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

[AvidDisReader]

Always found lugging around a stroller a major pain in the ___. We came upon a solution, go to a second hand store and find the cheapest umbrella stroller you can buy (last one was a year ago for $10). Easy to fold and carry anywhere. Used stroller to handle back packs when young one was up and about. When the end of the vacation came, went right into the garbage so did not even take on the plane home.

 

[pooh'smate]

My parents are at Disney now with my niece and nephew, and they tried to take a double stroller onto the sky liner and were told they had to fold it up, that they couldn’t wheel it on. It is a smaller double, the ZOE xl2 I believe. I know I asked a few weeks ago and the citi mini gt double was smaller than the size Disney said could roll on, and this one is definitely smaller than the citi mini gt double. So what’s up, has something changed, did we misunderstand and doubles do have to be folded, or was this cm incorrect? I haven’t been following since I learned it was ok to roll them on (or so I thought). Have people been able to roll
double Strollers on without folding them?It’s frustrating that things aren’t uniform, and if you do have to fold them that is a bummer, as we thought maybe we had found a third group of resorts that we would like to stay at for convenience with twin toddlers after the monorail resorts and Epcot resorts.

We were at Disney when the Skyliner first opened and rode it numerous times before the accident and after they reopened it and every time there was a double stroller in front of me at all stations the first week of operation passengers were told to fold their stoller before entering the cab.

 

[pooh'smate]

We have not been to CBR. Is the 'hub' of the resort within walking distance of the Skyliner or would we need to take an internal bus?

It is within walking distance. It took us about 7 min at a leisurely pace. We also stopped and took a couple of pictures too.

 

[Tess]

We have not been to CBR. Is the 'hub' of the resort within walking distance of the Skyliner or would we need to take an internal bus?

I’ll tell you more starting on Thursday

We did it while there recently. We needed a down evening--parked out. We rode the Gondolas from EPCOT to CBR and got off there to relive our first ever visit to Disney when we stayed at CBR. We walked from the Gondola Station to Aruba (the location of our first ever room) and then back to Old Port Royale. We had a cocktail, wandered around centertown and returned for our ride to DHS. We then walked from DHS back to BC, where we were staying--fun evening and totally relaxing.

We have not been to CBR since that first ever visit in 1993. My how CBR has changed especially with the addition of Riviera! While it is a bit of a hike--certainly not horrible.

 

[ninafeliz]

We were at Disney when the Skyliner first opened and rode it numerous times before the accident and after they reopened it and every time there was a double stroller in front of me at all stations the first week of operation passengers were told to fold their stoller before entering the cab.

Not what I was hoping, but at least we’ll know and not be surprised the first time we go to ride it. At least we won’t always need a stroller- our twins are 2 now so there is an end in sight! However, as nice as it is to be without a stroller (we’ve done it when we took just the older 2 or no kids) I’m keeping the stroller as long as we can- to carry our crap and avoid as much whining. But until we lost the stroller the skyliner resorts aren’t as much of a draw as we thought they would be. We’re even toying with DVC at Riviera, so this is a real disappointment.

 

[emilymad]

Just rode this today for the first time. It was great! It is such a great addition to the resort. We are two adults and found the time to load and unload to be very short. We were fine but we commented that we couldn't imagine loading that fast with a family, strollers, etc. There was no line so we had a cabin to ourselves but I could see with strangers there would be a "shuffling" to get everyone situated which would take time. We didn't have any stops though.

 

[EmJ]

Our rule was always no strollers. So our kids didn't go until they were 5. That was a birthday gift from the grandparents who took them. My daughter went without us, my twins we went to help since my parents were a bit older and twin boys are different than a single girl!

