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

[skier_pete]

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/12/photo...oncept-art-released-epcot-construction-walls/

So I want to say, based on these pictures, I do NOT think we are going to see these Gondolas being capable of taking wheelchair and ECV passengers. Look at the shot below. This is the first good view we have had of the entire station. There is clearly not a big loading area here. There looks to be about 8 to 10 cabs in the gondola station at any one time. That would indicate to me that the load /unload time will be somewhere around 60-80 seconds - not really enough time to be loading ECVs. There is certainly no place for a gondola to disconnect. Then look at the second image - especially the car in the forefront on the left. This shows what looks like 3 people sitting in the cab. It makes the gondolas look like they are probably in the 4-6 person size, not larger. Again, quite unlikely to see a wheelchair or ECV fit into one of these gondolas.

So - I'm thinking that this confirms they will still run buses or some sort of shuttle service to the parks. They will need something for wheelchairs and ECVs, as well as those that have a fear of heights and won't ride the gondolas - of course we basically knew that already, but it really does show that they won't be taking wheelchairs and ECVs on the gondolas.

 

[wareagle57]

The gondolas in the DHS art look different than the ones in the Epcot art and the ones we've seen ahead of time. Especially the one in the air with the people that you mentioned. It looks like the wide part of the car is facing forward/backwards, with the narrow side being the one you load into. All the other concept art looks like the opposite.

 

[Turn the Page]

So I want to say, based on these pictures, I do NOT think we are going to see these Gondolas being capable of taking wheelchair and ECV passengers. Look at the shot below. This is the first good view we have had of the entire station. There is clearly not a big loading area here. There looks to be about 8 to 10 cabs in the gondola station at any one time. That would indicate to me that the load /unload time will be somewhere around 60-80 seconds - not really enough time to be loading ECVs. There is certainly no place for a gondola to disconnect. Then look at the second image - especially the car in the forefront on the left. This shows what looks like 3 people sitting in the cab. It makes the gondolas look like they are probably in the 4-6 person size, not larger. Again, quite unlikely to see a wheelchair or ECV fit into one of these gondolas.

So - I'm thinking that this confirms they will still run buses or some sort of shuttle service to the parks. They will need something for wheelchairs and ECVs, as well as those that have a fear of heights and won't ride the gondolas - of course we basically knew that already, but it really does show that they won't be taking wheelchairs and ECVs on the gondolas.

I will preface this comment by openly admitting that no one will ever accuse me of being mechanical in any way whatsoever.

However, that said, I disagree with your comment that there is no room for the cars to come off the cable. That set up looks like every high speech chairlift I've ever been on and the chairs always come off the track on those. Also, in the picture you can see how close together the cars are in the station. They have clearly come off the track there.

I'm also kind of anticipating this being more like the monorail than the buses meaning people will be able to just drive the ECV's directly on and be able to stay on them without tying them down or anything like they do on the buses. That would certainly greatly reduce load time. If your 60 to 80 second time frame is accurate there won't be time for dilly dallying but there should be plenty of time to get them on if all that's required is simply wheeling them on.

I'm also picturing a moving walkway a la HM or the Peoplemover which may help the process.

Are you seeing something different than I am?

 

[skier_pete]

I will preface this comment by openly admitting that no one will ever accuse me of being mechanical in any way whatsoever.

However, that said, I disagree with your comment that there is no room for the cars to come off the cable. That set up looks like every high speech chairlift I've ever been on and the chairs always come off the track on those. Also, in the picture you can see how close together the cars are in the station. They have clearly come off the track there.

I'm also kind of anticipating this being more like the monorail than the buses meaning people will be able to just drive the ECV's directly on and be able to stay on them without tying them down or anything like they do on the buses. That would certainly greatly reduce load time. If your 60 to 80 second time frame is accurate there won't be time for dilly dallying but there should be plenty of time to get them on if all that's required is simply wheeling them on.

I'm also picturing a moving walkway a la HM or the Peoplemover which may help the process.

Are you seeing something different than I am?

