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

[joelkfla]

Has anyone seen a video of the DHS station with a full load of gondolas running? Seems like all the recent videos only show the line. I'd like to see the station to update my calculations/assumptions.

It doesn't matter whether you look at the time between cabins in the station, or at some point on the line. The time between cabins will be the same at any point; only the distance between them changes. And that time tells you how many cabins are passing per hour, which gives you the throughput.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Will the gondolas be able to carry ECV's? We were at DHS today and my husband doesn't think the gondolas could handle a heavy ECV. I have trouble imaging people being able to get their ECV's on and off quickly. Some people have trouble maneuvering them.

 

[rteetz]

Will the gondolas be able to carry ECV's? We were at DHS today and my husband doesn't think the gondolas could handle a heavy ECV. I have trouble imaging people being able to get their ECV's on and off quickly. Some people have trouble maneuvering them.

Yes, they have a second load and unload for that reason.

 

[OSUZorba]

I was thinking the same thing. Here in KS (and specifically in NE where I'm at) 14mph is not a windy day.

Presently the wind is at 10mph but variant up to 15mph and it's just a normal day here.

That said it's at least nice to see the gondolas with some wind going for perspective.

This weekend we (OKC) were 35 gusting to 50 mph all day. The crazy thing, it wasn't even the windiest day in the last two weeks. Completely clear sunny day. There for awhile we were getting tons of small earthquakes pretty close to my house (like 50 a week), a lot of the time I couldn't tell if it was just the wind or an earthquake. Finally figured out a rafters always popped in an earthquake and not from the wind. The non-tiny earthquakes (>3.3) were pretty obvious.

 

[OSUZorba]

It doesn't matter whether you look at the time between cabins in the station, or at some point on the line. The time between cabins will be the same at any point; only the distance between them changes. And that time tells you how many cabins are passing per hour, which gives you the throughput.

That is a good point. I was also wanting to know how many were actually in the station at a time as that has a big impact on the total gondola numbers.

Edit: Now the problem is I can't find any videos that stay fixed on single point long enough to have two gondolas pass. We need to send some engineers out there with cameras, not writers.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Will the gondolas be able to carry ECV's? We were at DHS today and my husband doesn't think the gondolas could handle a heavy ECV. I have trouble imaging people being able to get their ECV's on and off quickly. Some people have trouble maneuvering them.

Adding to Ryan's post, the seats in the gondolas can also flip up to add more space for ECV's.

 

[joelkfla]

Will the gondolas be able to carry ECV's? We were at DHS today and my husband doesn't think the gondolas could handle a heavy ECV. I have trouble imaging people being able to get their ECV's on and off quickly. Some people have trouble maneuvering them.

The weight should not be an issue. The cabins are designed to carry up to 10 passengers, 5 per bench. If 1 bench is folded up to make room for the ecv, the ecv + occupant is replacing 5 passengers. Assuming an average weight of 150 per person, the ecv + occupant would have to weigh more than 750 lbs. to exceed the weight of 5 riders.

 

[OSUZorba]

Adding to Ryan's post, the seats in the gondolas can also flip up to add more space for ECV's.

And the weight limit for each cabin should be somewhere in the 1600 pounds range.

 

[KYMickey]

While it's quite possible that each cabin may have a small electrical system the short length of time they are in a station will not be long enough to charge the system very much. Thus it will have a very small capacity quite possibly only for lighting and possibly playing music or promotions. If there are lights I certainly hope they will be able to be turned off so you get some fantastic views at night without a glaring light inside the cabin.

 

[Starwind]

Will the gondolas be able to carry ECV's? We were at DHS today and my husband doesn't think the gondolas could handle a heavy ECV. I have trouble imaging people being able to get their ECV's on and off quickly. Some people have trouble maneuvering them.