We spent the entire 4th year of their lives working up to it. It became a huge theme. Start with small walks around the neighborhood, then hikes, trips to the mall, then zoo trips, etc. By the middle of their 4th year, it was a point of pride not to need a stroller for the kids and by the time that 5th birthday trip rolled around we hadn't used the strollers in a couple months and the kids had forgotten all about them. In addition, we started them mid year with small back packs. Then added a water bottle and some snacks to it, eventually a roll of quarters and pennies for the machines. Those packs were 5 lbs or a bit more, and the kids trucked them around all day at the parks.

We are fortunate that none of our three are special needs, so I understand this doesn't work for everyone. It also worked because we didn't try to bring sub-5 with 5s, so it definitely limited Disney for a few years. But it certainly is one strategy that I recommend when people ask. Not having a stroller at Disney is fantastic. Stroller parking, buses, crowded walkways, narrow shops, and now the Skyliner for doubles... uggh. No thanks... but more power to those of you that manage it!

So, no snark, but how do you actually get anywhere in the parks? My son has been stroller-free since 3 1/2, and the only exception we make is for airports and theme parks. The reason is that he is sooooooo sloooooooow. I don't actually know how he walks that slow without going backwards. So I end up sort of just... shuffling... next to him, and he STILL falls behind. At the grocery, park, zoo, even the walk to school, I just take deep breaths and deal, but if I tried to take him to Disney without a stroller, we'd be lucky to see the castle before sunset!

 

[Spartan86]

The independent electric motors might be true in some places on the Skyliner, I think it is at Riveria. But most gondola station tracks are powered via the haul cable (of course through a series of mechanical linkages).

Using the haul cable to power the station wheels eliminates a lot of failure modes. Ensures the station and cable are perfectly in sync. And allows only one station to need 3-phase power.

Just because we had been chatting about the guideway wheels: I chatted with a Doppelmayr tech at the IG station yesterday. Among other things I asked about guideway wheel power. He indicated the wheels closest to the entry and exit of the station were PTO from the haul rope while the bulk of the station is electric motor driven - here now I can readily see the motors. I asked if individual cabins could be controlled at different speeds within the station and he dodged that with a “we have a very capable proprietary system“ or such. Just FWIW.

Just for a stroller data point: I asked about multiple strollers as we will have two in December. The CM at DHS said we would be asked to fold one - only one open per cabin - however if we had two sleeping kids they would separate our family group to two cabins.

 

[jknezek]

So, no snark, but how do you actually get anywhere in the parks? My son has been stroller-free since 3 1/2, and the only exception we make is for airports and theme parks. The reason is that he is sooooooo sloooooooow. I don't actually know how he walks that slow without going backwards. So I end up sort of just... shuffling... next to him, and he STILL falls behind. At the grocery, park, zoo, even the walk to school, I just take deep breaths and deal, but if I tried to take him to Disney without a stroller, we'd be lucky to see the castle before sunset!

I don't know. That doesn't seem to be a problem we had. Our build up walks were always done at a decent pace. But at 3.5 your son is still really young. By 5 it may be very different. My boys had no problem running around Disney until about dinner when they started to lose steam. We did not stay out late every night, just the one night for castle fireworks that we followed with a late start the next day. So we really planned for having 5 year olds. Park opening? Sure, kids are up early. Park close? Not so much.

The other thing we did was really plan our way around the parks. We used the FP+ system to hit the most important things in the first 3 time slots of every day. That involved a lot of moving around quickly while the kids still had energy and were fired up to get to the next big thing. Something we had prepped them for with stories of the great rides. Then we worked to get extra FPs, but usually in a methodical way around the park from where we were, not necessarily the most valuable FP we could get but usually the closest. That helped them rest and recover.

 

[EmJ]

I don't know. That doesn't seem to be a problem we had. Our build up walks were always done at a decent pace. But at 3.5 your son is still really young. By 5 it may be very different. My boys had no problem running around Disney until about dinner when they started to lose steam. We did not stay out late every night, just the one night for castle fireworks that we followed with a late start the next day. So we really planned for having 5 year olds. Park opening? Sure, kids are up early. Park close? Not so much.

