i said this on a different thread, but it deserves to be here: Come on, guys, you are making it sound like Disney and Dopplemeyer are like a bunch of kids building a tree house with a rope between it and the next tree. You make it sound like engineers, very smart people, have never considered the problems that might come with gondolas. But that isn't the case, even if this first system is really just the 'technology demonstrator model' for Disney World.
The first, PASSENGER Gondola systems were built in the 1930s. Dopplemeyer, the company Disney has selected has been building machinery for 120 years and specializing in gondolas for decades. They are definitely recognized as some of the world leaders in Gondola technology. Disney knows where Disney World is. They have half a century of dealing with the weather here. They know it is hot in summer. And that there is lightning. And that some storms bring a pretty good wind component. They even know that once in a while, the hurricanes also want to visit Disney World. So, I am sure they took ALL of that into account. You need to realize that Disney is NOT just building more transportation. It is building THE transportation system of the future. If any of those things was going to be a significant problem, and they couldn't design or build around it, then they would NOT have chosen this.
I mean, like wow. Have you ever heard the saying that you don't know what you don't know? Well most people DON'T really KNOW about gondolas. But they STILL think that they DO know about gondolas. And they are wrong.