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

[Heelish]

"This ship can't possibly sink."

Bad analogy. The sky could fall too eh? If you had any clue, you would realize the cables would not snap and if they splintered, what would happen if they did given the counterweight and they way they are spliced that it wouldnt fall.

 

[mom2rtk]

I had an interesting conversation with my DVC Guide today. They called to ask if I was still interested in Riveria (I am), but I mentioned that I was a bit concerned about the Skyliner after the accident. She was quick to point out that it wasn't an accident, but an incident or something, and it wasn't a big deal at all. I get having to tow the company line in these kinds of situations, but in my view, when vehicles crash into one another, that's an accident. The accident happening at the Riveria Station doesn't help matters either. I was hoping to get to ride the Skyliner and see the Riveria in person when I visit in about a week, but that doesn't look like it's going to be an option.

Riveria... Why do you make it so hard for me to love you?

Honestly, a comment like that would make me skeptical of everything else they had to say.

 

[Heelish]

one can’t make a declarative statement like “they aren’t going to fall” since it isn’t outside the realm of possibilities. If one were to fall in the lake...absolutely just about everyone would want them to open to give the 10 -12 people a fighting chance at survival instead of waiting to drown.

Show me once where they have fallen. There are systems in place, its not just a cable with cars hanging lol

 

[EmJ]

Show me once where they have fallen. There are systems in place, its not just a cable with cars hanging lol

https://www.google.com/amp/s/unoffi...ndola-car-falls-from-cable-at-ski-resort/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.denverpost.com/2018/11/26/copper-mountain-gondola-crash/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-07-02-9907020091-story,amp.html

 

[MeridaAnn]

Honestly, a comment like that would make me skeptical of everything else they had to say.

I agree. "Incident" instead of "accident" is terminology that they reasonably can have their own people use when making statements about what happened, but it's absolutely not something they should be telling non-Disney employees to change their wording on. They had vehicles impact each other when they were not supposed to - if something is not intentional, it is accidental, and therefore an accident.

I'm sure it's a narrow line to walk, giving information that is accurate and informative without causing a panic, but Disney erred a bit too far towards obfuscation on this one, both while we were stuck and after the fact. They could have chosen to say that the gondolas in the station "impacted one another" instead of "crashed", and that's fine, but only saying "unexpected downtime" publicly (and only announcing in the gondolas that it was a "temporary delay" over and over) went too far in appearing to deny the truth when there was clear evidence to the contrary. One person on the platform when we got off (not sure if it was a CM or someone from the medical team) went so far as to tell my friend that it had only been an electrical issue and that the picture on social media must be a Photoshop - even as someone involved in the situation, he was misinformed because Disney was not up front with acknowledging that there had been a collision, even if it was a low-speed one. Trust and transparency can go hand in hand, and Disney's refusal to acknowledge the reality of the situation made us feel worse during the incident, not better, and it makes me less likely to give them the benefit of the doubt in anything in the aftermath.

 

[SgtTibbs]

Show me once where they have fallen. There are systems in place, its not just a cable with cars hanging lol

Yes. It's just a cable with cars hanging on.

Like the Golden Gate bridge is just hanging from a cable.

 

[mshanson3121]

Show me once where they have fallen. There are systems in place, its not just a cable with cars hanging lol

Here's a list of just a few cases (only goes to 2009) of gondolas, chairs etc... coming off their cable, crashing, and injuring/killing people. Oh yes, and also of a plane crashing into a gondola line, severing the cable, causing the cars to crash - one of the speculated scenarios I believe you said impossible.

https://alp-age.com/en/articles/51/326/

 

[Tiki Birdland]

Like the Golden Gate bridge is just hanging from a cable.

Actually, I believe it's MULTIPLE cables. I do believe the two use cases are quite different. The Bridge is permanently attached while the cable car can be detached mechanically. Seems this is what lead to the teal car getting jammed.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Can we please move on from the 'doom and gloom, everybody's going to die' on the Skyliner and get back to actual information and updates for the Disney Skyliner? Yes, things can happen and people can get injured and or lose their lives, but that is not what I believe the intent of this thread is for. It is to provide updates and discussion on the current status of the Disney Skyliner.

Thanks

 

[Lewisc]

Here's a list of just a few cases (only goes to 2009) of gondolas, chairs etc... coming off their cable, crashing, and injuring/killing people. Oh yes, and also of a plane crashing into a gondola line, severing the cable, causing the cars to crash - one of the speculated scenarios I believe you said impossible.

https://alp-age.com/en/articles/51/326/

Should I offer a link listing bus crashes in which passengers were killed or injured?

 

[mshanson3121]

Should I offer a link listing bus crashes in which passengers were killed or injured?

