How big of a draw is Skyliner?

[KateDrake]

Hi all,

Planning our first trip back to WDW in 2021, after having APs at Disneyland for the last few years. So much has changed! My first big hurdle is trying to decide where to stay. Originally the plan was to do AKL, because several of us in the group (my family of 4, parents, and sister and her family of 4) have always wanted to stay there. However, the Skyliner looks like it could be a game changer, and the main drawback for us of AKL (and what has kept us from staying there in the past) is the transportation. It's just so far away!!!

So, with that in mind, we're reconsidering and looking at a Skyliner resort. We're looking at family suites at AoA (which the kiddos think would be cool), or Caribbean Beach. These are all fine, but obviously not as nice as AKL. Riviera just doesn't appeal to us right now.

Anyway, would love your thoughts and opinions. Is Skyliner that big of a game changer? From things I'm reading, it sounds like it might be. TIA!!!

 

[clayfolks]

We love the Skyliner and own at both RIV and AKV. The transportation from AKV is some of the best on property. The length of travel is only longer by about 5-7 minutes to MK. Epcot and HS take about the same time as it does from OKW. It is an amazing resort. The food options and pools are excellent. Having said all that, have you ever considered a split stay? It really might be fun to do a family suite at AoA for a few days.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I would never downgrade from a deluxe resort to a value or moderate just because of Skyliner. Unless you just don't care about where you stay, that just isn't worth it, as deluxes are a significant step up from both values & mods.

Also, Skyliner is nice, but it has had a few snafus in which it stopped & people were stranded in those cars with no communication or A/C for well over an hour. If you have any fear of heights or claustrophobia or sensitivity to heat (imagine being suspended from a high cable in a translucent box with no A/C), consider that before staying at a resort at which the Skyliner will be a primary form of your resort transportation.

 

[TomorrowlandKD]

Stay at Beach Club and you can get the best of everything! Walk to a skyline station, walk to Epcot, walk to HS, walk to Boardwalk, walk to Swan/Dolphin, walk to Yacht Club, and swim at Stormalong bay!

 

[nkereina]

For us, the Skyliner IS a game changer and we can't imagine not staying at a Skyliner resort after our AOA stay in October. We had a CBR reservation in April we had to cancel, and are currently re-booked at Pop in the Fall.

We have stayed at AKL in the past. Beautiful resort for sure, but we spend most of our time at the parks which means we use the transportation quite frequently. Especially since we take mid-day breaks. IMO, one of the main benefits of staying at a deluxe resort is having alternate transportation to at least one of the parks, and you do not have that benefit at AKL. That means some of the value in what you're paying is lost. We had no issues with long waits for the buses, but we did find the commutes to be noticeably longer.

I'd also assert that all Disney resorts will be "nice", but each level of resort will just have different amenities. So it depends what amenities you want out of your resort. Cleanliness and service will be generally the same. Theme is a personal preference. Do you want a lot of quick service options? Awesome pool? Table service restaurant on-site? Things like that are the main differences to decide between. As I mentioned, transportation is the biggest thing we care about since we're dealing with that the most, which is why we love the Skyliner. We also spend most of our time at DHS and Epcot, so the Skyliner makes sense for us. And it also gives you easy access to the Epcot area resorts, which opens up additional dining and entertainment options.

Also, Skyliner is nice, but it has had a few snafus in which it stopped & people were stranded in those cars with no communication or A/C for well over an hour. If you have any fear of heights or claustrophobia or sensitivity to heat (imagine being suspended from a high cable in a translucent box with no A/C), consider that before staying at a resort at which the Skyliner will be a primary form of your resort transportation.

This happened a couple of times, but compared to how many people its transporting all day every day, the chances of this happening are minimal. Really no different than the monorail in this regard.

 

[ajwilhorn]

We love the Skyliner. Pop was already our favorite resort and this is just a added bonus. The constant flow of compartments is nice as there is no waiting for a bus to come. The ride a very pleasant. We've stayed at both value and deluxe resorts and for us Pop seems like its always our go to resort. Though as a previous poster indicated it all may depend on what you are looking for, but we would much rather save on the room cost to use elsewhere either on the trip itself or on something else in the budget.

