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

[Ms.Minnie]

Does anybody know if the Skyliner is running again? Are they still busing guests from AoA/PoP/CBR to the BW bus stop?

 

[mshanson3121]

Maybe because I had to skim through 4 pages of talk about it today with at least 2 people asking if they were running the skylingers today, which never got answered. My trip is in less than 3 weeks, I"m coming here to find out if it's running, testing, not doing anything etc so I can properly plan my stay because I'm staying at pop and one night includes going to CBR for dinner and without the skyliner we have to go elsewhere.

Glad to see they appear to be getting ready for long lines, unless it's just a use what's there to keep people out barrier. Not that those are effective at that at all.

Or, you could look on the Disney website (still says closed, quick check), call the resort and ask, ask on the transportation board...

Having to eat elsewhere is a pretty big over-reaction. You can still take a bus to TTC and grab a bus to CBR, take a Minnie Lyft or just hire an Uber on the (good) chance Skyliner is still down.

 

[Carol_]

Yes you give the Disney Experience app permission to use GPS but it is not known if the app actually sends your location data back to Disney. Assume it does that doesn't mean that the fire fighter rescuing you is going to have it either. On top of that if someone calls and their phone dies before someone comes to rescue them they might not have it either. They can't rely on that for rescue. They need something simple and efficient. I think the numbers on the cabins work for that.

I called 911 recently in VA and they had no clue where I was even after I had given them an exact address. Don’t believe the hype. Messages get lost in grapevines of communication. Don’t expect magic.
That said, I also recently called 911 from a Magic Kingdom LAND LINE (was surprised again they didn’t know from where I was calling) but once I told them, the EMTs showed up with quickness.
Side note: They likely saved Mom’s life by getting a line in her and reinflating her. Side side note: Celebration hospital’s quite nice. Side note3: CM Megan who drove us was lovely, and thanks Disney for the taxi voucher!

 

[JaxDad]

Any further posts regarding heat and AC will be removed. Please post about the operations of the Skyliner. This is the news and rumors forum not the transportation board. If you want to discuss comfortability go there.

Thanks @rteetz ! You're doing a great job, as always.

 

[hertamaniac]

That article is far from conclusive on how this would function. High charging rate, would be accompanied by faster-than-a-battery discharging rate. There's a reason capacitors aren't used in place of batteries everywhere.

When following one of the links in the article, it states that these are used on gondolas that make a "5 minute trip."

Googling further, I discovered something surprising. That gondola system had an outage that lasted 40 minutes about a month after it opened.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/o...ip-cable-car-breaks-down-in-searing-heat.html
In the above article, a passenger that had ridden on a normal, 5-minute trip, had this to say: "“When we got on there it took only about five minutes and it was very hot so I can’t imagine what it was like up there for more than half and hour.”

So, it's debatable that this Emirates gondola line is a quality example of air conditioning working on a gondola.

Whether or not air conditioning is technologically possible, I was opposed to it because of this exact scenario that occurred at Disney. Here's why:

1) There is just no real engineering answer to practically air condition a gondola for 3+ hours in Florida. The London AC gondola system that is being held up as the example of this can't even cool one for 5 minutes - in London.

2) An AC gondola stuck in the air for 3 hours would be way more uncomfortable than a gondola designed for passive cooling - because the AC will quit long before 3 hours. A gondola that is designed for AC would not also be equipped with the same amount of rider-controlled passive cooling because it would defeat the AC when people opened the windows. So, window use by the riders would be severely limited, by design. Even emergency windows would not be designed to cool as well as an entire cabin that was designed with passive cooling.

A passively cooled gondola is not as comfortable as sitting in air conditioning. It's just not. But it is the only practical type of gondola to use for comfort and even safety. This breakdown really proves that because no one has ever proposed an AC solution that lasts for 3 hours.

Due to the current thread restrictions, I cannot comment technically and via engineering why a solution may be possible (this is directly in my wheelhouse as part of an energy storage/battery company). As such, if there is a thread on the transportation forum, I can expand our evaluation(s) there.

 

[afan]

Or, you could look on the Disney website (still says closed, quick check), call the resort and ask, ask on the transportation board...

Having to eat elsewhere is a pretty big over-reaction. You can still take a bus to TTC and grab a bus to CBR, take a Minnie Lyft or just hire an Uber on the (good) chance Skyliner is still down.

