Disney Skyliner (Gondola Transportation System) Read Post 1 Now Open!

[rteetz]

It's a little over a mile because it's not very straight line. My wife did DHS to Beach Club in about 20 minutes. You could probably go directly to Epcot in 20-25 minutes. 15 minutes would be a pretty darn fast pace, but I suppose it is possible. It's definitely faster to walk than to take the boats...because the boats stop 3 times. (DHS-Swolphin-BC/YC-BW-Epcot) but the boat takes about 30 minutes.

I ran from DHS to Epcot in probably 10ish minutes

 

[skier_pete]

I ran from DHS to Epcot in probably 10ish minutes

Yes - the optimal word their being "ran" - I would believe that you could run it in 10 minutes. Actually, you had mile markers staked out, was it more than a mile?

 

[WEDWDW]

I ran from DHS to Epcot in probably 10ish minutes

Sounds about right-I have been known to SPEED-WALK(no running) from Hollywood Hills after F! to IG in time for IllumiNations in about 20 minutes(using the Boardwalk Pool Shortcut).

 

[Josh Hendy]

Pretty cool transportation idea, if the building cost, speed, capacity and operating expenses are as good as promised.

On the negative side, judging from the strangely convoluted route I guess that this is not so much about moving people efficiently between resorts and parks but about condo flipping at what would otherwise be a relatively unattractive resort tower in a poor location.

As people suggested over on that wdwmagic thread, run everything through CBR to make it a super-moderate resort and get the new DVC owners there to pay for the gondola with their annual maintenance fees.

Such is the distortion and unreality of a credit bubble. It's a Caribbean Beach resort that isn't in the Caribbean and doesn't have a beach ... but if you buy into it for 50 years and commit to paying large and open-ended maintenance fees you can ride a gondola to World Showcase, or TWO gondolas to Star Wars Land (with its two rides). Where do I sign up? LOL

If the credit bubble continues I suppose this will lead to expansion of the gondola system to include new/converted timeshares on the AK-Coronado-Epcot axis, and maybe even on the Epcot-MK axis replacing the monorail on that route.

 

[rteetz]

Yes - the optimal word their being "ran" - I would believe that you could run it in 10 minutes. Actually, you had mile markers staked out, was it more than a mile?

Well mile 23 was inside DHS. Mile 24 was at the boardwalk and mile 25 was inside Epcot.

 

[rteetz]

Updated map from wdwmagic

 

[danikoski]

Pretty cool transportation idea, if the building cost, speed, capacity and operating expenses are as good as promised.

On the negative side, judging from the strangely convoluted route I guess that this is not so much about moving people efficiently between resorts and parks but about condo flipping at what would otherwise be a relatively unattractive resort tower in a poor location.



Such is the distortion and unreality of a credit bubble. It's a Caribbean Beach resort that isn't in the Caribbean and doesn't have a beach ... but if you buy into it for 50 years and commit to paying large and open-ended maintenance fees you can ride a gondola to World Showcase, or TWO gondolas to Star Wars Land (with its two rides). Where do I sign up? LOL

If the credit bubble continues I suppose this will lead to expansion of the gondola system to include new/converted timeshares on the AK-Coronado-Epcot axis, and maybe even on the Epcot-MK axis replacing the monorail on that route.

To be fair, you have to connect to get to Epcot from the monorail resorts, so I'm sure Disney thinking people don't see that as a big deal, so they wouldn't see this as a big deal.

 

[danikoski]

Updated map from wdwmagic

View attachment 220655

Do you know if there are plans to add rooms to the CBR south transfer station? The footprint for that building, just from the pick, looks big enough...Or is this going to be the CBR tower for fireworks viewing?

 

[umichigan10]

Updated map from wdwmagic

View attachment 220655

So they're gonna knock down all those light blue buildings near the DVC station? I know they're gonna knock something down for the DVC and this isn't an official map of things but trying to understand the logistics of the project

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure my boyfriend and I speed walked from Epcot to DHS under 15 minutes, probably closer to 10, because character palooza was about to start and I really wanted to see if Robinhood was coming out.

 

[Tardisblue]

So why wouldn't they just extend this to either TTC or MK itself?

 

[skier_pete]

So why wouldn't they just extend this to either TTC or MK itself?

The distance in everyone of those legs is less than a mile. The distance from IG (the closest "station") is about FOUR miles. And there's already a monorail that does this.

