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

[rteetz]

So they were testing the Epcot line today. Are the others being tested as well?

I believe all have been running.

 

[RufusCat]

That seems worse than getting stuck in that last room in its a small world.

Hey, I got stuck on It's a Small World for 45 minutes back in '89 and I've still got PTSD.

 

[UmmGooD]

Oh, wow. I personally would have found that kind of exciting, but I'm sure that would not have been a comforting solution for my friend.


The problem is, we already knew there was a collision. We had our phones and there were already multiple pictures on social media from different angles showing the impacted cars at the station. Disney's refusal to acknowledge it made us feel lied to and made us wonder why they were seemingly trying to cover it up. And beyond that, it was a very minor collision! No one was hurt! I don't see why they thought even for a moment they should pretend it didn't happen. There was nothing comforting about hiding it. They could have still used euphemisms as long as they acknowledged that it had happened. Something like "There is a backup at the Riviera station. We are working to clear the line as soon as possible so that we can continue your journey. We will keep you updated." (and then actually keeping us updated) would have been acceptable, but they gave us no information.


Yes, internal communication was definitely an issue in addition to the public announcements. Someone on the platform as we evacuated actually told one of my friends that there was only an electrical issue and that the photo online must have been Photoshopped. I find it hard to believe anyone would just make that up, so I'm assuming he only had Disney's first announcement to go by and hadn't been updated that there actually had been a collision. And this was someone who was assisting us as we finally exited the gondolas.



Just to be clear, that was not a message that was played in the actual cars in real life.


The emergency packs were attached to the seat with a plastic band of sorts that had to be broken to pull it out. So they already couldn't be put back exactly the way that they were found. It's awful, though sadly not entirely surprising, that people had previously opened them without actually needing them.

Thanks for continuing to comment on these posts. You and the other person in the actual car that was 'crushed' (who went silent after approaching Disney) are the only people with actual accounts of the situation. I appreciate you commenting.

I agree this was badly handled from all aspects. I also have been on airplanes and they could have treated it like an airplane delay. I have had 3 major ones. One was due to a medical evac. They were very upfront and said "we have a passenger that has a life threatening condition so we have to unload that passenger from the plane before we can take off". We first had to taxi to a pad where they could meet the ambulance. Then we had to go back to the terminal and they announced it was due to FAA regulations not allowing us to take off with their bags in the hold. Then we had to wait for a time slot to take off again. It was a 3 hour time of being stuck in a long haul 777 but people were not angry and dealt with it. The airline did give out free snacks and drinks to passengers for free instead of charging.

Another time was due to a plane not passing tests and they had to offload the entire plane. People were more upset over that one but still they managed and the airline really didn't have to compensate much. That was also a 2 to 3 hour delay.

I think if Disney handled it this way by 1. having very clear updates as to what was going on and 2. gave a small token to each passenger even though it was completely outside of their control. I think people wouldn't be so upset. Knowing that there was a medical evac would have probably kept people calmer and also knowing that the system would eventually move would have helped. People tend to do better knowing what is going on instead of having to hear the same announcements about nothing over and over again.

 

[NotUrsula]

That is making one big assumption - that they knew exactly how long it would take. They may have thought 30 minutes then ran into a complication and so forth. It is really hard in a situation like this to know for sure how long it will take especially since nothing like this had happened before so there was not even a frame of reference of "a normal situation like this should take 45 minutes to an hour and half depending on x,y,z".

I didn't say that they knew exactly how long it would take; my (admittedly fictitious) example was a *minimum*, which is usually fairly easy to predict. As in, it won't be sooner than, but it might be longer than. EMT's would know how urgent the condition probably was (as much as they can with any 911 call), and could have decided if it was worth it to go ahead if they knew what their own capability was to beat that time.

EMT's might well have said, "well, we can't do it any faster than that, so a unit will get set up on the ground but not extend the ladder at this point. If you determine that you cannot move it by X time, notify us and we will start the rescue." You can't keep waffling back and forth over who is going to try what if you know that there is a definite solution that WILL work. One reasonable-time-frame try with a failure to meet the initial target should mean that you step back and let the EMT's do their thing. (AND you tell all of the passengers that EMT's are responding to a medical emergency, and that the rest of the passengers will continue to the stations as soon as the station blockage is cleared out of the way.)

