Where did the tram at International Gateway bring guests from?

[durangojim]

I’m watching a 1991 video and it shows a tram dropping guests off at the international gateway in Epcot. Where were they bringing guests from? Was it the YC/BC? Here’s the video, you can find the part at 15:14

 

[Disstevefan1]

Well the Yacht club opened in 1990 so it makes sense.

 

[durangojim]

It shows that that’s why there was that concrete island where the skyliner is now. I always wondered about that.

 

[MissViv]

I think I remember the tram running in the parking lot. You could walk from your car, if close enough, or ride the tram if you parked far away.

 

[durangojim]

I think I remember the tram running in the parking lot. You could walk from your car, if close enough, or ride the tram if you parked far away.

Which parking lot? I can't imagine it would take you from the main parking lot all the way to International Gateway.

 

[Runnin'Gator]

I remember riding, and I foggily remember it going over the boardwalk while that resort was being constructed. They would give the spiel about what the Boardwalk was going to be and there was concept art on the construction walls. Again... this is all foggy because I would have been about 10 back then. I think it made the loop around the lake, but it also may have just made a u-turn and gone back to the tram pick-up/drop-off.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think I remember the tram running in the parking lot. You could walk from your car, if close enough, or ride the tram if you parked far away.

The parking lot trams still run. This thread is referring to the tram that ran around Crescent Lake between the hotels and International Gateway entrance in World Showcase.

Here's a video heading tot he Swan & Dolphin.

 

[surfsupdon]

I would be curious where the tram stopped to pick up Guests from the Yacht/Beach (and maybe eventually Swan/Dolphin??)?? Was there a stop? Did you wave it down like a taxi?

 

[donsullivan]

I remember riding, and I foggily remember it going over the boardwalk while that resort was being constructed. They would give the spiel about what the Boardwalk was going to be and there was concept art on the construction walls. Again... this is all foggy because I would have been about 10 back then. I think it made the loop around the lake, but it also may have just made a u-turn and gone back to the tram pick-up/drop-off.

Yup. It started at Yacht, ran over the bridge to Swan/Dolphin and then circled back and drove along the original (albeit narrower) version of the wooden boardwalk. The boardwalk was built when that resort area opened but there was just a wooden fence along the side where the Boardwalk hotel is now. It continued along that route, over the bridge by the wedding pavilion on the hill and then made a right down to the International Gateway. The load unload was in that area where the Skyway station is now. That is why there is a path along the water from Beach Club toward International Gateway that runs under the bridge. Guests walking from the resort were routed to that path under the bridge instead of walking along the tram route up above.