I am not saying they won't come off the cable. I just don't think the station is large enough for them to be in it long enough to load wheelchairs / ECVs. Realistically, they need to have time to unload/load each car. A "normal" car may have say 6 people in it, and takes 30 seconds to unload, and 30 seconds to load. An ECV or wheelchair, however, will take longer to load /unload - perhaps 60-90 seconds. In order to do that, one of two things has to occur - each gondola needs to stay in the station for at least 120 seconds OR certain ECV gondolas need to be able to come "off track" to be loaded. If they are showing only about 8 gondolas in the station and they are typically about 10 seconds apart, that means each gondola will be in the station for at most 80 seconds for off-loading and loading. That is not nearly enough time to off-load regular passengers (30 seconds) and load an ECV (90 seconds).

The one place I could be wrong is if they space the gondolas further apart. Perhaps a gondola only arrives every 20 seconds, but the images of them in the air look like they are pretty close together.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't believe there is any indication any of the Disney ones will have glass floors, just as an FYI

I didn't expect that they would even though it could be interesting.

 

[rteetz]

I am not saying they won't come off the cable. I just don't think the station is large enough for them to be in it long enough to load wheelchairs / ECVs. Realistically, they need to have time to unload/load each car. A "normal" car may have say 6 people in it, and takes 30 seconds to unload, and 30 seconds to load. An ECV or wheelchair, however, will take longer to load /unload - perhaps 60-90 seconds. In order to do that, one of two things has to occur - each gondola needs to stay in the station for at least 120 seconds OR certain ECV gondolas need to be able to come "off track" to be loaded. If they are showing only about 8 gondolas in the station and they are typically about 10 seconds apart, that means each gondola will be in the station for at most 80 seconds for off-loading and loading. That is not nearly enough time to off-load regular passengers (30 seconds) and load an ECV (90 seconds).

The one place I could be wrong is if they space the gondolas further apart. Perhaps a gondola only arrives every 20 seconds, but the images of them in the air look like they are pretty close together.

Remember these are concept images. Not necessarily what it will look like from an operational standpoint.

 

[CarolynFH]

Remember these are concept images. Not necessarily what it will look like from an operational standpoint.

I agree. Having seen concept art for multiple attractions in the past (sorry I can't find and post examples), I wouldn't depend on these images to provide any but the most general idea of what the final product will look like or how it will function.

 

[umichigan10]

Remember these are concept images. Not necessarily what it will look like from an operational standpoint.

I agree. Having seen concept art for multiple attractions in the past (sorry I can't find and post examples), I wouldn't depend on these images to provide any but the most general idea of what the final product will look like or how it will function.

Exactly. They’re just trying to give you an idea of what things will look like (especially the stations) while not necessarily accounting for scale

 

[skier_pete]

Remember these are concept images. Not necessarily what it will look like from an operational standpoint.

i understand that, and certainly the image of the 3 people in the gondola could not mean much, but I think the layout of the gondola station is pretty telling.

 

[sndral]

I just cannot imagine them designing a system which would not be ADA compliant, thus I predict that there will be ECV access.
Whether the drivers of the ECVs can in fact maneuver them on to the gondolas efficiently is another question and based on the number of ECV drivers I’ve seen unable to maneuver up the bus ramps without multiple tries I’m curious as to how efficient the gondola system will be given the WDW demographic - especially when we throw in strollers larger than compact cars

 

[Buckeye218]

From a logistical standpoint, I think that's the best plan (not to allow ECV's/wheelchairs). If they *did* decide to allow it, I'd think it'd be limited to every 8-10 cars or so. Then, they may need a side load/unload station just for those cars where that car comes off the cable. Many ECV's/wheelchairs could take much longer than 60-90 seconds to unload and my personal observation is that many people struggle to operate those machines through narrow passageways as well.

 

[skier_pete]

I just cannot imagine them designing a system which would not be ADA compliant, thus I predict that there will be ECV access.
Whether the drivers of the ECVs can in fact maneuver them on to the gondolas efficiently is another question and based on the number of ECV drivers I’ve seen unable to maneuver up the bus ramps without multiple tries I’m curious as to how efficient the gondola system will be given the WDW demographic - especially when we throw in strollers larger than compact cars

Even though I'm the one that observed otherwise, I agree they will likely need to be ADA compliant. I wonder if you can be ADA compliant and still not allow ECVs? This system might be able to handle wheelchairs, but I think getting an ECV locked and loaded in the limited time allowed will be nearly impossible.

