Will you stay at the gondola hotels if they raise their prices?

[TOBS2010]

Price is one of the main things that determines where we end up staying. We would love to stay at a Deluxe, but so far every time that I try to budget for one, it ends up being more expensive even with room discounts that what we hoped and thought it would work out to be. So back to a Moderate we go. Eventually, WDW is going to get to a point of outpricing itself for our fairly average family---or at least push us to staying off site (which is becoming more and more appealing with the benefits, not to mention more space for us).

 

[ClapYourHands]

I think I’ll wait and see on a few things before making up my mind.

How will travel time compare to the busses?
How often will they run compared to busses?
How reliable will they be?
How hot will they be?

The answers to those questions will determine how much price increase I’ll be willing to pay. I find efficiency to have value, and if the gondola will give me the chance to spend less of my vacation time in transit (and waiting for it), I’ll consider paying more.

But there’s a limit to how much I’ll pay.

I’ve never even considered paying deluxe prices to be on the monorail line. The convenience is definitely there, but the price is too high to justify the increase in proximity to MK for me.

 

[Minnesota!]

I probably won't stay at one of those anyway. POR is our joy.

Just wanted to say that I love how you worded that

To the OP question - Pop is our go-to. I will not stay at the All-Stars willingly. AoA holds no interest to me. I have stayed at Pop when it was over $200/night (easter week).

And, I love the idea of a gondola - even without a/c. So, unless it costs more than a moderate, I will choose Pop.

All that being said, we are going for the first time to the renovated rooms next month, and if I hate them, well...then the game has changed again!

 

[tiredmom4]

Yes. But as always, that may change which is why I said as of now.

Ok, good to know. Thanks for the reply! If there are buses running still, I can work with it.

 

[tiredmom4]

I agree. You have people who have fear of heights, people with claustrophobia. I have a hard time believing 5,000 people an hour. I can see a mess at closing time. Plus I'm concerned with breakdowns.

From what I understand, there's a transfer station at CBR. So if you are coming to/from Pop/AoA or Riviera, you have to get off and get on another one for DHS or Epcot. Sounds like a pain.

You've nailed it! I don't really understand the 5000 people per hour thing. The London gondola seats 10 and has a capacity of 2500 per hour. That's built by the same company that is building the Disney gondola, and it also loads several gondolas at a time. The Disney gondola seats 8 and is supposed to do 5000 per hour. Is that odd? But maybe Disney pack more gondolas into the line, I don't know.

 

[dansdad]

Also, imagine if you are staying at CBR. When you go to take the gondola in the morning, you will join the crowd that came from and Pop and AofA, going to HS and Epcot!!!

Actually guests from Pop and AoA will only get off at the CBR transfer station if going to HS. If going to Epcot they will bypass the transfer station and keep on going to the International Gateway.

 

[tiredmom4]

I think I’ll wait and see on a few things before making up my mind.

How will travel time compare to the busses?
How often will they run compared to busses?
How reliable will they be?
How hot will they be?

The answers to those questions will determine how much price increase I’ll be willing to pay. I find efficiency to have value, and if the gondola will give me the chance to spend less of my vacation time in transit (and waiting for it), I’ll consider paying more.

But there’s a limit to how much I’ll pay.

I’ve never even considered paying deluxe prices to be on the monorail line. The convenience is definitely there, but the price is too high to justify the increase in proximity to MK for me.

Of your 4 questions, I can work with 3 of them: travel time, frequency and reliability. There is just one thing I don't know what to do about: How hot will they be? Without AC, they are going to be SO HOT for me, as I only go to WDW during summer.

 

[tiredmom4]

Actually guests from Pop and AoA will only get off at the CBR transfer station if going to HS. If going to Epcot they will bypass the transfer station and keep on going to the International Gateway.

Wow, thanks for the info. This is so great to know! The Epcot gondola from Pop won't stop at the transfer station.... How very interesting. This would mean that AofA and Pop will share a gondola to Epcot while CBR will have its own gondola to Epcot. In that case, the transfer station can also be designed such that the AofA+Pop crowd will board gondola to HS on one side while CBR boards on another side such that the two crowds won't mix and it won't be this big, confusing mess that I was looking forward to seeing. Makes sense.

This would mean that the wait time at AofA/Pop gondola will be longer than that of CBR, if the same number of gondolas is assigned to each group. But the transfer wait time to and from HS should be minimal.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The gondola does nothing for me. I've stayed at CBR and enjoyed both of my stays. I've never stayed at Pop or AoA. If they didn't offer bus service along with the gondola I wouldn't stay at any of them. I have no desire to ride the gondola.

 

[Minnesota!]

As far as the "hot thing"... I assume these will be like other gondolas, with a vent, of sorts, that lets the air rush through. It does keep it cooler - sure, not a blast of ice cold a/c, but enough to keep you from being miserable.

Disney knows they are in Florida, and that it is hot and humid a good chunk of the year. They also know they want/need this gondola experience to be successful. they are not going to push thousands of people a day into an oven to bake. They are not going to pour $$$$ into a system that a majority of their guests are not going to use. So, if they find that people are not using it for one reason or another, they will either adjust (add some fans to the cars) or force (take away the busses...will force you to use the gondola or drive yourself (money in their pocket with parking fees)), or a ride share.

I am not a Disney apologist, but I truly believe they are doing this project to 1) be more green, 2) be more efficient, 3) open up "new and cool" ways of doing things, and 4) continuing to upgrade your experience.

I will ride these all day, in a continuous loop, if they pan out the way that I believe Disney can make them pan out. Bring it on! I am looking forward to the end result!

