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

[DGsAtBLT]

Shutdown - A different day a different experience.

Yesterday I was on the Skyliner going from Studios back to EPCOT when the entire system was shutdown for impending weather. I landed at CBR and was pointed down the ramp to the bus loop they created by the Skyliner Station. What happened next can be best described as a clustermoof. There is one loop and one queue to serve buses going to: POP/Art, EPCOT, and Studios. The uncovered line quickly built to where it was back up the ramp into the station.

When a new bus pulled up there was mass confusion of people trying to jostle past other people waiting for a different bus. Despite the massive crowds I saw at least one bus pull out with space still on it because people waiting for it could not get there. Also while there is room for two buses to load at a time cast members were stopping them at the first spot leaving other buses stacked up waiting, I have no idea why that was.

My thought was to stroll across the parking lot to the actual CBR stops. Turns out that would not have been a good plan. After about 25-30min I eventually made it on an EPCOT bus which was packed full and then continued on to the regular CBR stops which had long lines waiting for our totally packed bus.

I never saw/heard any lighting, and it never rained more than quick very light mist.

This is an example of why I think the Skyliner is more of a bonus than a feature I would book specifically for. When it’s good it’s great, when it’s not it’s NOT. That’s a pretty big hassle and delay for a pretty regular occurrence in Florida.

At Pop/CBR prices it’s great and probably worth the downsides. At Riviera prices I’m not taking the gamble, I’m staying at an Epcot resort and using my own feet.

 

[Mome Rath]

My take is that it is just going to take awhile to work all the bugs out of the whole system (meaning bus transfers and the way the whole thing works together). I rode it on my trip the last week of October and loved it, and will ride it again. Them working things out doesn't bother me. As I mentioned before, my only hesitation would be on departure day if I had to be back to my room at a specific time for Magical Express.

 

[snappy]

It sounds to me the weather work around involving busses needs fine tuning.

 

[Vacations66]

Shutdown - A different day a different experience.

Yesterday I was on the Skyliner going from Studios back to EPCOT when the entire system was shutdown for impending weather. I landed at CBR and was pointed down the ramp to the bus loop they created by the Skyliner Station. What happened next can be best described as a clustermoof. There is one loop and one queue to serve buses going to: POP/Art, EPCOT, and Studios. The uncovered line quickly built to where it was back up the ramp into the station.

When a new bus pulled up there was mass confusion of people trying to jostle past other people waiting for a different bus. Despite the massive crowds I saw at least one bus pull out with space still on it because people waiting for it could not get there. Also while there is room for two buses to load at a time cast members were stopping them at the first spot leaving other buses stacked up waiting, I have no idea why that was.

My thought was to stroll across the parking lot to the actual CBR stops. Turns out that would not have been a good plan. After about 25-30min I eventually made it on an EPCOT bus which was packed full and then continued on to the regular CBR stops which had long lines waiting for our totally packed bus.

I never saw/heard any lighting, and it never rained more than quick very light mist.

A good reason to stay off the skyliner. If the cm or Disney haven't figured out what to do in a minor emergency then it doesn't say much for Disney engineer s.

 

[Mome Rath]

A good reason to stay off the skyliner. If the cm or Disney haven't figured out what to do in a minor emergency then it doesn't say much for Disney engineer s.

What minor emergency? There wasn't one. It's just like the boats that stop running when a lightning strike is detected, and you have to then seek alternative transport, and has nothing to do with engineers.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

What minor emergency? There wasn't one. It's just like the boats that stop running when a lightning strike is detected, and you have to then seek alternative transport, and has nothing to do with engineers.

I think the difference with the boats is they’re already slow as molasses (especially the friendship boats) so nobody really thinks of them as quick and convenient transport getting rerouted to buses with a huge crowd losing a lot of time.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I think the difference with the boats is they’re already slow as molasses (especially the friendship boats) so nobody really thinks of them as quick and convenient transport getting rerouted to buses with a huge crowd losing a lot of time.

Count me in the group that loves a good slow molasses type of boat ride, especially in the evening/night. So relaxing. I will ride the Gondola's in the morning, boats at night.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Count me in the group that loves a good slow molasses type of boat ride, especially in the evening/night. So relaxing. I will ride the Gondola's in the morning, boats at night.

