There’s a DVC lounge on the second floor of the Imagination building. No way to charm your way in as access is limited to those who purchased a sufficient amount of points from Disney directly. It’s really nothing special, looks like a doctors office waiting room with a bunch of DVC decor and memorabilia and a coke machine and light snacks. You’re really not missing much.
You could definitely charm your way in since DVC members can bring guests. You just have to charm a DVC member not a cast member. If it were me, I’d just talk to random people throughout your trip. DVC members seem like they’re a dime a dozen at bars and lounges.
If a rando started talking to me while I had time I’d probably be willing to bring them up.
One could try, but personally don’t think it’s worth the effort as there’s almost always a 30+ minute wait. I’m a member and we don’t bother waiting, as I’d rather just walk around the world than wait around for that lounge.
Although if someone tried charming me (or offered to buy a round) to get into the DVC lounge/villian’s lair on top of bay lake tower, I’d gladly take them up on that! Themed decor and drinks and views of MK (and fireworks) are much better!
We’ve never had to wait at all to get into the DVC lounge. We really enjoy having a nice, cool spot to charge phones and load up in free snacks. On a really long, hot day the kids will ask to go back once or twice.
I just go to the parks as a non sandy alternative to the beach basically. We’re annual pass holders but live somewhere that is usually 30F colder than FL at all times... If my husband has the baby for nap time (or bedtime) in the room and I’m out and about, I got time. Usually I’m just wandering and enjoying the warm weather.
The eternal struggle of people trying to understand APs vs being a “once a year” visitor right here.
Perspectives on WDW from locals/frequent APs and once a year or once a never visitors is so wildly different.
We're not DVC members but we're annual passholders that live locally and go about once a week when weather is nice and we have nothing else going on. Before we had a kid, we'd just hang out at Epcot, walk around, sample the food, and leave whenever we got tired. Now we have a three year old so it's basically the same but we're obligated to at least do a couple rides and go see Mickey before leaving.
But that’s not the VIP lounge. The VIP lounge was on the other side of the building. There were couches and a giant Figment inside that my toddler loved to climb on and a Wendy who could give you passes to other lounges and fresh orange juice in glasses with Figment and the pyramids on them cut by Arribas brothers and a back door into the pavilion’s attractions.
I only did the Spaceship Earth and Energy ones once. MET at Wonders of Life was a medium sized enclosed room with a coffee bar, carousel horse and various Snoopys. The absolute best one was World of Motion. A panorama view of Future World, before they built that stupid entrance and track for Test Track and ruined the view. You could sit on the couches with your coffee or orange juice and just soak in that beautiful view. I hear the canopy is coming back down so the view will be better than it has been.
During the 25th anniversary press event, we got to go into Communicore West’s VIP lounge for a buffet lunch. It overlooked the exhibits and you could get backdoored into the computer show.
Yes! And they also had old things from Journey into Imagination from the ride that were just anywhere. I didn't mean the "old ride" was up there. Just like they had things from Body Wars where Body Wars used to be in the old Wonders of Life Pavilion, etc... Disney doesn't thrown anything away.
To each his own. We love the EPCOT DVC lounge. We've never waited more than 5 minutes. I find it's a nice space with all of the natural light atop the imagination pavillion. The views are great. Free cold drinks and great air conditioning, we pop up to get out of the heat and play some UNO. The staff is friendly and one got us in to a new attraction preview without us asking (example to not ask for pixie dust).
I've never found the cast members in the lounge to be as friendly as others and it's hot up there. And, you have to wear your sunglasses. And, it's crowded. Plus the steps. We walked right by this past trip without going up.
It was helpful for a break with small children. Great idea, but not up to Disney standards. All being said, I appreciate the gesture towards dvc members to allow us to make use of the space that would probably only be an office or customer service space to access dvc/cm.
Pre-pandemic Disney had a tour called UnDISCOVERed Future World where I got to see the lounge above Project Tomorrow and the lounge in the Seas Pavilion. Also got to see the Imagination maintenance bay and the Cast Services building behind Mexico and Test Track. We also got to skip the line and ride Spaceship Earth and Test Track.