 

[MommaBerd]

If memory serves me correctly, ADA says you have to provide access and reasonable accommodations. If this was the ONLY method of getting to the parks and they did not allow for ECVs and wheelchairs, then they would be in violation. But since there are other methods of transportation, they may have the option of not making these accessible.

All that being said, the PR/optics of not making accommodations would likely be tough to navigate, especially for a company which traditionally goes to great lengths to offer accommodations.

 

[HopperFan]

Even though I'm the one that observed otherwise, I agree they will likely need to be ADA compliant. I wonder if you can be ADA compliant and still not allow ECVs? This system might be able to handle wheelchairs, but I think getting an ECV locked and loaded in the limited time allowed will be nearly impossible.

If memory serves me correctly, ADA says you have to provide access and reasonable accommodations. If this was the ONLY method of getting to the parks and they did not allow for ECVs and wheelchairs, then they would be in violation. But since there are other methods of transportation, they may have the option of not making these accessible.

All that being said, the PR/optics of not making accommodations would likely be tough to navigate, especially for a company which traditionally goes to great lengths to offer accommodations.

There are plenty of attractions at Disney that are not accessible. Even brand new attractions (Navi) have not made it a priority. These could be viewed as another attraction that happens to double as transportation, just like the MK sky buckets were a way to get across the park. As long as they provide buses to the same parks from each resort and park, then I would think they are fully compliant in providing transportation to all.

 

[Q-man]

Even though I'm the one that observed otherwise, I agree they will likely need to be ADA compliant. I wonder if you can be ADA compliant and still not allow ECVs? This system might be able to handle wheelchairs, but I think getting an ECV locked and loaded in the limited time allowed will be nearly impossible.

I wouldn't think they'd need to be locked on the Skyliner.

 

[kreckl]

It seems to me that they should have to be locked in this. They change height and may sway- doesn't seem like a monorail at all...

 

[DanBoris]

So I want to say, based on these pictures, I do NOT think we are going to see these Gondolas being capable of taking wheelchair and ECV passengers. Look at the shot below. This is the first good view we have had of the entire station. There is clearly not a big loading area here. There looks to be about 8 to 10 cabs in the gondola station at any one time. That would indicate to me that the load /unload time will be somewhere around 60-80 seconds - not really enough time to be loading ECVs. There is certainly no place for a gondola to disconnect. Then look at the second image - especially the car in the forefront on the left. This shows what looks like 3 people sitting in the cab. It makes the gondolas look like they are probably in the 4-6 person size, not larger. Again, quite unlikely to see a wheelchair or ECV fit into one of these gondolas.

So - I'm thinking that this confirms they will still run buses or some sort of shuttle service to the parks. They will need something for wheelchairs and ECVs, as well as those that have a fear of heights and won't ride the gondolas - of course we basically knew that already, but it really does show that they won't be taking wheelchairs and ECVs on the gondolas.

Since the goal is to completely eliminate bus service between these resorts and parks the gondola serves, I don't see how they won't make these ADA compliant. The cars will have flip up seats to allow space for wheel chairs and scooters. At 4:50 in this video you can see how easy it is to load a wheel chair. The gondola cars will be big enough for 8-10 people.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Being insensitive here - flame away - but folks who regularly use wheelchairs and have their own ECVs will probably be fine. Folks who are out of shape, not able to walk any distances, who are using ECVs for the first or second time, they are not likely able to maneuver effectively. My most recent trip last week saw many of the former vs the latter.

 

[peabody58]

Just curious what the weight limit is per car. Pack a bunch of ECV's into a lot of cars and you have a real weight issue on the lines. I can see at best one, maybe two ECV's per car. Either way, I'm getting excited with all the new changes coming to WDW.

 

[beer dave]

Since the goal is to completely eliminate bus service between these resorts and parks the gondola serves, I don't see how they won't make these ADA compliant. The cars will have flip up seats to allow space for wheel chairs and scooters. At 4:50 in this video you can see how easy it is to load a wheel chair. The gondola cars will be big enough for 8-10 people.

Is it known that that is the goal or are you assuming? It seems reasonable for that to be the eventual goal but I haven't heard anything from disney confirming it...