Disney Skyliner - Gondola Transportation System

[Scott W.]

Well, boats don't go all the way to Pop/Art nor CB/Riviera. And the boat to/from Epcot/DHS take FOREVER. You can walk faster.

The Skyliner should actually be shorter.. and more scenic.

The vantage-point of the concept art for Ratatouille is from the Skyliner.. so you have that view.

I didn't realise CB would be one of the stops and that's probably the most central so that would be the obvious choice if that's where I was staying.

Has there been any word on how many people will fit in a car at once?

I'm guessing CB will be a kind of hub as it has 3 routes leading out of it so will you have disembark when you arrive or will you be able to pass straight through?

 

[Mad Dog]

Well, boats don't go all the way to Pop/Art nor CB/Riviera. And the boat to/from Epcot/DHS take FOREVER. You can walk faster.

The Skyliner should actually be shorter.. and more scenic.

The vantage-point of the concept art for Ratatouille is from the Skyliner.. so you have that view.

You are sooooo right about the Epcot to DHS boat. Made the major mistake of taking it once. A zillion stops. I could have slow walked to Animal Kingdom faster.

 

[Scott W.]

You are sooooo right about the Epcot to DHS boat. Made the major mistake of taking it once. A zillion stops. I could have slow walked to Animal Kingdom faster.

Is it possible to walk between the parks? I'm having a look at the map and seeing no walkways.

Edit: I've found a path and it's pretty direct.

 

[epcyclopedia]

I didn't realise CB would be one of the stops and that's probably the most central so that would be the obvious choice if that's where I was staying.

Has there been any word on how many people will fit in a car at once?

I'm guessing CB will be a kind of hub as it has 3 routes leading out of it so will you have disembark when you arrive or will you be able to pass straight through?

6-8 I think, looks like two benches facing each other and from the looks of the concept art the benches flip up like the monorail middle benches used to, so you can fit a stroller in there.

Not sure how routing will be handled - if it'ss merely point to point or if the CB station will just put you on the right line for your final destination. Presumably you'd hop on/off in the most basic scenario.

However, these systems are entirely capable of putting vehicle on/off the line in the station o in theory they could get routed to a destination by vehicle. But, that's more complicated than it needs to be.

Is it possible to walk between the parks? I'm having a look at the map and seeing no walkways.

Not AK, but Epcot and DHS.

 

[Scott W.]

6-8 I think, looks like two benches facing each other and from the looks of the concept art the benches flip up like the monorail middle benches used to, so you can fit a stroller in there.

Not sure how routing will be handled - if it'ss merely point to point or if the CB station will just put you on the right line for your final destination. Presumably you'd hop on/off in the most basic scenario.

However, these systems are entirely capable of putting vehicle on/off the line in the station o in theory they could get routed to a destination by vehicle. But, that's more complicated than it needs to be.



Not AK, but Epcot and DHS.

The problem I see with cars passing directly through the hotels is that there can be times when there will be a long wait for an empty car and given that the end destinations are DHS, Epcot and POP/ART, I could also see a huge backlash from people staying at the moderates saying that they should get priority over the value hotels.

I'd upload the route from Google Earth but the forums won't allow me to upload an image. It's a little over a mile.

 

[epcyclopedia]

Well.. from Lift Blog:

Disney Unveils Bold Skyliner Gondola Plan – Lift Blog

Update: I’m told Disney is working with Doppelmayr to achieve the highest possible throughput likely using 8-passenger cabins, not Omega 10s as rumored. While the current monocable record is 4,500 pph at Sölden (Soelden Announces Record-Breaking Giggijochbahn – Lift Blog) capacity for the WDW gondolas could reach 5,000 or more pphpd. Cabins will have wi-fi and ample passive ventilation.

They'll have wifi.. and look to be based off the Singapore style system:

 

[Scott W.]

Well.. from Lift Blog:

Disney Unveils Bold Skyliner Gondola Plan – Lift Blog


They'll have wifi.. and look to be based off the Singapore "safari" style system:

Ok, It's starting to make more sense now. I also love that there is gondola blog, what an age we live in. This is also mentioned:

"All three lines will meet at a hub on the south side of Caribbean Beach Resort, where guest can change cabins based on destination."

 

[epcyclopedia]

Ok, It's starting to make more sense now. I also love that there is gondola blog, what an age we live in. This is also mentioned:

"All three lines will meet at a hub on the south side of Caribbean Beach Resort, where guest can change cabins based on destination."

