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

[SgtTibbs]

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.

I expect that number (from earlier in this thread) is system wide in one direction but even with the 2min estimate per station you can replace 30 buses per hour.

Just think how much better transportation from say Pop Century to Epcot would be if a bus came/loaded/left every 2min. A bus that never has to stop for traffic lights and has zero issues with traffic.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Source that they are meant to replace buses? You dont even know if they are replacing buses yourself, hence you "either completely or partially" follow-up. I have not seen anything, anywhere, that says these will replace bus transportation for the hotels they go to. That would be a ridiculously DUMB idea considering attendance is only getting higher. But hey, I could be wrong. I would love to see something official on that.

They are building them to save money - having multiple transportation options that duplicate each other makes no sense. And multiple reports from insiders as reported in this thread have indicate that - so between that and just logic I am working off that they will at least reduce them. Obviously we shall see what truly happens in the future but I think it is much more likely than not that they are at least reduced so working off that - if you have something that says they won't be then that is great, but haven't seen anything saying that, only reports from insiders saying they will be

 

[Iowamomof4]

The fact that attendance is getting higher gives even more credence to the idea that the gondolas are meant to replace the buses. If they don't have to run buses from 4 resorts to two parks, they can deploy those buses to other areas to decrease transportation stress all across the system.

 

[joelkfla]

I expect that number (from earlier in this thread) is system wide in one direction but even with the 2min estimate per station you can replace 30 buses per hour.

Just think how much better transportation from say Pop Century to Epcot would be if a bus came/loaded/left every 2min. A bus that never has to stop for traffic lights and has zero issues with traffic.

I think the highest estimate I've seen from Doppelmayr is 5,000/hr, divided by 60 min/hr = 83 riders/min., which is just about a busload. But I think everyone agrees that Disney probably will not load every cabin to capacity of 10, and probably will run the cable at less than the maximum design speed.

But I am in full agreement that even a busload every 2 minutes is well over current bus carrying capacity.

 

[OSUZorba]

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.

It is 10 per cabin, every 8 seconds. So a 65 person bus every 52 seconds. In each direction.

Edit: This is based on the 4500 pph number widely reported.

 

[OSUZorba]

Source that they are meant to replace buses? You dont even know if they are replacing buses yourself, hence you "either completely or partially" follow-up. I have not seen anything, anywhere, that says these will replace bus transportation for the hotels they go to. That would be a ridiculously DUMB idea considering attendance is only getting higher. But hey, I could be wrong. I would love to see something official on that.

Yeah, because corporations love spending 10s of millions on new transportation systems that will only increase operating costs.

 

[joelkfla]

It is 10 per cabin, every 8 seconds. So a 65 person bus every 52 seconds. In each direction.

Edit: This is based on the 4500 pph number widely reported.

Avg. passengers per bus and per gondola are guesstimates, but we're in the same ballpark.

 

[DanBoris]

Source that they are meant to replace buses? You dont even know if they are replacing buses yourself, hence you "either completely or partially" follow-up. I have not seen anything, anywhere, that says these will replace bus transportation for the hotels they go to. That would be a ridiculously DUMB idea considering attendance is only getting higher. But hey, I could be wrong. I would love to see something official on that.

There are people on Disney message boards who have proven track records with inside information. These people have inside knowledge of this project and have said that the intention is to replace buses. Elimination of buses is part of the ROI for this system. I have no reason to doubt these sources. The gondolas will easily carry 3 or 4 times what the buses currently carry so they will have no problem soaking up and attendance increase for the foreseeable future.

 

[WDWFortWildernessExplorer]

I can see bus service reduced from these resorts, limiting the bus route to only TTC. From there you can access bus or monorail to Epcot or HS. This would promote the use of Skyliner, while still providing some other form of transportation.

 

[fla4fun]

There will definitely be acrophobs that won't ever ride it, or will be in fear the whole time. But I think many acrophobs will be fine once they try it. The closed cabins will help many of them. The fact that you won't be able to look straight down will help others. And the constant movement will help others.

