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

[ksromack]

I've changed my mind on these after seeing all of the videos. I was very nervous about traveling in them before but now I'm very excited, as a POP guest in September!

I can't wait to ride these...but I must admit that seeing it over the water made me gasp. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be at night!

 

[ThistleMae]

I can't wait to ride these...but I must admit that seeing it over the water made me gasp. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be at night!

They are going to be so awesome! I'm so excited about these as well. We won't be going to WDW this year . We are doing DLR...yeah! But will def. plan a WDW trip for 2020 and they will definitely be up and running then.

 

[sachilles]

Seemed to be a bit more sag in the haulrope on this line, but it could just be the angle of the photo/videos. Of course they are probably adjusting stuff now.

 

[OKW Lover]

Seemed to be a bit more sag in the haulrope on this line, but it could just be the angle of the photo/videos. Of course they are probably adjusting stuff now.

Interesting about the sag. I suspect there is some amount of stretch compensation in the cable system to accommodate loaded cabins. Also, the cable itself will stretch over time.

 

[joelkfla]

Seemed to be a bit more sag in the haulrope on this line, but it could just be the angle of the photo/videos. Of course they are probably adjusting stuff now.

Robbie Von Roll (scion of the Von Roll Skyride family) said they were adjusting the tension during the video. I guess that would explain them running the gondolas back and forth over the same stretch.

I think the camera angle also made the sag more obvious, since the rope runs so low above the water and you're looking at it almost directly from the side.

 

[OSUZorba]

Geez, now I want to visit La Paz.

An OT interesting fact about La Paz: Airline pilots must be on oxygen when they land and takeoff, because the airport is above 10,000 feet. The pressure in the plane actually decreases as you go in for landing and increases after takeoff.

When I worked at an airline we used to take delays on nearly every flight because the oxygen bottle was too low and was always a late find in the preflight check. I fixed the delays by getting them to send a new bottle to plane every flight so it'd be a quick change out if needed.

 

[OSUZorba]

You can search YouTube for a live broadcast of it. "Disney Skyliner Gondola Testing Pop Century and Art of Animation"

At least the part I saw they were running the opposite direction than the DHS line. The DHS line has been running mostly counterclockwise and these were running clockwise. If it stay clockwise that would put the loading at CBR on the outside side and the unloading on the inside of the station, which makes sense.

I would be really surprised if there were no screens to keep people from dropping things out of them.

I was wondering about people throwing things. When I was a teenager I got hit by a crushed cup thrown off a chairlift at our local park. You wouldn't think it would be a big deal but from 20' it left a bruise on my hand.

Interesting about the sag. I suspect there is some amount of stretch compensation in the cable system to accommodate loaded cabins. Also, the cable itself will stretch over time.

Gondolas use tensioners to compensate for line stretch and weight. Many modern systems used huge hydraulic pistons actuators that move the bullwheel to keep a set amount of force on the cable. Some systems, use big counterweights. The system in St. Thomas used to use a large concrete block connected to the bullwheel and you can watch it move up and down as the gondola operates, I just watched a video and it has been changed to hydraulic now.

I couldn't find great videos, but the beginning of this one shows it:

This video never points it out, but you can see it in the station:

 

[BabybetterDisney]

Agreed-have actually seen them on numerous occasions lately and they are nothing like the BG Gondolas or the old ones in the Magic Kingdom but it doesn’t make them logical for Florida summer weather. I’ll still take a pass on this one but y’all enjoy!

If you don't want to be hot, just limit yourself to going on the gondola at night when there's no lightning. As long as the sun's gone, it won't be hot anymore, and they do have big windows. Or if you are going very short distances during the day, like from Pop to CBR or CBR to DHS. Those trips are only 3 minutes long, so as long as you don't get stuck, it won't hurt a thing. That's my plan.

I look at the big flap windows of the Skyliner today. They look promising, but not good enough fur a sunny day that's over 90 out. I imagine myself in there with my family and the possibility of it stopping in mid air...not gonna happen. If the buses go away, there's the Minnievan. However, I will take it to travel from Pop to CBR even on a sunny day around noon. It's only 3 minutes! Worth the risk! And you can bet I will be timing it. I will also bring a thermometer with me. In the winter, it should be much better, but I only go to WDW in the summer.

I am staying at Pop in September. I am imagining myself floating over to DHS each night to visit SWGE around 9:30 p.m and return around 10:15 (DHS will likely open till 10:30 p.m. or later). How neat is that?

Some people have told me that I should keep an open mind about the gondola. Trust me, if you have to use your mind to stay cool, you are in for it. The mind isn't that great at cooling! The Minnievan, on the other hand, has excellent air conditioning! Though there is a possibility that the gondola might shut down during the day, especially if it's over 90 out.