Theyve got their place for sure! Just not super comparable to a transport method thats major selling points are little to no waiting and speed.

 

[Mome Rath]

What I referenced was the idea of an emergency. When the boats need to stop due to a storm, that's not an emergency, neither is it an emergency when the gondolas need to stop for the same reason.

I love the boats, love the gondolas, love the monorails, and appreciate the buses. It's just going to take them actual down time with the gondolas to figure out the most efficient system with the bus backup. That's the way the real world steps in and causes them to adjust; again in a non-emergency situation.

 

[disneygirlsng]

A good reason to stay off the skyliner. If the cm or Disney haven't figured out what to do in a minor emergency then it doesn't say much for Disney engineer s.

Have you ridden it? I would never dismiss something so easily until I've actually experienced it for myself. That seems kind of a strange thing to do.

 

[Spaceguy55]

I was at POP last week for 8 days and rode them about 20+ times...no problems except a short stop and a slow down on the Epcot line maybe a couple times. I was also able to see HEA, MNSSHP show and the Star wars show from the Epcot line.
Most times I had one to myself or with another dis member.
I would say it was one of the best trips I've ever had !
There was almost never a wait and when there was it was less than 10 minutes leaving Epcot right after the fireworks.
I only used the buses 4 times, twice to DS and 1 time to AK....did I mention I hate the buses especially at closing...I even went to MK 3 nights and avoided the buses by taking the gondola's to Epcot to hit a few food booths and the monorail from there to MK, at the end of the night I took the boat to GF and then a Lyft back to POP..well worth the price to stay off the bus at night.
I have another trip when ROR opens in about a month and will be at POP or AOA...and might only stay there on future trips based on the convenience and time saved alone....less than 5 minutes from my room to a waiting gondola is great

edit.. A good example of why they are so convenient was on on my first day..I got to POP at 4 and went to Epcot for some food booths then over to DHS for Fantasmic and a walk around SWGE, then back to Epcot for more food and the new fireworks show..just couldn't do that on the buses or boats in that time frame...

 

[SgtTibbs]

It sounds to me the weather work around involving busses needs fine tuning.

Yup. That for sure. I will say our bus driver while being a total professional, also let some smugness show through about the buses being able to run in all weather. I get the feeling there is some rivalry between the buses and the new kid on the block Skyliner.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Also while there is room for two buses to load at a time cast members were stopping them at the first spot leaving other buses stacked up waiting, I have no idea why that was.

This is a suggestion you should strongly consider making directly to Disney.

 

[joelkfla]

Shutdown - A different day a different experience.

Yesterday I was on the Skyliner going from Studios back to EPCOT when the entire system was shutdown for impending weather. I landed at CBR and was pointed down the ramp to the bus loop they created by the Skyliner Station. What happened next can be best described as a clustermoof. There is one loop and one queue to serve buses going to: POP/Art, EPCOT, and Studios. The uncovered line quickly built to where it was back up the ramp into the station.

When a new bus pulled up there was mass confusion of people trying to jostle past other people waiting for a different bus. Despite the massive crowds I saw at least one bus pull out with space still on it because people waiting for it could not get there. Also while there is room for two buses to load at a time cast members were stopping them at the first spot leaving other buses stacked up waiting, I have no idea why that was.

My thought was to stroll across the parking lot to the actual CBR stops. Turns out that would not have been a good plan. After about 25-30min I eventually made it on an EPCOT bus which was packed full and then continued on to the regular CBR stops which had long lines waiting for our totally packed bus.

I never saw/heard any lighting, and it never rained more than quick very light mist.

I just can't understand why Disney is so gloriously inept at planning for contingencies. This situation was completely foreseeable. Or maybe they truly don't care about adverse Guest experiences anymore.

 

[snappy]

I just can't understand why Disney is so gloriously inept at planning for contingencies. This situation was completely foreseeable. Or maybe they truly don't care about adverse Guest experiences anymore.

Also a situation that will crop up often during summer months.

