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

[DGsAtBLT]

It does. I was simply pointing out that they can and do restrict access to riding a form of transportation at one of their parks. I understand the difference between unloading inside the gates and outside, but they do restrict it. They could easily restrict the gondola to hotel guests and/or park guests by scanning your MBs before you board. I’m not saying they will do this, but they can do it very easily, and it is not some crazy radical idea as they do it at another park be it for a different reason.

I don’t think it’s a logistical issue though so the Disneyland monorail isn’t really comparable. If they wanted to, of course they would and could. Especially with the ability to scan bands quickly and/or check for park tickets.

I just don’t see it happening. They don’t attempt to stop people not staying at a monorail resort from riding even at the most crowded parts of the day. They barely try to stop non resort guests from using those pools.

 

[Wishfuiiy]

Skyliner runs in rain but not if lightening is close.

While I saw no lightening nearby, they obviously had to have seen something on the radar somewhere. However, I got caught in it and it was just seemingly a rain shower.

 

[joelkfla]

People ride for fun on the monorail, and I’m sure on the boats as well. Maybe there’s an odd duck or two who does this on the busses.

Just call me Donald.

 

[Brianstl]

Restricting access to Skyliner would cost money and Disney is not going to spend that money.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Just call me Donald.

And me and my twin sons were Huey, Dewey, and Louie several times in our life.

 

[joelkfla]

Restricting access to Skyliner would cost money and Disney is going to spend that money.

Is that what you meant to say, or did you leave out a "not"?

 

[Brianstl]

Is that what you meant to say, or did you leave out a "not"?

Whoops, thank you.

 

[TexasChick123]

I don’t think it’s a logistical issue though so the Disneyland monorail isn’t really comparable. If they wanted to, of course they would and could. Especially with the ability to scan bands quickly and/or check for park tickets.

I just don’t see it happening. They don’t attempt to stop people not staying at a monorail resort from riding even at the most crowded parts of the day. They barely try to stop non resort guests from using those pools.

As someone who owns DVC at 2 different monorail resorts, I do feel this is a problem that needs to be addressed, but I’m not in charge. I understand the complications though because they, a business, don’t want to turn away potential diners and/or shoppers for any resort simply because they aren’t staying at a resort. As a resort guest though, it’s very frustrating. They cannot build that walkway from MK to GF fast enough IMO.

I am also skeptical they will limit gondola riders, but I strongly feel that they should. Since we’re all paying for the gondolas in the form of hotel rooms or park tickets, so should they. The only thing that gives me hope is that Disney cannot wait to monetize everything, so maybe they’ll charge for riding the gondolas if you don’t have a hotel reservation or theme park ticket down the road.

 

[mshanson3121]

I agree that it isn’t the norm at WDW, but you cannot ride the monorail at DL without a park ticket the last several times we’ve been. They check. I don’t know why it’s so different at WDW.

We had to scan our Magic Bands to ride the monorails in May

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

It does. I was simply pointing out that they can and do restrict access to riding a form of transportation at one of their parks. I understand the difference between unloading inside the gates and outside, but they do restrict it. They could easily restrict the gondola to hotel guests and/or park guests by scanning your MBs before you board. I’m not saying they will do this, but they can do it very easily, and it is not some crazy radical idea as they do it at another park be it for a different reason.

And... they also restrict access to the Grand Californian. When we stayed at paradise pier hotel about a year and a half ago, we were stopped by managers (not cms, managers) with security standing on the sidewalk outside of the GC and told that unless we were staying at GC we could not walk through. So, they will stop non paying customers from accessing resorts and facilities when it gets overwhelming. It is only a matter of time before they institute some kind of access limitation on the skyline. The stations are set up for it as well.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I don’t think it’s a logistical issue though so the Disneyland monorail isn’t really comparable. If they wanted to, of course they would and could. Especially with the ability to scan bands quickly and/or check for park tickets.

I just don’t see it happening. They don’t attempt to stop people not staying at a monorail resort from riding even at the most crowded parts of the day. They barely try to stop non resort guests from using those pools.

When we were at wdw last July, they did stop us from accessing the monorail resort line from the magic kingdom. They said we could take the “express” to TTC but not the resort line since we were not staying at a monorail resort. We were staying at Kidani.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

When we were at wdw last July, they did stop us from accessing the monorail resort line from the magic kingdom. They said we could take the “express” to TTC but not the resort line since we were not staying at a monorail resort. We were staying at Kidani.

I have never heard of this happening, was it July 4th or just a random day? Interesting.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I agree. We’re all paying for it in the form of park tickets, DVC maintenance fees, hotel rates, etc. If you’re not staying onsite and/or have a park ticket, you can’t ride. It’s easy enough to enforce with MBs. Maybe this is the plan after it’s been running for a bit. Let everyone ride to check it out, then start charging once they’re hooked. I completely agree that charging for a Skyliner pass will go a long way with crowd control all the while making Disney more money.

WDW does not restrict who can ride their transportation systems and I'm glad they don't. They want people to come and see all that Disney has to offer and this is more easily done by hopping around on their transportation systems.

I think the number of people that will make the effort to get to a location to ride the Skyliner will be minimal. Some yes, but not enough to affect my trip. Pop Century alone has 2,880 rooms, Art of Animation has 1,120 and CB has 2,112 rooms. Just those 3 resorts alone have close to 20,000 people staying in them on any given day if we use a (conservative) estimate of 3 guests per room. Do we really think 'extras' riding for fun will even dent those numbers? Personally, I don't.

 

[cranbiz]

Restricting access to the Skyliner to only park /resort guests will never happen as long as it's considered a mode of transportation. If you want this, you have to do the same thing to buses, boats, monorails and the ferry at the TTC. Now with security being moved to the TTC, that changes the ferry a bit but because they are not scanning MB's at security, a non park guest could still ride the ferry.

