Disney Skyliner (Gondola Transportation System) Read Post 1 Now Open!

[dlavender]

Its going to be $50 more than they would have increased the prices.

We all know for a long time Disney has been looking at getting away from the "Value, Moderate, Deluxe" model (well, a lot of us know that). With this recent refurb of Pop, plus the Gondola, you are going to see what was more traditionally "moderate" pricing there. Something much more in line with where AoA is going to be (which will also be going up).

I mean, if you don't believe me you haven't been watching what disney has done in recent years. They aren't going to be leaving any money on the table here, and the Gondola is going to increase the perceived value of these rooms considerably.

It's already happened to AoA, IMO...

Those Little Mermaid rooms are going for like 15-20% more than POP or other All Stars, which I'm sure is based 100% on demand. Rack rates there are around $170/night, which is where the mods were just a few years ago...

 

[sachilles]

I think it will be more simple than that. Availability VS demand will cause those rooms to fill sooner, while the non gondola value rooms will have a tougher time filling. They'll raise the prices until they have a tough time filling the rooms. Ultimately, it will manifest itself by lack of discount offers on those rooms, so they'll be full rack rate. That will net Disney higher ADR in those units, which any hotel is hoping for.
So rack rate will go up slightly, but the actual ADR(average daily rate) will rise substantially since discounting will cease to be as widely used.

 

[danikoski]

I think it will be more simple than that. Availability VS demand will cause those rooms to fill sooner, while the non gondola value rooms will have a tougher time filling. They'll raise the prices until they have a tough time filling the rooms. Ultimately, it will manifest itself by lack of discount offers on those rooms, so they'll be full rack rate. That will net Disney higher ADR in those units, which any hotel is hoping for.
So rack rate will go up slightly, but the actual ADR(average daily rate) will rise substantially since discounting will cease to be as widely used.

They've already done this at like WL. They haven't raised rack rate prices hugely (except nature fireworks view), but the rooms are rarely discounted drastically...maybe 5-10%, not 25-30% like some other Deluxe resorts. All largely due to half the inventory of rooms as used to exist, so demand is high and they don't have to discount to fill them.

 

[skier_pete]

They've already done this at like WL. They haven't raised rack rate prices hugely (except nature fireworks view), but the rooms are rarely discounted drastically...maybe 5-10%, not 25-30% like some other Deluxe resorts. All largely due to half the inventory of rooms as used to exist, so demand is high and they don't have to discount to fill them.

That was the point of Copper Creek Villas - sell 30% of your inventory as DVC and make a ton of money, then in turn increase the value of your remaining inventory because it's less available. Wins all around for Disney.

 

[danikoski]

That was the point of Copper Creek Villas - sell 30% of your inventory as DVC and make a ton of money, then in turn increase the value of your remaining inventory because it's less available. Wins all around for Disney.

Win for Disney, not for those who love WL...but that's a story for another day.

We will see how demand is for the gondola resorts. Personally, I think AoA is overpriced already, so I'm not sure how much more they'll be able to raise the rate. POP has more room to go up probably...especially with the remodeled rooms. Just not sure by how much. CBR will go up since those rates have been discounted pretty regularly and heavily due to construction.

 

[skier_pete]

Win for Disney, not for those who love WL...but that's a story for another day.

Yes, a win for Disney does not imply a win for fans - typically it implies a price hike for fans.

 

[joelkfla]

Went down to have a look at the BW turn station yesterday. It looks much more massive and imposing in person than in the photos. There are 3 bullwheels in place, one near the apex of the curve and one on either side. If it's going to be a continuous cable thru the turn, I'm having a hard time visualizing how it will be routed on the inside of the curve. Is it possible the inside cable will loop around the center wheel, and the outside one will just go around the 2 end wheels, with the 2 cables crossing over each other between each pair of wheels? I can't be sure, but it seemed like the center wheel was slightly lower than the other 2.

As for visual intrusion of the towers near the IG, I didn't notice any towers visible from inside the park. I'm sure they are visible if you look for them, but they certainly don't jump out at you. What I found much more disturbing was the Guardians show building. It's huge, visible from many places inside the park, and also destroys the effect of SE being the centerpiece when looking in from the parking lot. I can't see how they're going to disguise it; it's way above the tree tops and very close to the front edge of the park.

 

[DanBoris]

Went down to have a look at the BW turn station yesterday. It looks much more massive and imposing in person than in the photos. There are 3 bullwheels in place, one near the apex of the curve and one on either side. If it's going to be a continuous cable thru the turn, I'm having a hard time visualizing how it will be routed on the inside of the curve. Is it possible the inside cable will loop around the center wheel, and the outside one will just go around the 2 end wheels, with the 2 cables crossing over each other between each pair of wheels? I can't be sure, but it seemed like the center wheel was slightly lower than the other 2.

