The resort of the future will have better logistics

Image: DisneySometimes I feel like I mention it too much, but my favorite part of a stay at Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Disney’s Boardwalk Resort is that back entrance to Epcot. Called the International Gateway, it’s one of the best kept secrets at Walt Disney World. The guests who know about it use it as much as possible. You just can’t beat the access of walking a quarter-mile to reach the World Showcase.

Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort has similar convenience to Magic Kingdom. The same is obviously true of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, although Bay Lake Tower is about 200 steps closer to the park entrance. None of this matters to guests who take the monorail into Magic Kingdom, but the utility of proximity is immeasurable.

One of my favorite things to do in the morning is throw on some headphones and listen to my favorite song as I walk to Magic Kingdom. By the time the track ends, I’m ready to tap my Magic Band and enter the park. Bay Lake Tower is that convenient, and parts of Disney’s Beach Club Resort are even closer. I’m talking about a walk of five minutes or less to enter the Most Magical Place on Earth. It’s a spectacular asset for guests staying at these resorts.

Image: DisneyHow does a feature that already exists impact the future? Disney recently announced that Star Wars Hotel will have a direct entrance into Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The article uses terms such as “seamlessly connected” and “complete immersion” for good reason. The goal for Star Wars Hotel guests is to deliver a new form of theming, one with an interactive element I’ll discuss more in the next section.

What’s important from a logistics standpoint is that Disney can’t meet this goal unless the hotel connects directly with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. When guests leave the hotel to enter the world of Batuu, the illusion must hold. It’s the same principle that Walt Disney employed when he founded the Happiest Place on Earth. The back entrance from the resort to Batuu is merely the latest iteration of that premise.

Image: DisneyStar Wars Hotel isn’t the only potential new resort with strong logistics. As Orlando Weekly pointed out, a longstanding rumor about a hotel at the front of Epcot has come back into vogue. Disney’s investing a lot of money into Epcot renovations. A new property at the front of the park would have even more utility than the ones near the International Gateway. Guests could walk out of the hotel lobby and enter Spaceship Earth in a matter of moments.

The Disney theme park of the future should always have a resort located right beside it. Presuming that the company builds both of these Walt Disney World properties, each current gate will have at least one hotel with convenient access, too. Disney’s both retrofitting AND future-proofing the concept.