Lookout Cay long pier.

[Lucien Franciosa]

I thought the same thing. But then thought of how few times, if any, WDW has taken the full force of a hurricane. Especially considered against the wipeout Great Abaco suffered. And Lighthouse Point is right there on the Atlantic.

And so I hit Post reply.

actually you are correct, sorry, just was being silly on a Friday afternoon. There are hurricane zones and then there are HURRICANE zones, clearly the statistics favor (or disfavor ) Lookout Point for dealing with a hurricane over Orlando (called the safest city in Florida).

does make one wonder though how strong the skyline must be able to withstand even a rare hit. I guess they can pull them all down closer to the land?

 

[auntlynne]

actually you are correct, sorry, just was being silly on a Friday afternoon. There are hurricane zones and then there are HURRICANE zones, clearly the statistics favor (or disfavor ) Lookout Point for dealing with a hurricane over Orlando (called the safest city in Florida).

does make one wonder though how strong the skyline must be able to withstand even a rare hit. I guess they can pull them all down closer to the land?

I applaud silly. Means someone is ready intent and not just preconceived thinking.

Really, safest city in FL? Is this mainly based on weather issues? It does have the advantage of being further inland than ?possibly any other large city in the state. I need to feed my daily trivia intake.

How well do the support structures do in wind? I saw video of wind turbines snapping this spring as tornadoes went through OK or IA. I digress…

 

[brentm77]

I will take a long pier every day over a tender. It's my least favorite part of cruising to some ports. There have been exceptions, but 9 out of 10 times, it means a very long wait, often in the sun, often smelling exhaust fumes. It's a bad combination. I like having control over coming back exactly when I want, even if it means a long hot walk. I'm not defending Disney on this decision to not provide a better experience on the pier, but will take it over the tender option.

Speaking of hurricanes, I wonder how much the risk of having the entire beach complex wiped out played into keeping the new digs pretty simple compared to what many expected. Is Light House at any higher risk than Castaway from an exposure standpoint? I am sure it's at least a factor in design - if you make it too fancy, it could cost significantly more to rebuild or fix after a hurricane.

Edit: Does the Princess tender really just tell everyone in a wheelchair to stay on the ship and suck it up? If so, that's mind boggling in today's world. This isn't 1910. Other tender companies easily accommodate wheelchairs.

 

[lanejudy]

does make one wonder though how strong the skyline must be able to withstand even a rare hit. I guess they can pull them all down closer to the land?

To my knowledge, the WDW Skyliner cars can all be pulled into a garage if needed, which I presume to be the plan in event of a direct-hit hurricane.

 

[anricat]

There are some places in the world that not every single person will be able to go.

Okay, sure, maybe for ancient sites and other historical places that cannot be retrofitted to be accessible without causing damage to the place in question. But to just throw your hands in the air because you don't want to take the time for accessibility, there's no excuse for that. Any new spaces should be designed to be accessible to all.

 

[TeamRiley]

Okay, sure, maybe for ancient sites and other historical places that cannot be retrofitted to be accessible without causing damage to the place in question. But to just throw your hands in the air because you don't want to take the time for accessibility, there's no excuse for that. Any new spaces should be designed to be accessible to all.

Perhaps, but not if the impact to a protected environment is in question.

 

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

I think this is an obvious but exact alternative. With the distance, they have no other choice than a long pier if they don't want to tender. I guess it could be Small World 2, with music on repeat.

That would have everyone mad because their boat ride was bumpy...

Yes it is long, yes it is concrete, but not many other ways to get you on the island. And from what I have read, even tough it looks terrible, almost the same length as getting the CC trams, and I honestly don't think I have ever read of anyone complaining about that walk. Provisions for those that can't walk it are being made, I am not sure what else they can do?

It’s not the same distance as CC tram. It is about 3x that distance. That’s why you’ve not read about people complaining about CC tram but you are seeing the complaints here.

 

[OKW Lover]

To my knowledge, the WDW Skyliner cars can all be pulled into a garage if needed, which I presume to be the plan in event of a direct-hit hurricane.

Not exactly a garage. Alongside the hub station at CBR is the area that the cars are parked when not in use. It's not covered, just out in the open.

 

[gatordoc]

Just build a moving walkway like they have at airports. Reverse it in the afternoon.

 

[tvguy]

I invite you to google Princess Cay tenders, will be enlightening. as I pointed out, even tendering has practical limits and design constraints that may not be accommodated by the specific terrain at Lighthout point.

It's sort like saying mountain inclines aren't a problem for roads because every highway you have been on has been fine. well of course. it was built in a place that could accommodate.

Don't need to Google. Been cruising for 44 years and tendering is common in cruising, and I have lost count how many ports I rode a tender ashore. Santa Barbara most recently, and Newport on my next cruise. On Disney we tendered in in St. Maarten.

 

[insureman]

.
The level of entitlement from some Disney guests seems to be creeping higher and higher. There are some places in the world that not every single person will be able to go.

Thinking like this is why the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted.

 

[anricat]

Perhaps, but not if the impact to a protected environment is in question.

