MK-skyride

[hoganjdmb]

Does anyone know why the Magic Kingdom got ride of the skyride over Fantasyland?

 

[Happy2BGrumpy]

Not sure if this is the main reason, but I do know that a CM (park groundskeeper)
was killed when a car hit him as he was
landscaping around the loading dock....
I think I recall he was operating a weed
whacker or blower and had earplugs which distorted his surroundings.

 

[Chuck S]

Disneyland also removed their skyway, and some non-Disney parks seem to be doing the same thing, and were doing so prior to the accident at WDW.

I'm thinking they probably just were not cost effective, given maintenance costs, liability costs, employee costs and the limited number of guests per hour. Plus, there were issues with riders dropping things onto other park guests

 

[addictd2disney]

It required too much general maintenance and kept breaking down all the time. Also, they had to stop it all the time when the winds got too strong and it was out of commission then again.

 

[Brian Noble]

We have a skyride at our home park that we call the Weather Vane. In the barest of breezes, that thing is shut down! We ride it every time we see it up, as we never know when our next chance might be.

 

[Simba's Mom]

When I was there, shortly before it closed. a CM told me that they were having a real problem with birds building nests up above. There's been an increase in birds all over the MK, and it took a toll on the amount of maintenance on skyway. Matter of fact, skyway broke down while I was there, maintenance came, and it was traced to a flock of birds building a nest.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

The Skyway was only closed temporarily at WDW. It's back up and running now. I just rode it in July.

 

[Happy2BGrumpy]

Sorry to disagree with you WDWOLDTIMER
but the skyride was not there. Wasn't there in May or September when I was there and hasn't been for a while.
Maybe your thinking of something else?

 

[tiggerwannabe]

I agree Happy2bGrumpy: It's gone...

It was removed because of high maintenence costs.

 

[sbelyo]

Originally posted by wdwoldtimer
The Skyway was only closed temporarily at WDW. It's back up and running now. I just rode it in July.

Maybe you're talking of the peoplemover in Fantasyland

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Happy2BGrumpy
Sorry to disagree with you WDWOLDTIMER
but the skyride was not there. Wasn't there in May or September when I was there and hasn't been for a while.
Maybe your thinking of something else?

I agree with you. DH and I were at WDW in July. Not only was the skyride not running, but the cables for it were taken down several years ago.
Besides the maintenance costs, breaking down, bird, guests dropping things and repair problems others mentioned, a CM in that area told my FIL (he is good at talking to anyone) that it was a difficult ride to staff. Anyone who ever rode it probably remembers how the CMs had to "catch" the cable cars at the station and then give them a push to start them again. It took a lot of (strong) CMs to run that ride. Because of all the exertion, the CMs tired quickly. And when the ride broke down, they would have a lot of people scheduled with no ride to work on.

 

[danny1649]

It was a one of a kind view

 

[riu girl]

this attraction you are posting about - is it the skymover that takes people between fantasyland and tomorrowland?

Also, what can you tell me about the peoplemover in Fantasyland?

Sorry for the silly questions but haven't been to WDW in over two decades and am now trying to plan first holiday for my family.

Thanks

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by riu girl
this attraction you are posting about - is it the skymover that takes people between fantasyland and tomorrowland?

Also, what can you tell me about the peoplemover in Fantasyland?

Sorry for the silly questions but haven't been to WDW in over two decades and am now trying to plan first holiday for my family.

Thanks

Yes, the Skyway was a suspended car that went back and forth on a cable on a one way trip between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The cables were suspended on sort of T shaped towers. There were cables on each side of the towers. The cars were various primary colors (red, yellow, blue, green). It was a good ride, but one of the negatives was that you ended up getting a good view of the roofs of some of the buildings (Small World, Peter Pan and all the rest look much better from the ground).
The People mover is in Tomorrowland. Or, I should say, it used to be the People Mover, but when Tomorrowland was re-themed, it was renamed the Tomorrowland Transit Authority(TTA). It's an elevated train run by magnetic motors. The view from the TTA is actually really good. You get to see the insides of Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain, which is pretty neat. There are also some good views of the castle in the distance.

 

[riu girl]

Thank you so much Sue M. I been racking my brain trying to figure out Tomorrland (have not been there for 21 years) and after reading your post it FINALLY all makes sense. The TTA sounds like something my family will really enjoy.

Thanks again for the info.

Suzy V.

 

[SueM in MN]

you're welcome. Have a fun time.

 

[ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

You get to see the insides of Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain

when i was a youngin, that was the closest i would get to space mountain...

good ol people mover

 

[mla973]

I don't think the SkyWay has been operational since sometime in 1999. When I was there on the WDW College Program, I did hear that a CM fell from the ride and did not survive (during park hours).

It was shut down shortly after that, and I do not recall it runnng again. I know that most evidence of the ride is gone.

I imagine the maintenance issues did also exist.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I think the CM accident just served as the "ultimate reason" to close it down..my guess is that they had it in mind to close it for some period of time. With having to close it to investigate the accident, made sense never to open it again. Also recall it wasn't any mechanical problem with the ride that caused the accident.

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Uncleromulus
I think the CM accident just served as the "ultimate reason" to close it down..my guess is that they had it in mind to close it for some period of time. With having to close it to investigate the accident, made sense never to open it again. Also recall it wasn't any mechanical problem with the ride that caused the accident.

Before its final closure, there were many times when it was not open - due to repairs, maitenence and the fact that it had to be closed if the winds were too high or there were any thunderstorms in the area. in fact, the last few years before it closed, we hardly ever found it open during our WDW trips.
The CM accident occurred because someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. From what I recall hearing, he was painting when he thought the ride was closed and was in an area that the cars went thru while operating. When they started up the cars, he got hit. So, it was human error, not a mechanical problem that caused it.
I don't have time to look for it right now, but there is a website that lists theme park deaths. Actually, you can probably find a lot just by entering "Skyway" "death" and "Disney" into a google search.