skyliner questions

[adznyfan]

hi

going to wdw in dec after long time of not visiting - a few questions about the skyliner - am torn between value resorts with and without the skyliner - since it seems the skyliner offers another option to get to the parks - do you get there faster even with the buses or do the busses have more running since the skyliner isn't at all the resorts? any help would be appreciated on the resorts with and without the skyliner

 

[Dizznee Freak]

We rode the skyliner from DHS to AoA last week to see how they worked. We were impressed with the speed and ease. So much so we booked a trip to AoA in October.

 

[brockash]

In my opinion; the greatest advantage to the Skyliner is if you have a stroller, as you don't have to collapse it etc. Also, having access to the boardwalk area.

We stayed at CBR (so main hub, no transferring needed- you'd also have to factor in transfer from value resort.) The skyliner was nice and "cool," but in our experience was no faster and didn't necessarily get us to the parks any faster than a bus would have. I'm talking in order to be one of the first in the morning and at closing.

We were the 12th family to board the skyliner to go to dhs and as we were flying over dhs, we could see many buses already dropping ppl. off for the day. At Epcot we were the 6th family to load to Epcot and obviously coming into IG, couldn't see buses, but once in the park, it didn't seem there was any advantage as opposed to being in the first bus of the day.

At closing we waited 25 mins to board at dhs and 40 at Epcot. - We generally have much better luck than this with buses at closing.

One other thing to consider is the time of year you're going...if it's during rainy months that makes a huge difference. We went in Sept last year and the skyliner seemed down more than it was up, which then creates a mess of a bus/transportation issue for those resorts.

If you have a stroller and are going during drier months, then I think it may be worth it, but for us, our next trip is in Aug. and we chose to not do a skyliner resort as we don't want to deal with the down time and we don't feel it's really anymore efficient than buses in our experience.

 

[kdisser]

Rain will definitely throw a wrench in the plans when using the skyliner, so keep that in mind and plan your day accordingly. And I am not sure how often it happens but it went down a couple times during our last visit and that obviously affected it too. Overall though if we are staying value we will stay on the skyliner route. It is pretty efficient and quick too, sometimes they have to pause the flow to allow a mobility group to board but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing. I would also say for us personally we have waited at most close to 2 hours for buses from the park to resort at times (in September trips), so the skyliner takes that bit out of question just as long as nothing else of a surprise comes up.

But it something comes up and you are at Epcot or HS and the skyliner is down there will more than likely be a long wait for the bus to get back to the resort, which can make a headache considering how often those buses run. I would assume they add more buses when the skyliner goes down but I would not count on it from personal experience.

 

[adznyfan]

thanks for all your help!

 

[Fangorn]

Rain by itself does not affect the operation of the Skyliner. Skyliner will close due to high winds or lightning within 5(?) miles, but not due to rain.

Steve

 

[LadybugsMum]

In my opinion; the greatest advantage to the Skyliner is if you have a stroller, as you don't have to collapse it etc.

Not true for side by side double strollers. I rented one in Jan and had to collapse it each time we rode the skyliner.

 

[brockash]

Not true for side by side double strollers. I rented one in Jan and had to collapse it each time we rode the skyliner.

That's true...I should've added that. This is only true for all single strollers and some double that are more sit n stand type...not side by side double.

So if you're using a side ny side double, the skyliner in my opinion would be no better than a bus during busy times (open/closing)