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

[jade1]

Sorry, not sure what you mean by this.

Sorry just back, it was a hot week but great as usual.

Well we had a 3 month old with us. We arrived at CBR (From Epcot) at about 6PM, prob still about 90 degrees and humid.

Our cabin stopped about 5 feet from the doors opening-if they had opened we could have stepped onto the platform. So ground level and no breeze at all.

Took about 5 minutes, maybe even 10 actually. Heard the bull wheel? Finally start up.

The baby was getting quite hot and crabby, adults would normally just sit through it and be reasonable of course.

But no doubt it became uncomfortable. When we took off again to go to DHS it was amazingly cooler with the movement.

No way was it enough to think these need AC, but they are not perfect in all regards without it.

A shorter stop would have been a bit more helpful.

 

[skier_pete]

Yeah, stops are definitely a problem. Had that accident occurred during the day and people were hanging out there in the heat of the sun - oh boy. (It was probably not all that cool in the evening though.)

 

[mikebb]

So, was just reading Pete Werner's FB posts on his experience yesterday on the Skyliner. Seems that some guests (including him) were all the way to the Epcot station (their destination) and sent back to CBR, and were disembarked there as there was apparently a medical emergency somewhere on the line.

Seems strange that in such a case that they would send guests all the way back to another station and not disembark them immediately, and none of the comments on his post so far indicate that the Epcot station was closed for a medical evacuation.

 

[jknezek]

So, was just reading Pete Werner's FB posts on his experience yesterday on the Skyliner. Seems that some guests (including him) were all the way to the Epcot station (their destination) and sent back to CBR, and were disembarked there as there was apparently a medical emergency somewhere on the line.

Seems strange that in such a case that they would send guests all the way back to another station and not disembark them immediately, and none of the comments on his post so far indicate that the Epcot station was closed for a medical evacuation.

If there is a medical emergency somewhere on the line you have to prioritize that. Letting people on or off can slow the process. If someone stumbles or the line needs to be stopped because someone tried to exit or enter a gondola badly, that few seconds or minutes can make all the difference in the emergency. So you have people sit tight. If they stay on and no one else loads there shouldn't be a reason to stop and the emergency gondola can proceed with the most amount of speed.

 

[Searc]

So, was just reading Pete Werner's FB posts on his experience yesterday on the Skyliner. Seems that some guests (including him) were all the way to the Epcot station (their destination) and sent back to CBR, and were disembarked there as there was apparently a medical emergency somewhere on the line.

Seems strange that in such a case that they would send guests all the way back to another station and not disembark them immediately, and none of the comments on his post so far indicate that the Epcot station was closed for a medical evacuation.

I read it was a malfunction with the doors not being able to be opened, so they couldn't get off at the station. A medical emergency wouldn't prevent anyone from getting off.

 

[jknezek]

I read it was a malfunction with the doors not being able to be opened, so they couldn't get off at the station. A medical emergency wouldn't prevent anyone from getting off.

Just depends on the chance you want to take on shutting down the line for an emergency stop.

 

[mikebb]

I read it was a malfunction with the doors not being able to be opened, so they couldn't get off at the station. A medical emergency wouldn't prevent anyone from getting off.

Interesting if true. That would certainly explain the non-stop at Epcot. I'm not one of those that thinks the Skyliner is an unmitigated disaster (or one waiting to happen), but at the same time it does go to show how seemingly minor incidents of unknown cause can crop up and impact a highly-interconnected system like this.

 

[mikebb]

If there is a medical emergency somewhere on the line you have to prioritize that. Letting people on or off can slow the process. If someone stumbles or the line needs to be stopped because someone tried to exit or enter a gondola badly, that few seconds or minutes can make all the difference in the emergency. So you have people sit tight. If they stay on and no one else loads there shouldn't be a reason to stop and the emergency gondola can proceed with the most amount of speed.

Good point. I'll add to my reply above that the interconnected-ness of a system like this would certainly add to the confusion and/or frustration by guests.

I.e. if I'm riding a bus and someone has an emergency, it's very apparent and understandable that the bus needs to be diverted. But if I'm riding the Skyliner, and situation like you describe happens at the other end of the line, I probably have no idea what happened to cause me this inconvenience. In other words, one I may be much more understanding that "things happen", the other it "must be Disney's fault, their system stinks!"