 

[kaytieeldr]

and the main drawback for us of AKL (and what has kept us from staying there in the past) is the transportation. It's just so far away!!!

It's not, really, though. Magic Kingdom is more remote from the other parks and most resorts. Unless you're spending many days at MK (which, the Skyliner doesn't access at all), stay where most of you have always wanted to stay.

 

[Beachmom0317]

We have stayed in a Nemo Suite with skyliner access and have also stayed at both Jambo and Kidani. Our AKL stays were resort heavy so we enjoyed the restaurants and amenities. Simba’s playhouse I think it’s called was fun for our kids.
We also LOVE the skyliner and if you are doing EPCOT and DHS I would 100% stay at AoA. I never felt like we were downgraded a category because we were there, especially in the Nemo suite. We loved taking skyliner to CBR for sebastians, Boardwalk for ice cream...just so much to do! I think it depends on what you guys will be doing during that trip

 

[loves to dive]

The difference in a deluxe and a moderate and/or value is bigger than transportation so you need to consider what you are interested in outside of that. A deluxe is going to have inside hallways, a moderate (with the exception of CSR tower) is not nor is a value. A deluxe is going to have leisure pools with hot tubs, a moderate will have leisure pools but no hot tubs there, a value will not have leisure pools and no hot tubs at all. A deluxe and a moderate will have covered bus stations, a value will not but it will have an actual que. A few deluxes do not have food courts (which is a plus for me) AKL does have one. AKL really isn't all that far from anything other than MK, which all the resorts are except for the monorail resorts and WL/Fort Wilderness. Yes you have to take a bus everywhere from there but I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor. If it still makes you hesitate and you can afford it, think about an Epcot resort as others have said. We love them all but YC is my favorite. I've been staying at Dolphin mostly now because the price is better, the food options are great and I love the pool. You can not charge back to the room but we don't do that anyway and you won't get a MB. We have so many that I turn them down now when staying at a WDW resort so that isn't a deal breaker for us. Would the skyliner be worth us staying at a value or moderate? No, my son isn't comfortable with heights and is claustrophobic, so just the thought of being up in the sky in an enclosed box is a no go. We rarely ride the monorail for the same reason, we will bus between MK and Epcot most of the time.

 

[maxiesmom]

Hi all,

Planning our first trip back to WDW in 2021, after having APs at Disneyland for the last few years. So much has changed! My first big hurdle is trying to decide where to stay. Originally the plan was to do AKL, because several of us in the group (my family of 4, parents, and sister and her family of 4) have always wanted to stay there. However, the Skyliner looks like it could be a game changer, and the main drawback for us of AKL (and what has kept us from staying there in the past) is the transportation. It's just so far away!!!

So, with that in mind, we're reconsidering and looking at a Skyliner resort. We're looking at family suites at AoA (which the kiddos think would be cool), or Caribbean Beach. These are all fine, but obviously not as nice as AKL. Riviera just doesn't appeal to us right now.

Anyway, would love your thoughts and opinions. Is Skyliner that big of a game changer? From things I'm reading, it sounds like it might be. TIA!!!

For my family, the skyliner is not a draw at all. I'd rather stay at an Epcot resort, where I have easy access to boats and buses. And can even walk to 2 parks if I want.

Having said that, how much time do you plan on spending at the resort? If the pool is important, then rule out value resorts. None of the pools have slides or hot tubs. Moderate and up is where you want to be if a pool is an important part of your vacation.

I'm not a huge fan of CBR because, well, CBR is huge. Massive. And while you can request to be in a certain section, there is no guarantee you will get placed there. I disliked how far away I was from the shops and food offerings.

That leads us to, how much time will you spend at your resort? If it is just a place to sleep, the transportation is probably more important than resort amenities. If you spend a lot of down time at the resort, then you have a harder decision to make.

