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

[scrappinginontario]

So, when is the skyliner expected to begin operation?

An official date has not been announced. 'Summer 2019' seems to be the rumour tossed around with the most confidence.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I feel ambivalent about the gondola. We always go to WDW in the summer when there's nothing heat and lightning storms. While it's true that we have stood in the hot sun for minutes to wait for buses or whatever, we do not want be sitting in the hot sun for minutes in a gondola, for the following reasons:
1. I don't like to be in an enclosed area with a bunch of people when it's hot out, even with some ventilation, because it's not magical. I grew up in a third world tropical country where buses had no air conditioning. I will never go back to that, ew. I'm a princess now. (A middle aged Disney tourist "princess", but still a princess!)
2. I don't like the idea of risking the gondola being stranded in the air at times and lose all the "passive ventilation". The London Gondola was stranded for an hour some time ago and it was in the news. You would think they would have some way to pull the gondolas in manually right away, but they didn't.
3. I love the buses and their powerful air conditioning, always have, and hate to lose my bus rides to the gondola. And now that they have published schedules, my bus waits are almost non-existent.
4. I don't want to get in Epcot through the back door when I can't see Spaceship Earth.
5. I don't want the gondola to be shut down all the time due to weather (the hotel pool shuts down often due to lightning, like about once a day because we go in September.)
6. We walk rather than take the friendship boats. Can't stand being enclosed without air conditioning. (I know that some claim they do have air conditioning. Then tell me why the front windows and back doors are always kept wide open.) You can argue that it is just as hot walking (maybe hotter), but the breeze and openess feels much better to us. Being enclosed makes me feel that I can't breathe.

On the other hand, I like the idea of gondolas because:
1. They are the newest technology in gondolas. I'm a sucker for technology.
2. They can buzz me to Epcot in 10 minutes or so. I can't even taxi there that fast. I love getting there fast.
3. CBR is our favorite resort to visit, and now we can buzz there quickly, from Epcot or from Pop Century.
4. At night or during rainy cool times, the gondola should be OK, so it will be nice coming back from Epcot/HS.

So my conclusion is:

1. We'll take the Minnievan (or Lyft, if we can't find the Minnievan during busy times) for the Pop to/from Epcot/HS trip, but we will take the gondola when it is rainy or dark out, when the sun is absent. We might even try to take the gondola once, just to see how bad it is.
2. We'll take the gondola to go from CBR to Pop or Epcot/HS even when it's hot, just because the trip is short, so we'll risk being stranded. I will spray the kids with water first and get them ready for the sauna ride. Note to self: bring sprayer.
3. I believe most people will put up with the hot gondolas fine because it's the new, neat, fast, free way of Disney magical transportation, and the heat won't stop them. So the gondola will be a success. That's probably what the Disney analysts concluded when they went ahead with the no A/C Florida gondola plan.
4. I'm excited to find out how hot the gondola will be!

 

[Tigger's ally]

I feel ambivalent about the gondola. We always go to WDW in the summer when there's nothing heat and lightning storms. While it's true that we have stood in the hot sun for minutes to wait for buses or whatever, we do not want be sitting in the hot sun for minutes in a gondola, for the following reasons:
1. I don't like to be in an enclosed area with a bunch of people when it's hot out, even with some ventilation, because it's not magical. I grew up in a third world tropical country where buses had no air conditioning. I will never go back to that, ew. I'm a princess now. (A middle aged Disney tourist "princess", but still a princess!)
2. I don't like the idea of risking the gondola being stranded in the air at times and lose all the "passive ventilation". The London Gondola was stranded for an hour some time ago and it was in the news. You would think they would have some way to pull the gondolas in manually right away, but they didn't.
3. I love the buses and their powerful air conditioning, always have, and hate to lose my bus rides to the gondola. And now that they have published schedules, my bus waits are almost non-existent.
4. I don't want to get in Epcot through the back door when I can't see Spaceship Earth.
5. I don't want the gondola to be shut down all the time due to weather (the hotel pool shuts down often due to lightning, like about once a day because we go in September.)
6. We walk rather than take the friendship boats. Can't stand being enclosed without air conditioning. (I know that some claim they do have air conditioning. Then tell me why the front windows and back doors are always kept wide open.) You can argue that it is just as hot walking (maybe hotter), but the breeze and openess feels much better to us. Being enclosed makes me feel that I can't breathe.

