Disney Skyliner Accident

[snappy]

Ok... soooo... this is my wife and I last night...View attachment 441875

Let me start by saying this was our first time on the gondola. We had tacos and a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our inaugural ride at the Caribbean Beach quick service. We got on at the skyliner at the Caribbean and were on our way to EPCOT. When we arrived at the Rivera we came to a stop. The system was down for a while... 5 to 10 minutes. While it was down our doors were open and a cast member was doing a Disney trivia game with each car. Then the system came back on line, our doors shut, and we moved forward... the blue car in front of us was NOT moving, so we crushed up into it and the car behind us crushed into us and the car behind that hit them and so on... you could hear the metal into metal scraping and the breaking of the plexiglass vents. The accident didn’t last long... but I remember sitting there and saying to my wife “I don’t think that was supposed to happen...” Security started going around asking if everyone was OK. A maintenance guy came over with a giant pole type tool, like a overgrown hanger pole they use at clothes stores to get up high. He did some jockeying of the blue car in front and we were freed up. The car swung around pretty hard and the noise was pretty harsh. My wife screamed. We noticed our doors were bent and weren’t shut all he way. There was definitely body damage to our car and several others, including broken vents. We were lucky that we were at the Rivera turnstile because our evacuation was swift! I don’t think we realized the extent of the accident until we saw pictures of our car on the news. So that being said the cars are pretty tough. I think it could of been worse, and we’re very lucky it wasn’t. Cast members were very calm and super nice. They offered us transportation, but we decided to walk back to our car.

Thanks for posting your experience. I am very happy you and your wife weren’t hurt. It’s the first confirmation I have seen that it wasn’t just empty cars that were involved in the actual crash part of this accident. Enjoy your trip!

 

[pahoben]

I'm really baffled by this incident. I have ridden Doppelmayr gondolas in absolutely horrific weather across the Alps for YEARS across very high and challenging terrain. There are occasional stops, but nothing more than 20 minutes (maybe I'm lucky?) but these systems have proven extremely reliable in some very inhospitable and unforgiving places (200'+ drops across some towers.) Winds over 20 knots at times (I think they shut down at 30+)...

The Disney install should be the EASIEST of engineering challenges for these systems. The pax aren't loading and pulling heavy skis, snowboards, or mountain bikes along with them, either.

Doppelmayr Gondolas have many incidents with link to one below at Whistler that had just been inspected. I don’t think the root cause analysis has been completed yet on the cable part last year in Canada on the Doppelmayr gondola lift.

There are no engineering problems at WDW for the gondolas just a start up problem maybe due to a faulty sensor or other manufacturers defect.

https://fernie.com/blog/whistler-gondola-accident/

 

[mshanson3121]

It's easy to clean up a biological mess. It's a lot harder to clean up a PR mess.

Last night, official statement from a Disney rep said there was no accident. Eventually, that official statement was revised to acknowledge a collision, but adding that "no guests were involved." If it comes to light that this statement needs to be a re-revised. It's going to seem they are being, at best, disingenuous.

If anything Disney should want to get ahead of this and be completely transparent in what they discover, and address how they will be revisiting their evacuation procedure. Some measure of mea culpa would go a long way here.

No guests involved?! There were guests in the cars that crashed.

 

[Jennasis]

Are there maybe too many cars on the line? Bot giving the cars ahead of it enough time to clear the station or enter the station?

 

[rteetz]

Doppelmayr Gondolas have many incidents with link to one below at Whistler that had just been inspected. I don’t think the root cause analysis has been completed yet on the cable part last year in Canada on the Doppelmayr gondola lift.

There are no engineering problems at WDW for the gondolas just a start up problem maybe due to a faulty sensor or other manufacturers defect.

https://fernie.com/blog/whistler-gondola-accident/

While yes they do have incidents, these transportation systems are still some of the most reliable around. Disney didn't install a system that wouldn't be a reliable option.

 

[snappy]

No guests involved?! There were guests in the cars that crashed.

Disney is adding to their PR issue by not be forthcoming.

 

[rteetz]

Are there maybe too many cars on the line? Bot giving the cars ahead of it enough time to clear the station or enter the station?

Disney doesn't have any more gondolas on the line than the system should normally have.

 

[Poor Gail]

Should I be the one to point out that the MK ferry could sink? A tram could crash? Heck, even if you park your car and walk to the gate (no mean feat if you are going to the Magic Kingdom), you could get hit by something. There is no way to make a 100% fail safe, risk free mode of transportation for Disney or anyone else. I'm just glad nobody was hurt.

 

[rteetz]

Disney is adding to their PR issue by not be forthcoming.

Which isn't the first or last time they will do that unfortunately.

 

[snappy]

Doppelmayr Gondolas have many incidents with link to one below at Whistler that had just been inspected. I don’t think the root cause analysis has been completed yet on the cable part last year in Canada on the Doppelmayr gondola lift.

