Walt Disney World Skyliner Gondola cabin video, photos, info.

Updated: Appears the gondolas are moving slowly with a bit of stopping/starting, but people are being let out at the gondola station.


Original:
I may have spoken too soon. According to tweets from someone still stuck, the gondolas stopped moving again after about 10 minutes:
https://twitter.com/BellePixi
 
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Apparent Disney Skyliner Crash Shuts Down System; Evacuations Underway

Thank you, blbluecruiser.

Due to an accident (not sure of the details) part of the skyliner was closed for 3 hours tonight. Sounds like it's finally moving.

Based on the following WDW Info news article:
Disney Skyliner Accident at Riviera Station Causing Major Delays; Evacuation in Progress

and the following DISboards thread:
Disney Skyliner Accident

Given this accident and the fact that some people were stuck for over 3 hours, I'm glad my next WDW trip is over a year away. I'd be too worried to ride at this point.

Updated: Appears the gondolas are moving slowly with a bit of stopping/starting, but people are being let out at the gondola station.


Original:
I may have spoken too soon. According to tweets from someone still stuck, the gondolas stopped moving again after about 10 minutes:
https://twitter.com/BellePixi

Blog mickey says Apparent Disney Skyliner Crash Shuts Down System; Evacuations Underway.

An apparent Disney Skyliner crash shut down the system on Saturday evening. Guests were stranded for over three hours on the line that runs between Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and Epcot’s International Gateway. Some guests were evacuated by the Reedy Creek Fire Department per the emergency procedures they practiced over the summer before the system opened to guests.

Reports began to surface shortly before 8pm that there was an incident at the Riviera Resort station and that the Disney Skyliner gondola system had stopped. It took Disney hours to get all of the guests off of the system.

A Disney spokesperson reached out and said that an “empty car was delayed, a second empty car bumped it. No Guests were involved”.

BlogMickey.com was on-site to provide up-to-the-minute updates and photos of the situation throughout the evening and our original article continues below.

Here is the best look at the blue gondola cabin that seems to have been impacted by the yellow cabin at the Riviera Resort station. Clearly there is shattered glass on the ground as shown in the video taken.



https://blogmickey.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/disney-skyliner-crash-1-1068x801.jpg

UPDATE: 10/6 12am – All guests have been evacuated from all Disney Skyliner gondola cabins and Doppelmayr is on-site to assist. Doppelmayr is the company that built the Disney Skyliner gondola system.

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It looks like Disney was able to take the Disney Skyliner gondola cabin in question off of the line and continue the movement to let most guests exit from the stations.

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One Disney Skyliner gondola cabin could be seen with its door open after all guests had been evacuated.

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UPDATE: 10/5 11:04pm – The Disney Skyliner has resumed moving. The cabins are returning very slowly back to the station.

BlogMickey.com@Blog_Mickey

The #DisneySkyliner just started moving again very slowly after hours of being stopped. It's unclear if the situation is resolved or not at this point.

Here's the latest: https://blogmickey.com/2019/10/apparent-disney-skyliner-crash-shuts-down-system-evacuations-underway/ …


UPDATE: 10/5 11:02pm – The International Gateway station is closed and Cast Members are citing “technical difficulties” for the closure. Some guests that are still on the Disney Skyliner have been stuck for over 3 hours and are still waiting to be evacuated. The evacuation process can be seen below as fire truck ladders are used to remove guests.

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UPDATE: 10/5 9:51pm – Evacuations are currently taking place to safely remove guests from the gondolas. Some guests have been waiting for over 90 minutes and have been told to open the Emergency kit found in the gondola cabin.

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The Epcot Resorts Boulevard entrance by the Boardwalk is currently closed for the evacuations of the Disney Skyliner gondolas.

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Less than one week ago, the Disney Skyliner had its grand opening to guests, and tonight, it appears that there has been an accident with the Disney Skyliner system. According to reports, the apparent crash took place at the Riviera Resort station.

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I hope everyone is ok - I know that from one account, the Guests were told to open and use the emergency kit in the gondolas.

It's only been operational for 7 or 8 days, and this seems to be a fairly serious issue - and it is taking far longer than the original three-and-a-half hours that Disney had originally thought it would take to rescue everyone in a worst-case scenario.

If it had to happen, I'm just glad it was after sundown - although I'm sure it makes it more difficult for emergency crews, I can't imagine how horribly hot it would have been inside those gondolas if this had been the middle of the day.