As for visual intrusion of the towers near the IG, I didn't notice any towers visible from inside the park. I'm sure they are visible if you look for them, but they certainly don't jump out at you. What I found much more disturbing was the Guardians show building. It's huge, visible from many places inside the park, and also destroys the effect of SE being the centerpiece when looking in from the parking lot. I can't see how they're going to disguise it; it's way above the tree tops and very close to the front edge of the park.

Here is a diagram from liftblog.com that shows how the three wheel configuration works. Sounds like it matches what you are seeing since it requires the center wheel to be lower then the others.

 

[KYMickey]

Okay, that makes sense as far as the cable path goes but I'm assuming the cars actually leave the cable and travel on the roller system on both sides?

 

[OSUZorba]

Okay, that makes sense as far as the cable path goes but I'm assuming the cars actually leave the cable and travel on the roller system on both sides?

Yes. The cables go full speed through the station while the cars go much slower as well.

 

[Butterstick]

Forgive me- I know this has probably been addressed in these 165 (!) pages of comments, but when do you think the gondolas will be up and running?

I am planning a big group trip for next summer, and I’m wondering if it will be easy for all my people to travel between the resorts to socialize- Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach, and Pop.

 

[joelkfla]

Forgive me- I know this has probably been addressed in these 165 (!) pages of comments, but when do you think the gondolas will be up and running?

I am planning a big group trip for next summer, and I’m wondering if it will be easy for all my people to travel between the resorts to socialize- Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach, and Pop.

People are guessing late spring to summer, so there's a good possibility they'll be there for you, but not a sure thing.

 

[Butterstick]

People are guessing late spring to summer, so there's a good possibility they'll be there for you, but not a sure thing.

Fingers crossed! We’re doing late July. Thank you!

 

[danikoski]

Fingers crossed! We’re doing late July. Thank you!

It should definitely be running be then, barring any unforeseen problems.

 

[sachilles]

Still wondering if they will open the 3 separate lines at different times. The station at the value resort is understandably not at the same stage of completion at the other stations, I'm sure do to the location in the lake. Everything else is cruising a long pretty darn well. That being said, there is still plenty of time to erect the station and hit the estimated opening dates. That line is quite short as well.

 

[danikoski]

Still wondering if they will open the 3 separate lines at different times. The station at the value resort is understandably not at the same stage of completion at the other stations, I'm sure do to the location in the lake. Everything else is cruising a long pretty darn well. That being said, there is still plenty of time to erect the station and hit the estimated opening dates. That line is quite short as well.

My guess is stringing of the cables will take place on stages. So DHS to CBR will be strung first, then CBR to Riviera to Epcot (which is the most complicated, so may take a little longer), then lastly AoA/Pop to CBR. If they do that, they are pretty much on track for all of the stations and turns. I still think they will open all of them at the same time, although they might soft open the CBR to DHS and Epcot. We will see next spring!

 

[The Pho]

Still wondering if they will open the 3 separate lines at different times. The station at the value resort is understandably not at the same stage of completion at the other stations, I'm sure do to the location in the lake. Everything else is cruising a long pretty darn well. That being said, there is still plenty of time to erect the station and hit the estimated opening dates. That line is quite short as well.

They'll put the cables up all at the same time. And once that happens they'll be able to open them pretty much when they want to. The bigger hold on the project could be the resort construction nearby. I don't see them opening only one leg when the entire thing will ever functional at the same time. Especially because a lot of people would expect to be able to go Park to park on them.

 

[joelkfla]

They'll put the cables up all at the same time. And once that happens they'll be able to open them pretty much when they want to. The bigger hold on the project could be the resort construction nearby. I don't see them opening only one leg when the entire thing will ever functional at the same time. Especially because a lot of people would expect to be able to go Park to park on them.

It makes sense logistically to open one line first, to evaluate Guest acceptance, work out the kinks, and make any operational adjustments needed. People wanting to go park-to-park can wait.

After they have a point-to-point running smoothly, they can attack the complications of transfers and an intermediate station.

 

[Q-man]

It's already happened to AoA, IMO...

Those Little Mermaid rooms are going for like 15-20% more than POP or other All Stars, which I'm sure is based 100% on demand. Rack rates there are around $170/night, which is where the mods were just a few years ago...

I assumed that was due to the refurb work at the POP.

 

[rteetz]

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