No one here is arguing bus accidents don't happen. The above poster keeps trying to argue, very erroneously, that gondola crashes (cars falling off etc...) CAN'T happen lol

 

[Lewisc]

Can we please move on from the doom and gloom, everybody's going to die on the Skyliner and get back to actual information and updates for the Disney Skyliner? Yes, things can happen and people can get injured and or lose their lives, but that is not what I believe the intent of this thread is for. It is to provide updates and discussion on the current status of the Disney Skyliner.

Thanks

Too many threads and too many posts. In case anyone missed this post. It's the only post I've read which gives context as to what happened during the evacuation process.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...tion-system-read-post-1.3578988/post-61149217

 

[EmJ]

Can we please move on from the 'doom and gloom, everybody's going to die' on the Skyliner and get back to actual information and updates for the Disney Skyliner? Yes, things can happen and people can get injured and or lose their lives, but that is not what I believe the intent of this thread is for. It is to provide updates and discussion on the current status of the Disney Skyliner.

Thanks

People are discussing the operation of the Skyliner, including its safety. I don’t think that’s too off course. While there may be some hyperbole from the “doom and gloom” perspective, continuing to insist that the system is a picture of safety perfection and anyone who thinks otherwise is foolish and uniformed isn’t accurate either. The truth is somewhere in between, which is what is being debated here.

 

[Mikey15]

I’m not as up on the mechanics of gondola systems as some people here, so I want to pose a question to the group. When we rode IG->CBR on 10/4, it felt like we were coming in really hot to Riviera station, and the “braking” was sudden. A couple people in my group were panicked that we were going to crash into the next car at the station, and then that the next car coming down would crash into us. Riviera in particular was the worst for this. The others were much smoother.

Now, one thing that makes Riviera different from the others is that it’s a through station, with variable speed & spacing to slow down for loading needs. If the line in the station was slowed down too much, and too many cars were bunched near the entrance, could that be part of the issue rather than something mechanical? The collision was at arrival, right? Not departure?

 

[Moliphino]

I’m not as up on the mechanics of gondola systems as some people here, so I want to pose a question to the group. When we rode IG->CBR on 10/4, it felt like we were coming in really hot to Riviera station, and the “braking” was sudden. A couple people in my group were panicked that we were going to crash into the next car at the station, and then that the next car coming down would crash into us. Riviera in particular was the worst for this. The others were much smoother.

Now, one thing that makes Riviera different from the others is that it’s a through station, with variable speed & spacing to slow down for loading needs. If the line in the station was slowed down too much, and too many cars were bunched near the entrance, could that be part of the issue rather than something mechanical? The collision was at arrival, right? Not departure?

I think the collision was on the departure side.

 

[MeridaAnn]

I’m not as up on the mechanics of gondola systems as some people here, so I want to pose a question to the group. When we rode IG->CBR on 10/4, it felt like we were coming in really hot to Riviera station, and the “braking” was sudden. A couple people in my group were panicked that we were going to crash into the next car at the station, and then that the next car coming down would crash into us. Riviera in particular was the worst for this. The others were much smoother.

Now, one thing that makes Riviera different from the others is that it’s a through station, with variable speed & spacing to slow down for loading needs. If the line in the station was slowed down too much, and too many cars were bunched near the entrance, could that be part of the issue rather than something mechanical? The collision was at arrival, right? Not departure?

We also felt a bit surprised by the speed going into the Riviera station (although I'm sure it's not quite as fast as it feels), but, no, my understanding is that the collision was at the departure side - the teal car in the pictures failed to attach to the cable correctly and the yellow cars kept coming forward towards it.

 

[Mikey15]

We also felt a bit surprised by the speed going into the Riviera station (although I'm sure it's not quite as fast as it feels), but, no, my understanding is that the collision was at the departure side - the teal car in the pictures failed to attach to the cable correctly and the yellow cars kept coming forward towards it.

Thanks for the clarification. Surprised it wasn’t arrival side!

 

[Spaceguy55]

We also felt a bit surprised by the speed going into the Riviera station (although I'm sure it's not quite as fast as it feels), but, no, my understanding is that the collision was at the departure side - the teal car in the pictures failed to attach to the cable correctly and the yellow cars kept coming forward towards it.

After looking again at the video of them putting the teal gondola back in place..it looks more like it was attached to the line pretty tight. So it may have been that the yellow cars were started in the station while the main line was not.
When it was pushed up and sideways is probably when one of the vent windows broke.
You can see the workers up above the gondola's with flashlights during the process.

 

[Spaceguy55]

Are you sure? I’m fairly certain it was the arrival side. Teal was arriving into the Riviera station.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1180889251069779971

in this image you can see the teal cabin in the station. That end is where cabins arrive into the station on their way to Epcot.

The Epcot line goes clockwise ..so it was on the departure side.

 

[Heelish]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/unoffi...ndola-car-falls-from-cable-at-ski-resort/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.denverpost.com/2018/11/26/copper-mountain-gondola-crash/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-07-02-9907020091-story,amp.html

In the United States, there is a difference.