Disney Skyliner Accident

[SaintsManiac]

Mr. Kalogridis is currently transitioning out of that role, so you might also email the incoming president.

I totally forgot about that. Thanks for the correction!

 

[Disneylover99]

Ugh...I’m going to call... I’m really nervous. I don’t want anything from them, I just want them to know our account of the incident.

Good luck! Don’t be nervous.
But I would write down everything first before calling so you don’t get mixed up or leave anything out.

 

[atricks]

Ugh...I’m going to call... I’m really nervous. I don’t want anything from them, I just want them to know our account of the incident.

This is what I'd do also. I'd let them know you've seen reports in the news to say they were empty but you were on it (and physically ok), and just want to help/cooperate with the situation so that something like this never happens again. And try to tell them anything you can (or anyone investigating) to give them a clue from your point of view. This will make the Skyliner safer for everyone in the future.

They will probably want to compensate you more for it, it's ok as long as everyone is honest about it (on both ends). But I'd cooperate even if they did not.

 

[Diz Bee]

I feel like I’m calling my overlords... ugh so nervous. This maybe the last time I speak of this... wish me luck!

 

[cedricandsophie]

I can't tell if this is sarcasm but that is entirely unreasonable. Sweet fancy Moses.

I don’t think it’s outrageous at all. Disney will be fighting law suits for months whether or not it’s warranted. If they made a preemptitive strike b6 providing a healthy compensation for the fear and discomfort they would save themselves a lot and effort and defense fees as well as earn good publicity.

 

[BaymaxFan78]

I'm having a really hard time keeping up with these posts so I'm not sure if somebody already said this but the whole "I'd want my entire stay compensated" thing seems pretty harsh. If you were on the last day of your vacation would you want them to pay you back for those first few days? When I rode it friday I wasn't staying there. I had a reservation at sebastians so they let me park at CBR. What would people like me get if we weren't staying there, and are also passholders so a ticket is useless

 

[BaymaxFan78]

What I dont understand is there is not a better way to evacuate. Not being an engineer maybe there’s reasons things can t be done, but you would thing there would be the ability to empty cars and slide cars off line so you could advance cars to stations to unload. I mean you know any system running up to 18 + hours a day is going to have issues, just surprised there isn’t a better evacuation emergency procedure.

If it would have happened in a different station this could be possible. But it happened at the Riveria station and it's the only station with no ECV pull off or no storage area for gondolas. They can only go through the station.

I feel like I’m calling my overlords... ugh so nervous. This maybe the last time I speak of this... wish me luck!

Eek good luck!

 

[rteetz]

Mr. Kalogridis is currently transitioning out of that role, so you might also email the incoming president.

George is still actively the president until November. Josh is still in Disneyland.

 

[Spridell]

Months ago on this site there were a lot of arguments about the skyliner replacing the buses. Those who predicted this sort of event were arguing that it should absolutely not replace the buses, nor could it do so legally and meet ADA requirements for people with fears of heights or PTSD (or those on continuous oxygen who cannot risk being suspended for 4 hours 60 feet in the air, etc.). I think we can see that those people were right and the skyliner should only be seen as an addition, not a substitution, of transport. But I do think Disney originally wanted it to be a substitution, as indicated on their signs.

One must consider Disney guest population, which is quite unique as far as transporting populations go. It's more like transporting a hospital patient population. It cannot be compared to a population of skiers or even commuters. It's one of the things that people like about Disney. One cannot say "oh well because Disney wants people to transport by gondola, those people just shouldn't travel there. Disney built up a reputation of serving that population. It blew my mind that they thought that could require use of a system that really isn't designed to work well with a patient population.

Correct.

I think their plan was to have ONLY gondolas from Riveria to Epcot. Clearly after last night that is a bad bad idea. I think they will be adding more buses now after this incident

 

[dizneefan13]

Does anyone have a good guess as to how many people were actually stuck? One that one line, how many people could it carry. I doubt all the gondolas had 10 people in them, but maybe. I am wondering how many people experienced this last night.
We are hearing that it was 3 hours for the guests to be rescued. Was it 3 hours for all of them? Maybe some it was much less? Still hoping to get for information/facts on how this all happened.

 

[rteetz]

Does anyone have a good guess as to how many people were actually stuck? One that one line, how many people could it carry. I doubt all the gondolas had 10 people in them, but maybe. I am wondering how many people experienced this last night.
We are hearing that it was 3 hours for the guests to be rescued. Was it 3 hours for all of them? Maybe some it was much less? Still hoping to get for information/facts on how this all happened.