A typical ECV is in the 150 lb or less range, so same or less than an adult. Not a problem weight-wise since they will take up the space of multiple adults. And this thread has established that there will be a separate loading zone to allow those on ECVs, wheelchairs and with other issues to load safely. Loading itself is drive straight on, pretty basic. Similar to loading into an elevator [and given how small some WDW elevators are, especially at the resorts, you might have more clearance with the gondola ;-) ].

SW

 

[Wood Nymph]

A typical ECV is in the 150 lb or less range, so same or less than an adult. Not a problem weight-wise since they will take up the space of multiple adults. And this thread has established that there will be a separate loading zone to allow those on ECVs, wheelchairs and with other issues to load safely. Loading itself is drive straight on, pretty basic. Similar to loading into an elevator [and given how small some WDW elevators are, especially at the resorts, you might have more clearance with the gondola ;-) ].

SW

Have they posted the dimensions of a gondola? Will they load like the monorail, going straight in and then driving straight out once it arrives at the departure location?

 

[ThistleMae]

I never really considered CBR before but I am now after the changes and Skyliner.

Exactly, just another hurdle to getting the resort you want...always juggling dates.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Have they posted the dimensions of a gondola? Will they load like the monorail, going straight in and then driving straight out once it arrives at the departure location?

It'll be straight in and then straight back out, I believe. I've seen some videos of these gondola cabins that show dimensions in mm, but can't find them from my phone right now.

 

[gap2368]

Have they posted the dimensions of a gondola? Will they load like the monorail, going straight in and then driving straight out once it arrives at the departure location?

They will not be big enough to turn around on do straight on back off

 

[Tigger's ally]

While it's quite possible that each cabin may have a small electrical system the short length of time they are in a station will not be long enough to charge the system very much. Thus it will have a very small capacity quite possibly only for lighting and possibly playing music or promotions. If there are lights I certainly hope they will be able to be turned off so you get some fantastic views at night without a glaring light inside the cabin.

The interior lights will probably only be on when it loads and unloads which is when it will be connected to the high capacitor charging system in each station.

 

[ThistleMae]

Not sure if anything new here in Bricker's blog. But so nothing is missed.

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/skyliner-gondola-update-february-2019/

Excellent article...thanks...very funny!

 

[rteetz]

Some new characters spotted

https://twitter.com/wdwnt/status/1100802220717719552?s=21

Pirates and Guardians

 

[Iowamomof4]

Some new characters spotted

https://twitter.com/wdwnt/status/1100802220717719552?s=21

Pirates and Guardians

The variety and abundance of character-wrapped cabins has really surprised me!

 

[Turn the Page]

The variety and abundance of character-wrapped cabins has really surprised me!

Me too. I thought it was just supposed to be a few cabins with character wraps. Are most or even all of the cabins going to feature characters?

 

[NotUrsula]

Have they posted the dimensions of a gondola? Will they load like the monorail, going straight in and then driving straight out once it arrives at the departure location?

It'll be straight in and then straight back out, I believe. I've seen some videos of these gondola cabins that show dimensions in mm, but can't find them from my phone right now.

Here is the Doppelmayr video you were looking for:

Backing straight out will only be truly straight if there are no able-bodied passengers in the gondola with the ECV user. With one bench down, the rider will have to angle to one side after coming through the doors, in order to give legroom for the people on the bench. (Well, perhaps not if only one or two smaller bench-sitters; the car is deep enough that they could possibly sit only in front of or behind the ECV.) Having angled in, the rider would then have to angle out to back through the doorway again. According to the above video, the doorway is 800mm, which is just about 31.5".

Re: the character wraps ... perhaps the wrapped cabins were the first delivered, so as to make time for re-doing any that are not correct?

PS: I do understand that cabins will be shunted to the secondary loop and completely halted for disability loading; but it will naturally be a wee bit more challenging to back off if the ECV or chair has been maneuvered off-center from the door opening. Probably no issue at all for someone who owns their own, but rental users may find it a trifle difficult.