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

[Disneylover99]

Well, kind of depends on when you get there I suppose. How would wait time not go up in this instance? You walk up as a bus is pulling away - since there are fewer buses, you will now have to wait longer for the bus to complete it's route (possibly), instead of having another bus on it's way.

On the CTA, when they use fewer purple line trains due to fewer customers, you are most certainly waiting longer for that stupid train! The red line, which has 8 zillion customers, seems to come every 6 minutes because they have more trains.

The fewer people is the exact reason they should make a schedule of every 50 or whatever minutes. It would be a waste of resources just to have buses waiting for customers. This way, guests know exactly when the bus will come and there are no buses being wasted. Then, if buses are coming often with no guests, Disney can use that data to decrease the bus use even further if needed. There's always the option of Uber/Minnie Vans if guests want to go at a certain time and won't take the gondolas.

I fully expect longer wait times. Checking the bus arrival times on the app will be more important then ever. It won’t feel like a wait if you’re doing other things like browsing the gift shop or grabbing a snack/drink at the foodcourt to kill some time.

 

[vacationer1954]

I think all they'll do is have those buses cycle through more resorts than they would have without the gondola.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

My guess is that if they continue running buses they will consolidate bus routes and run them less frequently. For example, combine CBR, Pop and AoA on one bus and run it once per hour instead of every twenty minutes, and possibly even combine the two parks on the one bus. So instead of having two buses showing up at three resorts every 20 minutes, it’s one bus going to each resort once an hour. It wouldn’t be convenient, and they don’t want it to be, but it would be something for those who cannot ride the gondola, and allow them to ramp up more easily if the gondolas go out of service. The only other transportation option that could be considered comparable in regards to height and claustrophobia issues is the monorail, and the monorail resorts do have alternatives (boats or walking). There is a precedent for duplicate transportation options.

That would take too long. But I'd be OK if AofA and Pop start sharing. CBR already has like 6 stops or something. But it depends on demand, I suppose. If a ton people still want the buses, then Disney will need to provide more buses. If nobody wants them, then there's no need.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

People who are familiar with this project have said that Disney's goal was to eliminate buses on these routes. Obviously that plan could have changed, but it was the intention at one point.

They don't have to eliminate completely. Getting ride of 80% of the buses for the gondola hotels would be a success while still be able to maintain both.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

These kinds of discussions always make me wonder why some people try so hard to make it sound like Disney doesn't know how to run their business as well as they do. Such a strange, but regular, thing here online.

Disney knows how to run things until they don't. I once waited half an hour for an Epcot bus while 4 DHS buses came by and left empty. Then a fifth DHS bus came but stopped at the Epcot stop. The driver loaded the handicapped person, then opened the door to let us in. The guest in front of me asked, "Why does your sign say DHS?" The driver looked at his sign, closed the door, and proceeded to kick the handicapped person off the bus. Then he drove away empty.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I can't wait for the gondola to open and see how people like it! Summer is coming, so people are either going to mind the lack of AC or not. How many people will still prefer the buses, if any? Disney will obviously cut down the buses to maybe nothing if nobody shows up for them.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

They didn’t spend $300 million on gondolas to not change anything else.

You think it cost that much? I was expecting like $100 million, which I thought was a lot.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

This is how they handle boat resorts now when there is lightning. They pull busses from elsewhere, they don't have busses running to them otherwise.

Those Epcot hotels aren't that big, so pulling buses from elsewhere don't hurt much, and they don't need to pull very many because there is the option of walking. But if the gondola goes down for lightning they will need to pull a lot more buses and that will not go well during park closing, for gondola or non-gondola hotels.

I'm hoping to be wrong, of course. I am looking forward to seeing how this will all pan out.

 

[NotUrsula]

Totally agree. However, this is kind of about the problem of getting bus drivers. And the problem about traffic and the vehicular chaos that exists throughout the resort. WDW is always short on bus drivers. They offer bonuses, decent pay and they still can't get and keep them. It's one cast member position that they are always desperate for. And they know that isn't going to change. So here comes the Skyliner so that they are short fewer drivers. They are still going to be short, but at least they are less desperate against future needs. So yeah, I expect those buses to remain in service. But I expect most of them to have been diverted from the Skyliner resorts.

Disney has to keep tackling the traffic problem as well. Building more roads doesn't really solve it. Too many people, too many rental cars, too much gawking. It doesn't matter how many signs they put up, or how cute they are, the problem is going to keep getting worse with every resort and park expansion. So you build Skyliners not just to need fewer buses going forward, but hopefully fewer cars.

It's why I think this is stage 1 for transportation. New monorails are stage 2. Then comes stage 3, which will somehow connect some resorts, AKL and at least AK together. Maybe another Skyliner, maybe something else. It's going to be a while yet. But it's inevitable. They can't keep adding buses and roads and parking lots and new bridges and interchanges. It's a losing battle.

