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

[cranbiz]

OK, I can see the Skyliner starting a bit later since it's faster and can move more guests, so for the purposes of the Mickey Bar, can we agree if the Skyliner starts by 6:45am and stays open until the parks are clear I win?

Yes, I would say thats a win. I don't see that happening. I see it opening at one hour before and one hour after posted park hours.

I see it like monorails and boats. I see it starting later and closing earlier. It doesn't have the flexibility of buses. From either Studios or EPCOT, it serves a limited number of resorts. A bus can serve any resort and at closing, you are liable to have stragglers going to many resorts not served by the Skyliner. It's not cost effective to keep it running until 11pm or so on a 9pm closing.

You being on a bus 1.5 hours prior to park opening fully supports my earlier statement. The official line is transportation starts 45 minutes prior to park opening. I said they start earlier than that.

I drove both the early routes and late routes for many years. Being in at 0530 to start driving by 0630, working MK until 0330 for a 11pm closing. Buses being the only thing running at those times. Why would we start that early, you ask? Breakfast runs. Why late? buses can serve everywhere, boats, monorails or now, the Skyliner don't.

 

[OSUZorba]

What are maintenance costs likely to be for the Skyliner over the second ten years compared with the first ten years?

I would choose an "amortization" much greater than 10 years when trying to determine the cost of the Skyliner and the potential effect on room rates.

I would say that it would be a bad idea to "officially" discontinue bus service from Epcot to Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation, Pop Century, and Riviera. Guests need to know where to exit the park to find the desired transportation without having to possess a smart phone to call up My Disney Experince on and reconfirm whether the Skyliner is running.

I was just amortizing the initial capital outlay, not operational costs, which maintenance would fall into. Not sure that 10 years was the right number, but seemed reasonable. I'm sure it's projected life is 30 - 50 years, though.

I know there were some pictures that made it look like they might be able to run buses back to the IG in the event the Skyliner shuts down. We'll have to see what actually happens, though.

 

[Mikey15]

I know there were some pictures that made it look like they might be able to run buses back to the IG in the event the Skyliner shuts down. We'll have to see what actually happens, though.

I don't see how. The backstage roads are pretty tight. In theory they could pick people up from Boardwalk bus stop for AoA/Pop/CBR, but I don't know the likelihood of that.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm still not quite sure how people get off/on. Does disembarking and embarking happen at the same place? And I wonder at what point the CMs clean out any refuse left behind. And no, I'm quite sure that not all guests are polite enough to pick up their candy wrappers, etc. and take them with them. And what about a gondola that's been barfed in (or worse)? Do the CMs have the ability to see it and take the car off-line?

 

[cranbiz]

I know there were some pictures that made it look like they might be able to run buses back to the IG in the event the Skyliner shuts down. We'll have to see what actually happens, though.

I would be surprised if that happens. It's almost all backstage and on the wrong side of the water unless all they used were backstage roads.

I think what you saw is the backstage road. It does have a section that is right there behind the IG and a cast shuttle stop is back there.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm still not quite sure how people get off/on. Does disembarking and embarking happen at the same place? And I wonder at what point the CMs clean out any refuse left behind. And no, I'm quite sure that not all guests are polite enough to pick up their candy wrappers, etc. and take them with them. And what about a gondola that's been barfed in (or worse)? Do the CMs have the ability to see it and take the car off-line?

Guests will disembark when thr gondola enters the station then the empty gondola will move around to the opposite side of the station and new guests will board. Similar to buses,

I don’t believe it is the CMs responsibility to clean the gondolas each time they empty. Hopefully like buses, guests will take garbage with them. They will be cleaned nightly but I don’t believe after each group.

In the case where a car is deemed unable to be used they will not load it and I’m sure there is a way to flag it for cleaning or whatever it requires.

 

[Weedy]

I'm still not quite sure how people get off/on. Does disembarking and embarking happen at the same place? And I wonder at what point the CMs clean out any refuse left behind. And no, I'm quite sure that not all guests are polite enough to pick up their candy wrappers, etc. and take them with them. And what about a gondola that's been barfed in (or worse)? Do the CMs have the ability to see it and take the car off-line?

The cabin will enter the station and people will exit the cabin. The cabin will come around to the opposite side of the station to load.
The cabins move slow in the station allowing cast members to pick up any trash.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks everyone! It just occurred to me this morning that I hope I don't get into a messy, stinky gondola car!