The other thing we did was really plan our way around the parks. We used the FP+ system to hit the most important things in the first 3 time slots of every day. That involved a lot of moving around quickly while the kids still had energy and were fired up to get to the next big thing. Something we had prepped them for with stories of the great rides. Then we worked to get extra FPs, but usually in a methodical way around the park from where we were, not necessarily the most valuable FP we could get but usually the closest. That helped them rest and recover.

I'm going to have to work on speeding up my little turtle, lol. He was 3 1/2 when we ditched the stroller, but is close to 5 now and will be 5 when we visit Disney in March. However, DH and I agree that this is the last trip with a stroller. No matter how fast or slow he is, he's just getting too big.

 

[sachilles]

Every kid is different.
I think what kept our kid moving was the enticement of rides. We've crisscrossed the parks for low wait times. The first non stroller trip, the stroller came with us, but we were determined not to use it. We averaged 13 miles a day by measure of my phones pedometer. That being said, we always had goals of where we were going, yet frequent stops. The most crowded areas, he may been given a shoulder ride for our own sanity's sake, and for the speed factor. Mid afternoon naps were a key component of our survival. We closed the parks every night. Parents and kids all sleeping on the bus back to the resort, while my kid's chatting away.

 

[tsme]

Can anyone tell me their experience with park opening at IG coming off the skyliner, is it crowded?

 

[skier_pete]

So, though I think most of what needs to be said has been said - I thought I would add my 2 cents after riding the Skyliner this weekend.

We did 4 rides each with a change at the CBR station:
-DHS to Epcot at Night (10/26)
-Epcot to DHS mid afternoon (10/29)
-DHS to AoA late afternoon (10/29)
-AoA to Epcot early evening (10/29)

The ride from Riviera to Epcot timed at 8 minutes, From CBR to Epcot was probably around 12 minutes. The one from CBR to DHS is about 5 (didn't time it). CBR to AoA/Pop is probably under 5. Definitely faster from DHS to Epcot by Skyliner than boat.

The heat is no problem at ALL. We rode in the heat of the day yesterday with temperatures around 92 degrees and heat index at 101, and the cabin when moving felt about 75 degrees. When slowed at the turn or Riviera, more like 80 but still not bad.

Mostly rode it just the 4 of us and it was a walk-on. Once there was a back-up at DHS - probably about 100 people - because it had stopped, but it started as we walked up and we were loaded in about 2 minutes. At CBR in the evening yesterday there was a backup of maybe 200 people to get to Epcot, but even that loaded in under 5 minutes. AND they were sending some empty cars as well for the Riviera station pickup. We never saw anyone at the Riviera station, so I don't know if they were just trying to be in the routine.

At one point we were waiting for a bus at Boardwalk - and a bus pulled up that said "Skyliner" where it usually has the park name and then said "CBR/Pop Century/AoA" bus driver told us when asked that they run the bus when the Skyliner is down - so FYI if you get stuck at the back of Epcot and need the Skyliner to get back to your resort - you can go to Boardwalk rather than the front of the park apparently.

If you want to take pictures/videos - make sure to ask for a car without the wraps - you can see through the wraps, but it somehow disrupts videos.

Noted that it goes VERY high over the CBR resorts - much higher than over roadways and parking lots. Clearly this was to try and minimize the disruption to the resort.

We did see a pretty big line-up at the Skyliner after Epcot Forever. However, it was moving nicely. I would've guessed maybe 400 people in line, but likely wait was 5-10 minutes. We were at Boardwalk though so we walked back.

The biggest disappointment was that they didn't move the security stations to the Skyliner, so when you go to IG you still go through security and ticket scan. They were still constructing here a bit, but they only had about 60% of the stations open, and while the backup wasn't terrible, it was a little worse than it used to be. Probably took 2-3 minutes to get through bag check and another 1-2 minutes through the scanners. If all the stations had been open it would've been fine for crowd control I think. We didn't ever get there for rope drop, but since typically the IG starts letting people in pretty early and then holds them in Canada, it's probably not an issue in the morning. The entering crowds at 10:30-11 AM were no issue at all.