On the other hand, I like the idea of gondolas because:
1. They are the newest technology in gondolas. I'm a sucker for technology.
2. They can buzz me to Epcot in 10 minutes or so. I can't even taxi there that fast. I love getting there fast.
3. CBR is our favorite resort to visit, and now we can buzz there quickly, from Epcot or from Pop Century.
4. At night or during rainy cool times, the gondola should be OK, so it will be nice coming back from Epcot/HS.

So my conclusion is:

1. We'll take the Minnievan (or Lyft, if we can't find the Minnievan during busy times) for the Pop to/from Epcot/HS trip, but we will take the gondola when it is rainy or dark out, when the sun is absent. We might even try to take the gondola once, just to see how bad it is.
2. We'll take the gondola to go from CBR to Pop or Epcot/HS even when it's hot, just because the trip is short, so we'll risk being stranded. I will spray the kids with water first and get them ready for the sauna ride. Note to self: bring sprayer.
3. I believe most people will put up with the hot gondolas fine because it's the new, neat, fast, free way of Disney magical transportation, and the heat won't stop them. So the gondola will be a success. That's probably what the Disney analysts concluded when they went ahead with the no A/C Florida gondola plan.

No offense, but you lost me on not wanting to get into Epcot through the back door. The day we found the back door to epcot was one of the best days of our lives. Walking around those leave a legacy hurdles (actually the hottest spot in Epcot) is so much more of a hassle. Spaceship earth is just as beautiful from across the lake as it is up close.

 

[joelkfla]

2. I don't like the idea of risking the gondola being stranded in the air at times and lose all the "passive ventilation". The London Gondola was stranded for an hour some time ago and it was in the news. You would think they would have some way to pull the gondolas in manually right away, but they didn't.

I could only find 1 instance of passengers being stranded, and it was for 30 minutes in 2012, not an hour. Despite summer weather, there were no injuries, heat-related or otherwise. Riders in reachable gondolas were evacuated in less time. I think all locations on the Skyliner will be reachable for evacuation, although those over Hourglass Lake might take a while.

6. We walk rather than take the friendship boats. Can't stand being enclosed without air conditioning. (I know that some claim they do have air conditioning. Then tell me why the front windows and back doors are always kept wide open.) You can argue that it is just as hot walking (maybe hotter), but the breeze and openess feels much better to us. Being enclosed makes me feel that I can't breathe.

The boats are equipped with multiple rooftop a/c units, which are wholly inadequate to keep the interior comfortable. If you happen to be sitting directly under one, you may be blessed with a slight cool breeze. The boats originally had openable windows, but Disney decided to seal them at some point over the years.

 

[OKW Lover]

An official date has not been announced. 'Summer 2019' seems to be the rumour tossed around with the most confidence.

Keep in mind that 'Sumer 2019' runs from late June to late September.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Keep in mind that 'Sumer 2019' runs from late June to late September.

Yes. We are there mid-September next year so really hoping they're in operation by then!

 

[DanBoris]

I could only find 1 instance of passengers being stranded, and it was for 30 minutes in 2012, not an hour. Despite summer weather, there were no injuries, heat-related or otherwise. Riders in reachable gondolas were evacuated in less time. I think all locations on the Skyliner will be reachable for evacuation, although those over Hourglass Lake might take a while.

The boats are equipped with multiple rooftop a/c units, which are wholly inadequate to keep the interior comfortable. If you happen to be sitting directly under one, you may be blessed with a slight cool breeze. The boats originally had openable windows, but Disney decided to seal them at some point over the years.

Based on this quote, there is no point in try to reason...

"We might even try to take the gondola once, just to see how bad it is."