It's all about what will make them money. "CBR/AOA/Pop connect directly to TWO parks" and "CBR/AOA/Pop connect directly to THREE parks, but one is a 5 mile skyride away" gets you the exact same revenue. In addition, Disney doesn't want to encourage MORE people to go to MK. They want to encourage them to go to the other parks. There's no benefit at this stage to Disney.

 

[tjkraz]

So why wouldn't they just extend this to either TTC or MK itself?

Distance? Obstacles?

It's pretty obvious that Disney lacks a long-term plan for the monorail. Aging ride vehicles with no sign of replacement. It's not too far-fetched to think that this is a trial balloon to see if gondolas couldn't someday replace the existing monorail system.

But even if this mode of transport proves efficient and popular, I'm not sure that it will ever be a single interconnected system that links all of WDW. Instead, it's likely to be a series of smaller systems which logically support groups of resorts & parks which are in relatively close proximity.

 

[rteetz]

Do you know if there are plans to add rooms to the CBR south transfer station? The footprint for that building, just from the pick, looks big enough...Or is this going to be the CBR tower for fireworks viewing?

Not that I'm aware. In the permits the station building it the only thing in that area. CBR is getting a DVC tower near DVC station.

So they're gonna knock down all those light blue buildings near the DVC station? I know they're gonna knock something down for the DVC and this isn't an official map of things but trying to understand the logistics of the project

Not all of them but a good amount of buildings will be demolished for a DVC tower. I have images of the area affected in the CBR thread.

So why wouldn't they just extend this to either TTC or MK itself?

They have a monorail for that already as Pete said.

 

[Q-man]

Pretty cool transportation idea, if the building cost, speed, capacity and operating expenses are as good as promised.

On the negative side, judging from the strangely convoluted route I guess that this is not so much about moving people efficiently between resorts and parks but about condo flipping at what would otherwise be a relatively unattractive resort tower in a poor location.



Such is the distortion and unreality of a credit bubble. It's a Caribbean Beach resort that isn't in the Caribbean and doesn't have a beach ... but if you buy into it for 50 years and commit to paying large and open-ended maintenance fees you can ride a gondola to World Showcase, or TWO gondolas to Star Wars Land (with its two rides). Where do I sign up? LOL

If the credit bubble continues I suppose this will lead to expansion of the gondola system to include new/converted timeshares on the AK-Coronado-Epcot axis, and maybe even on the Epcot-MK axis replacing the monorail on that route.

1. Looks to me the alignment is such that the CSR can be added, if so desired, and brought thru the same station in the Boardwalk parking lot.
2. Tell us what other transportation at Disney can get you from CBR to the IG or to HS in under 10 mins?
3. But, I'd agree it is mostly about revenue generation.

 

[Harry Wallace]

They would not be going over France. They'd be going just behind France. The issue would be seeing them from inside the parks. That's not much different than the intrusion of the swan and dolphin though.

You do have to remember that these gondolas don't have to go very high up and the height of the towers can vary (they could go higher over the highway) and then go really low behind Epcot.

I would imagine that show buildings could cover up something about that height.

 

[skier_pete]

You do have to remember that these gondolas don't have to go very high up and the height of the towers can vary (they could go higher over the highway) and then go really low behind Epcot.

I would imagine that show buildings could cover up something about that height.

Great example. People think of these things as being high up in the air - they only need to be high enough to go over whatever is below them. The proof that they are keeping these low is the fact they are cutting a swath through the trees between CBR and DHS. Those Gondolas are going to run below the treetops.

 

[Harry Wallace]

Great example. People think of these things as being high up in the air - they only need to be high enough to go over whatever is below them. The proof that they are keeping these low is the fact they are cutting a swath through the trees between CBR and DHS. Those Gondolas are going to run below the treetops.

Thanks I see the video of the London ones being cited here a lot. The only reason that they are so high is to allow ships to go underneath them. As far as I know there are not Disney Cruise Line ships at WDW so these towers can be low!

 

[rteetz]

Great example. People think of these things as being high up in the air - they only need to be high enough to go over whatever is below them. The proof that they are keeping these low is the fact they are cutting a swath through the trees between CBR and DHS. Those Gondolas are going to run below the treetops.

There might be an instance where they need to go over buildings at CBR but otherwise you are correct.

 

[Harry Wallace]

Also, the lower they are the easier they are to get people off in an emergency and they are less effected by the wind.