 

[bffdisney]

You've nailed it! I don't really understand the 5000 people per hour thing. The London gondola seats 10 and has a capacity of 2500 per hour. That's built by the same company that is building the Disney gondola, and it also loads several gondolas at a time. The Disney gondola seats 8 and is supposed to do 5000 per hour. Is that odd? But maybe Disney pack more gondolas into the line, I don't know.

How many stops does the London one make? If there are 4 different places to get on (Epcot, HS, Pop/AoA, CBR) maybe that is how they can get so many people on there at once?

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I'm not so keen on riding the gondolas, if they're much pricier than the other resorts in their value/moderate category I'll pass.

 

[tiredmom4]

As far as the "hot thing"... I assume these will be like other gondolas, with a vent, of sorts, that lets the air rush through. It does keep it cooler - sure, not a blast of ice cold a/c, but enough to keep you from being miserable.

Disney knows they are in Florida, and that it is hot and humid a good chunk of the year. They also know they want/need this gondola experience to be successful. they are not going to push thousands of people a day into an oven to bake. They are not going to pour $$$$ into a system that a majority of their guests are not going to use. So, if they find that people are not using it for one reason or another, they will either adjust (add some fans to the cars) or force (take away the busses...will force you to use the gondola or drive yourself (money in their pocket with parking fees)), or a ride share.

I am not a Disney apologist, but I truly believe they are doing this project to 1) be more green, 2) be more efficient, 3) open up "new and cool" ways of doing things, and 4) continuing to upgrade your experience.

I will ride these all day, in a continuous loop, if they pan out the way that I believe Disney can make them pan out. Bring it on! I am looking forward to the end result!

One way Disney can make this work is to run the gondolas during the morning and evening rush only and thereby avoid the heat of the day. And run buses at the same time, but without extra buses during rush hours because the gondola takes care of the extras.

Disney may also limit the gondola rides to gondola resort guests and other paying guests by scanning the magic band before boarding. That will help generate extra money to pay for it, as well as increase prestige for the gondola. In fact, they can sell discount passes to Pop and AofA guests to use the gondola (being that they are value resorts) and let CBR and Riviera guests have automatic passes. Other guests will have to pay full price tickets to use the gondola. Considering the recent trend of Disney starting to charge for resort parking, the gondola will likely not be free, unlike the rest of Disney transportation.

 

[tiredmom4]

How many stops does the London one make? If there are 4 different places to get on (Epcot, HS, Pop/AoA, CBR) maybe that is how they can get so many people on there at once?

I see what you mean. The London gondola makes no stops in the way. I've always understood the 5000/hr to mean the gondola can dump up to 5000 people at the IG per hour. The same at HS. (The Epcot hotels are not thrilled about this!)

Later edit: The more I think about it, you are right. I believe the 5000/hr is counting both Epcot and HS. That only makes sense. That's why the Disney gondola holds twice as many as the London gondola despite carrying fewer people per gondola. So the actual drop off rate or pickup rate is only 2500 per hour. That will not bode well for the AofA/Pop station wait time during morning rush hour, but it won't be a problem for CBR.

 

[Yojenitan]

I'm a DVC member, so "price" is less of a factor for me, but "points" can become interchangable. I get more bang for my point allotment at Boardwalk than I do at Polynesian, but I PREFER to stay at the Poly more than the Boardwalk and I am willing to have a shorter vacation at Poly than a longer one at BW (I can get 5 nights at Poly for 6.5 at Boardwalk). Now, Beach club and Boardwalk cost about the same number of points and I would stay at Beach Club every time, but it fills up fast.

It's all about the amenities for me. If Beach Club suddenly cost the same amount as Poly, would I still want to stay there? Yes. If Boardwalk was suddenly the cheapest DVC hotel and I could stay for 10 days to my Poly 5 would I stay there...? Probably not.

A lot of people pick their resort for atmosphere as much as anything else. And for me, atmosphere tops everything else. Even convenience.

 

[Spencer Wright]

One thing I want to know about these gondolas is how long do they take?

They seem like they could be very slow in terms of getting from point A to point B.

For now I will stick with my beloved AKL!

 

[ellbell]

I refuse to make any judgement for any of the "what ifs" with the gondolas until they are up and running. Everyone has their theories and someone will be right and someone wrong about resort prices, temperature, reliability and all the rest. I don't think it's worth worrying or celebrating any of it until it happens.

 

[tiredmom4]

One thing I want to know about these gondolas is how long do they take?

They seem like they could be very slow in terms of getting from point A to point B.

For now I will stick with my beloved AKL!

The London gondola, built by the same company as the Disney gondola, takes 10 minutes to travel 0.6 miles. However, it can double its speed during rush hour, according to wikipedia. The gondola distance from Pop to HS is 1.2 miles, so counting a quick transfer, it should take 11 minutes during rush hour and 20 minutes otherwise. Epcot is a bit farther and also has a "slow down corner", so it should take 15 minutes during rush hour and 30 otherwise. The time from CBR to the parks are about half that.

 

[Yojenitan]

It's less than a mile over land and water from CBR to Epcot's backdoor. You're talking at a platform to platform time from the hub to the park at under five minutes. That doesn't account for how long you're in line, but it's not going to take too long at all.

 

[tiredmom4]

I refuse to make any judgement for any of the "what ifs" with the gondolas until they are up and running. Everyone has their theories and someone will be right and someone wrong about resort prices, temperature, reliability and all the rest. I don't think it's worth worrying or celebrating any of it until it happens.

You don't need to if you aren't going to stay there anyway. I wouldn't care if something is happening to the monorail, good or bad. But I have to get the bounce back offer for Pop a year ahead, so I have to make my decision based on rumors and theories; by the time the facts come out, it will be too late for me. However, this is only true for the first year, of course. Once the facts are out, there is no need to do guess work after that.