So here's my game plan:

During the day: use the Minnievan for DHS and Epcot, but do use the Skyliner for CBR.
During the night: use the gondola unless it is closed due to lightning. Then use taxi or Minnievan. Not gonna trust the replacement buses at that time, especially during park closings.

 

[rteetz]

If you don't want to be hot, just limit yourself to going on the gondola at night when there's no lightning. As long as the sun's gone, it won't be hot anymore, and they do have big windows. Or if you are going very short distances during the day, like from Pop to CBR or CBR to DHS. Those trips are only 3 minutes long, so as long as you don't get stuck, it won't hurt a thing. That's my plan.

I look at the big flap windows of the Skyliner today. They look promising, but not good enough fur a sunny day that's over 90 out. I imagine myself in there with my family and the possibility of it stopping in mid air...not gonna happen. If the buses go away, there's the Minnievan. However, I will take it to travel from Pop to CBR even on a sunny day around noon. It's only 3 minutes! Worth the risk! And you can bet I will be timing it. I will also bring a thermometer with me. In the winter, it should be much better, but I only go to WDW in the summer.

I am staying at Pop in September. I am imagining myself floating over to DHS each night to visit SWGE around 9:30 p.m and return around 10:15 (DHS will likely open till 10:30 p.m. or later). How neat is that?

Some people have told me that I should keep an open mind about the gondola. Trust me, if you have to use your mind to stay cool, you are in for it. The mind isn't that great at cooling! The Minnievan, on the other hand, has excellent air conditioning! Though there is a possibility that the gondola might shut down during the day, especially if it's over 90 out.

So here's my game plan:

During the day: use the Minnievan for DHS and Epcot, but do use the Skyliner for CBR.
During the night: use the gondola unless it is closed due to lightning. Then use taxi or Minnievan. Not gonna trust the replacement buses at that time, especially during park closings.

You shouldn’t be stopping mid air.

The gondolas won’t shut down mid day if it’s over 90. If that was the case they would shut down every day from April to November.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If you don't want to be hot, just limit yourself to going on the gondola at night when there's no lightning. As long as the sun's gone, it won't be hot anymore, and they do have big windows. Or if you are going very short distances during the day, like from Pop to CBR or CBR to DHS. Those trips are only 3 minutes long, so as long as you don't get stuck, it won't hurt a thing. That's my plan.

I look at the big flap windows of the Skyliner today. They look promising, but not good enough fur a sunny day that's over 90 out. I imagine myself in there with my family and the possibility of it stopping in mid air...not gonna happen. If the buses go away, there's the Minnievan. However, I will take it to travel from Pop to CBR even on a sunny day around noon. It's only 3 minutes! Worth the risk! And you can bet I will be timing it. I will also bring a thermometer with me. In the winter, it should be much better, but I only go to WDW in the summer.

I am staying at Pop in September. I am imagining myself floating over to DHS each night to visit SWGE around 9:30 p.m and return around 10:15 (DHS will likely open till 10:30 p.m. or later). How neat is that?

Some people have told me that I should keep an open mind about the gondola. Trust me, if you have to use your mind to stay cool, you are in for it. The mind isn't that great at cooling! The Minnievan, on the other hand, has excellent air conditioning! Though there is a possibility that the gondola might shut down during the day, especially if it's over 90 out.

So here's my game plan:

During the day: use the Minnievan for DHS and Epcot, but do use the Skyliner for CBR.
During the night: use the gondola unless it is closed due to lightning. Then use taxi or Minnievan. Not gonna trust the replacement buses at that time, especially during park closings.

Not really a comment about the gondolas but more your plan for going to DHS at 9:30 to see GE - I would just watch for how they are handling people tonget into the land. There very likely will be some sort of queue system just to get into the land and if the park closes at 10:30 they might have that queue closed off well before 9:30

 

[ThistleMae]

You shouldn’t be stopping mid air.

The gondolas won’t shut down mid day if it’s over 90. If that was the case they would shut down every day from April to November.

You know I never thought about "what if the gondolas had to stop midday in over 90 degree weather?" I am eagerly awaiting the gondola's. Love the fact that POP and AOA will have another option besides buses. I mean I'm super thrilled. But...what if there is a breakdown in that heat. How would they get people out?

 

[firefly_ris]

You know I never thought about "what if the gondolas had to stop midday in over 90 degree weather?" I am eagerly awaiting the gondola's. Love the fact that POP and AOA will have another option besides buses. I mean I'm super thrilled. But...what if there is a breakdown in that heat. How would they get people out?

They have strategies in place as well as special vehicles and equipment to remove people from gondolas (including above the water). That's why all the ground below all of the gondolas has been cleared instead of leaving foliage in place. Based on the other gondola systems worldwide, I don't see this being a regular occurrence...

