NEW 15th DVC hotel~ Riviera Resort/ Gondola~ Will there be air conditioning debate

There was never any air conditioning on the Epcot boats when we rode them, and we owned at BWV for 18 years. That is why we usually walked.
Denise
 
The friendship boats have a/c. But it's hugely undersized for its usage. Kinda like trying to cool an entire home with a little bedroom window a/c unit
 
If the gondola were in constant motion with a continuous load and unload the movement could perhaps be enough to keep some air flowing. However, it's more likely it will be stopped every couple of cars for those moving slower or wheelchairs or even strollers. It's not going to be like at a ski mountain where able bodied people hop on and off. The idea sounded pretty cool at first (get it?!) but now I'm cooling off to the idea (couldn't help that one!).
 


If the gondola were in constant motion with a continuous load and unload the movement could perhaps be enough to keep some air flowing. However, it's more likely it will be stopped every couple of cars for those moving slower or wheelchairs or even strollers. It's not going to be like at a ski mountain where able bodied people hop on and off. The idea sounded pretty cool at first (get it?!) but now I'm cooling off to the idea (couldn't help that one!).
I don't know any more than the next guy, but the whole "line" should only stop in rare emergency like situations. The cars will come off the cable when they enter the station and move slowly by conveyer.. I believe modern systems can then "shunt" cars off onto a secondary track where a stationary load/unload could take place - scooter? I think the systems move slowly enough in the station that most wheelchairs can safely load even if the car is in motion. But we'll see.
 
I don't get the big deal about AC in the cars, these are basically grown up Von Roll Sky Ride 101 cars (the sky bucket was Von Roll 101, but almost every other theme/amusement park had one back in the 70's), Doppelmayr IS Von Roll. I have ridden dozens of them... there is enough breeze in the air even in the hottest climate to make for a comfortable ride. Also, there is a Von Roll at Stone Mountain in Atlanta Georgia, in fact, it's probably a more comparable experience. The Von Roll at Stone Mountain is a large, glassed enclosed car, that holds probably 30-40 total people. No AC, IN ATLANTA. I rode it in August... no problems. Think about it, are the EPCOT/Hollywood studios boats air conditioned? No. If there is moving air, and shade, you are usually comfortable.

By the way, as someone who goes out of their way to ride Von Rolls whenever I can... I am THRILLED about this. I have yet to stay at CBR (its the last moderate I haven't stayed at...) and I think this might be the driving perk to finally get me there.

Jennifer

If it's an open cabin, it would be similar to riding the WDW train or the old gondolas which would be fine.
Once you enclose the cabin, AC was invented to keep the area comfortable.
The boats are air conditioned but it does get warm due to open windows and undersized AC units.
Stone Mountain cools off at night and doesn't host the masses of people Disney handles. Asphalt and people add up to more heat.
If Disney opts for going green and doesn't install AC in major transportation system in Florida, it would be a huge mistake.
 
I don't know any more than the next guy, but the whole "line" should only stop in rare emergency like situations. The cars will come off the cable when they enter the station and move slowly by conveyer.. I believe modern systems can then "shunt" cars off onto a secondary track where a stationary load/unload could take place - scooter? I think the systems move slowly enough in the station that most wheelchairs can safely load even if the car is in motion. But we'll see.

Agree. Think of the load system as being similar to Kali River Rapids. At the station, you have 6-8 vehicles rotating slowly with all available to board simultaneously. The system releases the next boat at the proper interval.

This won't be like the old style skyway where vehicles load one at a time, with guests only having 10-20 seconds to hop in and get settled. They will load many vehicles at once, with departures being sent on their way every few seconds.

As for the A/C, I don't know why that's even worth debating. Disney must have done some sort of comfort testing both with and without. They aren't naive with regard to Florida weather. Kinda pointless to debate without being privy to such testing...or having any influence over the outcome whatsoever.
 