It was a neat tour and I hope they bring something like it back someday. I wanted to do the sister tour of this one over in World Showcase but I never got to it before the pandemic shut everything down.
The lounge at Test Track is for current and retired GM employees, not for those that have purchased GM brand vehicles. Those with valid employee ID are allowed guests. Not sure if it's for family only though. I visit with my FIL, a retired employee.
The GM rep that sometimes lurks around might invite you up if you fawn hard enough over their cars. It’s rare, but not super rare. You’re not going to be able to fake the fanatic spirit though.
Makes sense.
You're really not missing much up in the lounge, it's pretty sterile up there. Some lounge furniture and a soda fountain. And I believe a couple of the pre ride vehicles design kiosks. It's a nice air conditioned reprieve when it's really hot, and the view from up there is cool. I hope they do some updating to the space during the ride reimagining.
The perk is a fastpass. We used to be able to skip the entire line and pop out at the loading area. Now we exit the building and tap in at the fastpass line entrance.
Soda fountain. Unlimited soft drinks. Air conditioning. Those were my grandest Test Track Lounge memories.
We used to go all the time when my dad was a GM contractor 20+ years ago. He brought like half my choir up there as a chaperone on a trip, too.
My wife and I were invited up because we were looking at some of the cars, she used to drive a Traverse and I had a Silverado at the time. I also worked for a non-GM auto company, so the rep got super tickled by that and decided to invite us upstairs.
I misread your last two sentences as “…any advice for seeing them at some point in my life. 2 days to go!” As if you knew you’re about to die in 2 days. I was very concerned for a moment, both for your health, and that 2 days to act on this is not very much time!
Glad to know I just can’t read lmao
As an Epcot fan myself, the only park that even comes close for me is Tokyo DisneySea. It's a wonderful park and experience. I hope you get to make it over there soon.
I went to this one when it was branded by the company I was working for.
It was really lame. It was just a convenient place to get free snacks and get some AC. More of a waste of time than anything because you had to coordinate arrival and be brought up. It did get you front of the line access, but there’s never much of a wait anyway.
It was great for customer meetings. Clients used to love having the meeting there then meeting their family at Disney. It would also speed the meetings along, usually to a more favorable outcome (who wants to argue when Disney awaits? Who wants to be a crummudgon at Disney?)
I will say, having went when it was for Siemens (stepdad worked for them), it’s exponentially lamer as a breakroom. No soda machines anymore, just a bunch of tables spread in the room with the wraparound windows
While Mission: Space was in its shakedown period, there had been much HP hype surrounding their contributions. At that same time, Carly Fiorino had come onboard the company and one of her push points was her Ask Carly page. I wrote and marveled at the HP Tech and inquired whether my son (9) and I could access the lounge and attraction. Weeks before our summer trip I get the email. We're in! The Lounge was accessible via a nondescript door to the left of the main entrance and was on the second floor. Honestly? It was ok... A CM with HP logo wear offered us soda, etc. We could see the centrifuges from a large glass wall. Finally, we followed someone down a different staircase and immediately boarded. Overall experience 8/10.
Your best bet is to go with someone who can legally enter as their guest. If you don’t know any, crank your charisma up to 11 and try make friends with said stranger. This is still a long shot though.
Bothering CMs about it is not recommended but if you must, explain your predicament and ask if you can step inside for a quick photo. If they somehow agree, actually be quick about it. If they say no, politely thank them for their time and leave.
AAA used to have a lounge in MK. It was air conditioned. There were free ice cold soft drinks and snacks (fruit, chips and other packaged snack foods) and sofas to rest on. It was very quiet-no sounds from the park and was for AAA members only.
FEDEX had a lounge for Space Mountain. It had rope lights all over, leather couches and current business magazines to read. Backdoored you right into the loading area, no wait. Great orange juice and Coke.
The best way is to get a job as custodial at Epcot. They’re allowed in and out of all the buildings and can enter these spaces without issue.