But they already impacted the environment by building a huge long pier and pulling a giant cruise ship into it (which aren't exactly the most environmentally friendly things). Would building the pier ever so slightly wider to accommodate a slightly larger vehicle that can carry more than one or two people at a time have been that much more impactful? There aren't that many people that require an accommodation so really you don't need to be able to fit a huge vehicle, just something larger than a golf cart that can more efficiently carry everyone that needs assistance without a huge queue.

 

[greeneyedchick]

sounds good.. how about a little math? I haven't found any published figures, but from pictures, using people as reference points, it appears to be about 19 feet wide, but the handrails arch in a bit, so usable width seems to be closer to 18 feet. great! that means a line painted down the middle would be 9 feet.

width of the tram is 7.5 feet to accommodate 4 guests. Great it fits in half the width of the bridge. beep beep.

well no, there are practical considerations, people being people some idiots will reach out to the sides. I bet there is some minimum distance requirement, let's call it two feet either side. all of a sudden the tram is taking almost 12 feet out of 18 leaving walking guests 6 feet. well .. okay then... thats like a couple with a stroller... so what do you do when people are going the opposite direction? now 6 feet doesnt seem that wide for two way people traffic.

as others have pointed out, no place for a tram to turn around, but okay a tram that can go both directions. well, no. they are long, probably dont stop on a dime. and they NEED to stop on a dime because some idiots wont walk on their side, or could fall, or a kid not paying attention is jumping around and jumps in front of the tram.

So then you are adding a railing to separate people and tram. But people want benches put in! so a bench takes up three feet and gosh how do we get around them on our 6 foot walled walkway?

anyway, bottom line is... current tram just isnt going to cut it. even if people walk on one side, tram on the other.

Best they can do with current design is an elongated golf cart that can stop on a dime and is 2 people wide. which is what they use. any time you add couplers in to connect carts you throw out the ability to start top on a dime btw. in case you were go there.

I think its possible the architects got squeezed into this narrow pier by the local planning board and the engineers tried to come up with a way to make it work, but its hard to get around the issues just mention.

btw in case you are more of a visual type, I did a very bad photoshop job of inserting an actual lookout cay tram on the pier with guests walking.

It is fun to say, yeah but they could have put a monorail above, thats the disney way! or a lot of other ideas, but in the end it does have to conform to lots of competing forces, laws, storms, idiot people...

If you're ever been to the Wildwood Boardwalk at the Jersey shore, they have managed to have a tram car running back and forth in the middle of the boardwalk for 50 years or more. There's not even any cement barriers or anything and people seem to survive. There are people who walk along the side of the tram in the WDW parking lots and survive, too. I feel like Disney could have managed a bi-directional tram if they really wanted to.

 

[insureman]

Also this talk of Disney working with the Bahamian government for the sake of the environment is a joke. We all know that working with most Caribbean nations means how big is the bag of cash you are bringing to the table.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

If you're ever been to the Wildwood Boardwalk at the Jersey shore, they have managed to have a tram car running back and forth in the middle of the boardwalk for 50 years or more. There's not even any cement barriers or anything and people seem to survive. There are people who walk along the side of the tram in the WDW parking lots and survive, too. I feel like Disney could have managed a bi-directional tram if they really wanted to.

Yes! Thousands of people walking and they come beeping through saying, "Watch the tram car please."
It's kind of like when you're walking through an airport and a little golf cart is trying to bring some people to their gate. You just step to the side and let it go. Not exactly rocket science.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

If you're ever been to the Wildwood Boardwalk at the Jersey shore, they have managed to have a tram car running back and forth in the middle of the boardwalk for 50 years or more. There's not even any cement barriers or anything and people seem to survive. There are people who walk along the side of the tram in the WDW parking lots and survive, too. I feel like Disney could have managed a bi-directional tram if they really wanted to.

Don’t have to go, google is our friend, that boardwalk is twice the width of the pier and the tram is half the width. Not comparable at all.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

Don't need to Google. Been cruising for 44 years and tendering is common in cruising, and I have lost count how many ports I rode a tender ashore. Santa Barbara most recently, and Newport on my next cruise. On Disney we tendered in in St. Maarten.

Gotcha, you dont want facts getting in the way of your opinion. Why you keep thinking all coast lines are the same is a mystery to me. Have you road the only tender at lighthouse point?

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

To my knowledge, the WDW Skyliner cars can all be pulled into a garage if needed, which I presume to be the plan in event of a direct-hit hurricane.

Thanks. I figured it had to be something like that.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

Edit: Does the Princess tender really just tell everyone in a wheelchair to stay on the ship and suck it up? If so, that's mind boggling in today's world. This isn't 1910. Other tender companies easily accommodate wheelchairs.

The issue is they can’t get a full sized tender with a roll on ramp with the shallow depths… but yes it’s true.

 

[tvguy]

Gotcha, you dont want facts getting in the way of your opinion. Why you keep thinking all coast lines are the same is a mystery to me. Have you road the only tender at lighthouse point?

Not sure what your issue is. If there is problem, Disney will find a fix. Tendering is as much a part of cruising as the muster drill. It could be an option. And that's a fact.