Skyliner status

[RDarling]

I have watching for updates on the Skyliner and not seeing much. I arrive this Sunday at POP and was hoping they would be operational. Are they doing any testing? Has anyone seen them moving? Or is it a total shut down still?

 

[erionm]

They have been running them empty. No official word on when they will allow passengers on board again.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Disney does not want to admit the problem(s).
. . . they run the system faster than other SUCCESSFUL gondola systems
. . . the mechanics (gears, transmissions, etc) simply cannot keep-up the pace
. . . WDW reduction in TRAINED MECHANICAL Maintenance personnel hurts badly
2) They knew of problems before (repeat: BEFORE) the system was opened to the public. **
. . . during the Cast Member Preview, the system was down
. . . they are too embarrassed to delay the gondola announced PUBLIC opening date
. . . if systems or processes fail during Soft Opening, they need fixing or delaying

** NOTE #1:
. . . during no-passenger-dry-runs the system would have breakdowns
. . . during the Cast-Member-Only preview runs, the system was down for over 1-hr
. . . CM's had to be bused to another station, while the breakdown was resolved
. . . I do not blame DIS/ABC for the terrible gondola system idea
. . . I do blame Ogre ("Iger") for wanting bonuses instead of guests experiences
. . . I do blame WDW for not fixing the system before the PUBLIC opening

NOTE #2:
. . . I am a retired mechanical engineer and company CEO
. . . I have patents in vehicles, systems, and Japanese Mag-Lev trains
. . . I even have a vehicle patent now used in several roller coasters
. . . I do not blame new "ideas"
. . . I blame incompetence in development and application
. . . I ran international engineering and multi-continent manufacturing plants
. . . in my companies, incompetence in this gondola system would result in terminations
. . . however, at Disney, such incompetence breeds promotions

NOTE #3:
. . . the system is trying to reduce transportation costs
. . . the execs at WDW want fewer buses and LESS MANPOWER costs
. . . alas, they believed their biased transport studies
. . . studies showed overly optimistic up-time and capacity calculations
. . . such studies are often used to get cities to approve mass transit
. . . it is funny such studies show systems pay-for-themselves, but never do
. . . now. WDW has a boondoggle and must try to resolve an unsolvable problem

 

[Lewisc]

1Disney does not want to admit the problem(s).
. . . thye run the system faster than other SUCCESSFULgondola systems
. . . the mechanics simply cannot keep-up the pace
. . . WDW reduction in TRAINED MECHANICAL Maintenance personnel hurts badly
2)

I

1Disney does not want to admit the problem(s).
. . . thye run the system faster than other SUCCESSFULgondola systems
. . . the mechanics simply cannot keep-up the pace
. . . WDW reduction in TRAINED MECHANICAL Maintenance personnel hurts badly
2)

I thought Doppelmayr employees were responsible for installation. Disney mechanical maintenance shouldn't be an issue for a system open for a week.

 

[kaytieeldr]

OP, please ignore comments from posters who post primarily using numbered or unnumbered lists, along with ellipses on almost every line.

 

[SgtTibbs]

In the absence of facts, people can insert whatever fits their view and say "You can't prove me wrong" as if that's how reality works.

We don't know when the Skyliner will re-open is the only honest answer, anything else is dishonest.

 

[Lewisc]

In the absence of facts, people can insert whatever fits their view and say "You can't prove me wrong" as if that's how reality works.

We don't know when the Skyliner will re-open is the only honest answer, anything else is dishonest.

One of the other threads asked for guess as to the opening date.

 

[SgtTibbs]

One of the other threads asked for guess as to the opening date.

A "guess" is not presented as fact. It's a "guess" what's not clear about that?

 

[Scubadaddy32]

The answer is who knows when they will reopen it. It's hard to say what caused the issue in the first place I would think. They have been running the system for months now and that was the only time any issue of that type has been reported. It was unfortunate, but things happen. No injuries were caused by the incident.
Basically how the gondola system works, the gripper which grabs the cable that is running constantly is triggered by springs at the top of the gondola cab arm on the gondola itself. When the cab comes in to the station the structure of the the station compresses the springs which releases the gripper from the cable. Once the cab is loaded, the station is designed to release the spring and the gripper grabs the cable and takes off. The releasing and grabbing of the cable is the reason the cabs come in and leave quickly at those two points, as the cable is running at a constant speed.
The blue cab on the night of the incident for whatever reason got stuck in the station portion of the gondola and it's gripper never reached the cable portion of the system.
I'm no expert on these systems, but they are pretty basic in structure and the basic design has been around for well over 70 years. I'm in construction, so I work with engineers constantly and I have studied the system and how it works as I've been on ski lifts and gondola lifts all around the world my entire life.
Doppelmayr is still on the scene and will be based on their contract for quite sometime.
The issue occurred in the loading station. The speed of the cable has nothing to do with the loading stations as the cable is released or re-gripped by the cab as a result of the design of the station itself. For whatever reason the cab never reached the end of the loading station before becoming wedged. It's very visible in the pictures of the incident and the only reason they had to stop the cable was that they would only do damage to returning cars and have a pile up in that particular station.
Doppelmayr ski lift video:

