Disney Skyliner (Gondola Transportation System) Read Post 1 Now Open!

[rteetz]

I think this is absolutely correct. I have customer who specializes in the testing and servicing of the cable systems for these and other similar units all across the US. He said just yesterday they are planning to put 10 lines in across the property. I'm not saying that is the exact number, but seems clear to those inside the industry that this isn't a one-time project. Obviously he was biased being his line of work, but was interesting hearing how reliable they are compared to other modes of transportation.

10 lines seems a bit much.

 

[sachilles]

10 lines seems a bit much.

It does and it doesn't depending on the terms used and how it may have distorted before it go here.
I could see 10 legs happening with just one more similar installation. You have 5 legs but 3 lines with the current one. If you were to double what you have now, you could be at 10 legs.
Rumors always get distorted or exaggerated.
There was talk early on about something connecting Animal kingdom to Animal Kingdom lodge.
I feel like you could link AK, akl, Cornado and blizzard beach with minimal fuss, and either link to DHS or to the front of epcot.
I've also thought linking wilderness lodge and the new place at the campground to the transportation hub and the front of MK could be a big win as well.
That would serve a lot of beds, and kill a lot of buses.

 

[rteetz]

It does and it doesn't depending on the terms used and how it may have distorted before it go here.
I could see 10 legs happening with just one more similar installation. You have 5 legs but 3 lines with the current one. If you were to double what you have now, you could be at 10 legs.
Rumors always get distorted or exaggerated.
There was talk early on about something connecting Animal kingdom to Animal Kingdom lodge.
I feel like you could link AK, akl, Cornado and blizzard beach with minimal fuss, and either link to DHS or to the front of epcot.
I've also thought linking wilderness lodge and the new place at the campground to the transportation hub and the front of MK could be a big win as well.
That would serve a lot of beds, and kill a lot of buses.

I think they will wait and see how these first ones go before doing anymore.

 

[sachilles]

I think they will wait and see how these first ones go before doing anymore.

No doubt they'll wait. However you have to believe there is a phase 2 that is at least beyond the blue sky phase.

 

[wareagle57]

10 lines seems a bit much.

How many lines do we count this one as? 2?

Coronado to Epcot, DHS, and AK would be the one of the most obvious expansions, connecting with All Stars. I think you would count that as 3 lines. Then AKL to AK would be a line that should be added. I'm not sure if it would work since it would need to go on the opposite end of the park, but you could connect Ft. Wilderness to Epcot, possibly sharing a line with the Port Orleans area resorts. The only way it could ever possibly get to 10 is for the monorails to be retired.

This would never happen, because people would probably use it to avoid paying for parking. But Disney Springs to the Boardwalk area would make for a great night.

 

[rteetz]

How many lines do we count this one as? 2?

Coronado to Epcot, DHS, and AK would be the one of the most obvious expansions, connecting with All Stars. I think you would count that as 3 lines. Then AKL to AK would be a line that should be added. I'm not sure if it would work since it would need to go on the opposite end of the park, but you could connect Ft. Wilderness to Epcot, possibly sharing a line with the Port Orleans area resorts. The only way it could ever possibly get to 10 is for the monorails to be retired.

I consider 3 currently. Epcot-Riviera-CBR, DHS-CBR, Pop-CBR.

 

[sachilles]

For me, "A line" is a run of cable. So the current install is 3 lines. One line is DHS to Trinidad station. One line is Trinidad to the value resorts. One line is Trinidad to Riviera to boardwalk turn to IG.

 

[SgtTibbs]

10 lines seems a bit much.

I say let's go full Pokemon on this project, I wanna connect them all. Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, World of Sports, parks that aren't even built yet.

 

[kittlesona]

I’m not sure I agree with this thought process, but I think the argument could potentially be made that this installation has 6 lines (the 3 paths rteetz mentioned times 2 directions = 6 total lines). Again, not sure I actually agree with that thinking but based on how things can get distorted, it wouldn’t actually be that much of an increase to go up to 10.

 

[piper28]

No doubt they'll wait. However you have to believe there is a phase 2 that is at least beyond the blue sky phase.

Yeah, I'd be willing to bet that somewhere at Disney there's something on paper (well, on a computer), for expansion of the system if they feel it works out well initially. If they don't have it somewhere, quite frankly probably someone needs to be fired. Heck, I'm sure they've done studies on how feasible it would be to expand it to include everything. Whether they'll ever do any of that, who knows. I'm sure they'll pay attention to how the system works out. There's a lot of factors that need to be considered - how often they have to stop usage because of weather issues, how does maintenance on the system work out (how often do they need to shut things down for maintenance?).

