The new DVC Riviera Resort??

[_auroraborealis_]

Yeah, whole lot of new terminology: Trumpets, bull wheels, double turnarounds etc. good stuff!

They are the proper terms!

 

[Spartan86]

They are the proper terms!

I agree. I have enjoyed the posts and commentary over there. Very interesting.

 

[Mumof4mice]

FWIW, liftblog.com has a lot of nerding going on about the Skyliner, and a lot of info on other gondola systems.

Thanks for sharing the link. Great nerd reading!

 

[zavandor]

A whole article and no mention on how people will die hit by lightnings, or how they'll die suffocated by the cabins reaching boiling temperatures or how they'll die stranded forever when the line will break down. They clearly don't know what they're talking about.

 

[Ben E N]

or how they'll die suffocated by the cabins reaching boiling temperatures

They clearly don't know what they're talking about.

...or you don't. How, exactly, are the cabins going to reach boiling temperatures if they have active airflow? Look into the design of the cabins before assuming they are automatically death traps.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

...or you don't. How, exactly, are the cabins going to reach boiling temperatures if they have active airflow? Look into the design of the cabins before assuming they are automatically death traps.

(Ben, @zavandor is on our team. tis snark.)

 

[zavandor]

Sorry, I was trying to be sarcastic, it looks like I'm not good at it

 

[Bing Showei]

(Ben, @zavandor is on our team. tis snark.)

Quick question for team gondola; this is genuinely a question to prompt discussion not troll. How do you reconcile Disney's lightening policy with the efficiency of the system?

The Friendship boats are the only means of transportation out from YC/BC/BW to DHS outside of walking. My understanding is that to Epcot and and DHS there will be no other mode of transport offered from Riviera. During a lightening strike within 5 miles, the boat shuts down for 30 minutes since the last strike. Buses are sometimes activated, but more often they ride out the passing storm.

Does your confidence in the efficiency of the system presuppose that Disney has thought all of this through? I'm sure a braintrust thought through the Friendship boats as well before implementation and that's proven to be a frustrating mode of transport for me. Or do you imagine the stoppage being less disruptive than the Friendship boats? Why would that be?

I'm actually pulling for Riviera to be great and for the gondola system to kill it, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried about how this is going to work with the lightening policy (not the actual lightening which I have zero concerns about).

 

[aoconnor]

Quick question for team gondola; this is genuinely a question to prompt discussion not troll. How do you reconcile Disney's lightening policy with the efficiency of the system?

The Friendship boats are the only means of transportation out from YC/BC/BW to DHS outside of walking. My understanding is that to Epcot and and DHS there will be no other mode of transport offered from Riviera. During a lightening strike within 5 miles, the boat shuts down for 30 minutes since the last strike. Buses are sometimes activated, but more often they ride out the passing storm.

Does your confidence in the efficiency of the system presuppose that Disney has thought all of this through? I'm sure a braintrust thought through the Friendship boats as well before implementation and that's proven to be a frustrating mode of transport for me. Or do you imagine the stoppage being less disruptive than the Friendship boats? Why would that be?

I'm actually pulling for Riviera to be great and for the gondola system to kill it, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried about how this is going to work with the lightening policy (not the actual lightening which I have zero concerns about).

I would guess the Friendship Boat policy has something to do with loading/unloading being outdoors at some stations, plus the electricity and water thing. The monorail doesn't shut down for lightning and all of those stations are covered. The gondola stations look to all be covered as well.

Per this post lightning for gondolas seems to be a non-issue:

http://gondolaproject.com/2010/08/23/what-happens-when-lightening-strikes/

 

[Ben E N]

Sorry, I was trying to be sarcastic, it looks like I'm not good at it

You must've just caught me in a crabby mood. Sorry for not picking up the sarcasm.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

When I say "Team Gondola," FWIW, my point is more that a lot of the handwringing I see on forums like this is all kinda silly and based in unfamiliarity with gondola systems. The idea that Random Disney Fan from wherever is thinking of a novel problem (weather! Heat! Rescue!) that Disney hasn't thought of, or Doppelmayr dealt with in the scores of systems Doppelmayr has designed worldwide....

This is why Disney is working with Doppelmayr. They are good.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

When I say "Team Gondola," FWIW, my point is more that a lot of the handwringing I see on forums like this is all kinda silly and based in unfamiliarity with gondola systems. The idea that Random Disney Fan from wherever is thinking of a novel problem (weather! Heat! Rescue!) that Disney hasn't thought of, or Doppelmayr dealt with in the scores of systems Doppelmayr has designed worldwide....

This is why Disney is working with Doppelmayr. They are good.

