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

[Iowamomof4]

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

Maybe if they open the Skyway before "fall" they'll continue running the buses as usual but offer the gondolas to anyone who wants to ride as sort of a soft opening. Then they can begin advertising a specific date where they will switch over to gondolas full-time and buses will be a thing of the past except during times when the gondolas have to be shut down for weather or other reasons.

 

[vacationer1954]

having some redundancy to get guests to from the park is a good thing

I suspect that that's part of the idea behind Minnie Vans.

 

[joelkfla]

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

But with a substantial impact on service level property-wide, as I'm sure they won't maintain driver staffing levels to replace Skyliner service at the current level.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

But with a substantial impact on service level property-wide, as I'm sure they won't maintain driver staffing levels to replace Skyliner service at the current level.

right or they pull drivers off of other routes to see smaller impacts to more areas, but yes, definitely

 

[SgtTibbs]

I suspect that that's part of the idea behind Minnie Vans.

As a backup to the Skyliner? Do you think they could empty a park using Minnie Vans? I think you need the capacity mixed with the on-demand flexibility of a bus system for that.

 

[vacationer1954]

My earlier post about the manufacturer's highest throughput claim

Time will tell who's estimates are closer to correct.

 

[vacationer1954]

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.

And that's really important. There is probably so much Disney factored into their decision that we don't know about.

 

[vacationer1954]

As a backup to the Skyliner?

For those guests who refuse to travel on them for personal reasons.

 

[Shellyred8]

Has anyone been in the parks over the past couple of days and seen the testing in progress? I would love to see peoples pictures and videos if you have them!!

 

[DanBoris]

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.

I am not sure a gondola system would make sense across the whole property, there are just to many endpoints spread out over a large area. You wouldn't want people to have to change lines more then once between destinations so that would mean either have long lines the connect multiple end points, or a central hub system that connect a lot of end points. I also don't think the gondola makes sense over long distances. It moves a lot slower then a bus which isn't a big problem over small distances but imaging trying to take a gondola from Fort Wilderness to Animal Kingdom. I think and transportation solution requires multiple modes of transport.

 

[OKW Lover]

I am not sure a gondola system would make sense across the whole property, there are just to many endpoints spread out over a large area. You wouldn't want people to have to change lines more then once between destinations so that would mean either have long lines the connect multiple end points,

Good points. I'd think they are better suited to specific routes. Something like All Star>AKL>AK>CSR might work. Also Port Orleans>OKW>Disney Springs?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Good points. I'd think they are better suited to specific routes. Something like All Star>AKL>AK>CSR might work. Also Port Orleans>OKW>Disney Springs?

I think something focused around Animal Kingdom would be the logical next one since that park feels more remote and currently doesn't have transportation other than buses

Disney Springs has boats already from some resorts so not sure if that would be on the list ... but guess you never know if these prove to be super efficient and popular

 

[DanBoris]

I think something focused around Animal Kingdom would be the logical next one since that park feels more remote and currently doesn't have transportation other than buses

Disney Springs has boats already from some resorts so not sure if that would be on the list ... but guess you never know if these prove to be super efficient and popular

Insiders have said there are other transportation plans for AK.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Insiders have said there are other transportation plans for AK.

maybe I misunderstood those reports but I thought skyliner expansion was one of the options that could work there - just not limited to that, that there are other things being looked at as well

 

[Weedy]

I posted this earlier in the thread. This is the stats from the Gondola in Telluride Co.
Interesting comparison for buses vs Gondola

 

[TheMaxRebo]

View attachment 382170 I posted this earlier in the thread. This is the stats from the Gondola in Telluride Co.
Interesting comparison for buses vs Gondola

just doing the match quick, that comes out to about 14 MPH which is what the Disney one is expected to run at/around I believe

 

[DanBoris]

maybe I misunderstood those reports but I thought skyliner expansion was one of the options that could work there - just not limited to that, that there are other things being looked at as well

I guess it depends on which "insiders" you listen to. Martin on WDWMagic has said that gondolas are not being considered for AK, but that there is another form of transportation that is being considered.

 

[joelkfla]

View attachment 382170 I posted this earlier in the thread. This is the stats from the Gondola in Telluride Co.
Interesting comparison for buses vs Gondola

At 8 per cabin, 900 riders would fill 112.5 cabins. That's a dispatch interval of 32 seconds. Disney's is expected to be much shorter.

50 riders per bus has to be a 30' bus or some sort of minibus, as opposed to Disney's standard 40' buses.

So it's difficult to make a comparison, given the differences in hourly capacity, bus size, and dispatch rate,

 

[SgtTibbs]

imaging trying to take a gondola from Fort Wilderness to Animal Kingdom.

Distance as the crow flies or Skyliner runs: ~ 3.7 miles @ an estimated 12mph that is about 20min

From the WDW transportation calculator: Bus directly to Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park: Estimated Time: 24 minute

Not including how long you have to wait for the bus.

 

[rteetz]

Distance as the crow flies or Skyliner runs: ~ 3.7 miles @ an estimated 12mph that is about 20min

From the WDW transportation calculator: Bus directly to Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park: Estimated Time: 24 minute

Not including how long you have to wait for the bus.

20 minutes without A/C... People might really have issues then

I don't think they would do a skyliner from FTW-AK.