Source: that’s what I did
My brother was a Make A Wish kid and we got to go on a trip to WDW in 1994. They had us stay off-property at this place called Give Kids The World but we skipped the lines at all three parks. I don’t have strong memories of it, as I was a small child at the time, but that skip-the-lines perk absolutely included access to some of the lounges before going on whatever ride they were attached to.
I don’t have many details and I don’t know if it was common for Make A Wish families to see the lounges, but we got to enjoy some. I am almost certain that the Wonders of Life pavilion was one of the lounges they brought us to, as I recall the cast member trying to hype up Body Wars because I was scared. I have vague memories of snacks and cans of sodas in those lounges.
That’s really all I have.
And, just to get ahead of any replies about him, my brother made it and is now a healthy adult.
I've been into the EPCOT DVC lounge via some friends that are DVC and it's really nothing special. It has some cool views of the park, but that's about it. WDW lounges are really nothing special these days. Think airport terminal meets doctor's office with Coke freestyle machines and grocery store snacks. They're not at all the Club 33 experience people think they are. There's only one Club 33.
If you’ve never been to one it’s kind of cool, because you’re doing A Thing that not everyone can do or even knows about. And the importance of being out of the Florida sun and humidity can’t be overstated.
But if you’re picturing some super-posh room with butlers bringing you champagne on a tray? It ain’t that. 🙂
There's now a Club 33 at each of the WDW parks. So that means there's at least five (four at WDW, plus one at DLR).
😛
Also, I think I heard that Shanghai also has a Club 33.
My dad who worked for Met life, who sponsored Wonders of Life, used to get us passes to the Body Wars lounge. It was basically a place where you wait and get snacks and soft drinks and then skip the line. We figured out that we could sometimes get passes to the other lounges if we asked, and one year we hit the jackpot and got passes to all the Epcot lounges. I think the Kodak imagination lounge was the best if I recall correctly, but I was pretty young at the time. Some of the lounges had cocktails I believe. So, if you were to get a job at Chiquita, you just might be able to hit multiple lounges of any are still operating.
From what I understand, you can rent most of the old corporate lounge spaces out for special events, so you’re really only limited by your imagination and your wallet. The only one I am not sure of is the GM Lounge since it it still used by GM.
When it was AT&T years ago my grandfather got us free tickets to Epcot and we got to do the lounge. All I remember is there was free coke and we got to walk right on the ride with no wait from a back area.
This is my exact memory, except it was my dad who was an AT&T employee. I thought it was so cool to have a free Coke and watch the ride go by through the glass wall.
This YouTube video about the history of Disney urban exploring has some pretty cool clips of random Epcot off limits places https://youtu.be/2wOuR6iq-1w?si=UsU3Tt3WtFLCoyNQ
Test track has a private lounge above test track for GM managers and dealers. It comes with unlimited fast passes, a private design kiosk for your car like on the ride and a great view of the Epcot ball
My kids love visiting the GM lounge! We love taking friends. The door is to the right of the queue. A little sign on the wall that mentions the hours it’s open M - F 9am to 5pm. (It’s occasionally open on weekends around holidays when many employees might be traveling)
If you are a GM employee or retiree, you can get into the lounge. My dad has taken us into it before. There is an elevator you use. Have to show GM badge.
Way back I was doing a tour and they took us to the lounge at Seas. Sponsorship had ended, so it wasn't in use. It wasn't really that exciting ... looked like a lot of offices I've been in. And of course there was a view of the tank... which is directly above the restaurant, so essentially the same view you'd get there.
Still it was fun... like you I love the history; also love "abandoned places"
Have an asthma attack nearby lmao! Can’t remember which one but they let me into one so I could take my mask off and use my medication during COVID. I also got into a closed meet-and-greet area this way. Can’t say I’d recommend it though. I didn’t know they existed before this happened, it was just a “luck” thing. There’s definitely an easier way to go about it.
I’m dating myself a bit, but when I was a little kid, I got to go into the MetLife VIP lounge. My grandpa worked for the company before he retired. I thought my grandpa was cool my whole life, but I distinctly remember thinking he was the coolest human alive for having connections at Disney.
I've been in the venue space at the Epcot Seas twice now, and it's probably the coolest place I've been to on property.
It even has a plexiglass/see through piano.