I see a power outage or mechanical breakdown and people being stranded up there for 4 hours, little airflow because your not moving and that wonderful Florida sun. If Disney is really considering this, it makes the hotel look cheap.

This type of transportation has been around for 100 years, mostly at state fairs. I guess its good Disney is catching up with the state fairs. Not what I would expect from a premium resort.

I would suggest that they look at the wedway people mover and go with something like that.
 
I see a power outage or mechanical breakdown and people being stranded up there for 4 hours, little airflow because your not moving and that wonderful Florida sun. If Disney is really considering this, it makes the hotel look cheap.

This type of transportation has been around for 100 years, mostly at state fairs. I guess its good Disney is catching up with the state fairs. Not what I would expect from a premium resort.

I would suggest that they look at the wedway people mover and go with something like that.
Power I would say no - Diesel generators. Major mechanical - well that's possible I suppose. But to my knowledge, very rare.
 
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As for the A/C, I don't know why that's even worth debating. Disney must have done some sort of comfort testing both with and without. They aren't naive with regard to Florida weather. Kinda pointless to debate without being privy to such testing...or having any influence over the outcome whatsoever.

If you only talk about things you control or have influence over, disboards would be very boring. Peoples comfort level is very individual regarding AC. I've worked on a few systems and it interests me to learn how Disney could achieve comfortable temperatures in July-August without conventional AC system.

Maybe new technology will be used or possibly a European vendor says its not needed? I'm sure more details will be released as the start date approaches. Disney has been known to make large scale mistakes...hopefully this will not be one of them.
 
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Per Lift Blog: "I’m told...Cabins will have wi-fi and ample passive ventilation."
....
Wait, what, they'll have wi-fi but no ac?

I see a power outage or mechanical breakdown and people being stranded up there for 4 hours, little airflow because your not moving and that wonderful Florida sun...
Somewhere in the mega 'Skyway on steroids' thread someone mentioned that evacuations had to be accomplished w/in 12 minutes - I guess because after 12 minutes non moving glass enclosed vehicles aren't compatable with human life in summertime Florida. Personally I don't know how that'd be accomplished unless there's a mechanism for mechanically wheeling the individual gondola cars to the loading station very quickly or rope ladders attached to the cars (kidding.)
The real head scratcher for me is the ECV loading. I'm not talking about your adept experienced ECV user, I'm talking about those inexperienced only at WDW users that we've all seen, the ones who take 15 minutes to load onto the bus at closing or accidentally hit fast forward and run into some object, will those people really be able to drive their ECVs through a moving open door? Strollers no problem, experienced ECV pilots good to go, but ECV users like my mom on her last visit = issues.
Nevertheless, I'm excited about this, I used to ride the DL ones all the time & I visit WDW in Dec/Jan thus don't have a dog in the AC/nonAC fight.
 
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Wait, what, they'll have wi-fi but no ac?


Somewhere in the mega 'Skyway on steroids' thread someone mentioned that evacuations had to be accomplished w/in 12 minutes - I guess because after 12 minutes non moving glass enclosed vehicles aren't compatable with human life in summertime Florida. Personally I don't know how that'd be accomplished unless there's a mechanism for mechanically wheeling the individual gondola cars to the loading station very quickly or rope ladders attached to the cars (kidding.)
The real head scratcher for me is the ECV loading. I'm not talking about your adept experienced ECV user, I'm talking about those inexperienced only at WDW users that we've all seen, the ones who take 15 minutes to load onto the bus at closing or accidentally hit fast forward and run into some object, will those people really be able to drive their ECVs through a moving open door? Strollers no problem, experienced ECV pilots good to go, but ECV users like my mom on her last visit = issues.
Nevertheless, I'm excited about this, I used to ride the DL ones all the time & I visit WDW in Dec/Jan thus don't have a dog in the AC/nonAC fight.