The op has clearly already made up their mind that this is going to be a bad experience.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I feel ambivalent about the gondola. We always go to WDW in the summer when there's nothing heat and lightning storms. While it's true that we have stood in the hot sun for minutes to wait for buses or whatever, we do not want be sitting in the hot sun for minutes in a gondola, for the following reasons:
1. I don't like to be in an enclosed area with a bunch of people when it's hot out, even with some ventilation, because it's not magical. I grew up in a third world tropical country where buses had no air conditioning. I will never go back to that, ew. I'm a princess now. (A middle aged Disney tourist "princess", but still a princess!)
2. I don't like the idea of risking the gondola being stranded in the air at times and lose all the "passive ventilation". The London Gondola was stranded for an hour some time ago and it was in the news. You would think they would have some way to pull the gondolas in manually right away, but they didn't.
3. I love the buses and their powerful air conditioning, always have, and hate to lose my bus rides to the gondola. And now that they have published schedules, my bus waits are almost non-existent.
4. I don't want to get in Epcot through the back door when I can't see Spaceship Earth.
5. I don't want the gondola to be shut down all the time due to weather (the hotel pool shuts down often due to lightning, like about once a day because we go in September.)
6. We walk rather than take the friendship boats. Can't stand being enclosed without air conditioning. (I know that some claim they do have air conditioning. Then tell me why the front windows and back doors are always kept wide open.) You can argue that it is just as hot walking (maybe hotter), but the breeze and openess feels much better to us. Being enclosed makes me feel that I can't breathe.

On the other hand, I like the idea of gondolas because:
1. They are the newest technology in gondolas. I'm a sucker for technology.
2. They can buzz me to Epcot in 10 minutes or so. I can't even taxi there that fast. I love getting there fast.
3. CBR is our favorite resort to visit, and now we can buzz there quickly, from Epcot or from Pop Century.
4. At night or during rainy cool times, the gondola should be OK, so it will be nice coming back from Epcot/HS.

So my conclusion is:

1. We'll take the Minnievan (or Lyft, if we can't find the Minnievan during busy times) for the Pop to/from Epcot/HS trip, but we will take the gondola when it is rainy or dark out, when the sun is absent. We might even try to take the gondola once, just to see how bad it is.
2. We'll take the gondola to go from CBR to Pop or Epcot/HS even when it's hot, just because the trip is short, so we'll risk being stranded. I will spray the kids with water first and get them ready for the sauna ride. Note to self: bring sprayer.
3. I believe most people will put up with the hot gondolas fine because it's the new, neat, fast, free way of Disney magical transportation, and the heat won't stop them. So the gondola will be a success. That's probably what the Disney analysts concluded when they went ahead with the no A/C Florida gondola plan.
4. I'm excited to find out how hot the gondola will be!

I appreciate you trying to see both sides of it ... and in reality we just won't know how they will be, as far as heat, until they are up and running. Personally I don't think Disney would build something like this - and Doppelmayer wouldn't build it for them - if it wouldn't be fine ... but only time will dell

 

[OSUZorba]

I feel ambivalent about the gondola. We always go to WDW in the summer when there's nothing heat and lightning storms. While it's true that we have stood in the hot sun for minutes to wait for buses or whatever, we do not want be sitting in the hot sun for minutes in a gondola, for the following reasons:
1. I don't like to be in an enclosed area with a bunch of people when it's hot out, even with some ventilation, because it's not magical. I grew up in a third world tropical country where buses had no air conditioning. I will never go back to that, ew. I'm a princess now. (A middle aged Disney tourist "princess", but still a princess!)
2. I don't like the idea of risking the gondola being stranded in the air at times and lose all the "passive ventilation". The London Gondola was stranded for an hour some time ago and it was in the news. You would think they would have some way to pull the gondolas in manually right away, but they didn't.
3. I love the buses and their powerful air conditioning, always have, and hate to lose my bus rides to the gondola. And now that they have published schedules, my bus waits are almost non-existent.
4. I don't want to get in Epcot through the back door when I can't see Spaceship Earth.
5. I don't want the gondola to be shut down all the time due to weather (the hotel pool shuts down often due to lightning, like about once a day because we go in September.)
6. We walk rather than take the friendship boats. Can't stand being enclosed without air conditioning. (I know that some claim they do have air conditioning. Then tell me why the front windows and back doors are always kept wide open.) You can argue that it is just as hot walking (maybe hotter), but the breeze and openess feels much better to us. Being enclosed makes me feel that I can't breathe.

