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

I don't dispute that (assuming that the passive cooling does indeed work as advertised.) However, I've never tried to argue that buses are preferable or faster. My only point of opinion in this regard concerns whether the Skyliner will at times develop queues of 30 minutes or more, and I think that the answer to that is yes, it well might. (I believe that the dispatch speed will decline a bit in practice. I am guessing it will end up somewhere closer to 30-40 seconds, because with the REALLY large number of strollers at WDW, getting off will be slower than getting on, and they will probably need to adjust for that. Still quite fast, but not as fast as testing with no passengers to deal with.)

That would make it one of the slowest loading gondolas around. Please go watch some videos of other transportation gondolas around the world and watch how they board. The Skyliner will have more than 30 seconds of loading time and a separate 30 seconds of unload time in the station with an 11 second dispatch. This really isn't pushing the envelope for transportation gondolas. Worst case if people don't get off in time, they can stop the line or let them disembark on the load side for the one group going extremely slow. They aren't going to destroy the capacity the system because once a day someone might need more than 30 seconds to get off.

It may not seem like a lot, but the MK train is only in each station for 90 seconds, from pulling in to leaving. That is the whole thing from stopping, letting everyone off, new people getting on, pulling out. And it requires everyone to fold strollers and has 300 people onboard.
 
So excited to ride when we are at POP in January!!!

I’ve been following along and didn’t see any photos of the gondola at night. Has there been any? Was wondering how they looked at night
 


Regarding the "seated with strangers" concerns - if I find myself in the Skyliner queue near a party I'm not comfortable about, I'd happily step aside and let some other parties pass me as a "buffer." Or at a slow time maybe pull an "oops forgot something" and back out of the queue and re-enter.

That said, when it comes to "unwanted cabin mates," I think that I'll mostly be dodging bickering/melting down families. ;)
 
So excited to ride when we are at POP in January!!!

I’ve been following along and didn’t see any photos of the gondola at night. Has there been any? Was wondering how they looked at night

Another thought that just occurred to me - If these gondolas have no power, then does that mean that they have no lights in them, at night? You can get on and off at the station, which can be well lit inside, but once it leaves the station will you be forced to sit in darkness?
 
Another thought that just occurred to me - If these gondolas have no power, then does that mean that they have no lights in them, at night? You can get on and off at the station, which can be well lit inside, but once it leaves the station will you be forced to sit in darkness?
The gondolas do have power for small things like lights.
 


Another thought that just occurred to me - If these gondolas have no power, then does that mean that they have no lights in them, at night? You can get on and off at the station, which can be well lit inside, but once it leaves the station will you be forced to sit in darkness?
It's not known for certain. There appears to be a box on the roof that could contain a battery or super-capacitor, and things that look like they could be charging prongs to contact a bus bar above the cabins in the station. So there may or may not be some interior low-voltage LED lighting.
 
Another thought that just occurred to me - If these gondolas have no power, then does that mean that they have no lights in them, at night? You can get on and off at the station, which can be well lit inside, but once it leaves the station will you be forced to sit in darkness?
Yes they will have lighting.
Here is a promotional video from Doppelmayr. This is a cabin similar to what Disney has. Look at about 2:41 on the video
 
Do you really think Disney would not have lights in the cabins??
Probably not likely, but there have been things I thought Disney would never do that they did do to cut costs.

My point is that no one has told us they've seen interior lighting, Disney has not said there will be interior lighting, and it's possible to get cabins without interior lighting, so it's an unknown.
 
Another thought that just occurred to me - If these gondolas have no power, then does that mean that they have no lights in them, at night? You can get on and off at the station, which can be well lit inside, but once it leaves the station will you be forced to sit in darkness?
I hope that if the cabins do have lighting you will be able to turn it off! It would be a much better ride sitting in the dark looking at the lights (and maybe fireworks) as you glide over the landscape. Why would you want lighting??
 
I hope that if the cabins do have lighting you will be able to turn it off! It would be a much better ride sitting in the dark looking at the lights (and maybe fireworks) as you glide over the landscape. Why would you want lighting??
They could do a softer running light type situation and then when the doors open (to let people on and off) the interior lights go on much brighter and then dimmer lights once the doors close. I kinda like that idea. I do agree that too much brightness means all you might see is just the interior cabin rather than anything else at night but I also agree with other people cell phone lights will likely be in abundance. On a side note I don't know how people stand to look at their phones soooo bright at night or in dark places. It hurts my eyes lol.
 
I hope that if the cabins do have lighting you will be able to turn it off! It would be a much better ride sitting in the dark looking at the lights (and maybe fireworks) as you glide over the landscape. Why would you want lighting??
If I or my teenage daughter is seated next to a stranger, I would prefer to have some lighting.
 
I hope that if the cabins do have lighting you will be able to turn it off! It would be a much better ride sitting in the dark looking at the lights (and maybe fireworks) as you glide over the landscape. Why would you want lighting??

it could just be low level lights down below the windows - just enough to provide ambient light and make it not pitch black but not so much that it would impact the view out
 

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