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

[OKW Lover]

Not sure how close to there but there is definitely lightening in the general area

It was a really sever storm. Perhaps the worst we have experienced in the 5 years we have lived here.

Why would they if they don't need to? The rain will not hurt them, nor will the wind unless it's strong enough to derail the cable or drive a cabin into a tower.

Maybe they intentionally left them out in order to test exactly what might happen in the event of a storm?

 

[joelkfla]

I more meant when they are in full use during lightening they have to, would have been a good practice of timing to get them back to stations. I would hope even in the intense winds they had last night nothing would damage them.

There's no place to get them back to. When a shut down is called in real life, they'll just keep running normally until everyone gets to a station and gets off, while boarding is discontinued. The timing is however long it takes to traverse the distance between Epcot & Riviera, which are the 2 furthest apart stations.

They've already taken the cabins on and off the cable multiple times on all 3 lines, so they also know how long it takes to move them all back into the storage lot.

 

[OSUZorba]

FYI, all three lines were running this morning when I got to DHS.

 

[SgtTibbs]

Back a few hundred pages I would have bet large amounts that Emperor would have ensured this Skyliner was fully operational in time for travel to Batuu.
I guess it's a good thing I'm not a betting man.

 

[mikepizzo]

Back a few hundred pages I would have bet large amounts that Emperor would have ensured this Skyliner was fully operational in time for travel to Batuu.
I guess it's a good thing I'm not a betting man.

I must have bumped my head because I swear I remember reading/hearing when the Skyliner was still being built that they were targeting an April 2019 date. I also would have lost money with you.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm pretty sure that they have some plan/facility for pulling all of the gondolas into secure storage in the event of a hurricane strike, but a storm like the one pictured wouldn't be close to serious enough to trigger that. That was only a thunderstorm. Hurricanes, OTOH, no longer arrive in Florida without advance warning, and you can bet that there is a protocol for securing the Skyliner gondolas when that warning comes down.

In a major hurricane (Cat2 or stronger), the most serious risk is that one or more towers will go down. (And not necessarily topple over like a tree; sustained winds have been known to actually BEND similar towers that size.) The gondolas are built to be strong, but as we saw in the Canadian vandalism situation, they don't stand up very well to being dropped, which is what would happen if a tower went down. Disney won't chance having a large number of Gondolas damaged that way, so I am predicting that as many as possible will be put into storage bays in the event of a storm severe enough to close the parks. If they leave any of them on the line, they will probably be very widely spaced out. (The main storage bays behind CB are not covered, but the rails are low, so the gondolas could be secured with tie-downs, just like we would secure a boat.)

 

[Tigger's ally]

I'm pretty sure that they have some plan/facility for pulling all of the gondolas into secure storage in the event of a hurricane strike, but a storm like the one pictured wouldn't be close to serious enough to trigger that. That was only a thunderstorm. Hurricanes, OTOH, no longer arrive in Florida without advance warning, and you can bet that there is a protocol for securing the Skyliner gondolas when that warning comes down.

In a major hurricane (Cat2 or stronger), the most serious risk is that one or more towers will go down. (And not necessarily topple over like a tree; sustained winds have been known to actually BEND similar towers that size.) The gondolas are built to be strong, but as we saw in the Canadian vandalism situation, they don't stand up very well to being dropped, which is what would happen if a tower went down. Disney won't chance having a large number of Gondolas damaged that way, so I am predicting that as many as possible will be put into storage bays in the event of a storm severe enough to close the parks. If they leave any of them on the line, they will probably be very widely spaced out. (The main storage bays behind CB are not covered, but the rails are low, so the gondolas could be secured with tie-downs, just like we would secure a boat.)

Yep There's already been videos on this site of them bedding down the system. Gondola's have hangers at Caribbean Beach where they go to take a nappy during hurricanes, etc.

 

[OSUZorba]

I really don't think they are going to open tomorrow. They still have construction fence around the DHS station. Although I'm sure that could easily be moved to night, I have my doubts.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm still holding out hope that they open tomorrow! We arrive in 11 days and until I check out the last day of our vacay, I'm going to hold out hope.

 

[rwalker1304]

Anyone wagering they will be opening before September 29th? Soft opening?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Anyone wagering they will be opening before September 29th? Soft opening?

What exactly is a soft opening?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Anyone wagering they will be opening before September 29th? Soft opening?

Still hoping they will! My understanding is that today, Aug 28th is the day the ‘keys get turned over’ from Dooplemayr to Disney so we may see changes starting today!!

What exactly is a soft opening?

Soft openings are a little like test openings. If Disney ‘soft opens’ the Skyliner it may start accepting guests with the understanding that the system is still in test mode so may not run at all times, run at full capacity, regular hours or all lines. It can open and close at any time.

Sep 29th is Disney’s officially announced ‘opening date’ for the Skyliner so on that date we anticipate all 3 lines open, running at full capacity. Between today and 1 month from tomorrow there is potential for soft openings with guests riding! Many of us are hoping this happens, possibly as early as today!!! My family arrives in 10 days so we’re some of the many hoping for soft openings!!

 

[ksromack]

Not sure when it started but the gondolas stopped, he sent me a video it's bad with the wind you can barely see.

I can attest to the fact that this was a torrential downpour and it lasted several hours....long enough for Disney to have removed every FPs I had at MK. Lots of lightning, loud thunder.....My first FP was at 6:20 and the weather had already been happening....and my last FPs ended at 9:45 and all were replaced with “multiple experiences” FP for that night only We never even ventured off our balcony because we could tell it was going to hang around. I would have hated being caught in it! Bummer because 7D and BTMR are difficult to get, fortunately I picked them up for our last day that I was trying to keep open

 

[unbanshee]

Corless once again got tens of thousands of views, made hundreds of dollars (if not more), and was 0% correct. Skyliner not opening today

https://twitter.com/x/status/1166681863194329088

 

[rteetz]

Corless once again got tens of thousands of views, made hundreds of dollars (if not more), and was 0% correct. Skyliner not opening today

https://twitter.com/x/status/1166681863194329088

Well I was also told there was a good chance of a soft opening today so not all on him. There was a plan for it.

 

[unbanshee]

Well I was also told there was a good chance of a soft opening today so not all on him. There was a plan for it.

I believe today was supposed to be the hand off day from Doppelmayr to Disney, no more PPE, but even that isn't correct

 

[rteetz]

I believe today was supposed to be the hand off day from Doppelmayr to Disney, no more PPE, but even that isn't correct

From what I was told there was a plan for a partial opening in time for SWGE. It doesn’t appear to be happening but I do believe that was a plan at one point. Hate them or not they are not completely off base here.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm still holding out hope that we'll have some soft openings between now and September 29th!

 

[Dr.Mickey]

Thwarted again!

Oh well. Following along from home, without even a single trip scheduled, and I'm still disappointed they didn't open today. Well, at least I get to follow this thread for several more weeks before it becomes old news.

 

[bookgirl2632]

We arrive on 9/24. I’m hoping that they are open by then. At the very least, I can ride it toward the end of my trip.