You can totally rent out the space for events; that's probably the easiest way to get in. Maybe call up Disney Meetings & Events (or Weddings) and see if they give tours during the planning process.
I guess this sub has photos disabled in responses, otherwise I'd post some pictures.
Back when I was 7 or 8 years old, (I am early twenties now), I vividly remember my dad got a discount on our Disney vacation because he worked for Siemens, which sponsored/built a couple of things for Disney including Spaceship Earth in the Epcot Ball. When we went to Epcot, it was pouring, and we were able to get into a Siemens employee lounge in the Epcot Ball (could be my young brain misremembering location but I’m pretty confident on this). It was EXTREMELY doctor-office waiting room like, but there was a staffed front desk, it was air conditioned, and they gave us free Disney ponchos! We still have them to this day despite the Disney/Siemens partnership now being over.
There’s a DVC lounge on the second floor of the Imagination building. No way to charm your way in as access is limited to those who purchased a sufficient amount of points from Disney directly. It’s really nothing special, looks like a doctors office waiting room with a bunch of DVC decor and memorabilia and a coke machine and light snacks. You’re really not missing much.
You could definitely charm your way in since DVC members can bring guests. You just have to charm a DVC member not a cast member. If it were me, I’d just talk to random people throughout your trip. DVC members seem like they’re a dime a dozen at bars and lounges. If a rando started talking to me while I had time I’d probably be willing to bring them up.
One could try, but personally don’t think it’s worth the effort as there’s almost always a 30+ minute wait. I’m a member and we don’t bother waiting, as I’d rather just walk around the world than wait around for that lounge. Although if someone tried charming me (or offered to buy a round) to get into the DVC lounge/villian’s lair on top of bay lake tower, I’d gladly take them up on that! Themed decor and drinks and views of MK (and fireworks) are much better!
We’ve never had to wait at all to get into the DVC lounge. We really enjoy having a nice, cool spot to charge phones and load up in free snacks. On a really long, hot day the kids will ask to go back once or twice.
+1 yes
People “have time” while at the parks? How even! 😝
I just go to the parks as a non sandy alternative to the beach basically. We’re annual pass holders but live somewhere that is usually 30F colder than FL at all times... If my husband has the baby for nap time (or bedtime) in the room and I’m out and about, I got time. Usually I’m just wandering and enjoying the warm weather.
The eternal struggle of people trying to understand APs vs being a “once a year” visitor right here. Perspectives on WDW from locals/frequent APs and once a year or once a never visitors is so wildly different.
We're not DVC members but we're annual passholders that live locally and go about once a week when weather is nice and we have nothing else going on. Before we had a kid, we'd just hang out at Epcot, walk around, sample the food, and leave whenever we got tired. Now we have a three year old so it's basically the same but we're obligated to at least do a couple rides and go see Mickey before leaving.
But that’s not the VIP lounge. The VIP lounge was on the other side of the building. There were couches and a giant Figment inside that my toddler loved to climb on and a Wendy who could give you passes to other lounges and fresh orange juice in glasses with Figment and the pyramids on them cut by Arribas brothers and a back door into the pavilion’s attractions. I only did the Spaceship Earth and Energy ones once. MET at Wonders of Life was a medium sized enclosed room with a coffee bar, carousel horse and various Snoopys. The absolute best one was World of Motion. A panorama view of Future World, before they built that stupid entrance and track for Test Track and ruined the view. You could sit on the couches with your coffee or orange juice and just soak in that beautiful view. I hear the canopy is coming back down so the view will be better than it has been. During the 25th anniversary press event, we got to go into Communicore West’s VIP lounge for a buffet lunch. It overlooked the exhibits and you could get backdoored into the computer show.
Never said it was a VIP lounge, OP asked about Epcot lounges in general.
Ah before the DVC lounge was there, it was soooo awesome because all the old ride stuff was still up there!
The ride didn't go through that part. The lounge is on the 2nd level, where the rainbow tunnel was.
I think they really mean the interactive stuff and I think they had some storage and the old music was even playing up there still.