Claustrophobia will affect some people as well. My mom would never have been able to ride them because being in a small enclosed space would have caused a panic attack. Just because you can see out doesn’t mean you can get out when YOU want to, and that is the part that caused the fear.

 

[hakepb]

I expect that number (from earlier in this thread) is system wide in one direction but even with the 2min estimate per station you can replace 30 buses per hour.

Just think how much better transportation from say Pop Century to Epcot would be if a bus came/loaded/left every 2min. A bus that never has to stop for traffic lights and has zero issues with traffic.

With that frequent, regular loading, You could plan to have a relaxing afternoon swim/chill time at the resort. Walk out of your room at 5:30pm and be on time for a 6pm Rose and Crown ADR.

 

[sachilles]

I think you hit on one of the many benefits is that your wait and transport times should be consistent and predictable. The bus wait times are a good idea, but in practice don't quite work well.
You can't just walk out of your resort and expect to get from A-B in any sort of predictable time that doesn't have at least a 30 minute window of accuracy.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I think you hit on one of the many benefits is that your wait and transport times should be consistent and predictable. The bus wait times are a good idea, but in practice don't quite work well.
You can't just walk out of your resort and expect to get from A-B in any sort of predictable time that doesn't have at least a 30 minute window of accuracy.

Just imagine how much easier it will become to get from Pop Century to a PPO breakfast at Trattoria! I can't wait for this option! Of course, we'll have to see what the operating hours are and whether you might still have to take a bus for PPO events, but hopefully they'll start running these by 7 each morning if not a little earlier.

 

[evlaina]

Just imagine how much easier it will become to get from Pop Century to a PPO breakfast at Trattoria! I can't wait for this option! Of course, we'll have to see what the operating hours are and whether you might still have to take a bus for PPO events, but hopefully they'll start running these by 7 each morning if not a little earlier.

LOL I thought about this yesterday! The Bon Voyage breakfast is the #1 meal my 5 year old wants to do and I thought this will make it easier!

 

[OSUZorba]

Claustrophobia will affect some people as well. My mom would never have been able to ride them because being in a small enclosed space would have caused a panic attack. Just because you can see out doesn’t mean you can get out when YOU want to, and that is the part that caused the fear.

That's true for monorails and buses too though. Except you're much more likely to be cramed into those. I think these gondolas will be about the size of one set of benches on the monorail (the area behind one door opening), just a little smaller.

 

[fla4fun]

That's true for monorails and buses too though. Except you're much more likely to be cramed into those. I think these gondolas will be about the size of one set of benches on the monorail (the area behind one door opening), just a little smaller.

Mom wouldn’t ride the monorail and would always stand facing the bus door so if there was an issue (not that we ever had one) and the bus had to be evacuated she would be first off. She wasn’t thrilled with the buses but she would ride them. We usually either stayed at an Epcot resort or one with bus service only. Of course, different people with claustrophobia have different levels of anxiety and different triggers.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Mom wouldn’t ride the monorail and would always stand facing the bus door so if there was an issue (not that we ever had one) and the bus had to be evacuated she would be first off. She wasn’t thrilled with the buses but she would ride them. We usually either stayed at an Epcot resort or one with bus service only. Of course, different people with claustrophobia have different levels of anxiety and different triggers.

Indeed.

 

[Aron1012]

There are people on Disney message boards who have proven track records with inside information. These people have inside knowledge of this project and have said that the intention is to replace buses. Elimination of buses is part of the ROI for this system. I have no reason to doubt these sources. The gondolas will easily carry 3 or 4 times what the buses currently carry so they will have no problem soaking up and attendance increase for the foreseeable future.

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.

 

[sachilles]

10 lines you say?
I think if even one more line goes in that would be cool.
The speculation is where would they put new lines in?

 

[Iowamomof4]

Martin has said there are no current plans to add more gondola lines.