From the people we talked to about it, it was a HUGE hit. People at Pop and AoA absolutely loved it. I don't think we ran into anyone staying at CBR so I don't know.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We didn't ever get there for rope drop, but since typically the IG starts letting people in pretty early and then holds them in Canada, it's probably not an issue in the morning. The entering crowds at 10:30-11 AM were no issue at all.

I've never experienced them holding people in Canada. Friends (arriving by bus) often go to the Bakery in France at rope drop while the other half of the family rides Test Track. Nothing is open in Canada, UK or France other than the bakery but guests are not stopped in Canada.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

So, though I think most of what needs to be said has been said - I thought I would add my 2 cents after riding the Skyliner this weekend.

We did 4 rides each with a change at the CBR station:
-DHS to Epcot at Night (10/26)
-Epcot to DHS mid afternoon (10/29)
-DHS to AoA late afternoon (10/29)
-AoA to Epcot early evening (10/29)

The ride from Riviera to Epcot timed at 8 minutes, From CBR to Epcot was probably around 12 minutes. The one from CBR to DHS is about 5 (didn't time it). CBR to AoA/Pop is probably under 5. Definitely faster from DHS to Epcot by Skyliner than boat.

The heat is no problem at ALL. We rode in the heat of the day yesterday with temperatures around 92 degrees and heat index at 101, and the cabin when moving felt about 75 degrees. When slowed at the turn or Riviera, more like 80 but still not bad.

Mostly rode it just the 4 of us and it was a walk-on. Once there was a back-up at DHS - probably about 100 people - because it had stopped, but it started as we walked up and we were loaded in about 2 minutes. At CBR in the evening yesterday there was a backup of maybe 200 people to get to Epcot, but even that loaded in under 5 minutes. AND they were sending some empty cars as well for the Riviera station pickup. We never saw anyone at the Riviera station, so I don't know if they were just trying to be in the routine.

At one point we were waiting for a bus at Boardwalk - and a bus pulled up that said "Skyliner" where it usually has the park name and then said "CBR/Pop Century/AoA" bus driver told us when asked that they run the bus when the Skyliner is down - so FYI if you get stuck at the back of Epcot and need the Skyliner to get back to your resort - you can go to Boardwalk rather than the front of the park apparently.

If you want to take pictures/videos - make sure to ask for a car without the wraps - you can see through the wraps, but it somehow disrupts videos.

Noted that it goes VERY high over the CBR resorts - much higher than over roadways and parking lots. Clearly this was to try and minimize the disruption to the resort.

We did see a pretty big line-up at the Skyliner after Epcot Forever. However, it was moving nicely. I would've guessed maybe 400 people in line, but likely wait was 5-10 minutes. We were at Boardwalk though so we walked back.

The biggest disappointment was that they didn't move the security stations to the Skyliner, so when you go to IG you still go through security and ticket scan. They were still constructing here a bit, but they only had about 60% of the stations open, and while the backup wasn't terrible, it was a little worse than it used to be. Probably took 2-3 minutes to get through bag check and another 1-2 minutes through the scanners. If all the stations had been open it would've been fine for crowd control I think. We didn't ever get there for rope drop, but since typically the IG starts letting people in pretty early and then holds them in Canada, it's probably not an issue in the morning. The entering crowds at 10:30-11 AM were no issue at all.

From the people we talked to about it, it was a HUGE hit. People at Pop and AoA absolutely loved it. I don't think we ran into anyone staying at CBR so I don't know.

This reminds me, we stayed at BWV and we saw Skyliner buses at our bus stop all our MK mornings (we would have been at the stop before the skyliner opened or just about when it would have started). So I’m assuming they’ve got these running regularly before the skyliner starts as well as the downtime.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I've never experienced them holding people in Canada. Friends (arriving by bus) often go to the Bakery in France at rope drop while the other half of the family rides Test Track. Nothing is open in Canada, UK or France other than the bakery but guests are not stopped in Canada.