 

[MIAMouseketeer]

I have watching for updates on the Skyliner and not seeing much. I arrive this Sunday at POP and was hoping they would be operational. Are they doing any testing? Has anyone seen them moving? Or is it a total shut down still?

We arrive at Pop on Sunday as well. We chose not to use our DVC points this trip and booked Pop specifically for the Skyliner, so we are really disappointed it won't be up and running. But what can you do?

 

[MillauFr]

. . . the execs at WDW want fewer buses and LESS MANPOWER costs

Doesn't everyone want to eliminate the buses? They are inefficient at moving large numbers of people. The sooner that all of the buses are removed and replaced with higher capacity people moving systems the better.

 

[kaytieeldr]

But what can you do?

Rant and rave and criticize your employer on the Internet, of course!

 

[dachsie]

Rant and rave and criticize your employer on the Internet, of course!

He has every right to do so. He has been a very informative poster over the years so I respect his opinions on this. Not everyone pumps sunshine. Time will tell how this endeavor goes for Disney. He has one thing right for sure - no one deserves and 80% salary increase at the expense of others.

 

[sageandbelle]

I'm wondering the same thing..I'll be there the 23rd and was hoping to ride it. Then again I'm also a little weary of riding it so soon after it's been 'fixed'.

 

[kaytieeldr]

He has every right to do so. He has been a very informative poster over the years so I respect his opinions on this.

Each of us is entitled to our opinions. His expectations are unreasonable here - ranging less than 36 hours after the "unplanned downtime" that the Skyliner wasn't already up and running. If Dopplmayr had to send technicians and engineers over here to examine and fix it, it's completely unreasonable to expect them to jump into action between 3 and 5 AM on a Sunday. It's a 10:44 flight and needs to be booked first. Then Customs and drive time. Six PM Sunday, at least. Sunset just after 7.

Or, maybe there are Dopplmayr engineers located right in Orlando. Either way, the rant (and it was a rant) so quickly over an operational problem within 36 hours is entirely unreasonable and unnecessary.

It's entirely possible to lose one's job due to one's social media posts https://people.com/celebrity/employees-who-were-fired-because-of-social-media-posts/

*yes, I said "if"...then posted the opposite possibility.

 

[AngiTN]

It's been running everyday since the accident. No idea when it will reopen but there is extensive testing

They are running a bus. No idea why but why at BWI we saw a bus marked Skyliner and stops at BWI, Pop, Aoa and Carribean, best I can recall.

He has every right to do so. He has been a very informative poster over the years so I respect his opinions on this. Not everyone pumps sunshine. Time will tell how this endeavor goes for Disney. He has one thing right for sure - no one deserves and 80% salary increase at the expense of others.

No he's not at all informative. He's negative for the sake of being negative. If Disney says the sky is blue he'll argue that it's green because Disney can't be right. There's nothing informative about that. Nothing is ever good enough

 

[kaytieeldr]

If Disney says the sky is blue he'll argue that it's green because Disney can't be right.

Well, in fairness, the Sky isn't blue. Or green. It looks blue due to light waves of light retraction or something (I know science, but not well). It's actually no color.

 

[joelkfla]

They are running a bus. No idea why but why at BWI we saw a bus marked Skyliner and stops at BWI, Pop, Aoa and Carribean, best I can recall.

Replacement service for Guests who had planned to travel between resorts or to IG on the Skyliner.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

The original Design Concept for the Gondola System:

 

[PatMcDuck]

I am not completely surprised at those special busses, because one day in week 1, just the AoA/Pop line was down (until about 5 pm) and they actually ran busses to Carribean Beach, so people who wanted to get to Studios or Epcot by Skyliner, still could (for the 2nd leg of their journey). One would have expected them to just tell people to take a bus to the parks. But when we were going to Epcot for the concerts at night, from AoA, it was much easier to take Skyliner to WC entrance vs a bus to the front of the park.

I have Pop booked in April, hoping it is running smoothly by then. We were lucky and rode all week before the incident. We got stuck once, 35 minutes, 2 nights before the breakdown, also on the Epcot line, after closing. (some other times it was just a few minutes).