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

[CarolynFH]

The boats take at least 25 minutes from departure at IG to DHS, not including waiting for a boat and waiting your turn to deboard. I think the Skyliner will beat that easily.

I don't see any way the gondolas will be slower than the boats. You can easily beat the boats walking. Then add in that you don't have to wait for the gondolas to show up.

I’m sure the gondola won’t be slower. I also think the gondola will be faster, but the transfer time at CBR will determine how much faster. If there’s a long line at IG and/or CBR, even if constantly moving, it might be close.

I’m looking forward to finding out how the CBR & Riviera stations are organized.

 

[The Pho]

I don't see any way the gondolas will be slower than the boats. You can easily beat the boats walking. Then add in that you don't have to wait for the gondolas to show up.

I see the Gondola taking about half the time of the boat, 15 minutes vs 30 minutes. But that's assuming that Disney chooses to run the Gondolas at full speed all the time (they'll also have to determine a wind threshold for slower and no operation, since those numbers vary wildly across resorts, even with wind being a minor issue in Orlando). They could also decide to run them slower for operational reasons, I doubt we'll see lines for the Gondolas either way apart from at Park close (how often has anybody encountered more than a single full bus at any time other than park close). I don't expect it to be often but we will see times where the boat and Gondolas take the same amount of time.

 

[OSUPhantom]

If the skyliner ends up being a hit my hope is they extend these lines to Old Key West and Saratoga to make those Resorts more accessible. Maybe even extend it to Animal kingdom one day.

 

[kandb]

Since the Riviera Hotel is not built yet (by the way, where is it going?), when the gondola opens in the spring, will it stop at the station at the "Riviera" hotel??? or is it just continuous to the next station??? Sorry, need to read more pages

 

[dina444444]

Since the Riviera Hotel is not built yet (by the way, where is it going?), when the gondola opens in the spring, will it stop at the station at the "Riviera" hotel??? or is it just continuous to the next station??? Sorry, need to read more pages

The Rivera hotel is going to open next fall. It’s on the CBR plot of land, where old rooms were torn down a couple of years ago. It’s pretty well built up already. Pic from bioreconstruct.

 

[joelkfla]

Since the Riviera Hotel is not built yet (by the way, where is it going?), when the gondola opens in the spring, will it stop at the station at the "Riviera" hotel??? or is it just continuous to the next station??? Sorry, need to read more pages

Gondolas never stop. They just slow down and the doors open so people can get off and on. If the Riviera is not ready when the Skyliner opens, they can just disable the door opening mechanism at the station.

(There's speculation that Disney's Skyliner is uniquely designed to allow a small percentage of cabins to be diverted offline and stopped for wheelchair loading.)

 

[Q-man]

I see the Gondola taking about half the time of the boat, 15 minutes vs 30 minutes. But that's assuming that Disney chooses to run the Gondolas at full speed all the time (they'll also have to determine a wind threshold for slower and no operation, since those numbers vary wildly across resorts, even with wind being a minor issue in Orlando). They could also decide to run them slower for operational reasons, I doubt we'll see lines for the Gondolas either way apart from at Park close (how often has anybody encountered more than a single full bus at any time other than park close). I don't expect it to be often but we will see times where the boat and Gondolas take the same amount of time.

Wind? They run these in the mountains. Gale force is fine.

Closing crowds for even time comps? Who's going to closed parks?

Why would they slow the Skyliner down? It costs a pittance for energy compared to buses. The numbers, that can be found in the first 60 pages, are it will cost less than $500/day for the power to run the gondolas. If guests are on a wire they can't spend money in a park or resort.

 

[The Pho]

Wind? They run these in the mountains. Gale force is fine.

Closing crowds for even time comps? Who's going to closed parks?

Why would they slow the Skyliner down? It costs a pittance for energy compared to buses. The numbers, that can be found in the first 60 pages, are it will cost less than $500/day for the power to run the gondolas. If guests are on a wire they can't spend money in a park or resort.

Every ski resort runs them in wind, but they shut them off at different amounts of wind. Some will run above 70 MPH, and others won't run beyond 20 MPH. We do not know where Disney's threshold will be. And within that, there is a secondary threshold for operating at slower speeds for safety. At that threshold the boats will take about the same amount of time. However that shouldn't be a problem very often since they do not have high winds that much.

And by closing crowds, I mean that park close will be the only time of day there should be any meaningful wait for the Gondola. Meaning it should be reliably faster nearly 100% of the time.