Because I'm looking for News on the skyliner which is the entire point of this thread being on the News & Rumors board.

I'm not looking for another way to get somewhere, which I already know, or discussion about something that will never happen. All of that belongs on the transportation board and if I wanted something other than News on if the skyliner waa running I'd go there.

People, including the mod, have asked the conversation to go back to updates and News and I can guarantee it's not the first or even the third time it's happened in this thread.

Now all the arguing about what is or isn't considered News may get the thread closed, which I hope not.

 

[Lewisc]

I called 911 recently in VA and they had no clue where I was even after I had given them an exact address. Don’t believe the hype. Messages get lost in grapevines of communication. Don’t expect magic.
That said, I also recently called 911 from a Magic Kingdom LAND LINE (was surprised again they didn’t know from where I was calling) but once I told them, the EMTs showed up with quickness.
Side note: They likely saved Mom’s life by getting a line in her and reinflating her. Side side note: Celebration hospital’s quite nice. Side note3: CM Megan who drove us was lovely, and thanks Disney for the taxi voucher!

I had responded to the poster who said a court warrant would be necessary before emergency services could allow an emergency operator use a phones GPS location. operator. 911 operators get access to a cell phones location. VoIP calls, primarily landlines, don't always offer information regarding location of caller.

That said asking for the gondola number seems like a logical way to determine location.

 

[Lewisc]

Any further posts regarding heat and AC will be removed. Please post about the operations of the Skyliner. This is the news and rumors forum not the transportation board. If you want to discuss comfortability go there.

Posters have noted many stoppages, some a minute or two some longer. Do you know if this had been occurring on all 3 lines or was it predominately in the EPCOT line. I wonder how much if the difficulties are caused by the Riviera station.

This AC diversion resulted from the fake facts poster who claimed the skyliner won't be reopening until AC gets retrofitted.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Because I'm looking for News on the skyliner which is the entire point of this thread being on the News & Rumors board.

I'm not looking for another way to get somewhere, which I already know, or discussion about something that will never happen. All of that belongs on the transportation board and if I wanted something other than News on if the skyliner waa running I'd go there.

People, including the mod, have asked the conversation to go back to updates and News and I can guarantee it's not the first or even the third time it's happened in this thread.

Now all the arguing about what is or isn't considered News may get the thread closed, which I hope not.

as to the news about status of the Skyliner - I think at this point no one knows for certain. We know they have been running/testing the system and the fact they are putting up those stanchions for creating a queue makes me think they are thinking about opening at some point relatively soon, but really can't say for certain the timeframe

 

[SarahD112]

I think making a thread about the skyliner in the transportation forum is a great idea. All the best to you. Now...does anyone know if it’s running this morning?

 

[paradesintherain]

My goodness people.

Anyway, I’m still excited about the gondolas and eagerly awaiting their successful return!

 

[UmmGooD]

I called 911 recently in VA and they had no clue where I was even after I had given them an exact address. Don’t believe the hype. Messages get lost in grapevines of communication. Don’t expect magic.
That said, I also recently called 911 from a Magic Kingdom LAND LINE (was surprised again they didn’t know from where I was calling) but once I told them, the EMTs showed up with quickness.
Side note: They likely saved Mom’s life by getting a line in her and reinflating her. Side side note: Celebration hospital’s quite nice. Side note3: CM Megan who drove us was lovely, and thanks Disney for the taxi voucher!

That's my point. Just because GPS is possible doesn't mean they have your location when you call.

I had responded to the poster who said a court warrant would be necessary before emergency services could allow an emergency operator use a phones GPS location. operator. 911 operators get access to a cell phones location. VoIP calls, primarily landlines, don't always offer information regarding location of caller.

That said asking for the gondola number seems like a logical way to determine location.

The tech exists to get your GPS from your phone but does that particular 911 operator have the systems needed to get it? Maybe/maybe not. Remember these are government systems and they could be 10 years old which is too old to have this tech. Plus each 911 center is payed by different jurisdictions so who knows if they green lit an upgrade since the tech was available. Just look at websites for government offices. They aren't the latest and greatest. We are lucky they are on the web at all. Add to that that if some hiccup occurs between your phone, which might be roaming at the time (especially if you are from out of state), they might not be able to get it either. Just too many variables to rely on it. That is why I wouldn't expect them to use it as the primary means of determining what gondola someone is on.