I truly hope we hear that no one was injured, either as a direct result of the crash, or because of a medical issue that arose while they were waiting to get down off the Skyliner.
 
Riders on Disney World’s new gondolas stranded for hours; Skyliner now closed

Orlando sentinel post:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/new...0191006-gx5ish3fjbbgzaj3mszfef4one-story.html

Riders aboard the new Skyliner gondola ride at Walt Disney World were stranded for hours late Saturday night after an apparent malfunction, according to witnesses. The aerial transportation system will be closed while Disney investigates the incident, the company said in a news release early Sunday morning.
There were no reported injuries, a Walt Disney World spokeswoman said. It was “unexpected downtime” on the Skyliner, the spokeswoman said Saturday.
“One of the three Disney Skyliner routes experienced an unexpected downtime Saturday evening,” the release said. “As a result, the Skyliner will be closed while we look into the details surrounding the downtime.”
Riders were starting to be evacuated from the ride after 11 p.m.

Chris Edenfield said he had been stuck on the ride for “hours" with his disabled mother.
“There are a fire truck [and] paramedics unloading the people ahead of us; we’ve been stuck up here for hours waiting,” he said. “We’ve cracked open the emergency kit awhile ago for water; it’s just a nightmare right now.”

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He said his mother was having a hard time.
“She got sick awhile ago, throwing up because of her nerves, but I gave her one of the bags [of water],” he said.
The cabins, which hold up to 10 people, are not air-conditioned.
Edenfield said he and his mother got off the gondola about 11:30 p.m. He said Disney gave him four all-day park passes and a $200 gift card for his trouble.
Disney’s early Sunday release said it was working with its guests individually “regarding impacts to their visit with us.”
A witness on the ground at 10 p.m. reported that the gondolas were not moving, and the cabins were dark.

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Reedy Creek officials are on the scene on Epcot Resorts Drive, along with fire trucks from Orange and Osceola counties. That is adjacent to the system’s line that connects Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort with Epcot. It also runs through a station for Disney’s Riviera Resort, a Disney Vacation Club offering scheduled to debut in December. It is the longest line on the system, which opened last week.
Photos posted on the Twitter page Waltparks show several of the gondolas smashed together, although it’s unclear if any riders were on those.
The system features nearly 300 cabins that Disney says travel at about 11 mph. Their peak height is about 60 feet off the ground.
Riders also said they were asked to open the emergency kits, social media posts show.


Michael Wallace

@TigerMike83

· 7h

Replying to @TigerMike83
And now they’ve told us to open the emergency kit. #skyliner

Michael Wallace

@TigerMike83


And now the fire truck has arrived. Guessing we’re next to get evacuated. #skyline

EGKSiBlX0AUcnM7
 
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Local thunderstorms shouldn't result in emergency evacuation procedures. They will simply bring all loaded gondolas to the station and unload, without loading more. I haven’t heard of need for a shutdown since opening.

Enjoy your vacation!

You jinxed it! Of course, it was a shutdown due to a crash between gondolas, not a thunderstorm. When I stated the system would have to be evacuated, I meant it just as others have since described - everyone has to get off at the next stop. Evacuation doesn't have to mean ladder trucks, etc.
 


Glade everyone is ok from this but why shut down all 3 lines. If the accident happened on the EPCOT line. ( I know it was more then likely due to them not knowing what happened) but couldn’t they have gone very slow and gotten people off faster.

Any ways I am sure Disney will investigate ( and I think the government will too maybe) and things that did not go so well will be improved on I read on Facebook that one person on the Skyliner for 3 hours said Disney handled it quite well and he was looking forward to riding it again. I too am looking forward to riding it for the first time in April I just might make sure my water bottle is full of ice cold water and I use the bathroom before getting on
 
Disney Skyliner Gondola System Closed Indefinitely as Disney Investigates Incident Leading to Guest Evacuations

I wonder for how long? Blog mickey posted this.

https://blogmickey.com/2019/10/disn...estigates-issue-leading-to-guest-evacuations/

The Disney Skyliner gondola system did not open this morning at Walt Disney World after guests were stranded for more than three hours last night. We visited the Disney Skyliner gondola system station at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, and Disney’s Riviera Resort to find that the entire system is down today as Disney investigates what it is referring to as “unexpected downtime”. There is no estimated reopening time or date, according to Cast Members.

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A Disney spokesperson revised a statement from saying that there was “no accident”, to one that acknowledged the accident late Saturday evening. Eventually, the official statement became that an “empty car was delayed, a second empty car bumped it. No Guests were involved”.