I agree that Doppelmayr is hardly new to this game. They are a vendor though, same as anyone and will ultimately fulfill the order Disney places.

I will disagree that Disney always thinks thru everything - they can get things wrong at times. Sometimes very wrong. My feel is that they often can be a "yes" organization to the top structure because I'd bet they do have people somewhere that have thought of various scenarios. But I cannot ever say it gets everything right or gives appropriate consideration to all issues.

That said - I agree that most of the concerns leveled at the Gondolas is coming from those who have little or no familiarity with them.

 

[sky2823]

I would put myself on team skeptically hopeful for the gondola

Questions for the discussion:

Even if the gondolas can continuous run with it being covered, would there be an issue with the “ports” becoming full of people taking shelter from the rain and lightening once they get to their desitination?

Is Disney willing to push people out of the port even if lightening is in the area to make way for more gondola offloading?

Maybe the ports are enormous and it’s a non-issue...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I suspect operations shut down are going to be based more on perception of safety than on data.

The ports are pretty decently sized.

 

[galaxygirl76]

I'm firmly on team nope. I think it will be a success and I can see the use for it however I may need a spiked glass of milk(dating myself here as an A-Team fan) to get on one.

I'm sure they are going to be perfectly safe and Disney knows what they are doing with them, it's just not for me. More power for all of you who are braver with that kind of thing than I am(I'm a big chicken).

 

[bigAWL]

My biggest question (which I think others have raised) is how the boarding priorities will be handled during peak times. Will guests from Pop and AoA be filling all the cars headed to Epcot in the morning? Because I don't think many of them will be exiting at Riviera to make room for Riviera guests trying to get to Epcot. Or will Pop guests have to exit at CBR in order to queue again with those guests, just to have to exit again at Riviera so everyone can queue again for the ride to Epcot? Or do they skip cars and let them leave Pop/AoA empty in order to make room for others down the line?

I don't see any of these options as very good ones. But I can't imagine how else it might work. Did I miss the discussion about how that will go down (sorry, perhaps that's an unfortunate pun).

 

[Bing Showei]

I suspect operations shut down are going to be based more on perception of safety than on data.

The ports are pretty decently sized.

Perceived or real, a safety shutdown is a safety shutdown, unfortunately. This is my primary concern.

I'm hoping to eat crow and be proven as one of those hand wringers in two years when Disney is blowing the gondolas through lightening storms, and your car getting struck is a feature to be celebrated as a pre-ride to Tower of Terror... and a sign of good luck, not unlike getting pooped on by a bird in some parts of the world.

 

[Ben E N]

My biggest question (which I think others have raised) is how the boarding priorities will be handled during peak times. Will guests from Pop and AoA be filling all the cars headed to Epcot in the morning? Because I don't think many of them will be exiting at Riviera to make room for Riviera guests trying to get to Epcot. Or will Pop guests have to exit at CBR in order to queue again with those guests, just to have to exit again at Riviera so everyone can queue again for the ride to Epcot? Or do they skip cars and let them leave Pop/AoA empty in order to make room for others down the line?

I don't see any of these options as very good ones. But I can't imagine how else it might work. Did I miss the discussion about how that will go down (sorry, perhaps that's an unfortunate pun).

Considering they don't save any monorail cars for people at Poly or GF when it stops at the TT center on the resort loop, and they don't limit how many people board a bus before it heads to its next loading stop, I doubt they will save gondola cars. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Mumof4mice]

Perceived or real, a safety shutdown is a safety shutdown, unfortunately. This is my primary concern.

I'm hoping to eat crow and be proven as one of those hand wringers in two years when Disney is blowing the gondolas through lightening storms, and your car getting struck is a feature to be celebrated as a pre-ride to Tower of Terror... and a sign of good luck, not unlike getting pooped on by a bird in some parts of the world.

A friend of mine was pooped on by a "giant gull with diarrhoea" at DLR. A CM near by directed him to guest services where he was told it happened all the time and given a bombing victim voucher to pick out an entire outfit at the gift shop on the Mouse.

Unlimited fast passes for the rest of the day for everyone in the cabin struck by lightening would be nice!

 

[Dean]

A friend of mine was pooped on by a "giant gull with diarrhoea" at DLR. A CM near by directed him to guest services where he was told it happened all the time and given a bombing victim voucher to pick out an entire outfit at the gift shop on the Mouse.

Unlimited fast passes for the rest of the day for everyone in the cabin struck by lightening would be nice!

A waiter spilled a beer all over my son's new boy scout T-shirt years ago at Akershus before it was a character meal. He got a new shirt and was looking for people to bump into the rest of the trip. They offered to launder the shirt also but we declined having a W/D in the room.