Its hard to know. That is the longest line of the three. Like you said not every cabin probably was filled with 10.

 

[always]

One must consider Disney guest population, which is quite unique as far as transporting populations go. It's more like transporting a hospital patient population. It cannot be compared to a population of skiers or even commuters.

This is absolutely ridiculous. You've obviously never been on a subway in NYC, Berlin, London...

All transportation is use at your own risk. Don't like the Skyliner? Don't take it/Don't stay at a Skyliner resort.

 

[BaymaxFan78]

Correct.

I think their plan was to have ONLY gondolas from Riveria to Epcot. Clearly after last night that is a bad bad idea. I think they will be adding more buses now after this incident

Even without the incident this is a horrible idea. People with ECV's cant load here, and people with a fear of heights can't ride it.

Does anyone have a good guess as to how many people were actually stuck? One that one line, how many people could it carry. I doubt all the gondolas had 10 people in them, but maybe. I am wondering how many people experienced this last night.
We are hearing that it was 3 hours for the guests to be rescued. Was it 3 hours for all of them? Maybe some it was much less? Still hoping to get for information/facts on how this all happened.

I think some people got off at 2 hours

 

[cedricandsophie]

This is what I'd do also. I'd let them kniow you've seen reports in the news to say they were empty but you were on it (and physically ok), and just want to help/cooperate with the situation so that something like this never happens again. And try to tell them anything you can (or anyone investigating) to give them a clue from your point of view. This will make the Skyliner safer for everyone in the future.

They will probably want to compensate you more for it, it's ok as long as everyone is honest about it (on both ends). But I'd cooperate even if they did not.

I would suggest you write it all down in an email or email with attachment so there is a record of what was actually said and what time.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

There is a reason only 2 or 3 gondola systems worldwide have AC. It is possible. It is expensive and operationally, it would be horrific in Florida. Battery packs for AC would last a max of 3 hours in use, and they would be swapping out batteries all day, having to take units out of service, significantly increase the size of the "off cable" areas, and even then, you'd be having AC units pooping out while people were in the air. And it's really a choice of "good venting" or AC.

Any gondola only has such power as it can carry on board. They do not charge or get any power from the cables, which are not electric.

 

[mom2rtk]

Even without the incident this is a horrible idea. People with ECV's cant load here, and people with a fear of heights can't ride it.


I think some people got off at 2 hours

I haven't heard that ECV's can't load at Riviera. Just that there isn't a separate loop. My understanding was that the line would have to slow/stop every time one needs to be loaded.

 

[DVC Fanatic]

With regard to the monorail, I think Disney had 2 options prior to this. Replace with updated monorails or scrap the monorail systems and replace with a Skyliner. I think after this, the expansion of the Skyliner to replace the monorail is unlikely.

I would put a bet that Disney is going to have new monorails for the 50th anniversary.

 

[UOAP]

We were stuck about an hour on the sky ride at Busch Gardens Tampa several years ago. When the ride resumed, everyone was met by several execs in suits and one walked each party to the ride of their choice where they were taken to the front of the line. We were also given a bottle of water and a ticket to come back any day. I thought it was generous. I think people demand more because of Disney’s deep pockets. If this continues to trap people for hours, maybe more compensation is due, but not now. They’ve tested for more months than any other company would.

If they gave you a ticket for an hour, shouldn't Disney give 3 tickets for 3 hours? That would not be unreasonable nor would it be out of line with what Busch Gardens was doing. Also, remember Skyliner isn't a ride. It is transport that people are being told they need to use to get from point A to point B. Are you sure "they've tested for more months than any other company would?" I'm sure there are legal safety requirements that everyone has to meet. I know many people on this board would agree we haven't seen much evidence of Disney going "above and beyond" for guests recently.

 

[BritneyBelle]

I really wonder what the impact will be on Riviera. Seems to me the gondola system was a main selling point of RR and if it’s down that’s got to affect things. I know there’s no way to say how long it will be down for, but I have to imagine a lot of new DVC owners are not happy to hear a big reason they purchased is having issues. Wonder what the line from DVC will be with this.

 

[metzgardesign]

I don't believe you have to scan your MBs to ride, so this would be moot.

The bands use touch-point, close-range RFID antenna tech, and longer-range, anonymizing (supposedly), beacon-based tracking. Two antennae in the band, actually.

But that is diverting from the subject at hand. Glad Dis Bee is OK. And I hope Disney comes clean on their incident.