That didn't take long...Skyliner Accident

[ScubaCat]

You forgot hot air balloons, parachutes, rocket backpacks, heck this is Disney they should have Star Trek Transporters for goodness sake!!!!

I'd love it if they had a good zip line and repelling gear in the emergency box. Just as long as they keep the note pad with "universal" written on the cover. (Someone DEFINITELY got fired for that one!! )

 

[VandVsmama]

This sounds like you think they will never be cleaned. Why?

Um...I never said that. I do think that they will be cleaned. Just like the Monorail cars are regularly cleaned. But put really sweaty people in the hot Florida weather in a confined small space for long enough...and you add in no air conditioning...and even the plastic inside that gondola will start to smell like feet and rear ends. You can disinfect the whole thing in disinfectant every day and it will still smell like a locker room.

Ever stood in the queue for Buzz Lightyear on a sweaty day? It smells like a locker room.
Ever taken a ride on the monorail when it's empty? It still smells like a locker room.

And those spaces are air conditioned. The gondolas are not.

 

[lucky_bunni]

I noticed on the ride through videos that the Skyliner path seems to travel above CBR villas at one point. Thinking how tricky getting rescue equipment in to rescue people stuck in those cars will be.

 

[kandb]

Which you know, how? Were any 400 pound, medical device-using guests passed over or ignored or skipped over from the emergency rescue?

I can't imagine transferring a very large person on a scooter from one of these things in mid-air is not an easy task. Did you also read about people say the gondola started moving and swaying during the rescue? Some people on twitter said they were trapped for almost 4 hours. Maybe you think this is acceptable but I don't.

 

[luvsJack]

I keep seeing posts comparing this incident to the problems on the monorail. Did it ever occur to anyone that perhaps instead of sinking all the money into this, that just maybe they should have fixed the current problems with the monorail? And then went forward with either extending it or the gondolas?

I tried to google and find the first time people had to be evacuated from the monorail. Does anyone know when that was? Seems like it ran fine for many years before it started having issues but maybe it just seems that way.

At what point will people stop saying “well this is ok because it happens on that too” and start expecting this billion dollar company to FIX the current problems?

And yes, yes, I realize there will be power outages and such but come on! Find a solution!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Maybe you think this is acceptable but I don't.

Not acceptable, no. But I absolutely do not expect it to be any kind of regular occurrence.

At what point will people stop saying “well this is ok because it happens on that too” and start expecting this billion dollar company to FIX the current problems?

Different viewpoints is NOT saying this is okay. Just some people aren't panicking and claiming, "The sky is falling!" Literally or figuratively.

 

[erc]

There are always kinks to be worked out. Unit and system testing is fine, but nothing will test like running in a full production system.

 

[jalpert]

Wow. So much hate. I think the Skyliner is a brilliant idea, of course this setback was unfortunate.

What was Disney supposed to do to alleviate traffic and congestion? They obviously can't expand the always broken monorail. There is only so much road for so many buses, everyone knows the state of construction the roads have been in, and for all that work the benefit won't last long as new resorts and room capacity increases. Surely we shouldn't build a waterway to all the resorts to increase the use of water transportation.

Every 7.5 minutes on average, this system has the capability to move 1,800 people, and that's with 6 per gondola. I'm sure they could average more. 14,400 people an hour is nothing to sneeze at.

Anyone ever been to Disney World between April and December and see a parade? Lots of people willing to stand in 99 degree weather with no covering or shade. Compared to that, sitting on a bench, covered, with a 10mph breeze is heaven. I thought people taking thermometers on these things and posting the results on youtube was silly. I was wrong, I guess it's not.

 

[sam_gordon]

I keep seeing posts comparing this incident to the problems on the monorail. Did it ever occur to anyone that perhaps instead of sinking all the money into this, that just maybe they should have fixed the current problems with the monorail? And then went forward with either extending it or the gondolas?

Did it ever occur to you that using the money for the Skyliner may not have been enough to fix current problems with the monorail? Regardless of whether people like to think about it or not, Disney is a business. They're going to look at the ROI of everything.