There are no engineering problems at WDW for the gondolas just a start up problem maybe due to a faulty sensor or other manufacturers defect.

https://fernie.com/blog/whistler-gondola-accident/

While I am glad the skiers’s injuries per the article you posted weren’t critical, I think Disney’s guests have the potential for different results, its guests are a different demographic with young children, seniors, people living with disabilities.

 

[Diz Bee]

I would like to add.. that the odds are so low that this would happen. I mean we can’t win the lottery! My wife and I have been talking about it all morning, it’s very bizarre. The weird thing is... is OUR car was the car that was crushed... the first car before the blue car that failed. Yet after they fixed the placements of the cars and we evacuated... no one from Disney approached us and all. Disney management doesn’t know we even exist... it kinda odd. Here we are watching videos from the local news and YouTube and we keep hearing “no one knows if the crushed cars had people inside”. Well we’re fine over here... thanks for asking!!!!
Even though we were in the accident, at least we weren’t stuck in the air! Hope everyone was ok!

 

[The Pho]

While I am glad the skiers’s injuries per the article you posted weren’t critical, I think Disney’s guests have the potential for different results, its guests are a different demographic with young children, seniors, people living with disabilities.

You will find all of those types of people skiing. Many mountains have disability programs.

 

[BaymaxFan78]

I just checked my DIS to find 30 notifications so that's nice...

I think what happend is that the line from Riveria to epcot stopped but the smaller motor powering the inside of the station didn't. Causing the blue car to stop and the following cars to bang into it.
(I wrote that before Diz Bee wrote their post)

Ok... soooo... this is my wife and I last night...View attachment 441875

Let me start by saying this was our first time on the gondola. We had tacos and a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our inaugural ride at the Caribbean Beach quick service. We got on at the skyliner at the Caribbean and were on our way to EPCOT. When we arrived at the Rivera we came to a stop. The system was down for a while... 5 to 10 minutes. While it was down our doors were open and a cast member was doing a Disney trivia game with each car. Then the system came back on line, our doors shut, and we moved forward... the blue car in front of us was NOT moving, so we crushed up into it and the car behind us crushed into us and the car behind that hit them and so on... you could hear the metal into metal scraping and the breaking of the plexiglass vents. The accident didn’t last long... but I remember sitting there and saying to my wife “I don’t think that was supposed to happen...” Security started going around asking if everyone was OK. A maintenance guy came over with a giant pole type tool, like a overgrown hanger pole they use at clothes stores to get up high. He did some jockeying of the blue car in front and we were freed up. The car swung around pretty hard and the noise was pretty harsh. My wife screamed. We noticed our doors were bent and weren’t shut all he way. There was definitely body damage to our car and several others, including broken vents. We were lucky that we were at the Rivera turnstile because our evacuation was swift! I don’t think we realized the extent of the accident until we saw pictures of our car on the news. So that being said the cars are pretty tough. I think it could of been worse, and we’re very lucky it wasn’t. Cast members were very calm and super nice. They offered us transportation, but we decided to walk back to our car.

Thank you for this information. We are glad you are ok.

I think the $100 gift card and a park ticket is reasonable for now. I think Disney will reach out to the people involved later and offer them something more. I am pretty sure it will be a flexible one for people out of state who won't be back for a while. Now for passholders, it's useless. Maybe they should give passholders a $250 gift card (100+ the price of a ticket, rounded off).

 

[TwoMisfits]

I would like to add.. that the odds are so low that this would happen. I mean we can’t win the lottery! My wife and I have been talking about it all morning, it’s very bizarre. The weird thing is... is OUR car was the car that was crushed... the first car before the blue car that failed. Yet after they fixed the placements of the cars and we evacuated... no one from Disney approached us and all. Disney management doesn’t know we even exist... it kinda odd. Here we are watching videos from the local news and YouTube and we keep hearing “no one knows if the crushed cars had people inside”. Well we’re fine over here... thanks for asking!!!!
Even though we were in the accident, at least we weren’t stuck in the air! Hope everyone was ok!

Time for you to chat with some news sources, b/c I'm also betting anyone else in those crashed gondolas is similarly unknown. And I'm assuming there were folks in the ones behind you.

 

[pahoben]

While yes they do have incidents, these transportation systems are still some of the most reliable around. Disney didn't install a system that wouldn't be a reliable option.

It will be reliable it has a start up problem. Have you looked at the start up failure rates for Doppelmayr Gondolas say in the first month of use. I guarantee they will have higher incident rates then the second ski season or later.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I would like to add.. that the odds are so low that this would happen. I mean we can’t win the lottery! My wife and I have been talking about it all morning, it’s very bizarre. The weird thing is... is OUR car was the car that was crushed... the first car before the blue car that failed. Yet after they fixed the placements of the cars and we evacuated... no one from Disney approached us and all. Disney management doesn’t know we even exist... it kinda odd. Here we are watching videos from the local news and YouTube and we keep hearing “no one knows if the crushed cars had people inside”. Well we’re fine over here... thanks for asking!!!!
Even though we were in the accident, at least we weren’t stuck in the air! Hope everyone was ok!