 

[skier_pete]

I think the gondola will be reliably faster than the boats going park to park, but not sure about the resorts. For instance, from DHS to BCV is only about 15 minutes, not counting the wait for the boat. To hop on the gondola, change stations, and then walk back to resort could possibly be slower than the boat. Boardwalk will be a little more of a toss up, though again will people want to make that extra walk. I could also see though at night it relieving some of the pressure off the boats. We took the boats at closing from DHS last month, leaving after fantasmic but before the star wars fireworks. The line for the boat was long enough that we didn't get on the first boat that had just arrived, but did get on the second one. I could see People behind us having to wait for even a third boat, which means your boat wait at end of day could be 30-45 minutes. If some people take the gondola back to BC and BW, it will not only be faster for them, but it will relieve some of the end of day stress on the boats, making it at least so you rarely have to wait more than one boat. (Swan and Dolpin folks would I think never benefit from the gondola.) The boat crowds aren't as bad from epcot, as many BC/YC people walk, and my guess is at least some BW people do as well - and it's unlikely ANY Epcot resort folks would take the gondola from IG since even S/D would be faster to wait for the boat there than gondola to DHS and still have to take a boat. (Basically S/D guests will never take the gondola back, but may benefit from it as it draws people from the boats.

 

[Q-man]

Every ski resort runs them in wind, but they shut them off at different amounts of wind. Some will run above 70 MPH, and others won't run beyond 20 MPH. We do not know where Disney's threshold will be. And within that, there is a secondary threshold for operating at slower speeds for safety. At that threshold the boats will take about the same amount of time. However that shouldn't be a problem very often since they do not have high winds that much.

And by closing crowds, I mean that park close will be the only time of day there should be any meaningful wait for the Gondola. Meaning it should be reliably faster nearly 100% of the time.

The spec are somewhere in the first 60 pages. This system is a multiple rope system and is designed to be able to run in gale force winds.

 

[joelkfla]

The spec are somewhere in the first 60 pages. This system is a multiple rope system and is designed to be able to run in gale force winds.

Not "multiple rope". It's a monocable detachable gondola.

 

[OSUZorba]

Every ski resort runs them in wind, but they shut them off at different amounts of wind. Some will run above 70 MPH, and others won't run beyond 20 MPH. We do not know where Disney's threshold will be. And within that, there is a secondary threshold for operating at slower speeds for safety. At that threshold the boats will take about the same amount of time. However that shouldn't be a problem very often since they do not have high winds that much.

And by closing crowds, I mean that park close will be the only time of day there should be any meaningful wait for the Gondola. Meaning it should be reliably faster nearly 100% of the time.

I'd think any wind speed that actually had an affect of the gondolas would likely shut down the boats. I'm not sure what their max is, but I doubt they'd be running in 50 mph wind.

But it also isn't the mountains or the great plains where you can get 50 mph winds on clear days.

 

[The Pho]

I'd think any wind speed that actually had an affect of the gondolas would likely shut down the boats. I'm not sure what their max is, but I doubt they'd be running in 50 mph wind.

But it also isn't the mountains or the great plains where you can get 50 mph winds on clear days.

I don't see a shut down happening other than for Tropical Storms/ Hurricanes. It's more the wind that could cause slower operations leading to the Gondolas and Boats taking about the same amount of time. That's the only scenario I can see where the Gondolas will not be quicker. And I think that situation will be rare.

 

[jade1]

Boardwalk will be a little more of a toss up, though again will people want to make that extra walk.

Yea BW room locations can make a big difference. If a boat is sitting at DHS, a case could be made to take it to S/D, and walk 250 yards to the closest BWV rooms entrance on that side. The closest BWV rooms to DHS are 1,000 yards. But you could stay on and ride the boat to the BW dock as well.

But yea if the boat just left might want to walk.

And if I'm at BC and the boat just left-I will take the gondola to IG and walk.

and it's unlikely ANY Epcot resort folks would take the gondola from IG since even S/D would be faster to wait for the boat there than gondola to DHS and still have to take a boat.

Pretty true, although there are BC rooms twice as close to IG Gondola than the BC boat launch. Plus the privacy and fun of it all (gondola) of course.

 

[skier_pete]

Pretty true, although there are BC rooms twice as close to IG Gondola than the BC boat launch. Plus the privacy and fun of it all (gondola) of course.

I am not sure how that relates to the quote from me. I am referencing leaving Epcot through the IG gateway. While I agree some rooms at BC/YC might make someone want to take the boat back rather than walk, they still would never hop on the gondola to get to BC/YC from the IG. And yes, there are rooms at BW that are closer to DHS than to Epcot, but I still don't foresee someone taking the gondola from Epcot to DHS and then walking back to the BW. Even the furthest room at BWV would still be closer to the boat dock - so you would just take the boat from IG to BW, and then walk from there.

