Is there any way to continue from a save without have to run through the entire intro sequence?

Or, run it in DOSBox, with MUNT/CM32L ROMs, and use the "i" command line parameter:

"lure i"

That skips the intro - no need to press ESC until it finally registers it, plus you get unbroken excellent sound and fewer bugs from the poorly reverse-engineered engine used in SCUMMVM

Enjoy