On the other hand, I like the idea of gondolas because:
1. They are the newest technology in gondolas. I'm a sucker for technology.
2. They can buzz me to Epcot in 10 minutes or so. I can't even taxi there that fast. I love getting there fast.
3. CBR is our favorite resort to visit, and now we can buzz there quickly, from Epcot or from Pop Century.
4. At night or during rainy cool times, the gondola should be OK, so it will be nice coming back from Epcot/HS.

So my conclusion is:

1. We'll take the Minnievan (or Lyft, if we can't find the Minnievan during busy times) for the Pop to/from Epcot/HS trip, but we will take the gondola when it is rainy or dark out, when the sun is absent. We might even try to take the gondola once, just to see how bad it is.
2. We'll take the gondola to go from CBR to Pop or Epcot/HS even when it's hot, just because the trip is short, so we'll risk being stranded. I will spray the kids with water first and get them ready for the sauna ride. Note to self: bring sprayer.
3. I believe most people will put up with the hot gondolas fine because it's the new, neat, fast, free way of Disney magical transportation, and the heat won't stop them. So the gondola will be a success. That's probably what the Disney analysts concluded when they went ahead with the no A/C Florida gondola plan.
4. I'm excited to find out how hot the gondola will be!

To your first point, I doubt they will group parties in the middle of the day when it is hot. This thing is going to have massive capacity, i.e. a full PLANE load of people every 2 minutes, each way to each park.

As far as getting stuck, I think there will probably be emergency windows or door release so you could get some air and not bake. I tried to find a some pictures, but haven't been able to.

 

[OSUZorba]

Did anyone listen to the Disunplugged podcast this week? They were all down about this project, I was pretty surprised by that.

 

[rteetz]

Did anyone listen to the Disunplugged podcast this week? They were all down about this project, I was pretty surprised by that.

Yes, I was rather surprised.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I could only find 1 instance of passengers being stranded, and it was for 30 minutes in 2012, not an hour. Despite summer weather, there were no injuries, heat-related or otherwise. Riders in reachable gondolas were evacuated in less time. I think all locations on the Skyliner will be reachable for evacuation, although those over Hourglass Lake might take a while.

The boats are equipped with multiple rooftop a/c units, which are wholly inadequate to keep the interior comfortable. If you happen to be sitting directly under one, you may be blessed with a slight cool breeze. The boats originally had openable windows, but Disney decided to seal them at some point over the years.

You are right; my memory has failed me. It does say 30 minutes, but in the article some of the people claim that they were stuck for an hour, so that must have confused me. Like you say, it's only one time since 2012, so it doesn't sound too bad, but what is worth noticing is that they did not manually crank the passengers back, and neither did they have a backup motor that they can switch to. They simply worked to get the motor to run again. But they DID have air conditioning, so the fact that they had no heat-related injuries means nothing to us; their experience cannot be compared to what ours will be. I am still worried about being stranded for half an hour when there's no air conditioning and no air through the vents. But, I'm willing to take to risk because it doesn't sound likely- once in 5 or 6 years ain't bad record.

I have never been so blessed as to be able to sit directly under the AC in the friendship boats, or perhaps I just wasn't sensitive enough to feel the slight cool breeze.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I appreciate you trying to see both sides of it ... and in reality we just won't know how they will be, as far as heat, until they are up and running. Personally I don't think Disney would build something like this - and Doppelmayer wouldn't build it for them - if it wouldn't be fine ... but only time will dell

Thanks for your appreciation. And what do you consider to be fine? Last year I took the boat from the GF to the Poly around noon, on a bright sunny day in September. The boat had an enclosed area and an open uncovered area at the front. There were about 10 passengers total, and every passenger sat at the front open area with the sun baking our heads. The trip was very short, about 5 minutes. Not one person sat inside where there was "plenty of ventilation and passive cooling", so to speak. It was like an oven in there! It wasn't fine, really, but people put up with it just fine.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

Did anyone listen to the Disunplugged podcast this week? They were all down about this project, I was pretty surprised by that.

