the announcement about any change to the IG. It shouldn't be up to their paying guests to make multiple inquiries and get everybody upset when it could have and should have handled as soon as they knew about the change. This is a very poor way to treat their guests. Maybe they were afraid of cancellations? Regardless IMO this was handled very poorly by Disney.

I agree 100%, their lack of official information on this led me to switch from the BW to the Poly for our Dec 16-20 stay . I didn't want to risk being stuck there with only bus transportation.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

You are spot on here, Disney should have been first to make the announcement about any change to the IG. It shouldn't be up to their paying guests to make multiple inquiries and get everybody upset when it could have and should have handled as soon as they knew about the change. This is a very poor way to treat their guests. Maybe they were afraid of cancellations? Regardless IMO this was handled very poorly by Disney.

On the flip side - it may have not been finalized for exact dates and exact plans - and then the Swolphin in interest of being ahead of things got out not 100% accurate information

I do wish disney announced things earlier than they tend too - but at the same time I think it would be worse to announce something and then have to back track or change if schedules change e

 

[jlundeen]

On the flip side - it may have not been finalized for exact dates and exact plans - and then the Swolphin in interest of being ahead of things got out not 100% accurate information

I do wish disney announced things earlier than they tend too - but at the same time I think it would be worse to announce something and then have to back track or change if schedules change e

I agree. I also wish that they would inform their front line cast members. I wrote to the Signature Services folks, since I have a reservation at Yacht Club club-level, as well as talking to the online chat folks, and both said they had nothing official, which could have been double talk for "we can't tell you cuz it's not official yet."

My communication with them was not that long ago! If they're planning on closing in about a little over a month, you would think that their they're front-line folks would have been notified with what to tell people when they were questioned. Something other than " we don't have any idea!"

But, I'm glad to see that the Gateway should be open and boats will be running to Hollywood Studios from the Resort's anyway. That's something! I know they have to close things sometimes to work on improvements and adding new features, I just wish we knew a little more in advance when they were planning on doing that.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I agree. I also wish that they would inform their front line cast members. I wrote to the Signature Services folks, since I have a reservation at Yacht Club club-level, as well as talking to the online chat folks, and both said they had nothing official, which could have been double talk for "we can't tell you cuz it's not official yet."

My communication with them was not that long ago! If they're planning on closing in about a little over a month, you would think that their they're front-line folks would have been notified with what to tell people when they were questioned. Something other than " we don't have any idea!"

But, I'm glad to see that the Gateway should be open and boats will be running to Hollywood Studios from the Resort's anyway. That's something! I know they have to close things sometimes to work on improvements and adding new features, I just wish we knew a little more in advance when they were planning on doing that.

In general their communication to front line CMs is often, um, not the best - which sucks for the front line CMs who have to deal with the (often upset) guests

I definitely think that they could have armed them with better info - But sometimes partial/vague info is worse than no info

 

[Bing Showei]

On the flip side - it may have not been finalized for exact dates and exact plans - and then the Swolphin in interest of being ahead of things got out not 100% accurate information

I do wish disney announced things earlier than they tend too - but at the same time I think it would be worse to announce something and then have to back track or change if schedules change e

Agreed, but once the information is shared (lack of clarity notwithstanding) by a partner/vendor, the expectation should be that Disney would either reach out to that partner and ask them to either retract that information until an official notice came out, or provide some substantive clarity.

Had it not been for the summative effect of IG closure rumors coinciding with the Frenemy Boat disruption notice Marriott issued, this would not be the big deal it became. In all likelihood, absent the official Swolphin boat notice, the WDWNT rumor of IG closure would've been summarily dismissed. In their defense, I'm sure Disney didn't anticipate the Epcot boat dock closure to go DEFCON 1 because of a rumor.

 

[jarestel]

I don’t think Disney wants to be in the business of refuting every internet rumor that people work themselves up over. Seems like way too much wasted time and effort

 

[DanBoris]

So has Disney ann

I don’t think Disney wants to be in the business of refuting every internet rumor that people work themselves up over. Seems like way too much wasted time and effort

I agree if we were just talking about a rumor, but in this case we are talking about official information released by the Swan and Dolphin, when there was no official information for the effected Disney hotels.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I agree if we were just talking about a rumor, but in this case we are talking about official information released by the Swan and Dolphin, when there was no official information for the effected Disney hotels.

To me the onus for this error is with Swan/Dolphin, not Disney. Their inaccurate information is was started this mess.

As soon as I heard this reported closure that Disney had not announced I contacted them. I immediately contacted Disney directly and they confirmed that as if the datethd Swan/Dolphin made their announcement there was no known closure of theFriendship boats.

I’m Leary to believe something this majo being reported from an outside company whenni other source that I personally consider to be reliable sources were reporting this. Trust me, something this big would be everywhere!