Another statement addressed the ongoing downtime as a result of the investigation. Disney said that “one of the three Disney Skyliner routes experienced an unexpected downtime Saturday evening. As a result, the Skyliner will be closed while we look into the details surrounding this downtime. We apologize for this situation, and we are working with each guest individually regarding impacts to their visit with us”.

As of publishing time, the Disney Skyliner is not operational, and safety measures have been put in place to ensure nobody enters the gondola cabins during the investigation.

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Doppelmayr, the company that built the Disney Skyliner gondola system, was on site last night to assist.

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Tourist


blog posted the same thing at:https://www.disneytouristblog.com/skyliner-closed-crash-evacuation/
Disney Skyliner Gondolas Closed Indefinitely After Accident & Evacuation

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Last night at Walt Disney World, there was an accidental collision at one of the Disney Skyliner stations, causing the Epcot line to close. Reedy Creek Fire Department evacuated guests on that line via lifts. In this post, we’ll look at what happened and our commentary about the future impact of this incident on Disney Skyliner’s operations.
Sometime between 8 and 9 pm, at the Riviera/Caribbean Beach Skyliner station, the aqua-colored gondola cabin did not attach to the cable to dispatch from the station en route to Epcot (see top image via @Ada58974405 on Twitter). The gondola cabins behind it slowly crashed against it. The crushing of the vehicles caused the glass to shatter on the impacted vehicle and several of the yellow cabins behind it to be damaged.
Consequently, the Epcot line went down for several hours, necessitating an evacuation by Reedy Creek Fire Department. This process was done via lift on a cabin by cabin basis and reportedly took until after 11 pm to complete. Some guests report being stuck for as long as 3 hours, and the entire Skyliner system remains closed today…
Thankfully, Walt Disney World is reporting that no guests were injured in the accident. (It’s also fortunate that this happened at night, as the lack of air-conditioning definitely would have been an issue had this occurred during the middle of the day yesterday.)
Walt Disney World has informed Orlando-area media outlets that there has not been an accident, but rather “unexpected down time” of the Skyliner. That is quite the disappointing spin, especially with widely-circulated photos on social media reflecting what happened.

As compensation, stranded guests are reporting that Walt Disney World Guest Relations provided each of them with a $100 gift card, 2 park tickets, and taxi vouchers. Some guests who were stuck stated in the “Disney World Junkies” Facebook groupthat they applaud how Disney handled the situation.
Cierra Putman WFTV@CPutman_WFTV
https://twitter.com/CPutman_WFTV/status/1180659989536477184

Although there was no signage outside indicating as much, Cast Members posted outside the Skyliner station indicated that it would remain closed today. We could see from a distance that the Epcot line was likewise not moving. No one with whom we spoke has insight into when it’ll reopen, and as such, this closure should be treated as indefinite.
It seems likely that safety inspections or more will need to occur before the Skyliner can resume operations. We hesitate to speculate as to when it’ll return, or what training, technical, or other safety adjustments might need to be made before Walt Disney World is comfortable running the Skyliner again.



Despite our unblemished firsthand experiences, there is no denying that others have not had similarly glowing results. Last week, the Art of Animation and Pop Century station had a delayed opening by 2-3 hours on at least one morning. The Epcot line has had a lot of sporadic downtime leading to backups at the International Gateway station, and one evening we saw it down completely for the rest of the night while walking over to Crescent Lake.

Those are just the issues we’ve been on hand to observe or hear about–it’s possible there have been more. Given the reliability of these gondola systems elsewhere and the fact that Walt Disney World has been testing these lines for months, we’re left scratching our heads. What happened? Why have there been so many issues?

Still, all of what happened prior to last night would be fairly easy to shrug off as early hiccups–so long as you aren’t a first-time visitor who was delayed hours by one of the outages. Short stoppages and delayed openings or early closures would be long forgotten after a few months of reliable operations with minimal downtime. No stories that would stick with visitors and cause them not to use the Skyliner in the future.

Judging by social media, this incident is quite clearly different. Some guests already had understandable fears of being so high up in an aerial transportation system, and reports of being stuck for 2-3 hours in a small cabin is only going to give more guests pause about riding. For many Walt Disney World fans, images of the collided gondolas and the evacuation process will cast a long-term pall over the Skyliner.