The reason people keep bringing up the monorail is because it is also elevated, if power goes out, there is no AC, and it can be crowded. Granted, with the monorail, even if you are stranded, you're sitting ON something (the beam) and not hanging FROM something (the wire). But I'd like to think that if this happened to me, while I'd be frustrated, I don't think I'd be worried about the wire breaking. That seems like a strange leap to me.

At what point will people stop saying “well this is ok because it happens on that too” and start expecting this billion dollar company to FIX the current problems?

And yes, yes, I realize there will be power outages and such but come on! Find a solution!

Do you really think Disney is NOT trying to fix the problem?

 

[luvsJack]

Did it ever occur to you that using the money for the Skyliner may not have been enough to fix current problems with the monorail? Regardless of whether people like to think about it or not, Disney is a business. They're going to look at the ROI of everything.

The reason people keep bringing up the monorail is because it is also elevated, if power goes out, there is no AC, and it can be crowded. Granted, with the monorail, even if you are stranded, you're sitting ON something (the beam) and not hanging FROM something (the wire). But I'd like to think that if this happened to me, while I'd be frustrated, I don't think I'd be worried about the wire breaking. That seems like a strange leap to me.


Do you really think Disney is NOT trying to fix the problem?

What have the done to fix the problems with the monorail?

If they are going to continue to run the monorail and its going to keep breaking down or crashing or whatever is going on with it, whether or not the money to fix it would have been the same amount as building the Skyliner is immaterial. We aren't talking about a company that has such a small budget that they can only look at the cheaper alternatives. They have the monorail, they put people on it every day. If there are issues with it breaking down, crashing, stopping or whatever causes people to be evacuated, it should be fixed. And they have had the time to fix it.

I have only been stranded on the monorail once. It was at night. And although, for us, the worst part were the overly dramatic jr. high choir kids with us, it was a bit unnerving. I can't imagine being in something that may be swaying while I am sitting there. I wouldn't be worried about the cable breaking either but that doesn't mean it wouldn't cause a panic attack in someone who is afraid of heights. I have that fear and cables breaking have nothing to do with it. That's why its a irrational fear.

What has happened with the Skyliner should not be considered "ok" because the monorail has problems. Fix the dang problems.

And again, I ask, does anyone know how long the monorail ran before they had the first problems with it on this same level?

 

[luvsJack]

Not acceptable, no. But I absolutely do not expect it to be any kind of regular occurrence.

Different viewpoints is NOT saying this is okay. Just some people aren't panicking and claiming, "The sky is falling!" Literally or figuratively.

I don't really think anyone here is "panicking" and saying the sky is falling. Just because they think a better plan should have been in place or this shouldn't have happened doesn't mean they are panicking.

Disagreeing with something Disney has done or is doing is not panicking. And I still say, that the alternative isn't "oh well, it happens on the monorail too". It shouldn't be happening on either!


Personally, the Skyliner breaking down or having an incident, isn't the biggest problem. Stranding people 60 feet in the air in a metal box for 3 or more hours IS the problem. Apparently they need a better emergency plan in place. I am not sure who thought "Oh well, we will just give these people that paid $5000 for the week a bag to pee or poop in during that 3 hours and a small bag(?) of water" was even remotely a good idea. Particularly when you are going to have people on the thing that may have medical issues, are disabled, and/or are prone to panic attacks.

 

[UmmGooD]

I can't imagine transferring a very large person on a scooter from one of these things in mid-air is not an easy task. Did you also read about people say the gondola started moving and swaying during the rescue? Some people on twitter said they were trapped for almost 4 hours. Maybe you think this is acceptable but I don't.

From pictures I have seen it is possible that the evacuation support they use to get people off will be attached to the gondola and give it support from swaying. That is the only way I would think they could safely get someone off regardless of weight or if they are in an ECV.

One thing to consider also is the state of the people regardless of health after they have been trapped up there for awhile. If someone is in a panic they need to make sure the gondola is as secure as possible to get them out. I would imagine the platform could hook onto the gondola somehow and that would allow the person simply to walk from the gondola onto the platform. Does anyone have photos if this is the case? Or is it more of a traditional rescue with a basket and the emergency workers have to do more lifting?

I would hope they would have some system in place where it puts less stress on the evac workers. I could see evacuating one with a basket but if you had to evac 100 gondolas this way I don't think that is physically possible.