 

[bakerworld]

The Skyliner is a really nice transport - quick, airy. I didn't mind the height at all - didn't even notice it, which was a big surprise for me. I do love CBR but I like to stay closer to the main building.

 

[Letsoflyakite]

Skyliner is great, absolutely fantastic, bought at Riv and couldn't ask for anything more for transportation except perhaps starting them a half hour earlier than normal.

 

[eMoneyBug]

...fearless prediction (with no facts from anything/anyone), in 5-10-15-20 years, Disney will convert the Skyliner Hotel/Resorts into at least part DVC. Some big remodels coming!

 

[Krandor]

I love the skyliner. Already normally liked staying at pop so skyliner is a major plus.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

...fearless prediction (with no facts from anything/anyone), in 5-10-15-20 years, Disney will convert the Skyliner Hotel/Resorts into at least part DVC. Some big remodels coming!

So you think AoA and Pop will build DVC units? Not sure I see that, but maybe. The other resorts on the line (CBR-Riv, Beach Club) already have DVC.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

and the main drawback for us of AKL (and what has kept us from staying there in the past) is the transportation. It's just so far away!!!

As mentioned later in the post, unless you are spending most of your time at MK, AKL is not any farther away from the parks than other resorts. It's just the trip to MK that can be an issue - just like if you stay at Poly and want to spend time at AK. In fact, if you're a family not spending much time at all at MK, AKL is more convenient than a number of resorts.

As for the skyliner - certainly not a big deal for us. We have used it once when traveling from BC to Riviera for dinner. Other than that, we really don't plan to stay at AoA, Pop, or Riv, so it's not something we'll use a lot. We also would like to see how skyliner makes out during the heat of summer. They only opened it last fall, so it hasn't had to deal with summer heat of afternoon storms yet. There will be frequent periods during the summer where they will shut it down for periods of time if bad weather is expected. In a typical Orlando July/August, it might be a daily event.

 

[Krandor]

and one nice plus for skyliner regardless of resorts is it does make a park hop from DHS to Epcot very easy. In Jan I had one day where I went to DHS, got a boarding group, then used skyliner to go to epcot for the day and came back that night for a drink a the cantina and the skyliner did make it really really easy to do.

 

[kaytieeldr]

A deluxe is going to have inside hallways, a moderate (with the exception of CSR tower) is not nor is a value.

Also exception: AoA Family Suites, so seven of ten buildings.

a value will not have leisure pools

i feel this is not exactly accurate. Any non-themed pool is a "leisure", or "quiet" pool. True, Value resort pools don 't have the amenities of the more expensive categories (e.g. slides in addition to hot tubs), but each Vale resort has three pools. Relatively certain that's more than some Deluxe resorts, and definitely more than POFQ.

 

[OKW Lover]

Our experience riding the skyliner has been very good. No problems a all. The few times it stopped, we were back underway in 30 seconds.

However, I don't think I'd step down a resort level just for the skyliner. There is much more to a resort than the transportation.

 

[MarkS2112]

We have stayed at AKL in the past and is is a beautiful resort; however, if you are at the parks most of the time you may not be taking advantage of all the amenities. Also most people do go to MK most and AKL is the farthest away and it does take a while to get there. So transportation is a key if you are going back and forth as you can rack up some time there.

Skyliner is a game changer in terms of transport options especially at CBR as the busses there are bad. Skyliner puts you minutes away from two parks and you can hop back and forth much quicker than busses. Also if you stayed at BC, YC or BW you have easy Skyliner access plus boats and busses.

While we like the deluxe they are getting way too expensive these days. Parks have cut hours and that makes spending time at resorts not as feasible. When MK was open to midnight or later we would always take mid day pool breaks. But now it’s 10 pm most days so if you spend 2 hours waiting and riding busses to MK from AKL you loose allot of your day.

Many ways to look at it but we think it is a big plus to have Skyliner. 5 minutes to HS and 10 to Epcot from CBR so cant beat that. Again depending what you value will color your opinion.. but fact remains AKL is out there and that is why it is cheaper on deluxe resorts and why many have issues. It’s far from DS also..