Disney Skyliner Gondolas Closed Indefinitely After Accident & Evacuation
By Tom Bricker News & Rumors 13 Comments



Save
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Last night at Walt Disney World, there was an accidental collision at one of the Disney Skyliner stations, causing the Epcot line to close. Reedy Creek Fire Department evacuated guests on that line via lifts. In this post, we’ll look at what happened and our commentary about the future impact of this incident on the Disney Skyliner’s operations.
Sometime between 8 and 9 pm, at the Riviera/Caribbean Beach Skyliner station, the aqua-colored gondola cabin did not attach to the cable to dispatch from the station en route to Epcot (see top image via @Ada58974405 on Twitter). The gondola cabins behind it slowly crashed against it. The crushing of the vehicles caused the glass to shatter on the impacted vehicle and several of the yellow cabins behind it to be damaged.
Consequently, the Epcot line went down for several hours, necessitating an evacuation by Reedy Creek Fire Department. This process was done via lift on a cabin by cabin basis, and reportedly took until after 11 pm to complete. Some guests report being stuck for as long as 3 hours, and the entire Skyliner system remains closed today…

Thankfully, Walt Disney World is reporting that no guests were injured in the accident. (It’s also fortunate that this happened at night, as the lack of air-conditioning definitely would have been an issue had this occurred during the middle of the day yesterday.)
Walt Disney World has informed Orlando-area media outlets that there has not been an accident, but rather “unexpected down time” of the Skyliner. That is quite the disappointing spin, especially with widely-circulated photos on social media reflecting what happened.
As compensation, stranded guests are reporting that Walt Disney World Guest Relations provided each of them with a $100 gift card, 2 park tickets, and taxi vouchers. Some guests who were stuck stated in the “Disney World Junkies” Facebook group that they applaud how Disney handled the situation.







.
 
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Closer Look at Damaged Disney Skyliner Gondola Cabin

from blog mickey:

https://blogmickey.com/2019/10/closer-look-at-damaged-disney-skyliner-gondola/

As Disney investigates a Disney Skyliner incident that left guests stranded in the air for over three hours, we have a closer look at the damage incurred one of the gondola cabins involved in the incident. As you can see in the photos below, Disney Skyliner gondola cabin 108 has been taken off of the main line as Disney investigates the root cause of the impact that caused the line to shut down for hours.

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As we saw in a video posted on social media, gondola cabin 108 appeared to show broken glass on the ground under the gondola cabin last night.

According to Disney, an “empty car was delayed, a second empty car bumped it. No Guests were involved”. It appears that it was more than a simple bump though. As you can see in our photos below, the broken glass seen in the social media post is, in fact, from Disney Skyliner gondola cabin 108. It looks like cabin 108 was impacted by the yellow gondola cabin behind it, and one of the ventilation windows shattered, leading to the broken glass seen in the video above.

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Here’s a look at a blue Disney Skyliner gondola cabin with both ventilation windows intact.

There is no known reopening date or time for the Disney Skyliner gondola system. Disney said that “one of the three Disney Skyliner routes experienced an unexpected downtime Saturday evening. As a result, the Skyliner will be closed while we look into the details surrounding this downtime. We apologize for this situation, and we are working with each guest individually regarding impacts to their visit with us”.

.
 
Disney World gondola gets stuck, so Winter Garden family passes 3 hours with singalong
Gabrielle Russon
11 mins ago

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offb...mily-passes-3-hours-with-singalong/ar-AAInvd3


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The Perera family mapped out their Saturday night at Walt Disney World planning only for a short gondola ride to watch the fireworks.

The family of six from Winter Garden climbed into the sunny yellow cabin on the cable-car system that has only been in operation for a week.
And then, the gondola cabin slowed to a smooth stop, hanging nearly 60 feet in the air.
For nearly three hours, Jeff Perera and his wife were stuck with their two teenagers and two young children. It seemed like a master’s class in parenting, how to keep everyone entertained for what was enough time, if they were on the ground, to watch the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie and then start the sequel.
“It was definitely an adventure,” said Perera, a stay-at-home dad. “We tried to keep it light.”

Disney hasn’t said Sunday what caused the problem that left the family and others stranded for several hours Saturday night. A Disney spokeswoman earlier called it “unexpected downtime” and that the gondolas were shut down with no indication of when they would reopen. There were no reports of injuries.
The Perera family, the only ones in their cabin, sang songs from “Frozen,” belting out “Let It Go!” loud enough others trapped in nearby gondolas could likely hear.
After the singalong, the baby slept on in the double stroller, oblivious of their predicament. The 4-year-old curled up in her father’s lap and held his hand, so the nerves would go away.