 

[Iowamomof4]

They also have backup generators as well as the ability to hand-crank the haul rope if it came to that.

 

[sachilles]

You know I never thought about "what if the gondolas had to stop midday in over 90 degree weather?" I am eagerly awaiting the gondola's. Love the fact that POP and AOA will have another option besides buses. I mean I'm super thrilled. But...what if there is a breakdown in that heat. How would they get people out?

There are several fail safes to "clear the line". That means when the primary motor fails, a backup will push the cable around to clear the cars(and not load new cars until the main problem is solved).
In the event of a double failure of drive, or a huge alignment issue that makes it dangerous to move the cable, then they'd do an evacuation.
Evacuation can be done many ways, and it hasn't be released how they will do it at disney. Usually a rope evacuation is typical.
I mentioned up thread that I worked for a ski resort for 18 years and was trained to evacuate ski lifts. In those 18 years, I was never called upon to evacuate a lift other than for training. Depending on the year we had 11-13 lifts running simultaneously. During that time only one lift needed to be evacuated(on my day off), and it was because of an icing issue.
You will find the gondola will stop on occasion for various reasons, but typically it will only be a minute or two while the operators communicate about an issue and clear it for movement.
These things are pretty rock solid and reliable in any environment basic maintenance practices are the norm.

 

[jade1]

During the day: use the Minnievan for DHS and Epcot, but do use the Skyliner for CBR.
During the night: use the gondola unless it is closed due to lightning. Then use taxi or Minnievan. Not gonna trust the replacement buses at that time, especially during park closings.

Just curious if you avoid mornings (esp RD) like we do.

But I would think even dead of summer the Skyliner would be fine early and mid am (and evenings) at least.

 

[jade1]

I also suspect they partially said "fall" so they can do some testing in the heat.

If they test on an extreme hot and humid day in early summer (which can happen in June) when the sun is peak, and find its not really an issue on the longest run (and maybe stop it a few minutes)-I think that would help open it sooner. However if they find its much worse than they thought, open later in the fall and let the scramble begin I suppose.

 

[OSUZorba]

I also suspect they partially said "fall" so they can do some testing in the heat.

If they test on an extreme hot and humid day in early summer (which can happen in June) when the sun is peak, and find its not really an issue on the longest run (and maybe stop it a few minutes)-I think that would help open it sooner. However if they find its much worse than they thought, open later in the fall and let the scramble begin I suppose.

This sort of thing can easily be tested in a lab on the ground (and the analysis is very straight forward even without testing). They aren't delaying a $100M investment waiting on a hot day and they didn't build it without knowing whether or not it'd be an oven.

When it's moving it'll feel about the same as standing in the shade. Even stopped it may become uncomfortable, but it will not heat up to heat stroke range and will probably remain more comfortable than standing in the sun on concrete.

 

[jade1]

This sort of thing can easily be tested in a lab on the ground (and the analysis is very straight forward even without testing). They aren't delaying a $100M investment waiting on a hot day and they didn't build it without knowing whether or not it'd be an oven.

When it's moving it'll feel about the same as standing in the shade. Even stopped it may become uncomfortable, but it will not heat up to heat stroke range and will probably remain more comfortable than standing in the sun on concrete.

I believe that (and have 100% faith its fine). However, do you believe that they will do zero testing to check real time heat levels?

 

[OSUZorba]

I believe that (and have 100% faith its fine). However, do you believe that they will do zero testing to check real time heat levels?

I think they will and think they probably already did with the one that is uncovered. I don't think are going to hold up opening waiting on that, though. They can validate their analysis any day the sun is out.

I also wouldn't be surprised if they did lab testing or field testing in a hot location, maybe the one seen on site last year. Put it on a trailer and drive 14 mph, measure wet bulb globe temperature, stop for 15 minutes measure WBGT again, done.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I believe that (and have 100% faith its fine). However, do you believe that they will do zero testing to check real time heat levels?

I'm not quite understanding what doing this type of testing would do. What would you anticipate would happen with the results of the testing?

Aging myself but I'll say the current car I have (while it's a 2007) is the first one I've ever owned with air conditioning. For the first &*^(*&^ years of my life I drove in a car without air conditioning. It gets in the high 90's and over 100 degrees where I live and often with very high humidity. Widows were not tinted in any of our cars. We just rolled them down and handled the heat when driving, stopped at a light or other. I believe this is what the venting will do and the gondolas have excellent tinting based on what's been shared here by those with much more knowledge than I.

I can't help but think Disney has put extensive thought and research into the Skyliner project before pouring millions of dollars into it.

I will take the approach of give it a try! If it's unbearable I'll look for an alternative but I'm confident that won't be the case.