Wow. So much hate. I think the Skyliner is a brilliant idea, of course this setback was unfortunate.

What was Disney supposed to do to alleviate traffic and congestion? They obviously can't expand the always broken monorail. There is only so much road for so many buses, everyone knows the state of construction the roads have been in, and for all that work the benefit won't last long as new resorts and room capacity increases. Surely we shouldn't build a waterway to all the resorts to increase the use of water transportation.

Every 7.5 minutes on average, this system has the capability to move 1,800 people, and that's with 6 per gondola. I'm sure they could average more. 14,400 people an hour is nothing to sneeze at.

Anyone ever been to Disney World between April and December and see a parade? Lots of people willing to stand in 99 degree weather with no covering or shade. Compared to that, sitting on a bench, covered, with a 10mph breeze is heaven. I thought people taking thermometers on these things and posting the results on youtube was silly. I was wrong, I guess it's not.

I completely agree that this is a great way to move people. My city even considered it as a transportation option for commuting. The question is how does Disney prevent people from being stuck on the thing for hours and hours? That isn't reasonable. Perhaps they didn't envision this happening already and it would be a once or twice thing that happens in the history of the gondolas but now they need to figure it out. What happened with the collision. How do you free the system up quicker? What do you do with guests that are affected?

If they face a round of lawsuits every time these things stall like this (hours of waiting) then it won't last long.

Also there is a post from someone on another thread that used the emergency call button when they were in this mess and no one from Disney helped. That is a MAJOR problem. Fortunately someone in their gondola knew enough to help the person having a panic attack.

Also during this the initial reports are that only 6 gondolas were evacuated in 3 hours. I was there 2 weeks ago and there are hundreds of these things. If they can only evac 6 in 3.5 hours that is an issue. Perhaps they weren't trying to evac them but who knows. Also I don't have much faith in the system if they cannot communicate effectively when something is down.

Comparing to the monorail if one stops they might have 3 trains at a time. There is higher probability that someone in the train could help someone having an issue because there are more people in a car. If 4 people are freaked in a gondola all alone in the air and Disney is having trouble communicating with them (static and difficult to understand communications were reported) then they have a real problem on their hands.

What have the done to fix the problems with the monorail?

If they are going to continue to run the monorail and its going to keep breaking down or crashing or whatever is going on with it, whether or not the money to fix it would have been the same amount as building the Skyliner is immaterial. We aren't talking about a company that has such a small budget that they can only look at the cheaper alternatives. They have the monorail, they put people on it every day. If there are issues with it breaking down, crashing, stopping or whatever causes people to be evacuated, it should be fixed. And they have had the time to fix it.

I have only been stranded on the monorail once. It was at night. And although, for us, the worst part were the overly dramatic jr. high choir kids with us, it was a bit unnerving. I can't imagine being in something that may be swaying while I am sitting there. I wouldn't be worried about the cable breaking either but that doesn't mean it wouldn't cause a panic attack in someone who is afraid of heights. I have that fear and cables breaking have nothing to do with it. That's why its a irrational fear.

What has happened with the Skyliner should not be considered "ok" because the monorail has problems. Fix the dang problems.

And again, I ask, does anyone know how long the monorail ran before they had the first problems with it on this same level?

I see this as two separate solutions for two separate portions of the world. They are mutually exclusive. I think they'll work to maintain this system and deal with the issues. Perhaps Disney thinks it is fine who knows. The gondolas serve a different part of the resort and are not a replacement for the monorail.

 

[AggieDizzer]

 

[UmmGooD]

I don't really think anyone here is "panicking" and saying the sky is falling. Just because they think a better plan should have been in place or this shouldn't have happened doesn't mean they are panicking.

Disagreeing with something Disney has done or is doing is not panicking. And I still say, that the alternative isn't "oh well, it happens on the monorail too". It shouldn't be happening on either!


Personally, the Skyliner breaking down or having an incident, isn't the biggest problem. Stranding people 60 feet in the air in a metal box for 3 or more hours IS the problem. Apparently they need a better emergency plan in place. I am not sure who thought "Oh well, we will just give these people that paid $5000 for the week a bag to pee or poop in during that 3 hours and a small bag(?) of water" was even remotely a good idea. Particularly when you are going to have people on the thing that may have medical issues, are disabled, and/or are prone to panic attacks.