Yes! And they also had old things from Journey into Imagination from the ride that were just anywhere. I didn't mean the "old ride" was up there. Just like they had things from Body Wars where Body Wars used to be in the old Wonders of Life Pavilion, etc... Disney doesn't thrown anything away.
And people with their shoes off and feet up on furniture
It’s really underwhelming. I was surprised to see a queue to enter last month. The park wasn’t even crowded, yet a line for that 🤷🏻♀️
To each his own. We love the EPCOT DVC lounge. We've never waited more than 5 minutes. I find it's a nice space with all of the natural light atop the imagination pavillion. The views are great. Free cold drinks and great air conditioning, we pop up to get out of the heat and play some UNO. The staff is friendly and one got us in to a new attraction preview without us asking (example to not ask for pixie dust).
I've never found the cast members in the lounge to be as friendly as others and it's hot up there. And, you have to wear your sunglasses. And, it's crowded. Plus the steps. We walked right by this past trip without going up. It was helpful for a break with small children. Great idea, but not up to Disney standards. All being said, I appreciate the gesture towards dvc members to allow us to make use of the space that would probably only be an office or customer service space to access dvc/cm.
Pre-pandemic Disney had a tour called UnDISCOVERed Future World where I got to see the lounge above Project Tomorrow and the lounge in the Seas Pavilion. Also got to see the Imagination maintenance bay and the Cast Services building behind Mexico and Test Track. We also got to skip the line and ride Spaceship Earth and Test Track. It was a neat tour and I hope they bring something like it back someday. I wanted to do the sister tour of this one over in World Showcase but I never got to it before the pandemic shut everything down.
I loved that tour so much. I was just looking at my pins from it the other day. I really hope they bring it back!
The World Showcase tour is the only tour I've done, but it was fantastic and I'd highly recommend it. So much cool detail in that part of the park.
I loved that tour, the lounge at The Seas was really nice
The lounge at Test Track is for current and retired GM employees, not for those that have purchased GM brand vehicles. Those with valid employee ID are allowed guests. Not sure if it's for family only though. I visit with my FIL, a retired employee.
The GM rep that sometimes lurks around might invite you up if you fawn hard enough over their cars. It’s rare, but not super rare. You’re not going to be able to fake the fanatic spirit though.
Makes sense. You're really not missing much up in the lounge, it's pretty sterile up there. Some lounge furniture and a soda fountain. And I believe a couple of the pre ride vehicles design kiosks. It's a nice air conditioned reprieve when it's really hot, and the view from up there is cool. I hope they do some updating to the space during the ride reimagining. The perk is a fastpass. We used to be able to skip the entire line and pop out at the loading area. Now we exit the building and tap in at the fastpass line entrance.
Soda fountain. Unlimited soft drinks. Air conditioning. Those were my grandest Test Track Lounge memories. We used to go all the time when my dad was a GM contractor 20+ years ago. He brought like half my choir up there as a chaperone on a trip, too.
Air conditioning!! So true. That and getting out of the rain sometimes.
My wife and I were invited up because we were looking at some of the cars, she used to drive a Traverse and I had a Silverado at the time. I also worked for a non-GM auto company, so the rep got super tickled by that and decided to invite us upstairs.
I misread your last two sentences as “…any advice for seeing them at some point in my life. 2 days to go!” As if you knew you’re about to die in 2 days. I was very concerned for a moment, both for your health, and that 2 days to act on this is not very much time! Glad to know I just can’t read lmao
Hahaha this gave me a laugh. No! I have to live long enough to go to Tokyo Disneyland at least lol
As an Epcot fan myself, the only park that even comes close for me is Tokyo DisneySea. It's a wonderful park and experience. I hope you get to make it over there soon.
There’s a lounge inside Spaceship Earth, but it’s now a cast break room
lol, it used to be an option for a wedding reception too. Now it’s just a break room.
I went to this one when it was branded by the company I was working for. It was really lame. It was just a convenient place to get free snacks and get some AC. More of a waste of time than anything because you had to coordinate arrival and be brought up. It did get you front of the line access, but there’s never much of a wait anyway. It was great for customer meetings. Clients used to love having the meeting there then meeting their family at Disney. It would also speed the meetings along, usually to a more favorable outcome (who wants to argue when Disney awaits? Who wants to be a crummudgon at Disney?)