8-10 person gondola is small. The small size alone will make it difficult to load/unload ECVs.
An unofficial WDW news site mentions the vendor has been busy making 28-30 person gondolas. Larger cabins would be more efficient in every way, but the cost will be the determining factor.
 
The vendor is capable of larger units, AC units, you name it. They're the premier company for this kind of stuff.

The question is more what Disney ordered and what they're building their lines to support. I've been in an 8-person Doppelmayr and it was pretty nice. It was also a smaller line, designed to handle 1,000 people an hour up a ski slope.

Realistically, I would expect Disney to be using spring-grip systems, which allow each car to come off the cable at a stop, and they move through the load area os chain systems or rotating wheels. The load/unload for people with ECVs would be a lot like a lot of the omnimover rides.
 
How on Earth do you evac from this thing during a breakdown? Cherry picker??? And what of those who are handicapped/in wheelchairs and can't transfer? What happens when storms come through?

Right now I have more questions and zero answers from Disney and do as it stands now, I do not trust this method of transport and won't consider using it until these questions are answered to my satisfaction.
 
8-10 person gondola is small. The small size alone will make it difficult to load/unload ECVs.
An unofficial WDW news site mentions the vendor has been busy making 28-30 person gondolas. Larger cabins would be more efficient in every way, but the cost will be the determining factor.
The 30 person one sounds like a bus w/out wheels w/ a lot of the bus irritations like waiting to load, waiting while others load, waiting to disembark etc. & hanging out with 30 people in a non air conditioned gondola car sounds less than desirable. At least the buses have that AC cranked up!
Although you may not get to your destination any faster in a 4-8 person gondola than a 30 person one, since you are constantly moving in the line as people load onto the smaller ones I think it would feel faster than standing/waiting in a line for each gondola to load 30 people, but perhaps people will load gondolas faster than they currently load buses and maybe the gondolas will be close enough together to keep the line moving.
The concept art at D23 definitely looked more like 6-8 people gondolas than 30 people ones.
Will the Riviera folks have to change gondolas at the CBR station to go to DHS?
 
The 30 person one sounds like a bus w/out wheels w/ a lot of the bus irritations like waiting to load, waiting while others load, waiting to disembark etc. & hanging out with 30 people in a non air conditioned gondola car sounds less than desirable. At least the buses have that AC cranked up!
Although you may not get to your destination any faster in a 4-8 person gondola than a 30 person one, since you are constantly moving in the line as people load onto the smaller ones I think it would feel faster than standing/waiting in a line for each gondola to load 30 people, but perhaps people will load gondolas faster than they currently load buses and maybe the gondolas will be close enough together to keep the line moving.
The concept art at D23 definitely looked more like 6-8 people gondolas than 30 people ones.
Will the Riviera folks have to change gondolas at the CBR station to go to DHS?

What's interesting is Disney recently posted an opening for a transportation master planner. It could be the gondola specifications have not been finalized. Doppelmayre might be the best manufacturer of gondola systems but they may not give the best plan to integrate multiple lines into Disneys infrastructure.

The benifit to a larger gondola is it moves more people per hour. Imagine how long you would wait at a bus stop if you reduced the seating capacity from 30 seats to 10 seats.
 
But buses and gondola cars are not equivalent in the sense of how long you'd wait. Dispatch is marked different.
 
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But buses and gondola cars are not equivalent in the sense of how long you'd wait. Dispatch is marked different.

Yes..buses were not an accurate comparison. 30 person gondolas are not too big for loading/unloading people efficiently. The attached article gets a little deeper into various gondola designs and how it might work in WDW.

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/04/depth-speculation-disney-world-gondola-project-will-take-shape/

I think gondolas would be the most efficient way to transport people in WDW, its a great idea. I cant get my mind wrapped around the thought of fans controlling cabin temperature. Try driving a van load of old people (or children) with the windows down, 96F at 65mph....its still hot at 65 mph. It's not going to be fun heading back to the resort in a gondola during the heat of the day.
 

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