 

[Weedy]

I just can't understand why Disney is so gloriously inept at planning for contingencies. This situation was completely foreseeable. Or maybe they truly don't care about adverse Guest experiences anymore.

It’s not always easy to just move buses and get drivers. It’s not like they have a bunch of people just sitting around waiting to fill in if a issue comes up.
Part of the reason for building the Skyliner is to keep the number of buses/drivers down.
Disney already employees over 2000 bus drivers and always has open positions

 

[Disneylover99]

It’s not always easy to just move buses and get drivers. It’s not like they have a bunch of people just sitting around waiting to fill in if a issue comes up.
Part of the reason for building the Skyliner is to keep the number of buses/drivers down.
Disney already employees over 2000 bus drivers and always has open positions

So far they’ve needed more buses since the skyliner opened.

My understanding is they’re still running buses to HS and Epcot at regular intervals from POP, AofA and CBR. Plus there are additional buses along the skyliner routes to the skyliner resorts when the skyliner goes down.

 

[scrappinginontario]

So far they’ve needed more buses since the skyliner opened.

My understanding is they’re still running buses to HS and Epcot at regular intervals from POP, AofA and CBR. Plus there are additional buses along the skyliner routes to the skyliner resorts when the skyliner goes down.

Where did you obtain this information?
Yes, buses continue to run from Pop/AoA to DHS and Epcot but I cannot see how they could possibly require the volume of buses they have in the past.

We stayed at Pop in Dec of 2018. One morning we were headed to Epcot around 9am. While buses for all parks were arriving back to back, it was challenging for them to transport the sheer volume of people wants to go to the parks. since i was waiting anyways I took down some stats. When we arrived at the buses to line up for Epcot, the end of that line was back near the DS queue. we ended up being on the 6th Bus that went to Epcot which was the first bus that had filled, took people to Epcot and then returned for another load. (I could tell as I tracked the Epcot bus numbers). We had been in line for 25 mins at this point.

All If this to say that while yes, buses continue to run to all parks (thankfully!), a good potion of the people are now choosing the Skyliner so I cannot see how it would require the volume of buses (5 in my example above) to transport people to Epcot and I believe the same would be true for DHS.

 

[SgtTibbs]

So far they’ve needed more buses since the skyliner opened.

My understanding is they’re still running buses to HS and Epcot at regular intervals from POP, AofA and CBR. Plus there are additional buses along the skyliner routes to the skyliner resorts when the skyliner goes down.

When the Skyliner went down for me that the CBR, The bus I took to EPCOT was just the normal CBR bus that would have already been running they just added the Skyliner loop to it's route. I assume there have to be extra's for Pop/Art and probably for the two parks as well but that's not what I saw.

 

[Disneylover99]

Where did you obtain this information?
Yes, buses continue to run from Pop/AoA to DHS and Epcot but I cannot see how they could possibly require the volume of buses they have in the past.

We stayed at Pop in Dec of 2018. One morning we were headed to Epcot around 9am. While buses for all parks were arriving back to back, it was challenging for them to transport the sheer volume of people wants to go to the parks. since i was waiting anyways I took down some stats. When we arrived at the buses to line up for Epcot, the end of that line was back near the DS queue. we ended up being on the 6th Bus that went to Epcot which was the first bus that had filled, took people to Epcot and then returned for another load. (I could tell as I tracked the Epcot bus numbers). We had been in line for 25 mins at this point.

All If this to say that while yes, buses continue to run to all parks (thankfully!), a good potion of the people are now choosing the Skyliner so I cannot see how it would require the volume of buses (5 in my example above) to transport people to Epcot and I believe the same would be true for DHS.

Somebody asked on the Pop thread if buses were now coming less frequently. @dansdad answered no. He seems to be in the know about such things, so I tend to believe that. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now it seems to be bus business as usual.

And now that they’ve needed extra buses to transport guests at the International Gateway to POP/AofA/CBR due to weather related stoppages of the skyliner, so all in all, more buses have been necessary since the skyliner opened.

It would be interesting to see what bus lines are like at the skyliner resorts after 9am now. Are they coming frequently and running quarter/half full? I don’t know.