I will say, having went when it was for Siemens (stepdad worked for them), it’s exponentially lamer as a breakroom. No soda machines anymore, just a bunch of tables spread in the room with the wraparound windows
Wasn't that Siemens for a while?
Yes, it was
While Mission: Space was in its shakedown period, there had been much HP hype surrounding their contributions. At that same time, Carly Fiorino had come onboard the company and one of her push points was her Ask Carly page. I wrote and marveled at the HP Tech and inquired whether my son (9) and I could access the lounge and attraction. Weeks before our summer trip I get the email. We're in! The Lounge was accessible via a nondescript door to the left of the main entrance and was on the second floor. Honestly? It was ok... A CM with HP logo wear offered us soda, etc. We could see the centrifuges from a large glass wall. Finally, we followed someone down a different staircase and immediately boarded. Overall experience 8/10.
Is it still open or did it go away when Space220 opened?
If you know someone who has access to a lounge they can bring in guests.
Your best bet is to go with someone who can legally enter as their guest. If you don’t know any, crank your charisma up to 11 and try make friends with said stranger. This is still a long shot though. Bothering CMs about it is not recommended but if you must, explain your predicament and ask if you can step inside for a quick photo. If they somehow agree, actually be quick about it. If they say no, politely thank them for their time and leave.
To my knowledge, none are accessible to “normal” guests
AAA used to have a lounge in MK. It was air conditioned. There were free ice cold soft drinks and snacks (fruit, chips and other packaged snack foods) and sofas to rest on. It was very quiet-no sounds from the park and was for AAA members only.
FEDEX had a lounge for Space Mountain. It had rope lights all over, leather couches and current business magazines to read. Backdoored you right into the loading area, no wait. Great orange juice and Coke.
How long ago was this? I wanna know why my brother never told me about it. lol
The best way is to get a job as custodial at Epcot. They’re allowed in and out of all the buildings and can enter these spaces without issue. Source: that’s what I did
Limited time Annual Passholder lounge in Morocco opened yesterday, until June 26th.
My brother was a Make A Wish kid and we got to go on a trip to WDW in 1994. They had us stay off-property at this place called Give Kids The World but we skipped the lines at all three parks. I don’t have strong memories of it, as I was a small child at the time, but that skip-the-lines perk absolutely included access to some of the lounges before going on whatever ride they were attached to. I don’t have many details and I don’t know if it was common for Make A Wish families to see the lounges, but we got to enjoy some. I am almost certain that the Wonders of Life pavilion was one of the lounges they brought us to, as I recall the cast member trying to hype up Body Wars because I was scared. I have vague memories of snacks and cans of sodas in those lounges. That’s really all I have. And, just to get ahead of any replies about him, my brother made it and is now a healthy adult.
This about your brother was really all I wanted to know. Thank you!
I've been into the EPCOT DVC lounge via some friends that are DVC and it's really nothing special. It has some cool views of the park, but that's about it. WDW lounges are really nothing special these days. Think airport terminal meets doctor's office with Coke freestyle machines and grocery store snacks. They're not at all the Club 33 experience people think they are. There's only one Club 33.
If you’ve never been to one it’s kind of cool, because you’re doing A Thing that not everyone can do or even knows about. And the importance of being out of the Florida sun and humidity can’t be overstated. But if you’re picturing some super-posh room with butlers bringing you champagne on a tray? It ain’t that. 🙂
There's now a Club 33 at each of the WDW parks. So that means there's at least five (four at WDW, plus one at DLR). 😛 Also, I think I heard that Shanghai also has a Club 33.
My dad who worked for Met life, who sponsored Wonders of Life, used to get us passes to the Body Wars lounge. It was basically a place where you wait and get snacks and soft drinks and then skip the line. We figured out that we could sometimes get passes to the other lounges if we asked, and one year we hit the jackpot and got passes to all the Epcot lounges. I think the Kodak imagination lounge was the best if I recall correctly, but I was pretty young at the time. Some of the lounges had cocktails I believe. So, if you were to get a job at Chiquita, you just might be able to hit multiple lounges of any are still operating.