So I stand by my statement. No one will take the gondola from the IG to DHS to get back to BC/YC, BW, or S/D.

 

[skier_pete]

I wanted to write this in a separate post;

Wind will almost never (outside of Tropical Storm or Hurricane conditions) close down the gondolas. The big question mark is what will be the lightning policy. Our last trip I found out a little more about the companies lightning policy. They close the pools if there is any lightning within a 6 mile radius. Certain rides/shows will also close with a similar policy.(This happened at Indiana Jones for us.) I did not find the exact policy for the boats (is it still 6 miles?) but from what I've been able to find, they don't typically shut down the monorail. I have to imagine there will be a lightning policy for these things, and certainly then being shut down on summer afternoons will be very common.

 

[jade1]

I am not sure how that relates to the quote from me. I am referencing leaving Epcot through the IG gateway. While I agree some rooms at BC/YC might make someone want to take the boat back rather than walk, they still would never hop on the gondola to get to BC/YC from the IG. And yes, there are rooms at BW that are closer to DHS than to Epcot, but I still don't foresee someone taking the gondola from Epcot to DHS and then walking back to the BW. Even the furthest room at BWV would still be closer to the boat dock - so you would just take the boat from IG to BW, and then walk from there.

So I stand by my statement. No one will take the gondola from the IG to DHS to get back to BC/YC, BW, or S/D.

Ah I got ya, I had it completely backwards that no EPCOT Resort guest would take the gondola to DHS (that currently many people walk to DHS), but agree it would make zero sense to take the gondola to an EPCOT Resort.

 

[skier_pete]

Ah I got ya, I had it completely backwards that no EPCOT Resort guest would take the gondola to DHS (that currently many people walk to DHS), but agree it would make zero sense to take the gondola to an EPCOT Resort.

No, in fact you are right here with what you are saying - you could possibly get some BW or BC guests walk to the IG to take the gondola to DHS. However, I don't think that would be really very common:

The boats come through every 15 minutes, and if I am at say BC the most I wait for a boat is 15 minutes + the 15 minute ride to DHS - so 15 -30 minutes from BC to DHS by boat. Otherwise, the walk to IG takes maybe 10 minutes and then 15 minutes via gondola, so 25 minutes via gondola vs 15-30 minutes by boat, plus an extra 1/4-1/2 mile of walking to the gondola - it's not going to be a popular option.

BW maybe a little more common - since you have 2 stops before you get to DHS, so if you hoof it over to IG and hop the gondola, you might save 10-15 minutes versus a boat, but again the added walking will negate a lot of desire to do this.

 

[jade1]

No, in fact you are right here with what you are saying - you could possibly get some BW or BC guests walk to the IG to take the gondola to DHS. However, I don't think that would be really very common:

The boats come through every 15 minutes, and if I am at say BC the most I wait for a boat is 15 minutes + the 15 minute ride to DHS - so 15 -30 minutes from BC to DHS by boat. Otherwise, the walk to IG takes maybe 10 minutes and then 15 minutes via gondola, so 25 minutes via gondola vs 15-30 minutes by boat, plus an extra 1/4-1/2 mile of walking to the gondola - it's not going to be a popular option.

BW maybe a little more common - since you have 2 stops before you get to DHS, so if you hoof it over to IG and hop the gondola, you might save 10-15 minutes versus a boat, but again the added walking will negate a lot of desire to do this.

Yep all makes sense, at least for most BC rooms.

Many BC rooms are closer to the IG gondola than the BC boat launch, some by a lot. Like 200 yards to IG or 400 yards to the launch, so room location can matter.

In that case you would be on the gondola for a 15 min ride, or still have 200 yards to walk to the launch, then maybe wait 15 minutes before the boat even arrives.

So that puts you at DHS the same time the BC Boat arrives.

However any YC rooms won't make sense IMO.

ETA: BCV is about 50 yards closer to IG.

So BCV rooms will always be faster to DHS by using the gondola than the boat. Other than any odd early am situations.

It will just come down to how long the boat wait is, prob 1 to 15 minutes longer by boat for BCV guests.

 

[joelkfla]

For comparison: I was browsing around Doppelmayr's web site, and found that the 2016-built Giggijoch Mountain Gondola in Sölden, Austria, currently holds the capacity record for all monocable ropeways, carrying 4,500 pph at 14.5 mph in 10-passenger cabins.

ETA: more info: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/news/record-breaking-gondola-opens-in-solden/

ETA: This video talks about some new features used to increase capacity. Could be a hint to what we'll see on Disney's Skyliner.

ETA: Video of ride. Not so relevant to Disney, but beautiful. Deboarding and boarding are on the same side of the station, with 10 cabins in the boarding area at once!