A new rideshare area is open at EPCOT, ending years of difficulties for the parking lot Cast Members and guests alike. Over the years, rideshare has become a more popular option, but EPCOT’s parking lot has not been updated to meet the demand, until now. The new rideshare area is a little bit further away than the old location, but it has been expanded to allow for easier access for guests and rideshare operators. In this article, we’ll take a look at the new location and help you find it until it (hopefully) makes it onto the My Disney Experience app map.

First, here’s an overview of the new location as seen from the Walt Disney World Monorail. The spacious area has room for probably 25+ vehicles to load or unload at a time. There is no real staging area, so make sure that if you’re picking up a guest, they are already at the rideshare area or nearby when you enter the loop. The rideshare area is located to the west of the HeiHei parking lot, and we’ll cover how to get there in a minute.

The rideshare area has not been added to the My Disney Experience app, but here’s where you’ll find it (crudely drawn purple area).

There are two ways to get to the rideshare area, and we’ll cover both of them in a bit, but first, here’s a look around the new rideshare area. Signage directs guests to marked areas. Presumably, this is for driver/passenger communication should it be busy or difficult to find someone. Other than that the Uber app doesn’t even know that the new rideshare lot exists yet, and the Lyft app doesn’t have a way to select which number you’d like to be picked up from.

There is currently no shade or seating – something that will hopefully be remedied in the coming days. There are two ways to get to the new rideshare area and no directions on the My Disney Experience app. While some rideshare areas are quite easy to find, this one is separate a bit from bus transportation hub at EPCOT, so we saw some guests unsure of where to go.

If you’ve used rideshare before at EPCOT (prior to the Eve parking lot open), you’re used to rideshare pickup and dropoff to be near the EV charging stations at the front of the HeiHei parking lot (previously the “Journey”) parking lot. If you’re familiar with that location, simply walk there and follow the signs. This is the route Disney wants you to take and the route that has the signage. We’ve highlighted the route in blue in our image below. However, there is another route that might be a bit less walking depending on where you’re coming from. It also is a better route for guests who use the My Disney Experience app for navigation. The red route below takes you past the bus loops (1-5) and provides a more direct route. We’ll explore both routes in photos below.

When exiting EPCOT, keep an eye out for rideshare signage. Despite this being the first day that the rideshare loop was open, there were zero Cast Members directing guests where to go this afternoon. That will likely change come park close. At least we hope there is some staffing to help.

Blue Route

The blue route has all of the signage and will likely be the route that most guests take. Signage begins at one of the main exits to EPCOT under the monorail station and takes you to the EV charging area before sending you down a sidewalk across the width of the HeiHei lot.

Walk all the way past the new Preferred Parking spots and you’ll eventually find the new rideshare loop.

Red Route

As I begin typing this and looking at photos, I’m starting to realize that this red route is going to sound far more complicated than the blue route, but we’re both too far into this to turn back now.

Going back to our starting point, go under the monorail beam to the left and begin ignoring all rideshare signs. Instead, your target is the bus loop. Specifically, you’ll want to follow signs to the Minnie Van area (to start).

If you found the bus/Minnie Van area pictured below, turn right to head toward Bus Stop #3.

Walk past Bus Stop #3 and continue toward the parking lot. It’s there that you’ll meet up with the blue route and the rideshare signage.

The rideshare area is off in the distance.

The red poles in the image above can be seen in the image below to the right. You’ll follow this walking path around to the left side of the image where the rideshare area is.

When walking back to EPCOT, the reverse of the a-frames we photographed above will direct you to the park entrance as seen below.

At least when you’re walking to EPCOT you have the giant golf ball to aim for.

As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!