Wow! I cannot believe nobody approached you guys, that’s crazy!

 

[TLinden16]

We were stuck about an hour on the sky ride at Busch Gardens Tampa several years ago. When the ride resumed, everyone was met by several execs in suits and one walked each party to the ride of their choice where they were taken to the front of the line. We were also given a bottle of water and a ticket to come back any day. I thought it was generous. I think people demand more because of Disney’s deep pockets. If this continues to trap people for hours, maybe more compensation is due, but not now. They’ve tested for more months than any other company would.

The expectation of excessive compensation for every little incident is part of the reason why prices have gone up so much. I can’t even begin to imagine how much Disney spends on compensation every year for both legitimate and not legitimate incidents every year.

I would think for most people who were trapped, a one day ticket to make up for any lost park time, and $100 gift card should be adequate compensation for this incident. And I bet most people will be fine with that, and leave it at that. Of course some guests may require more than that, and Disney (or the manufacturer of the gondola) should pay for any medical bills that guest have as a result of the incident. But a suggestion of a free trip as someone else said they would have expected is unreasonable and excessive.

For full disclosure, I have received compensation from Disney several times over the years. Twice when it as offered by Disney during an incident (once for a downgraded room view, and once as a gesture of good will when it took Disney about two hours to figure out why the door to my room would not unlock). Twice I received compensation as a result of letters I wrote (once for a horrible string of events at the Disneyland hotel and most recently for an email I sent about a bad dining experience and a safety concern due to unaccompanied teens who were there for a cheerleading event). The most recent compensation I received, I repeatedly told the cast member I did not want or expect compensation and that I just wanted to let Disney know about my experiences, but she insisted on sending me a gift card.

So I ride public transportation every day and, just a news flash for those who don't, but someone is going to get stuck at some point. It's going to happen. Disney's transportation system is essentially public transportation so you need to be prepared to be stuck. When I get on the subway I always make sure I use the bathroom before hand. You know why? Because I've been stuck in a tunnel for an hour and a half. I try to make sure my phone or portable charger is good to go also because I also wanted to be entertained while I wait.

Excellent point. If I was compensated by my public transit system every time I was inconvenienced by a delayed or cancelled train, or being stuck in an unconditioned car on a 90 degree day, I could probably pay for a Disney trip each year.

 

[Disneylover99]

Should I be the one to point out that the MK ferry could sink? A tram could crash? Heck, even if you park your car and walk to the gate (no mean feat if you are going to the Magic Kingdom), you could get hit by something. There is no way to make a 100% fail safe, risk free mode of transportation for Disney or anyone else. I'm just glad nobody was hurt.

I think this is being compounded by the fact that the gondolas have gone down several times over the past six days and many people have reported trips where they’ve stopped several times.

 

[Diz Bee]

I just checked my DIS to find 30 notifications so that's nice...

I think what happend is that the line from Riveria to epcot stopped but the smaller motor powering the inside of the station didn't. Causing the blue car to stop and the following cars to bang into it.
(I wrote that before Diz Bee wrote their post)


Thank you for this information. We are glad you are ok.

I think the $100 gift card and a park ticket is reasonable for now. I think Disney will reach out to the people involved later and offer them something more. I am pretty sure it will be a flexible one for people out of state who won't be back for a while. Now for passholders, it's useless. Maybe they should give passholders a $250 gift card (100+ the price of a ticket, rounded off).

We didn’t get Anything!!!

 

[unbanshee]

Ok... soooo... this is my wife and I last night...View attachment 441875

Let me start by saying this was our first time on the gondola. We had tacos and a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our inaugural ride at the Caribbean Beach quick service. We got on at the skyliner at the Caribbean and were on our way to EPCOT. When we arrived at the Rivera we came to a stop. The system was down for a while... 5 to 10 minutes. While it was down our doors were open and a cast member was doing a Disney trivia game with each car. Then the system came back on line, our doors shut, and we moved forward... the blue car in front of us was NOT moving, so we crushed up into it and the car behind us crushed into us and the car behind that hit them and so on... you could hear the metal into metal scraping and the breaking of the plexiglass vents. The accident didn’t last long... but I remember sitting there and saying to my wife “I don’t think that was supposed to happen...” Security started going around asking if everyone was OK. A maintenance guy came over with a giant pole type tool, like a overgrown hanger pole they use at clothes stores to get up high. He did some jockeying of the blue car in front and we were freed up. The car swung around pretty hard and the noise was pretty harsh. My wife screamed. We noticed our doors were bent and weren’t shut all he way. There was definitely body damage to our car and several others, including broken vents. We were lucky that we were at the Rivera turnstile because our evacuation was swift! I don’t think we realized the extent of the accident until we saw pictures of our car on the news. So that being said the cars are pretty tough. I think it could of been worse, and we’re very lucky it wasn’t. Cast members were very calm and super nice. They offered us transportation, but we decided to walk back to our car.

So, Disney told BlogMickey that the incident occurred between two empty gondola cabins. From your account, that appears to be a lie from Disney, right?