That didn't take long...Skyliner Accident

[suemom2kay]

Would the NTSB investigate something like this?

I’m not sure since it was not a significant accident. But, time will tell.

 

[suemom2kay]

I hope all is well with everyone who was involved
I will never ride the skyliner
I do not want to ride it before the accident and now I truly do not want to ride it

I hope they give free night at resort for each guest affected, or free dinner or free FP's
Something to compensate them

I read they gave $100 and a 1 Day park hopper. Not sure what one would do with a one day ticket if they already have tickets.

 

[Tonyz]

An absolute embarrassment and a pathetic response from Disney. "Unexpected downtime"? Have a little self-awareness, you look ridiculous responding like this.

 

[Linkura]

I hope all is well with everyone who was involved
I will never ride the skyliner
I do not want to ride it before the accident and now I truly do not want to ride it

I hope they give free night at resort for each guest affected, or free dinner or free FP's
Something to compensate them

I was interested in riding on a future hypothetical trip before this incident, but now that I know Disney has botched yet another new thing, and this time it's a safety issue, I'm good never riding it.

 

[DLgal]

I love disney’s depiction of the last night’s gondola incident as “unexpected downtime.” Reminds me of their “industry standard” argument about charging resort parking fees. I have my own terminology for these: “Disney speak.”

Well, technically, they didn't lie. There was an UNEXPECTED crash, leading to DOWNTIME.

PR people doing what they do best...

I honestly think they made that statement on purpose, and it was for a twofold reason:
1. So people wouldn't panic and think they were in danger. They know everyone is on social media.
2. So they could limit liability down the line by pretending this was a simple system malfunction, rather than the result of operator error or mechanical failure. Rule #1 in legal speak is "Never admit liability."

FWIW, I find these tactics to be shady and make me distrust any company that engages in them.

 

[DLgal]

I read they gave $100 and a 1 Day park hopper. Not sure what one would do with a one day ticket if they already have tickets.

Use it as an incentive to come back.

Some people likely had their park day cut short by this situation and the park hopper is likely an attempt to give people back that time they missed in the park.

 

[seashoreCM]

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[xuxa777]

Wow , a little overreaction going on, minor accident , yes a window broke, it looks like it was just one of those ventilation videos that poke out , no injuries and everyone made it home completely safe. I would say it looks like the safety mechanisms worked well. People on here acting like it is a mass catastrophe. Bus system at Disney has caused two deaths since 2010, monorails has caused a death , and the monorail cars have caught fire many times causing injuries etc, long evacuations +2 hours . Numerous injuries and even deaths on rides. Even ride evacuations take multiple hours and some in awkward positions requiring the FD. The Skyliner is one of the safest modes of transportation in the park.

 

[suemom2kay]

Wow , a little overreaction going on, minor accident , yes a window broke, it looks like it was just one of those ventilation videos that poke out , no injuries and everyone made it home completely safe. I would say it looks like the safety mechanisms worked well. People on here acting like it is a mass catastrophe. Bus system at Disney has caused two deaths since 2010, monorails has caused a death , and the monorail cars have caught fire many times causing injuries etc, long evacuations +2 hours . Numerous injuries and even deaths on rides. Even ride evacuations take multiple hours and some in awkward positions requiring the FD. The Skyliner is one of the safest modes of transportation in the park.

Except that the safety mechanism DID NOT WORK. The station gondolas should have stopped when the leading gondola failed to depart the station. That is the rub. Why was there a chain reaction collision?

 

[Captainkidd76]

An absolute embarrassment and a pathetic response from Disney. "Unexpected downtime"? Have a little self-awareness, you look ridiculous responding like this.

This is one major reason I've been turned off from Disney as of late. There's PR and then there's just insulting people. They could start relating to the common person again by not treating them like they were 3 years old.

 

[suemom2kay]

deleted .............................

FYI: The deleted post said this incident just like bumping cars on The Speedway in Tomorrowland.

Well minus the grinding metal, broken glass, shutdown of the system, and evacuation up to 60 feet in the air 2 people at a time. But other than that, totally the same thing.

 

[lovin'fl]

'A little over reaction'...what? Folks trapped with strangers for 3 hours. In the heat. It was like 91 plus high humidity yesterday. We were there at Boardwalk. Pulled into lot at 8.30 and saw the gondolas stopped...was at BW for 9 nights and saw them stopped a lot though mostly just for brief periods. We rode once and it only slowed a little at times but was toasty when not moving swiftly. We pay thousands of $$ for these Disney vacays and, I am sorry, but getting stuck in small cabin... in 90 degree heat... in dark... high in the air...with strangers for THREE HOURS is NOT getting what we paid for. NOT! At all! Iger needs to get his head out of his behind. Cant even get magic band technology to work after all these years and we trust them to gondola us all over the resort. I choose to nope on out.

 

[ScubaCat]

We got to listen to a recording and a live person alternating every few minutes saying exactly the same thing over and over that we were temporarily delayed and would be moving soon.

This is the worst part to me!

