What happened to the MK Skyway?

[SpaceAce]

What happened to the MK Skyway? (The buckets you rode in suspended by cables.) Why did they shut that down?

Thanks!

 

[chrisd596]

I believe a few year ago a worker fell and was killed. After that incident the Sky ride was closed.


Chris

 

[mickeymedic]

One of the loading buildings is still evident in Fantasy Land. Anyone remember where the other building is/was?

 

[barreloflaughs]

One of the loading buildings is still evident in Fantasy Land. Anyone remember where the other building is/was?

I'm pretty sure it was somewhere in Arkansas.

barrel

p.s....ok,ok....it was in Tomorrowland but it would've been a lot more fun had it been in Arkansas.

 

[yalegracey]

One of the loading buildings is still evident in Fantasy Land. Anyone remember where the other building is/was?

The building is between space mountain and c.o.p. it is used for restrooms and telephones

 

[Chuck S]

A lot of parks, not just Disney, have removed their skyrides. While the employee death at WDW was a tragic accident, I don't think that is what led to the demise of the ride. Operating & maintenance costs, insurance, relatively slow loading, and unruly guests (spitting down on folks, etc) are what probably really led to the closing decision.

 

[jdg345]

A lot of parks, not just Disney, have removed their skyrides. While the employee death at WDW was a tragic accident, I don't think that is what led to the demise of the ride. Operating & maintenance costs, insurance, relatively slow loading, and unruly guests (spitting down on folks, etc) are what probably really led to the closing decision.

Agree, especially with the unruly guests component. While we were in DTD a few months ago, some were spitting on people from the Virgin Store Restaurant Balcony while we were up there. I can only imagine what would occur today with a ride like the Skyway ... accidently dropped bottles, coins, spit, etc ... it would be horrible.

 

[SpaceAce]

Going to Cedar Point Amusement Park (big roller coaster park in Sandusky Ohio, on Lake Erie) on Friday. Will be interesting to see if they still have their "skyway' - last year it was still there. People in Ohio must not be as rude as other places. *not!*

 

[bbwfan]

I heard that it went to the water parks as a "chair lift" type of thing to get to the top of the slides... it kind of looks like the ride in the DVD and pictures...could it be?

 

[sammi6]

Yes, Cedar Point still has theirs, their only rule is you can't take balls on the skyride. I was just there last weekend.

 

[wdw4us2]

The Skyway closed in November of 1999. The Fantasyland station is used during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party as a character meet and greet with Donald Duck.

The Tomorrowland station hasn't been used since it closed, and the gift shop located underneath it closed about a year later (Ursa's Major Minor Shop).

 

[Darkwing Duck]

It Broke Down A Lot And It Was Dangerous, The Building Is Still There, Which In My Opinion Is A Waste Of Space

 

[jdg345]

Yes, Cedar Point still has theirs, their only rule is you can't take balls on the skyride. I was just there last weekend.

So it's for women only?

 

[Smooshdog]

the last time I rode the skyway the bucket in front of me slide down (right before the turn near the racecars) and slammed into the bucket infront of that...despite that I am still upset that the skyway is gone.

 

[DaisyLynn]

So it's for women only?

Thanks! You have me

 

[schmoopypoo]

So it's for women only?

classic

 

[Beachbabybongo]

Skyway was closed in the mid-1990s due to safety concerns.

Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_rides_and_attractions for a list of closed rides and attractions.

There is still a skyway at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

 

[All Aboard]

Here is an article from The Miami Herald on the accident:

DISNEY WORLD WORKER DIES AFTER 40-FOOT FALL FROM CABLE CAR

Tuesday, February 16, 1999

By PHIL LONG, Herald Staff Writer
Memo: FLORIDA

With the Disney Skyway cable car coming at him, Raymond Barlow had two choices: Jump 10 feet to the ground, or grab the outside railing of the oncoming cable car and hang on.

Barlow, 65, a part-time Disney custodian since September, was cleaning a section of the Fantasyland boarding platform closest to the path of the cable car when the ride started up unexpectedly Sunday morning. Barlow grabbed the metal rail and tried to hang on to the empty four-person car, investigators said Monday.

``He decided to try to pull himself into the bucket,'' said Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Robert Larson. The Skyway car started to climb. By the time Barlow let go, it was 40 feet in the air. He plunged through the trees, breaking off several limbs, and landed in a flower bed. He died later at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Larson said Barlow called to co-workers that he was to be working on the outer platform. How and why the car began to move has yet to be determined, he said.

Why Barlow jumped for the car instead of jumping down is ``a mystery to all of us,'' Larson said.

Barlow's death was ruled accidental, Larson said.

Disney spokeswoman Rena Callahan refused to say whether the ride has a safety warning horn that sounds before a ride is initially started each day for its journey from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland and back. Nor would she say whether Barlow had ever worked on or cleaned that area of the platform before. Disney employs 53,000 people at its Orlando complex.

The accident happened 50 minutes after the park opened but before the Skyway was in operation, Callahan said. There were no guests anywhere on the cable-car system when the accident happened, she said.

An Occupational Health and Safety Administration investigator was at the scene Sunday and will be back Wednesday, Callahan said.

It was the first fatality for the Orlando park since October 1989, when a woman riding in a tiny speedboat collided with a ferry and was killed.

Sunday's accident was the second accidental death at a Disney theme park in less than two months. At California's Disneyland on Christmas Eve, a metal cleat ripped loose from an 84-foot-long ship and fatally struck a tourist in the head.

____________________________________

And here is an article on the closure:

DISNEY WILL CLOSE OLD, SCENIC SKYWAY LIFT

Thursday, November 11, 1999


Associated Press
Dateline: LAKE BUENA VISTA
Memo: FLORIDA

Walt Disney World is closing one of its oldest rides, the Magic Kingdom Skyway, which has given visitors a bird's-eye view of the park since it opened in 1971.

The Skyway will be replaced by another attraction, but Disney officials wouldn't say what it is. The ride connected guests from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland.

Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., closed its Skyway ride in 1994.

``It's part of our ongoing efforts to phase out some of the older attractions and introduce new things to keep our parks exciting for our new and repeat visitors,'' Disney spokeswoman Diane Ledder said Tuesday. ``It's just something whose time has come.''

In February, a part-time employee who had been working in the loading area of the ride fell to his death. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration later fined Walt Disney World $4,500 for what it called a ``serious'' violation of safety standards.

Two days later, Disney installed safety signs and enhanced safety procedures around the Skyway.

Ledder said the ride's closing is not a result of any concerns about its safety.

 

[tink1969]

There are still remains of a skyway loading area near "It's s Small World" and "Peter Pan". I don't remember what that ride was called. Anyone?

 

[All Aboard]

There are still remains of a skyway loading area near "It's s Small World" and "Peter Pan". I don't remember what that ride was called. Anyone?

The Skyway.