The 13-year-old son, an aspiring comedian, teased his sister about having to go to the bathroom.

“Send snacks!” he yelled to the swimmer in the hotel pool down below.

“I can’t throw that high!” the man said back.

The 16-year-old was annoyed her phone died. How could she document this unexpected turn to her Saturday family night?

They watched the fireworks shooting from Hollywood Studios. Then again at Epcot. Then again at the Magic Kingdom in the distance.

It was now past 10 p.m. There was no way they would be stuck overnight sleeping in the gondolas … right?

Jeff and Danielle Perera weren’t the kind of parents to panic. They heard sirens and first-responders — and even saw one cabin evacuated with what looked like a scissor-style lift. But they weren’t scared.

“We didn’t feel like we were in danger,” Perera said.

They were Disney annual passholders who were savvy enough to know the realities behind the Disney magic. Sometimes rides broke down. Sometimes things went wrong.
The family discussed the problems over the years, from buses to the monorails, with Disney transporting thousands of tourists every day.

But as they waited, they felt kept in the dark. An automated message played through the cabin, reporting the obvious: The gondolas were temporarily delayed.
A real human voice on the speaker told them to open emergency kits that contained water, ice packs and a paper and pencil.

“We joked it was our opportunity to document the terror,” Perera said.
Danielle Perera called Disney’s customer service phone number, but no one there would give them any more information on what happened or when they’d get freed.
The comfort and the real-time information, instead, came from social media. Photographs online depicted cable cars that appeared to have collided at the Disney’s Riviera Resort station, which some blamed as cause of the major delays. A Disney spokeswoman declined to comment on that Sunday.

“Anyone else stuck?" Perera posted on a Facebook passholder group with 40,000 members.
He got more than 500 comments back, including from some who were also stranded.
“Y’all deserve … Dole whip and a Mickey bar!” one woman wrote. “All the ice creams!”
He felt less isolated, stuck above the world.

“I felt like that social media community that were outside of it looking in were really kind, and that felt good,” he said.

Perera was also thankful. He knew it could have been worse.

In the night air, the gondolas, which aren’t air-conditioned, felt cool. The family had only arrived at Disney World after 7 p.m., so they weren’t exhausted from a full day at the parks. And in the baby’s diaper bag, there were graham crackers and snacks.
They debated. Would they ever ride the gondolas again?

His wife and teenage girl said no. He and the boy said yes.

Around 11:15 p.m., the adventure was over. The gondola, moving slowly, crept back into the Caribbean Beach Resort gondola station. A manager promised to follow up with them.
“We apologize for this situation, and we are working with each guest individually regarding impacts to their visit with us,” Disney said in a news statement Saturday night.
At least one person stuck on the Gondolas reported that Disney gave him four all-day park passes and a $200 gift card for his trouble.

The Perera family drove back to Winter Garden, tired and relieved.

On Sunday morning, their 4-year-old built a gondola system with her toys to transport her Disney princesses.


At least one person stuck on the Gondolas reported that Disney gave him four all-day park passes and a $200 gift card for his trouble.
 
There is a DISboards member who was in the yellow cabin that "bumped" (or in their words, "crushed" the teal cabin that we see in those pictures above. They were posting on Sunday in the main thread about the incident, under the name "diz bee" (you can see their post here)

According to them, there were people in those cabins, even though (so far) Disney has maintained that they were empty...

On to a related issue:
I have a question that maybe someone can answer - Everyone keeps saying that there is no pull off at Riveria for HA loading/unloading, because it is "turn" station? (where it makes a 90 degree turn) If so, where will Riveria Guests go to load/unload mobility devices?

If there is no pull off there for HA loading, that explains why they couldn't just take that group of cars and push them off onto the HA loop to clear the track... but how could they build a station with no HA accommodation?

Enquiring minds want to know...
 
There is a DISboards member who was in the yellow cabin that "bumped" (or in their words, "crushed" the teal cabin that we see in those pictures above. They were posting on Sunday in the main thread about the incident, under the name "diz bee" (you can see their post here)

According to them, there were people in those cabins, even though (so far) Disney has maintained that they were empty...

On to a related issue:
I have a question that maybe someone can answer - Everyone keeps saying that there is no pull off at Riveria for HA loading/unloading because it is "turn" station? (where it makes a 90-degree turn) If so, where will Riveria Guests go to load/unload mobility devices?