So there's CB as the hub..

CB <-> DHS
CB <-> Pop/Art

And apparently...

CB <-> Riviera <-> Epcot International Gateway

So Riviera seems to be a pass-through and turn station.

 

[Scott W.]

So there's CB as the hub..

CB <-> DHS
CB <-> Pop/Art

And apparently...

CB <-> Riviera <-> Epcot International Gateway

So Riviera seems to be a pass-through and turn station.

Makes sense.

I'm guessing if this is a big success it could always be expanded. DHS <-> Coronado Springs <-> AK.

 

[ItsAtrap]

scott, I love how you went from thinking this makes no sense to getting it.

I, too, can see issues like crowds and wait times. Seems to me that adding any transportation options from resort to parks and park to parks is a good thing. As you point out; imagine this system being expanded to more resorts and even all the parks...

 

[Scott W.]

scott, I love how you went from thinking this makes no sense to getting it.

I, too, can see issues like crowds and wait times. Seems to me that adding any transportation options from resort to parks and park to parks is a good thing. As you point out; imagine this system being expanded to more resorts and even all the parks...

I think the announcement was a little vague, once you dig a little, it all becomes clear.

Even if it has some wait times, it's probably going to be a better option for some and this frees up buses in theory for other resorts which brings wait times as a whole down. Everybody wins.

 

[s8film40]

The skyliner. Why not just take the boat?

Have you ever taken the boat? It takes a ridiculously long time, you could walk faster.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I think the announcement was a little vague, once you dig a little, it all becomes clear.

Even if it has some wait times, it's probably going to be a better option for some and this frees up buses in theory for other resorts which brings wait times as a whole down. Everybody wins.

I wonder if Disney will offer busses to Epcot and DHS anymore from those resorts or if it'll be supplementary. I also wonder what the transit time will be.

 

[UNIrd]

I wonder if Disney will offer busses to Epcot and DHS anymore from those resorts or if it'll be supplementary. I also wonder what the transit time will be.

The resorts are so huge, I would imagine they would... unless the buses around the resort will take guests to the gondola entrance?

 

[Nick]

I wonder if Disney will offer busses to Epcot and DHS anymore from those resorts or if it'll be supplementary. I also wonder what the transit time will be.

I have to think buses will still be offered or else the system would be slammed most of the time. They'll probably just cut down on the number of buses to those resorts.

EDIT: Also, time will depend on start point and end point. For instance, if starting at CBR or Riviera, you'll get to EPCOT with no stop (Riviera being closest to Epcot). The part that will add in a bit of complexity will be if you are coming from DHS and staying anywhere besides CBR as you will have to transfer.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

I wonder if Disney will offer busses to Epcot and DHS anymore from those resorts or if it'll be supplementary. I also wonder what the transit time will be.

From what I've gathered, one of the primary objectives of this whole project is to get buses off the roads. They're going to more or less kill those bus routes except when the system might be down. Not really any different than the Monorail resorts. And supposedly this is just the first step of building more alternative transportation systems across large swaths of Walt Disney World.

 

[Scott W.]

Just to throw up some data:


Say we assume an average speed of 10mph. The top of speed for a single cable is 13.5mph.

Epcot - DHS = 2.23 miles = 13.5 mins
POP - DHS = 1.32 miles = 8 mins
POP - Epcot = 2.11 miles = 12.5 mins

This obviously doesn't include the switch over times at CB but it gives a rough idea.

 

[Nick]

I do think the switch over should be rather quick as these are fast loading.

Just a guess though.

 

[randompixel]

When it breaks down it'll make for some pretty dramatic looking evac pictures: German cable car collision leaves dozens stranded in mid-air - BBC News

 

[Jon84]

I do think the switch over should be rather quick as these are fast loading.

Just a guess though.

Not sure if you've used one of these systems before.

The one in London over the Thames is pretty much what has been discussed for WDW. I used it to get back to the office after an event, and it took around 30-40 mins to get 100 of us back to the office. I think there will be pinch points where you need to change lines and merge etc, but I think with some pre-boarding videos in the queue they can speed it up.

The video below was taking in 2012 when it was new and you see a wheelchair be boarded, the loading area slows down to a crawl. Tourists are not very good at boarding it and getting on with sitting down!