 

[Dean Marino]

Deleted

 

[SgtTibbs]

So - a modest proposal.

This transportation system is literally being "tried in the media". There is a solution that would benefit BOTH Disney, and "doubters".

Disney? ASK for an NTSB review. You currently have a serious perception issue that MIGHT cost you a bundle. A third party Federal Review of this system would only HELP you - and provide valuable data in the event of future litigation. Ask the Lawyers.

Notice I never said that there was an "issue" or an "accident". It really does not matter, as the PERCEPTION of the system has swung negative. This will affect recent investments to a large degree. "Clearing" the system through a trusted third party would be a wise choice, and would provide an excellent defense in the event of future issues.
Doubters: How would your perceptions change, if the agency that inspects all public transportation got involved, and gave this system its blessing?

All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

You are living in the Disney bubble. If they opened the Skyliner tomorrow it would be packed with guests. 99% of people don't pay any attention to this stuff. If Disney says "This way" to the parks that's where the overwhelming percentage of people go.

Was there a drop off in Monorail ridership after the fatal accident? Not that I heard about.

 

[gdrj]

You are living in the Disney bubble. If they opened the Skyliner tomorrow it would be packed with guests. 99% of people don't pay any attention to this stuff. If Disney says "This way" to the parks that's where the overwhelming percentage of people go.

Was there a drop off in Monorail ridership after the fatal accident? Not that I heard about.

Agreed, as long as there are not repeated issues with massive delays. Personally, I will be keeping an eye on it and be cautious. I dont want to be up there for hours without a bathroom.

 

[Krandor]

You are living in the Disney bubble. If they opened the Skyliner tomorrow it would be packed with guests. 99% of people don't pay any attention to this stuff. If Disney says "This way" to the parks that's where the overwhelming percentage of people go.

Was there a drop off in Monorail ridership after the fatal accident? Not that I heard about.

Not just the fatal accident. There was a full evacuation through the roof not too long ago. I'd be scared to death to have to do that or a skyliner eva) but neither incident will stop me from riding them.

I think the thing with the skyliner is there were already people who had already labeled them "dumb" because of the no AC thing and an incident like this so early on is giving people who never liked them to start a reason to say they were right. Very unfortunate it happened this soon after opening.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

the thing with the skyliner is there were already people who had already labeled them "dumb" because of the no AC thing and an incident like this so early on is giving people who never liked them to start a reason to say they were right. Very unfortunate it happened this soon after opening.

This 100% - gave people who were against it from the start the amunition to say "see Disney! I was right and you were wrong to build this system"

All systems have issues, this one just happened to happen early after opening but the good news is that there weren't any major injuries or anything and hopefully they can learn from it

 

[SgtTibbs]

I dont want to be up there for hours without a bathroom.

The cabins have floor vents, just saying.....

 

[dachsie]

I believe that issue was addressed up thread. They were not attempting to evacuate everyone. They were looking for one particular car to evacuate with a med issue, and had an issue actually finding them. While they ladder was up they couldn't run the line to clear it causing that delay. So somewhat procedural issue. Concerning I'd agree, but should be fixable with more education and scenario training.

The thing I was wondering is wouldn't it have been faster to restart the gondolas and empty at the station even with the emergency car - seems it would have been faster than almost 3 hours

 

[scrappinginontario]

The thing I was wondering is wouldn't it have been faster to restart the gondolas and empty at the station even with the emergency car - seems it would have been faster than almost 3 hours

I’m not sure we can answer this as we don’t know how long it took to clear the teal car that caused the situation. If I was in medical distress I’d want to know they were working to get me out, not clear a car from the cable as nobody knew how long it would take to do that. Since they were able to evacuate more than 1 car (my understanding) before the line was restarted, I believe the bigger delay was removing the teal car Rather than the medical evacuation.

We also don’t know where on the line the person with the medical need was located. When they restarted the line it was moving slower than normal. This too could have further delayed the person requiring medical attention.