We only had one Epcot rope drop this trip, but we were held right before the bridge to France, and held late enough that we were behind the Future World crowd arriving at Soarin’. They had us in a line of sorts, and it went back to the turnstiles before they let us go. Seemed like an odd choice and not how I remember previous IG rope drops.

NBD for Soarin’ but anyone staying at a skyliner resort would probably be better off taking the bus to the front of Epcot if that’s still an option for Test Track rope drops, provided we didn’t experience a fluke.

 

[Mome Rath]

Just back from a Pop trip; loved the Skyliner, and the whole fam did too (from young to old, and one in a wheelchair). It never stopped on any of my trips, but I saw it stop a couple of times. The biggest loading issue I personally witnessed was indeed the stroller issue. People weren't prepared when getting ready to load (even when told what to do) and they would have to stop the whole process to get the person and stroller on.

I left EPCOT one night right after fireworks/park close, and it was so much nicer than the buses by a mile. I was pleasantly surprised at the CBR station, really like the vibe (like a deco train station), it was a lot "brighter" than I thought it would be, and a very minimal wait. I rode it a lot as a single female and got the sense I could've asked the CM either to load with a group or by myself, whatever I was comfortable with.

The wrapped ones are harder to see out of IMO. I was also there with a heat index over a hundred degrees, and it was a pleasant ride. It was the venting at the base of the Gondola that helped the most as far as air flow as it keeps your back cool. Also, there are turbo fans in the stations that blow air up at the vents in the top of the Gondola to keep an air flow even in the stations, it was hotter than when in full flight, but it did help.

The thing that surprised me the most... the views. IMO they aren't that spectacular and then I realized a couple of reasons for that; 1) the Gondola lines are (of course) as the crow flies so it is more practical than the Monorail, and 2) they intentionally lined up the routes so as not to be obtrusive from the ground, hence the views aren't like the Monorail or even boats. It's not bad, just not quite as cool as I thought it would be.

The night of the fireworks I could see lightening in the distance, but it must never have been close enough to cause a shut down.

ETA: Almost every ride the "3 hour incident" was discussed with nervous chuckles as the informed filled in the uninformed.

 

[skier_pete]

The thing that surprised me the most... the views. IMO they aren't that spectacular and then I realized a couple of reasons for that; 1) the Gondola lines are (of course) as the crow flies so it is more practical than the Monorail, and 2) they intentionally lined up the routes so as not to be obtrusive from the ground, hence the views aren't like the Monorail or even boats. It's not bad, just not quite as cool as I thought it would be.

This is very true. The DHS-CBR route has pretty much nothing at all to see, and the AOA/Pop-CBR route other than the lake also has nothing. The Epcot-CBR route you get to look down at CBR and Riviera, but once you pass Riviera it's pretty unintersting as well except for seeing the backside of France and the Ratatouille construction.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

The flip side of the view thing is how unobtrusive they are from the parks and Epcot resort area. I was honestly surprised how we didn’t notice them at all until we got quite close to IG, and barely in the parks at all. I’m sure this is not surprising to anybody who had followed the construction closely though, but it was something I was bummed about as an Epcot resort area fan.

 

[skier_pete]

The flip side of the view thing is how unobtrusive they are from the parks and Epcot resort area. I was honestly surprised how we didn’t notice them at all until we got quite close to IG, and barely in the parks at all. I’m sure this is not surprising to anybody who had followed the construction closely though, but it was something I was bummed about as an Epcot resort area fan.

yes - after all the screaming about sight line, you can really only see them in Epcot when crossing the England-France bridge and then a little bit when you look behind the Ratatouille entrance area in France, though they may still end up hidden there yet. (Construction isn't finished.) I also checked and Riviera is almost invisible from inside Epcot. None are as bad as the Swolfin which is a big brown triangle of in-park sight line hideousness.