 

[jknezek]

Good point. I'll add to my reply above that the interconnected-ness of a system like this would certainly add to the confusion and/or frustration by guests.

I.e. if I'm riding a bus and someone has an emergency, it's very apparent and understandable that the bus needs to be diverted. But if I'm riding the Skyliner, and situation like you describe happens at the other end of the line, I probably have no idea what happened to cause me this inconvenience. In other words, one I may be much more understanding that "things happen", the other it "must be Disney's fault, their system stinks!"

This is where communication would help. Unfortunately, disseminating useful information regarding anything but how to stay in the bubble has never been a Disney strong point. It's kind of infuriating how bad they are at it. On the other hand, they are good at so many other things, sometimes you just have to take the bad with the good.

 

[Weedy]

Cute video

 

[seashoreCM]

Were the doors kept closed so, going around the U turn after the alighting area, people unable to ger off could not be flung out of the car due to centrifugal force?

 

[SPLzero]

Were the doors kept closed so, going around the U turn after the alighting area, people unable to ger off could not be flung out of the car due to centrifugal force?

Everyone has to unload before the u turn

 

[scrappinginontario]

Everyone has to unload before the u turn

The poster was referring to this situation:

So, was just reading Pete Werner's FB posts on his experience yesterday on the Skyliner. Seems that some guests (including him) were all the way to the Epcot station (their destination) and sent back to CBR, and were disembarked there as there was apparently a medical emergency somewhere on the line.

Seems strange that in such a case that they would send guests all the way back to another station and not disembark them immediately, and none of the comments on his post so far indicate that the Epcot station was closed for a medical evacuation.

 

[Bing Showei]

So, was just reading Pete Werner's FB posts on his experience yesterday on the Skyliner.

Could someone post a link? Thanks.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Could someone post a link? Thanks.

Here is a screen shot of his back to back posts about it

 

[ksromack]

Here is a screen shot of his back to back posts about it

View attachment 449645

Poor Pete. I'm sure that sealed the deal for him.....he wasn't really keen on riding the Skyliner in the first place!

 

[skier_pete]

Were the doors kept closed so, going around the U turn after the alighting area, people unable to ger off could not be flung out of the car due to centrifugal force?

You know it goes really slow through the station. I also don't think there is an option to let people stay on. I am not sure how they managed to keep people from getting off. It seems like a really strange situation - as others said it seems weird they wouldn't let people off at the station and of course no explanation.

 

[joelkfla]

I read it was a malfunction with the doors not being able to be opened, so they couldn't get off at the station. A medical emergency wouldn't prevent anyone from getting off.

They have the ability to turn off the door opening mechanism, so that doors remain closed thru the station. It's possible that they did that intentionally, and someone assumed that the doors weren't working.

I'm also curious. I think it would be deemed unsafe to keep Guests on thru the turnaround, where cabins speed up a bit and there is no platform to step onto, with the doors open. They could have disabled the opener, or cm's could have greeted Guests as the cabin entered the station and then closed each cabin's doors manually.

 

[dizneefan13]

After the 3 hour stop that left people hanging, I thought maybe I would ride the skyliner on my visit in 10 days. They did seem to get it in order and back moving within a reasonable amount of time.;Now I'm not so sure. I feel like it could break down at any minute, even if its just for 30 or so minutes. Not knowing how long you will be left hanging makes it less than desirable for me.

 

[NWOhiogal]

After the 3 hour stop that left people hanging, I thought maybe I would ride the skyliner on my visit in 10 days. They did seem to get it in order and back moving within a reasonable amount of time.;Now I'm not so sure. I feel like it could break down at any minute, even if its just for 30 or so minutes. Not knowing how long you will be left hanging makes it less than desirable for me.

Well, that's the problem. It's like spinning a roulette wheel. Maybe your journey will be pleasant and uneventful. Maybe you'll be stuck in midair for 3+ hours and have to relieve yourself in a plastic bag with other people watching. There's absolutely no way to know which it'll be - and no way to predict it. You just have to take your chances.