I completely agree with you! I am critiquing Disney not wanting it to fail. This was a mass oversight and it needs to be resolved. I am sure they tested it and I have no thought that they didn't test it enough. I fully want this thing up and running but at the same time I want peace of mind knowing if I get on it and it stops what happens if someone in my gondola has a heart attack? How do I know they have a chance at survival? These are the things I am thinking about and I want Disney thinking about.


Seeing reports of people hitting the button for emergency and not being able to communicate effectively and getting no more help or checkup for over an hour after pressing the butting is a major issue.

 

[Dis703]

I was never a fan of the Skyliner to begin with being that I'm afraid of heights and a tad claustrophobic. I might have considered riding them once if my kids wanted to, but I have to say this happening has definitely turned me off to them completely. Thankfully, no one got hurt, but I can't imagine being stuck in one of those boxes with no AC for 3 hours and no knowledge of what was going on. Then having to exit that thing onto a ladder truck?!!!! Omg I'm pretty sure I would have a heart attack if that ever happened to me.

And yes it would have been so much worse if this was during a summer day in July, or in the middle of a thunderstorm, etc. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are still willing to use it, but there's no chance I'll ever feel comfortable enough to try it now.

I suppose on the up side they are likely to be more prepared for this sort of situation next time around, so maybe that will give some people comfort.

 

[luvsJack]

I completely agree with you! I am critiquing Disney not wanting it to fail. This was a mass oversight and it needs to be resolved. I am sure they tested it and I have no thought that they didn't test it enough. I fully want this thing up and running but at the same time I want peace of mind knowing if I get on it and it stops what happens if someone in my gondola has a heart attack? How do I know they have a chance at survival? These are the things I am thinking about and I want Disney thinking about.


Seeing reports of people hitting the button for emergency and not being able to communicate effectively and getting no more help or checkup for over an hour after pressing the butting is a major issue.

Oh, wow. Not responding to someone that may have had an emergency situation could result in a major lawsuit! Not only the person with the emergency but those in the car with that person! They dropped the ball on this one with their response. And they may have to pay the price for it.

Add to that the total insult of lying about what was even happening is just totally un-Disney like.

I do agree with your above comment that the Skyliner and the monorail are two different issues. I just think that before they started building one, they needed to address the other.

 

[rg35]

Well, I suppose it's a good thing that Josh D'Amaro is moving over to run WDW. Hopefully he can get all of this nonsense in order.

Doubtful. We are in late-stage capitalism. The only thing that's important are corporate profits and executive bonuses.

Besides, the guy he is replacing (George Kalogridis) got a promotion, so it's not like they thought he was doing a bad job and was replaced for that reason.

 

[Chuck S]

I wonder how many gondola evac cherry pickers they have? Perhaps they need to order a couple more.

 

[joelkfla]

At DL they stop operation of the monorail when it's excessively warm because they made the mistake with it of no air conditioning.

No, because they made the mistake of having windows that don't open. On previous models, all windows opened, and it ran all day long.

 

[Captainkidd76]

Wow. So much hate. I think the Skyliner is a brilliant idea, of course this setback was unfortunate.

What was Disney supposed to do to alleviate traffic and congestion? They obviously can't expand the always broken monorail. There is only so much road for so many buses, everyone knows the state of construction the roads have been in, and for all that work the benefit won't last long as new resorts and room capacity increases. Surely we shouldn't build a waterway to all the resorts to increase the use of water transportation.

Every 7.5 minutes on average, this system has the capability to move 1,800 people, and that's with 6 per gondola. I'm sure they could average more. 14,400 people an hour is nothing to sneeze at.

Anyone ever been to Disney World between April and December and see a parade? Lots of people willing to stand in 99 degree weather with no covering or shade. Compared to that, sitting on a bench, covered, with a 10mph breeze is heaven. I thought people taking thermometers on these things and posting the results on youtube was silly. I was wrong, I guess it's not.

I don't know, but I think the Skyliner was built to minimize gas expenses from the buses. The monorail could (and should) be fixed, and expanded. It won't ever happen because of the expense. Honestly, my only gripe with the system is it makes everything look cluttered.