The Epcot entrance area has been revamped. While there are some nice details—improved sightlines of Spaceship Earth, new tram drop off—the real highlight is that the monorail drop-off is now post-security.
This is a big deal for two reasons…
This Is More Convenient
The first that we all immediately recognize is convenience. The monorail is already on the “secure side” of Disney World, so it’s never made a ton of sense that these guests had to go through security again at Epcot.
All guests boarding the monorail at TTC have been through security. TTC has its own security, and all transferring guests are coming from the monorail resorts (which all have their own security) and Magic Kingdom (which also has its own security). So it’s always been a bit annoying to have to go through security again to enter Epcot.
If you’re park hopping from Magic Kingdom, you probably don’t notice this. You went through security at 8AM and going through it again at 1PM when you park hop doesn’t rattle you.
If you’re coming from Contemporary, you notice. You go through security at your hotel, take a monorail, transfer, take another monorail, and then go through security again. Forcing deluxe resort guests to take the monorail to Epcot is a major annoyance already…forcing them to go through security twice is ridiculous.
This is Safer
More important, though, is guest safety. Here’s just about the most intuitive but completely incorrect thing you’ll hear about theme park security: “Yea this line is really long but it’s worth it to keep everyone safe.”
This idea is thrown around a lot, particularly about airport security, and intuitively its really appealing. The long security line just requires a bit of patience, which is a fair tradeoff for security, right? Wrong.
Long security lines create soft targets. They force people to congregate, en masse, in areas that are—by design—not secure. Forcing people to go through security twice just creates unnecessarily long lines, which poses a danger to everyone entering the park.
The obvious response to this is just “Disney World is safe already you don’t know what security already exists outside the park.” Of course I don’t. But I assume the security checkpoints serve some safety purpose, and thus if Disney thinks the checkpoints are required its because they want people to be safer inside the park than outside.
It’s good, both in terms of safety and convenience, that Disney has finally placed guests arriving by monorail on the “secure” side of things.
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
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Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And at 180 days out it's time to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World FastPass+ strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom FastPass, Epcot FastPass, Animal Kingdom FastPass, and Hollywood Studios FastPass.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.