Four Disney hotels surround the lake that makes up the boardwalk and waterway that all connect to EPCOT:

1. Disney’s Boardwalk
2. Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club
3. The Disney Dolphin 
4. The Disney Swan 

The Dolphin and Swan are the furthest away from the EPCOT back entrance (you enter in between France and England) with the Yacht & Beach Club and Boardwalk hotels being about the same distance. 

Each hotel has a location for boat pickup and transportation to the EPCOT “back entrance” which is officially called the International Gateway and the boat system also can get you to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios).  You can also walk around to Hollywood Studios but that is quite a haul, unless you have rented a mobility scooter, and there is nothing on the way to visit compared to walking around the Boardwalk which is lined with restaurants, shops and even an art gallery.

Mobility Scooters (a.k.a. electronic convenience vehicles (ECVs)) are a lot of fun and definitely reduces the drain and strain of just getting to EPCOT and of course can be ridden directly onto the buses as well as boats and monorail for transportation to the other Disney World theme parks.  Many times visitors think, oh we will just use a wheelchair, but there is a lot of walking which translates to A LOT OF PUSHING, which makes the person using the wheelchair feel like a burden. 

Don’t forget to arrange for your mobility scooter rental in advance, just as you reserve your hotel room, as they do get sold out quite regularly and you don’t want to spend your precious vacation time calling around trying to find one. 

EPCOT blooms even brighter each year during their International Flower & Garden Festival.  This years festival begins March 19th and ends June 1st, 2008.   If you think there is a lot to see already, you will be run off your feet and need a few extra days at EPCOT just to see it all.

They add:

• Amazing flowers and topiaries thoughout the entire park
• An incredible butterfly garden where you can enter and be surrounded by all different types of live butterflies
• And for the kids they add several incredible playgrounds through out the park

Plus special performances by well known entertainers and bands held at the spectacular outdoor theater at the America Plaza.

If you want to see it all and would like to do so in the least taxing way, be sure to rent a mobility scooter to get you around.  Whether you are in tip top fitness condition or not, it is a lot to see and a lot more fun to do it the relaxing way by using a mobility scooter (a.k.a. electronic convenience vehicle (ECV)) to get you around.