 

[BaymaxFan78]

It was only a matter of time until somebody made this joke

 

[NotUrsula]

[snip]
PS: About the emergency kits: Perhaps simply putting a seal on them and marking them with dire warnings (pretend dye packs, anyone?) will help deter some would-be pilferers. It would probably also help if they cannot be perfectly closed up again once opened (perhaps by putting in some inflated device that automatically opens) Sometimes, scaring people straight works fairly well! (OTOH, an enticing -- and portable- tool box under a seat is just too easy for a lot of people to resist. It may be that some of them ended up opened because a child got into them and the parent let them keep what they found.

[snip]
The emergency packs were attached to the seat with a plastic band of sorts that had to be broken to pull it out. So they already couldn't be put back exactly the way that they were found. It's awful, though sadly not entirely surprising, that people had previously opened them without actually needing them.

Oh, well, so much for being optimistic about human nature.

I am convinced, though, that there must be a method in existence that would successfully deter the majority of would-be emergency-kit pilferers -- I just am not up on my state-of-the-art pilferage prevention to know what they are.

 

[OSUZorba]

So - a modest proposal.

This transportation system is literally being "tried in the media". There is a solution that would benefit BOTH Disney, and "doubters".

Disney? ASK for an NTSB review. You currently have a serious perception issue that MIGHT cost you a bundle. A third party Federal Review of this system would only HELP you - and provide valuable data in the event of future litigation. Ask the Lawyers.

Notice I never said that there was an "issue" or an "accident". It really does not matter, as the PERCEPTION of the system has swung negative. This will affect recent investments to a large degree. "Clearing" the system through a trusted third party would be a wise choice, and would provide an excellent defense in the event of future issues.
Doubters: How would your perceptions change, if the agency that inspects all public transportation got involved, and gave this system its blessing?

All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

I really think is far too minor for the NTSB to get involved with. Especially on the non-aviation side. But even in aviation much more significant incidents happen all the time that they don't investigate.

Also for an NTSB investigation everything goes into quarantine as soon as the system is safed. This obviously hasn't happened and it would make the investigation much more difficult.

Fwiw, I've had the joy of being involved in a couple NTSB investigations for a couple of significant incidents.

 

[Mikey15]

I believe all have been running.

Confirmed. I drove under an Epcot line that was moving, stopped, then moving again, and a moving DHS line.

 

[Kidatheart2010]

They were testing at the Epcot station yesterday. moving and stopping moving and stopping. I hope they will be running again soon we have 3 more days and would like to ride them,

 

[seashoreCM]

... get me out ...

... restarted the line it was moving slower than normal. This too could have further delayed the person requiring medical attention ...

There should be multiple irons in the fire simultaneously.

In this case we have (or need) two teams racing each other, one to clear the crashed gondolas and get the cable ready to restart and the other to get to the gondola with the ill guests and prepare to evacuate.

There is another wrinkle peculiar to this specific case. If the line got cleared just before the bucket truck bucket got up to the ill person, someone else has to calculate whether taking the ill persons out on the spot or bringing their gondola down to the station (another ambulance already there) will get them to the hospital sooner.

Meanwhile, down at Riviera station (actually throughout the system) they need to do extensive tests of crash avoidance systems.[/quote]

 

[granmanh603]

Zipline evac? Oh my, I can't imagine that every visitor would be able to handle that. I'm hoping that what happened the other night will be an isolated occurrence but I do think some visitors should think twice before riding the Skyliner just incase it does happen again. I know I wouldn't want to have to use a zipline to evacuate, I guess it's enter at your own risk...

Oh I thought twice long before this. Being suspended in Fl heat is a box with unknown people and unruly kids of today...was more than enough to keep me from getting on. How long did it take for an incident? And how was it handled by the new Disney? Reason 2.

 

[rteetz]

I really think is far too minor for the NTSB to get involved with. Especially on the non-aviation side. But even in aviation much more significant incidents happen all the time that they don't investigate.

Also for an NTSB investigation everything goes into quarantine as soon as the system is safed. This obviously hasn't happened and it would make the investigation much more difficult.

Fwiw, I've had the joy of being involved in a couple NTSB investigations for a couple of significant incidents.

Yeah the NTSB is not involved here.