Quite honestly, while these are expensive, if you could cover the entire park system with them, I suspect there'd be a pretty significant cost savings by cutting a large percentage of the bus fleet. On top of that, they could make the argument that it's more environmentally friendly to run. And I'm also guessing that it ultimately will be a lot faster to get from point to point with this than taking the buses.

Personally, my guess is that unless they run into something unexpected that causes this to end up being a major flop, I'd bet within the next 5 years they'll be announcing a large expansion of the system.

 

[joelkfla]

On top of that, they could make the argument that it's more environmentally friendly to run.

They'll be "riding on sunshine" with the massive solar farm under construction along SR-429.

 

[vacationer1954]

Those "cute little rooms" can take the equivalent of a bus full of guest every 30 seconds. That's equal to a lot of buses.

Well, that may be a bit exaggerated. With 8 per cabin, that would be a dispatch every 4 seconds. I think a busload every 1-2 minutes is more realistic.

How do you figure? Which current Disney busses carry between 120 and 240 people?

 

[vacationer1954]

They are building them to save money - having multiple transportation options that duplicate each other makes no sense.

Like having a monorail and a boat from the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom.

Oh, wait.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Like having a monorail and a boat from the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom.

Oh, wait.

Or like the Poly to EPCOT which only has the monorail, no bus service for people who are scared of heights or anything

 

[SgtTibbs]

Or like the Poly to EPCOT which only has the monorail, no bus service for people who are scared of heights or anything

No system is perfect, having some redundancy to get guests to from the park is a good thing. You can't leave everyone stranded if the Skyliner goes all 101 one day. That being said, I would certainly expect a very significant reduction in bus service to any property served by the Skyliner once it's in full operation. Perhaps a single on the hour bus or something of that nature.

 

[OSUZorba]

No system is perfect, having some redundancy to get guests to from the park is a good thing. You can't leave everyone stranded if the Skyliner goes all 101 one day. That being said, I would certainly expect a very significant reduction in bus service to any property served by the Skyliner once it's in full operation. Perhaps a single on the hour bus or something of that nature.

No buses run from the Epcot resorts to Epcot or DHS unless the boats are down. Then they move busses onto those routes, I assume they'll do the same for the gondola.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

No system is perfect, having some redundancy to get guests to from the park is a good thing. You can't leave everyone stranded if the Skyliner goes all 101 one day. That being said, I would certainly expect a very significant reduction in bus service to any property served by the Skyliner once it's in full operation. Perhaps a single on the hour bus or something of that nature.

yeah, i am sure they will have the ability to run buses if it is down for a length of time - like they do for the monorail resorts if/when the monorails are down

I could also see, at least at the beginning before the Skyliner is proven, having some bus service, like you said reduced how often, and maybe just one bus that services all the resorts for each park or something

 

[jerseygal]

Will be interesting to see how all this works out, hopefully well!

 

[joelkfla]

How do you figure? Which current Disney busses carry between 120 and 240 people?

• 4 seconds is not an attainable dispatch interval.
• Historically, Disney has used 72 as 40' bus capacity. Today's low-floor buses have a higher proportion of standees to seats, so something around 80 is a reasonable estimate IMO.
• Although the manufacturer says the cabins can hold 10, the consensus among posters on this and other boards is that the average number of riders per gondola will be well below 10.

My earlier post about the manufacturer's highest throughput claim: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...updated-2-8-19.3578988/page-259#post-60254048

 

[Aron1012]

For me, "A line" is a run of cable. So the current install is 3 lines. One line is DHS to Trinidad station. One line is Trinidad to the value resorts. One line is Trinidad to Riviera to boardwalk turn to IG.

Correct he considered the current project as 3 lines. The 10 number could have been an estimate so I wouldn't take that as gospel. Plus plans can always change. But it was clear they are planning for more.

The person who gave him that information was also intimately familiar with the cost analysis of the bus system vs the gondolas. He referenced upkeep and driver employment costs as areas where this system has a distinct advantage, particularly in the future. No real revelation there. But he also mentioned the liability of buses operating on the crowded roads and in close proximity to people. Hadn't thought about that part before.