Skyliner questions

[NWOhiogal]

I've been paying attention to the Skyliners that are going up, and I have a few questions.

1. What happens when the weather's bad? Florida gets a lot of pop-up thunderstorms and gully-washers in the summer, and some of them are intense with sideways rain and high winds. Will Disney continue to run the Skyliner in those conditions? Since the storms often pop up with little notice, will Disney stop running the Skyliners if there's even a threat (which seems to be all day every day during the summer)? Or will they just keep running them and hope for the best?

2. How long does it take for the gondolas to get to their destinations? It looks to me like it'd take about 10-15 minutes. What if a guest gets on one of those things and then has a medical issue (heart attack, trouble breathing) right after getting in the air? Is there a way to alert anybody? Or stop the gondola and get them down? Or do they just have wait to have their medical issue tended to until they get to the station? To me this is one big advantage of being on a bus or in a car, if you have a medical issue getting you help is quick. I'm wondering what Disney's plan is with the gondolas, since I'm sure this issue will come up at some point.

 

[OKW Lover]

Suggest you check out the extensive thread about the Skyliners:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...n-system-read-post-1-updated-5-22-19.3578988/

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I've been paying attention to the Skyliners that are going up, and I have a few questions.

1. What happens when the weather's bad? Florida gets a lot of pop-up thunderstorms and gully-washers in the summer, and some of them are intense with sideways rain and high winds. Will Disney continue to run the Skyliner in those conditions? Since the storms often pop up with little notice, will Disney stop running the Skyliners if there's even a threat (which seems to be all day every day during the summer)? Or will they just keep running them and hope for the best?

2. How long does it take for the gondolas to get to their destinations? It looks to me like it'd take about 10-15 minutes. What if a guest gets on one of those things and then has a medical issue (heart attack, trouble breathing) right after getting in the air? Is there a way to alert anybody? Or stop the gondola and get them down? Or do they just have wait to have their medical issue tended to until they get to the station? To me this is one big advantage of being on a bus or in a car, if you have a medical issue getting you help is quick. I'm wondering what Disney's plan is with the gondolas, since I'm sure this issue will come up at some point.

By the time they would stop it and get help AKA call the fire dept. to come for a medical issue they could make it to the next stop faster. As for bad weather I would not want to be in one since you only have windows that would have to be shut if it were raining. just think 9 other hot sweaty people in a tiny glass container. YUCK Especially if you are at POP going to Epcot. that is around 25 minute ride once it makes two stops before getting to the park.

 

[kaytieeldr]

As for running in storms, that linked thread would probably be your best source. Somewhere around here, there's a video of the cars not proceeding in the rain, but they were and are still being tested.

 

[writerguyfl]

Since the storms often pop up with little notice...

This actually is not true. While it may seem sudden to the general public, forecasting has improved to the point where those afternoon/evening thunderstorms in Florida are predictable.

Here's an example of my favorite (now defunct) weather website. The bottom line shows the chance of precipitation over time.

As someone who has lived in Florida for the last 18 years, I can tell you that these chance of precipitation predictions are fairly accurate.

Disney pays for and uses this type of information to plan their daily operations. I guarantee that the Cast Members running the Skyliner will know in advance that storms are possible.

That said, I encourage you to check out the thread that OKW Lover provided. There's tons of stuff in there (although it's a HUGE thread).

 

[Donna M]

I would bet that if a rider had a medical emergency while on the Skyliner, they would receive help sooner than if they were in a car on one of the roads approaching a theme park or hotel. The Skyliner stops aren't that far apart. The Epcot monorail takes a while to go between stations too, and I've been on it when it has just stopped.