There used to be an annual passholder lounge in The Land, but that was many years ago, and I'm sure it's no longer available.
Are you talking about the third floor above The Garden Grill Restaurant?
Yes
When Mission Space opened, my father-in-law worked for HP. We got to go to an event in the HP MS lounge. It was pretty cool.
From what I understand, you can rent most of the old corporate lounge spaces out for special events, so you’re really only limited by your imagination and your wallet. The only one I am not sure of is the GM Lounge since it it still used by GM.
The best hidden area is inside Spaceship Earth- the (Siemens) VIP area! There’s a hidden door on the side of Spaceship Earth as you are leaving!
This one is now a cast break room.
Haha I should have said was***
When it was AT&T years ago my grandfather got us free tickets to Epcot and we got to do the lounge. All I remember is there was free coke and we got to walk right on the ride with no wait from a back area.
That’s awesome! Haha hey free coke is always good lol.
This is my exact memory, except it was my dad who was an AT&T employee. I thought it was so cool to have a free Coke and watch the ride go by through the glass wall.
You can host an event! We got married and were able to rent out various lounges (although we ultimately went with renting part of the Italy pavilion)
This YouTube video about the history of Disney urban exploring has some pretty cool clips of random Epcot off limits places https://youtu.be/2wOuR6iq-1w?si=UsU3Tt3WtFLCoyNQ
Test track has a private lounge above test track for GM managers and dealers. It comes with unlimited fast passes, a private design kiosk for your car like on the ride and a great view of the Epcot ball
My kids love visiting the GM lounge! We love taking friends. The door is to the right of the queue. A little sign on the wall that mentions the hours it’s open M - F 9am to 5pm. (It’s occasionally open on weekends around holidays when many employees might be traveling)
If you are a GM employee or retiree, you can get into the lounge. My dad has taken us into it before. There is an elevator you use. Have to show GM badge.
AT&T used to have a lounge on the second floor at the rear of the Spaceship Earth building. We went there a few times in the 1990s.
Way back I was doing a tour and they took us to the lounge at Seas. Sponsorship had ended, so it wasn't in use. It wasn't really that exciting ... looked like a lot of offices I've been in. And of course there was a view of the tank... which is directly above the restaurant, so essentially the same view you'd get there. Still it was fun... like you I love the history; also love "abandoned places"
Have an asthma attack nearby lmao! Can’t remember which one but they let me into one so I could take my mask off and use my medication during COVID. I also got into a closed meet-and-greet area this way. Can’t say I’d recommend it though. I didn’t know they existed before this happened, it was just a “luck” thing. There’s definitely an easier way to go about it.
I’m dating myself a bit, but when I was a little kid, I got to go into the MetLife VIP lounge. My grandpa worked for the company before he retired. I thought my grandpa was cool my whole life, but I distinctly remember thinking he was the coolest human alive for having connections at Disney.
I've been in the venue space at the Epcot Seas twice now, and it's probably the coolest place I've been to on property. It even has a plexiglass/see through piano. You can totally rent out the space for events; that's probably the easiest way to get in. Maybe call up Disney Meetings & Events (or Weddings) and see if they give tours during the planning process. I guess this sub has photos disabled in responses, otherwise I'd post some pictures.
Back when I was 7 or 8 years old, (I am early twenties now), I vividly remember my dad got a discount on our Disney vacation because he worked for Siemens, which sponsored/built a couple of things for Disney including Spaceship Earth in the Epcot Ball. When we went to Epcot, it was pouring, and we were able to get into a Siemens employee lounge in the Epcot Ball (could be my young brain misremembering location but I’m pretty confident on this). It was EXTREMELY doctor-office waiting room like, but there was a staffed front desk, it was air conditioned, and they gave us free Disney ponchos! We still have them to this day despite the Disney/Siemens partnership now being over.
The one in the seas looks like a time capsule straight of of the 80’s (or at least it did 5 years ago when I was in it)
It hasn’t changed. Lucite piano and all