 

[Heelish]

I think making a thread about the skyliner in the transportation forum is a great idea. All the best to you. Now...does anyone know if it’s running this morning?

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/disney-testing-skyliner-gondola-system-for-reopening
"There is no set timeline for when the Skyliner will officially reopen to the public, but if you do see those gondolas moving around, that is because they are still reviewing the transportation system."

 

[scrappinginontario]

Does anybody know if the Skyliner is running again? Are they still busing guests from AoA/PoP/CBR to the BW bus stop?

No, it is not running and an opening date has not been announced.

Due to the current thread restrictions, I cannot comment technically and via engineering why a solution may be possible (this is directly in my wheelhouse as part of an energy storage/battery company). As such, if there is a thread on the transportation forum, I can expand our evaluation(s) there.

You are welcome to start a thread on the transportation board if there is not one stared.

 

[rteetz]

Posters have noted many stoppages, some a minute or two some longer. Do you know if this had been occurring on all 3 lines or was it predominately in the EPCOT line. I wonder how much if the difficulties are caused by the Riviera station.

This AC diversion resulted from the fake facts poster who claimed the skyliner won't be reopening until AC gets retrofitted.

Stoppages have and will occur on all three lines. Stoppages are usually due to guests boarding or getting off and not doing so in time. Stoppages will also vary in length.

 

[rteetz]

I personally think your comment is a little over the top, but maybe it's prophetic...
View attachment 443154

The what I actually do is pretty accurate.

 

[hertamaniac]

You are welcome to start a thread on the transportation board if there is not one stared.

I am already checking with the moderator for the proper location.

 

[rteetz]

As a moderator (since some of us seem confused on what I do) my job is to enforce the rules we have and make sure the conversations are moving on topic and everyone is being civil.

Something like the accident thread got out of hand hence the closing. This thread is meant to be informative. It’s 514 pages and was started over two years ago. The AC debate has been had since the beginning. That is why we need to move on from it. It’s an endless debate. Like I have said before I don’t care if we talk about evacuation procedures but myself and I know many others have had enough of the heat discussions.

As of right now the Skyliner is still not operating for the public but has been testing without people for days.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

No, it is not running and an opening date has not been announced.

Thanks for the answer. Do you know if they are still running buses from AoA/PoP/CBR to the BW for guest to enter through IG?

 

[Anthony Vito]

So I was regularly reading this thread during the spring and summer, then I got behind for a month or two (Had a trip in mid-August, then a kid-free weekend at the end of October - once the opening date was 9/29, became less important for me to keep up on it as much). I actually had the thread opened in a window last week because I wanted to catch up on it since it opened with reports on it and also with details on the Riviera station, since there was a lot of speculation for a while on how it would work with loading ECVs, etc. Then, before I got a chance to take the time and sit down and catch up, this incident happened and blew everything up.

It's been addressed a bit with the discussion of this incident, but I don't know how much it was addressed around the time of opening: I'm very curious about why they didn't design something better for ECV loading at Riviera station. I think the prevailing thought that a lot of the stoppages (prior to this mess) were due to stopping the line to load ECVs, etc., at Riviera. Obviously that's not all of the reasons, since the line was stopped just prior to this incident and, based on the posts from the people in the first yellow car, loading was not the reason. It seems that frequent stopping for loading ECV guests is going to really put a damper on the running of the Epcot (the longest) line and could significantly slow down travel times. It also, I imagine, could really take people out of the enjoyment of the ride.

I understand there are more difficulties with the design since it's an in-line station as opposed to an end station like the others. Could they have designed a side loop off the line in the station that would work similarly to the loops at the other stations, but would just have to be off to the side. Obviously, that would make the design of the station have to have a much bigger footprint and lead to some other design requirements, likely having to have the entrance come up between the main line and the side loop, but something like that would have seemed to be a vast improvement. Given that they saw fit to address the potential issue at all of the other stations, it was obviously thought that such a design would increase efficiency on the line. Having the station right in the middle of the longest line without such a design takes away a bit from the forward-thinking of the other stations. Any other thoughts/issues from the engineers on this thread that I missed on this?