I haven't heard. What did they say?

 

[BabybetterDisney]

To your first point, I doubt they will group parties in the middle of the day when it is hot. This thing is going to have massive capacity, i.e. a full PLANE load of people every 2 minutes, each way to each park.

As far as getting stuck, I think there will probably be emergency windows or door release so you could get some air and not bake. I tried to find a some pictures, but haven't been able to.

I find the math of 3000 or 5000 people per hour rather odd, because if they can load that many people, that would mean besides park opening and closing times, the gondolas will be running practically empty all day long. Perhaps they will then take most of the gondolas off line late morning, and put them back on before the evening rush? That should save some energy and reduce wear and tear on the gondolas. So that during the day, you would only see a gondola once every few minutes, and you might have to wait some minutes before a gondola shows up, even when there's no line.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

Based on this quote, there is no point in try to reason...

"We might even try to take the gondola once, just to see how bad it is."

The op has clearly already made up their mind that this is going to be a bad experience.

There is always a point to reason. Minds that are made up can be changed. I do it all the time. Make up my mind and then change it.

 

[dina444444]

I find the math of 3000 or 5000 people per hour rather odd, because if they can load that many people, that would mean besides park opening and closing times, the gondolas will be running practically empty all day long. Perhaps they will then take most of the gondolas off line late morning, and put them back on before the evening rush? That should save some energy and reduce wear and tear on the gondolas. So that during the day, you would only see a gondola once every few minutes, and you might have to wait some minutes before a gondola shows up, even when there's no line.

Maybe they would run at half capacity but I doubt they would go lower than that. That seems to be about what they do with the monorail during off peak hours.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

No offense, but you lost me on not wanting to get into Epcot through the back door. The day we found the back door to epcot was one of the best days of our lives. Walking around those leave a legacy hurdles (actually the hottest spot in Epcot) is so much more of a hassle. Spaceship earth is just as beautiful from across the lake as it is up close.

None taken. It's just that the first time I ever went to Disney World was 20 years ago, when I went to Epcot, and was overwhelmed by Spaceship Earth. I'm a mathematician, and I was stunned to be walking under such a humongous geodesic dome! That was one of the greatest moments of my life, and it was at that moment that I fell in love with Disney World. To this day, I go into Epcot through the front if I can help it to make sure that walking under Spaceship Earth is the first thing I do every time I enter Epcot.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks for your appreciation. And what do you consider to be fine? Last year I took the boat from the GF to the Poly around noon, on a bright sunny day in September. The boat had an enclosed area and an open uncovered area at the front. There were about 10 passengers total, and every passenger sat at the front open area with the sun baking our heads. The trip was very short, about 5 minutes. Not one person sat inside where there was "plenty of ventilation and passive cooling", so to speak. It was like an oven in there! It wasn't fine, really, but people put up with it just fine.

Well, I am sure the like of what is “fine” will vary by person but I would expect it to be more comfortable than the situation you describe on that boat. So not so say it will be nice and cool all the time, but that even in the hottest sun it should be ok for 95% of people to be in there for the ~5 min trip.

And not exactly sure what would constitute “ok” but I think to the point people are still comfortable or complaining or extra sweaty, etc - but maybe a little warm ... so better than on that boat but maybe not as nice as an bus with A/C (though, the wait should be a lot shorter than for a bus most of the time)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I haven't heard. What did they say?

Honestly similar things to what have been said in here - worried about it being hot and not sure how many people it would transport

Also covered that they would have to fix up some back stage areas if you are now up high and looking out and down (recalling the old skyway where you could see the roofs of showbuildings, etc)

They weren’t necessary bashing it - more concerned about what it might be and a bit of a “wait and see” view more than “this is a terrible idea” ... but they also didn’t seem to be reading the info in this thread that artery and others have provided, and some of us that were in the Chat Room were trying to add some info