 

[danikoski]

Thanks everyone! It just occurred to me this morning that I hope I don't get into a messy, stinky gondola car!

Do cast members clean out busses, boats, or monorails after every trip? Do you worry about being on a messy stinky bus or boat or monorail car? If you aren't worried about the other forms of transportation, you probably don't need to worry about the gondola.

They absolutely can pull a gondola off easily to clean it more in depth if needed, actually way easier than pulling the monorail off line. My guess is the CMs will do a cursory check/glance as they load/unload as well.

 

[cranbiz]

Do cast members clean out busses, boats, or monorails after every trip? Do you worry about being on a messy stinky bus or boat or monorail car? If you aren't worried about the other forms of transportation, you probably don't need to worry about the gondola.

No, they don't unless there is an issue like a Signal V or Code Brown. On a bus, those will take it out of service until custodial can get over to clean it.

 

[OSUZorba]

I would be surprised if that happens. It's almost all backstage and on the wrong side of the water unless all they used were backstage roads.

I think what you saw is the backstage road. It does have a section that is right there behind the IG and a cast shuttle stop is back there.

Yeah, I think there was some work being done on that road so there was some speculation about why a few months ago.

 

[danikoski]

No, they don't unless there is an issue like a Signal V or Code Brown. On a bus, those will take it out of service until custodial can get over to clean it.

I figured that, but I'm not sure others did. The gondolas wouldn't probably be any different.

 

[Weedy]

I'm still not quite sure how people get off/on. Does disembarking and embarking happen at the same place? And I wonder at what point the CMs clean out any refuse left behind. And no, I'm quite sure that not all guests are polite enough to pick up their candy wrappers, etc. and take them with them. And what about a gondola that's been barfed in (or worse)? Do the CMs have the ability to see it and take the car off-line?

Here is a video of a now closed Doppelmayr Gondola system.
You can see how slow the system loads so easy for a cast member to remove any trash

 

[Weedy]

This video shows the Disney Skyliner
The cabins will enter one side and unload the will load on the other side.
Just a few more weeks. I can’t wait

 

[joelkfla]

I would be surprised if that happens. It's almost all backstage and on the wrong side of the water unless all they used were backstage roads.

I think what you saw is the backstage road. It does have a section that is right there behind the IG and a cast shuttle stop is back there.

Remember the gate at the southwest corner of the Epcot charter lot? It used to go back to some storage shipping containers. Recent aerial views show those containers have been removed, and a road built connecting the gate to the area of the helipad.

There also is (or was) a gate right next to the location of the IG Skyliner station, where you made the left turn between the International Showplace and the IG Cast Shuttle stop. I never saw that gate open, but I think it was used during foot races.

They could use that gate and the new road to shuttle Guests from the Skyliner station to the Epcot bus lot when they get stranded by a Skyliner shutdown. I don't know if that's the plan, but the option exists, and it's curious that the all of a sudden they built that backstage road to the bus lot gate.

 

[dizneefan13]

Yes, very curious. And it would be a good option in case of a shutdown.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

PHOTO

https://twitter.com/x/status/1170104499178000384

 

[joelkfla]

PHOTO

https://twitter.com/x/status/1170104499178000384

Darn! Looks like they put back the green canvas screening on the chain-link fence.

 

[rwalker1304]

Roadways, Water and Sewer Systems.... those are all external infrastructure that get lumped in with maintenance fees for many off site properties.

From what I've read, Transportation costs are part of Disney's maintenance fees. Monorail, Boat, Buses... Gondola's. But it should just be the upkeep of these, and I'd think the Gondola's would be less costly than a Monorail.

Wonder what the maintenance fees over at CSR are? They don't have a Gondola... yet.

I can certainly understand roadways, water and sewer systems within the resort property would be included. Not sure about transportation systems that are external. But hey I could be wrong.

 

[joelkfla]

I can certainly understand roadways, water and sewer systems within the resort property would be included. Not sure about transportation systems that are external. But hey I could be wrong.

The Transportation Dept.'s expenses are charged back against the budgets of the resorts & parks. To some extent, Resort management has control of the amount by requesting an increase or decrease in transportation service.

They are ongoing expenses which directly benefit Resort Guests, so it makes sense that they would be included in room rates for nightly resorts and maintenance fees for DVC resorts, like any other amenity.