They need to start offering buses at the Skyliner resorts

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

There have been way too many instances of the Skyliner getting stuck or crashing (like today). I don’t think it’s appropriate to only offer Skyliner transportation to Hollywood and Epcot at these particular resorts, unless they work out these kinks.

It’s one thing to have a bus break down, but to be stuck in the air for a few hours is kind of insane.

Also, some people might be afraid of heights and just simply can’t take the Skyliner. I understand that it requires more of a workforce to run buses too but after all the incidents, I think they should.

I think the Skyliner is a great form of transportation, I just don’t think it should be the only form in these instances.

 

[Ghost Host 998]

 

[easyas123]

Also, some people might be afraid of heights and just simply can’t take the Skyliner.

I don't have a strong opinion either way if they should have buses...but IF I was afraid of heights I simply would not book myself at a Skyliner only resort. I mean - that seems rather obvious- especially when there are so many options in terms of resorts.

 

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

Nope. No popcorn. This is not a “let’s cause drama” post. I’m not bashing anyone’s opinion one way or another.

 

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

I don't have a strong opinion either way if they should have buses...but IF I was afraid of heights I simply would not book myself at a Skyliner only resort. I mean - that seems rather obvious- especially when there are so many options in terms of resorts.

If other options are available, yes of course. But that’s not always the case. I’m going in December and couldn’t find availability at a resort in our desired category, so we booked at Skyliner resort. It doesn’t affect me much, but it’s just something to think about.

 

[easyas123]

Yes, I suppose so. But it is about choice. If I didn't like heights I'd have to stay somewhere else, either change my expectations in terms of desired category or location. We all have choice, we just need to make it. There is a HUGE selection of resorts in and around WDW. No one is being forced to stay there if they don't want to.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

It's simple if you don't want to take the transportation provided by Disney you can drive yourself or take a cab or uber or lift as an option, for example, I don't expect that if I'm staying at the Grand Floridian, poly or contemporary to provide a bus to the magic kingdom because people may not want to use the monrail or boats.

 

[ajollyholidaywithjo]

It's simple if you don't want to take the transportation provided by Disney you cna drive yourself or take a cab or uber or lift as an option, for example I don't expect that if I'm satying at the ganrd floridain, poly or contemporary to provide a bus to the magic kingdopmbecuse poel may not want to use the monrlal or baots.

Alright super great points! Super easy and convenient solve to my problem.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Alright super great points! Super easy and convenient solve to my problem.

I just don't really see how or why they would run extra buses when the whole point of the skyliner was to get rid of buses.

 

[decheez]

It's simple if you don't want to take the transportation provided by Disney you can drive yourself or take a cab or uber or lift as an option, for example, I don't expect that if I'm staying at the Grand Floridian, poly or contemporary to provide a bus to the magic kingdom because people may not want to use the monrail or boats.

Honestly this is what I did. When we were choosing our resort I knew that the Skyliner might be an issue but I stayed at Pop in March 2020 right before everything shut down anyway because it's my preferred resort. I did ride the Skyliner one or two times when I could deal with my anxiety, but there were other times I was too overwhelmed and couldn't bear the thought of being trapped like that. So we just grabbed an Uber. I chose to stay at Pop knowing that I might not be able to handle the Skyliner all the time, so I figured it was my responsibility to arrange alternate transportation if I needed to. Having a bus available would be fantastic, but I don't expect Disney to offer it when they already have one form of transportation available. I mean there are people who won't ride on busses for various reasons and Disney isn't responsible for providing them with a different way of getting to the parks. And an Uber to a park is pretty darn cheap. I mean, I'm already paying $2500 for the vacation, what's another $50 on top of that? If I was concerned about saving money I wouldn't be going to Disney World. Heh.

 

[Lewisc]

Do we know how many "incidents"? I thought only a handful.

Assume Disney decided to offer bus service. Assume, post covid, skyliner operates with short waits. Number of bus passengers is low. Would you prefer hourly bus service? Bus service that ran under a loop? Servicing all skyliner resorts? Guests staying at CBR would have to use internal transportation to get to the stop.

I wonder what this suggests regarding future expansion of skyliner.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Simple - don't want to take the skyliner, don't book a skyliner resort. Every hotel has it's specific transportation options to each park. Find the one that works for you and book it. I think the percentage of people at those resorts that would take a bus over the skyliner would be so small that it wouldn't make a lot of financial sense for Disney to do so.

 

[nkereina]

There have been way too many instances of the Skyliner getting stuck or crashing (like today). I don’t think it’s appropriate to only offer Skyliner transportation to Hollywood and Epcot at these particular resorts, unless they work out these kinks.

It’s one thing to have a bus break down, but to be stuck in the air for a few hours is kind of insane.

Also, some people might be afraid of heights and just simply can’t take the Skyliner. I understand that it requires more of a workforce to run buses too but after all the incidents, I think they should.

I think the Skyliner is a great form of transportation, I just don’t think it should be the only form in these instances.

But, they do offer buses when the Skyliner is down, for any reason. Whether that be mechanical or weather. It may take some time logistically to get that in motion, but they do offer buses when the Skyliner is down.

Compared to the number of people Disney moves through the Skyliner on a given day, I'd say the number of incidents where the Skyliner gets stuck is small, relatively speaking. To my knowledge, yesterday's incident was only the second time it crashed. From Disney's perspective operationally, the Skyliner cost a pretty penny to construct. A portion of the cost was offset by saving on the need for buses and labor to operate those buses to and from the Skyliner resorts for two of the four parks. It would not make sense financially to offer buses all the time, in addition to the Skyliner, when the Skyliner is operating normally. Their current model of routing buses there when the Skyliner is down works just fine.

For people afraid of heights, they can use their own transportation or rideshare to get to the parks or they can stay at a different resort. Its not incumbent upon Disney to provide multiple options for all types of scenarios - its up to you to book what works best for you.

 

[OKW Lover]

There have been way too many instances of the Skyliner getting stuck or crashing

Well, I don't know how many instances there has been. I also don't know what number would be "too many". Even if I did, I'd want to compare these numbers to the alternative.

 

[EACarlson]

I can think of three "serious" incidents. The power issue that required the fire department to get people out not long after it opened. The two gondolas that smashed into each other coming into the station and this one. I would say that is a pretty good record for a new system they've never run before.
If the complaint is that POP/AoA/CBR and Riviera don't have busses and you can't ride the Skyliner, the options are to either get yourself to the parks or book another resort. The complaint that there are no value resorts open right now that aren't on the Skyliner rings very hollow with me. Why would Disney not have the method of transportation that allows the most distancing in the middle of a global pandemic? Prior to March, 2020 there were 3 other value resorts to choose from that didn't have the Skyliner.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

can think of three "serious" incidents. The power issue that required the fire department to get people out not long after it opened. The two gondolas that smashed into each other coming into the station

This first two were the same incident and people only had to be rescued by the fire department from one gondola because someone had a panic atack in it before they were able to begin reverersing the direction of the them to begin getting people off.

and this one

The most recent one looks like that there was a failure in how the switches from the secondary load area work, normally when one of the gondolas that is dedicated to the secondary load area comes in to any of the stations other than Rivera it triggers a deity where a price of track comes across the gap between the regular loop and the the two in the secondary loop move forward with one taking the place of a gondola that would normally go through the regular loop.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed at CBR last October, they had a big line of busses at the Jamaica station in the morning. We got in line early so we didn’t use them, but I assume they filled them to keep the line moving.

 

[seashoreCM]

A big problem with the Skyliner is that, at Epcot it is a big hassle and/or a long walk to get substitute transportation when the Skyliner stops running.