It's a lousy idea from a business standpoint. It's a transportation system, not an attraction. However it is a transportation system that could be an attraction. So, it either stays as is, meaning open to all at no additional cost, or Disney sells tickets to it and all other forms of transportation.

Be careful what you wish for as your wish might just come true. Remember in Tokyo, the monorail requires it's own ticket. Charging for transportation could be implemented at WDW, which would be a huge cash cow. Resort cost won't go down either. That transportation charge to the resorts will just be allocated to another line item.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I have never heard of this happening, was it July 4th or just a random day? Interesting.

We were there mid July 2-3 week. It was crowded but not awful. I was surprised too. There were not hordes of people trying to get on the monorail either, but we noticed it both times we tried to do it. Both were in the afternoon on separate days (the second time we did not actually try again but saw from a distance they were doing it so we changed plans). There were supervisor level type cms posted who asked if you were staying at a resort on the line. I think it is the beginning of them starting to control access.

 

[FinnsMom7]

I have never heard of this happening, was it July 4th or just a random day? Interesting.

I was just there 3 weeks ago and we took the boat from Ft Wilderness over to the Contemporary, then monorail over to Poly - we were staying offsite, and no one said a word to us. Every single trip we take the monorail around the resort loop - its part of the fun.

 

[FinnsMom7]

WDW does not restrict who can ride their transportation systems and I'm glad they don't. They want people to come and see all that Disney has to offer and this is more easily done by hopping around on their transportation systems.

I think the number of people that will make the effort to get to a location to ride the Skyliner will be minimal. Some yes, but not enough to affect my trip. Pop Century alone has 2,880 rooms, Art of Animation has 1,120 and CB has 2,112 rooms. Just those 3 resorts alone have close to 20,000 people staying in them on any given day if we use a (conservative) estimate of 3 guests per room. Do we really think 'extras' riding for fun will even dent those numbers? Personally, I don't.

I agree - and when you factor just the POP AoA numbers, there are dozens of different types of park touring styles people follow. Some go at rope drop, some within hour of park opening, some mid day (esp with the new ticket option) and then there are some who will hop from Epcot right to another park and others who will detour to a different resort or even spend the afternoon back at Pop AoA.
Aside from yesterday's 2+hour stoppage, even a minimal dent in additional guests won't cause huge influxes of wait times

 

[CouponGirl]

We were able to bring our regular size (single) stroller without folding. The child could have stayed in the stroller. But he wanted to sit on the bench
View attachment 440598

View attachment 440600

This makes me so happy! Thanks!

 

[TexasChick123]

WDW does not restrict who can ride their transportation systems and I'm glad they don't. They want people to come and see all that Disney has to offer and this is more easily done by hopping around on their transportation systems.

I think the number of people that will make the effort to get to a location to ride the Skyliner will be minimal. Some yes, but not enough to affect my trip. Pop Century alone has 2,880 rooms, Art of Animation has 1,120 and CB has 2,112 rooms. Just those 3 resorts alone have close to 20,000 people staying in them. Do we really think 'extras' riding for fun will even dent those numbers? Personally, I don't.

I think you would be very surprised as to how many people ride things without paying for them, but I have no data to back this up. Where else can I ride a plane, bus, boat, train, gondola (I can think of only 2 free gondolas) just to "check it out" without paying for it? The issue I have is that I am paying for this, so why shouldn't they?

Restricting access to the Skyliner to only park /resort guests will never happen as long as it's considered a mode of transportation. If you want this, you have to do the same thing to buses, boats, monorails and the ferry at the TTC. Now with security being moved to the TTC, that changes the ferry a bit but because they are not scanning MB's at security, a non park guest could still ride the ferry.

It's a lousy idea from a business standpoint. It's a transportation system, not an attraction. However it is a transportation system that could be an attraction. So, it either stays as is, meaning open to all at no additional cost, or Disney sells tickets to it and all other forms of transportation.

Be careful what you wish for as your wish might just come true. Remember in Tokyo, the monorail requires it's own ticket. Charging for transportation could be implemented at WDW, which would be a huge cash cow. Resort cost won't go down either. That transportation charge to the resorts will just be allocated to another line item.

It is already a line item that I pay for as a Riviera DVC owner. Anyone who is a hotel guest along the gondolas or park guest is already paying for it as well as a line item. Guests at the Tokyo Disney resorts get a monorail pass. Source is the official Tokyo Disney site:

Convenient Monorail and Shuttle Bus Service for Free
A complimentary pass for the Disney Resort Line monorail, which links the major areas of the Resort, is available for Guests staying at Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta or Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. Guests who wish to use the monorail can request a pass at their Hotel or at the Hotel Service Counter on the station level of the Tokyo Disney Resort Welcome Center. Complimentary shuttle bus service aboard the Disney Resort Cruiser is provided between the Disney Ambassador Hotel and the Disney Parks. https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/hotel/dh/privilege

Also, I believe you can walk instead of using the monorail in Tokyo, so that comparison will not work here as you cannot walk to AoA, Pop, Riviera, or CBR from the parks. If I could walk versus anything else, I am going to walk unless the weather is horrific.

Bottom line, I don't think people should be paying for the gondolas while others ride a mode of transportation for free. Let them pay like we do. That'll cut down on the crowds IMO. If you are staying at one of the resorts which the gondolas service or going to the parks, then you have paid for the right to ride the gondolas. If you aren't, then you need to pay for a pass. Whether it's a minimal number of people or a large number of people riding for free shouldn't matter. Everyone who rides should pay for it rather than only charging hotel and park guests.

 

[Brianstl]

Tokyo has to charge for monorail rides because Japanese law requires it. That is why there is a charge for the monorail at the Japanese parks.