 

[ScubaCat]

'A little over reaction'...what? Folks trapped with strangers for 3 hours. In the heat. It was like 91 plus high humidity yesterday. We were there at Boardwalk. Pulled into lot at 8.30 and saw the gondolas stopped...was at BW for 9 nights and saw them stopped a lot though mostly just for brief periods. We rode once and it only slowed a little at times but was toasty when not moving swiftly. We pay thousands of $$ for these Disney vacays and, I am sorry, but getting stuck in small cabin... in 90 degree heat... in dark... high in the air...with strangers for THREE HOURS is NOT getting what we paid for. NOT! At all! Iger needs to get his head out of his behind. Cant even get magic band technology to work after all these years and we trust them to gondola us all over the resort. I choose to nope on out.

I agree, just not directly related to the skyliner. The people trapped in the monorail for 2+ hours a couple of weeks ago, same story. Also, has anyone noticed that the "constantly moving" gondolas temporarily stop....constantly? I'm sure they're safe... That's not the issue. But why do they have to be stopped all the time? I feel like there's an underlying non-safety-related problem that's being kept quiet.

 

[snappy]

Well, technically, they didn't lie. There was a UNEXPECTED crash, leading to DOWNTIME.

PR people doing what they do best...

I honestly think they made that statement on purpose, and it was for a twofold reason:
1. So people wouldn't panic and think they were in danger. They know everyone is on social media.
2. So they could limit liability down the line by pretending this was a simple system malfunction, rather than the result of operator error or mechanical failure. Rule #1 in legal speak is "Never admit liability."

FWIW, I find these tactics to be shady and make me distrust any company that engages in them.

I would be willing to bet at this point legal counsel is dictating the language being used by Disney.

 

[lovin'fl]

I agree, just not directly related to the skyliner. The people trapped in the monorail for 2+ hours a couple of weeks ago, same story. Also, has anyone noticed that the "constantly moving" gondolas temporarily stop....constantly? I'm sure they're safe... That's not the issue. But why do they have to be stopped all the time? I feel like there's an underlying non-safety-related problem that's being kept quiet.

I watched daily from my portico facing BWV villa. And they stop constantly. We ubered to CR one day and driver told us it was stuck for 1.5 hours on one of the 1st nights. Seems like park closing issue...maybe too much use or too much load or too many being pulled off for scooters. After Epcot fireworks the IG was a cattle call. And the line for skyliner was atrocious. It has ruined the IG.

 

[conandrob240]

Wow. Didn’t realize this is why it’s been non operational since yesterday. I do know there were plenty of annoyed people after Epcot Forever last night who exited that way to rude it home but then we’re redirected all the way to the front of the park for the buses. There should have been signs and announcements.

I rode it a few times over the past week. It was much faster than I expected and it was very fast pulling into a “station”. It was very quiet and smooth. My husband hates heights but he said it was low enough that it didn’t bother him. However, during the day at points where it slowed, it was extremely hot and we ride pretty early in the am. I can’t imagine riding in that thing at 2pm in the heat/sun of summer. Also, at night, because of the mirrored glass and decals, the glare was terrible and you really couldn’t even see outside much. You were basically looking at your own reflection the whole ride.

 

[Lewisc]

Also, has anyone noticed that the "constantly moving" gondolas temporarily stop....constantly? I'm sure they're safe... That's not the issue. But why do they have to be stopped all the time? I feel like there's an underlying non-safety-related problem that's being kept quiet.

Riviera can't pull gondolas to a spur in order to load scooters.
Gondolas should be going slow enough to load scooters without stopping the skyliner. CM have been stopping the line to load scooters. I wonder if the constant e stops were a factor in the unexpected downtime

 

[conandrob240]

Wow. Didn’t realize this is why it’s been non operational since yesterday. I do know there were plenty of annoyed people after Epcot Forever last night who exited that way to rude it home but then we’re redirected all the way to the front of the park for the buses. There should have been signs and announcements.

I rode it a few times over the past week. It was much faster than I expected and it was very fast pulling into a “station”. It was very quiet and smooth. My husband hates heights but he said it was low enough that it didn’t bother him. However, during the day at points where it slowed, it was extremely hot and we ride pretty early in the am. I can’t imagine riding in that thing at 2pm in the heat/sun of summer. Also, at night, because of the mirrored glass and decals, the glare was terrible and you really couldn’t even see outside much. You were basically looking at your own reflection the whole ride.

 

[snappy]

Riviera can't pull gondolas to a spur in order to load scooters.
Gondolas should be going slow enough to load scooters without stopping the skyliner. CM have been stopping the line to load scooters. I wonder if the constant e stops were a factor in the unexpected downtime

Hopefully Disney will investigate thoroughly enough to determine the causes. Might be a combination of contributing factors. It’s too bad whatever happened wasn’t uncovered in the tests. Makes me wonder how robust the testing really was, not in terms of long a period of testing they did, but did they test with loading/unloading the ECV’s, etc. It seems like those should be on their radar what with their new policy on accepting deliveries of those vehicles.