I'll agree with all of that EXCEPT the prediction of a new monorail. More trains, yes, but conventional ones, probably light rail. Monorail tech is essentially frozen in time because it costs so much, it is becoming obsolete. I suspect they are very closely watching the Selmon Exrension project underway in Tampa to see how that turns out -- that will be 2 toll lanes elevated above traffic on an existing road. I expect that Disney could do something similar, perhaps adding elevated train track. This will be especially important if they put the proposed Brightline link in down near Celebration; from that location, the only last-mile option that really makes sense would be elevated somehow.

The MK resort overpass & the building of the DS garages is a big clue to the direction of growth related to transit: up. I also think that they will soon take a page from Legoland & add "covered premium parking" on the MK lot, using solar panels for the canopies. It is just too good a money-making nexus to ignore.

 

[vacationer1954]

Disney knows how to run things until they don't.

They do know how to run things better than we do.

 

[The Pho]

You think it cost that much? I was expecting like $100 million, which I thought was a lot.

I’ve seen it loosely confirmed that Disney has spent between $230-300 million on it. Quite a lot more than I was expecting as well considering the usual prices ski resorts pay for them.

 

[fla4fun]

That would take too long. But I'd be OK if AofA and Pop start sharing. CBR already has like 6 stops or something. But it depends on demand, I suppose. If a ton people still want the buses, then Disney will need to provide more buses. If nobody wants them, then there's no need.

That’s why I said it wouldn’t be convenient. They will be encouraging everyone to take the gondola by making the alternative less appealing. They could possibly make everyone at CBR that wants to take the bus get in line at just one of the CBR stops for pickup, similar to how they have the internal bus routes at FW that take you to one stop to get on a bus for the park. We will just have to wait and see.

 

[loutoo]

I'll agree with all of that EXCEPT the prediction of a new monorail.

They meant new monorail trains not new monorail routes. Nobody here is under the delusion that there will be an expansion of monorail lines, but new trains have been all but confirmed.

 

[LaRaine]

I've looked at post 1 but as I am unfamiliar with CBR, I can't put it all together.

What areas are closest to the skyliner at CBR? We are staying there in November.

 

[Nole95]

If the Skyliner is successful, which I fully expect it to be, I think Disney will not waste much time in adding additional lines in the near future. Monorails cost too much, and if the goal is to get as many cars off the road as possible, then the Skyliner makes sense. A connection out to AK certainly makes sense. A station at Disney Springs would also make sense to me.

 

[Laura's Dad]

I've seen a lot of testing (on-line and in person) of the Skyliner route in-between DHS/CBR/AoA/Pop but not anything on the loop to Epcot. Will this be added later and, if so, when do you think it will be up and running? We are staying at the Beach Club in early December and would love to take the Skyliner from the Epcot IG to DHS.

 

[firefly_ris]

I've looked at post 1 but as I am unfamiliar with CBR, I can't put it all together.

What areas are closest to the skyliner at CBR? We are staying there in November.

Jamaica 41 and 43 will I think be pretty close to the CBR station, and Aruba 55 and 56 look like they'd be closest to the Riviera station. These are both Standard Room areas.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I've looked at post 1 but as I am unfamiliar with CBR, I can't put it all together.

What areas are closest to the skyliner at CBR? We are staying there in November.

I had posted this a few pages ago when someone asked about relation of preferred rooms to the stations. So they are not labeled but I think you ca see which buildings are closest to the stations

for the main CBR one it is the southern Jamaica buildings (so buildings 41-43) and for the Riviera station is it the northern Aruba buildings (nos. 54-56)

 

[jknezek]

They meant new monorail trains not new monorail routes. Nobody here is under the delusion that there will be an expansion of monorail lines, but new trains have been all but confirmed.

This exactly. There are several well discussed rumors of new replacement monorail trains. Though the timeline has been shifty, the current state of the trains requires something sooner than later at WDW. Sadly, the most likely supplier, Bombardier, is not exactly one to stick to timelines, or deliver quality on the first go. So sooner rather than later may be out of WDW's hands having waited this long already.

Regardless, one more set of trains puts off replacement decisions for 20 years, time enough for the Skyliner or something else to show its worth and possibility as a replacement if necessary. Though I'm not convinced removal of the monorail, at least the resort loop, is any more possible in 20 years than it is now. Iconic and much too important to the Delux resorts. But the EPCOT loop? Yeah, that I could see being replaced with something else, eventually.

 

[LaRaine]

Jamaica 41 and 43 will I think be pretty close to the CBR station, and Aruba 55 and 56 look like they'd be closest to the Riviera station. These are both Standard Room areas.

Thank you