If there is no pull off there for HA loading, that explains why they couldn't just take that group of cars and push them off onto the HA loop to clear the track... but how could they build a station with no HA accommodation?

Enquiring minds want to know...

Hi, mamabunny.

Thanks for the link.

In previous videos, I saw strollers, wheelchair, and walkers get into two queues side by side at the Disney Riviera Skyliner Station and one photo with a transport wheelchair. Joefla says they stop the gondola to load.

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Since the time of this photo, any guest can use this Disney Riviera Skyliner Station. Before, everyone seemed to say no.

But later, RTV1 video showed the Disney Riviera Skyliner Station with several guests in two small length queues loading guests with strollers, wheelchair, and walkers and the gondola stopping to load.

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This is from a gondola just entering the station from Caribbean Skyliner Station looking at the queues and the other gondolas that have made the 90-degree turn.

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During another visit that has walkers and you can see a wheelchair getting ready to load.

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And this one after the gondola made the 90-degree turn and facing those about ready to load with the gondolas stopped.
 
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Here is info from mamabunny's link by Diz Bee


Ok... soooo... this is my wife and I last night...

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Let me start by saying this was our first time on the gondola. We had tacos and a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our inaugural ride at the Caribbean Beach quick service. We got on at the Skyliner in the Caribbean and were on our way to EPCOT.

When we arrived at the Rivera we came to a stop.

The system was down for a while... 5 to 10 minutes. While it was down our doors were open and a cast member was doing a Disney trivia game with each car.

Then the system came back on line, our doors shut, and we moved forward

... the blue car in front of us was NOT moving, so we crushed up into it and the car behind us crushed into us and the car behind that hit them and so on

... you could hear the metal into metal scraping and the breaking of the plexiglass vents.

The accident didn’t last long... but I remember sitting there and saying to my wife “I don’t think that was supposed to happen...”

Security started going around asking if everyone was OK.

A maintenance guy came over with a giant pole type tool, like a overgrown hanger pole they use at clothes stores to get up high.

He did some jockeying of the blue car in front and we were freed up. The car swung around pretty hard and the noise was pretty harsh. My wife screamed.

We noticed our doors were bent and weren’t shut all the way.

There was definitely body damage to our car and several others, including broken vents.

We were lucky that we were at the Rivera turnstile because our evacuation was swift!

I don’t think we realized the extent of the accident until we saw pictures of our car on the news.

So that being said the cars are pretty tough.

I think it could have been worse, and we’re very lucky it wasn’t.

Cast members were very calm and super nice. They offered us transportation, but we decided to walk back to our car.
 
I love this!

I wish I knew how to make diagrams like this online.

bioreconstruct
@bioreconstruct


A 4-step look at how Disney Skyliner worked for the ADA spurs in most stations. Lines would slow or stop when a step in the process needed more time. Example: an ADA cabin arriving has to have space in unload to transfer. The line would stop until ADA unload available.

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Diagram One:

The Blue Gondolas continue around the station continuous loop that uses rubber wheels to move them after they come off the main cable. It took me a while to realize that the gondolas moved inside the stations on small rubber wills instead of a cable.

The Yellow handicap gondola unloads in the handicap loading zone and not the regular Blue Gondola continuous loop area as with walkers. In videos from the Disney EPCOT Skyliner Station, I couldn't really tell if the yellow gondola was in the handicap zone. I could only see that handicap doors didn't open until almost the end of the row where the blue gondola guests exited after the yellow gondola stopped. This diagram actually shows how it is located in the handicap zone after transferring from the blue gondola unloading zone.

The Green handicap gondola loads in the handicap loading zone while the regular Blue gondolas continue around the station continuous loop. There are only two gondolas in the handicap zone at this particular time. The yellow gondola empties and the green gondola loads.

The Orange handicap gondola in the continuous station loop approaching the handicap loading zone. My understanding from reading posters is that the handicap orange gondolas are interspersed along the main cable and they have two chocks under the benches in each one.


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Diagram Two:

The Blue Gondolas continue around the station continuous loop.

The Orange handicap gondola in the regular Blue Gondola continuous loop approaching the handicap unloading zone.

The recently unloaded Yellow handicap gondola approaches the handicap loading zone while the regular Blue gondolas continue to move along the continuous loop.

The recently loaded Green handicap gondola waits in the handicap loading zone while the regular Blue gondolas continue to move along the continuous loop.

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Diagram Three:

The Blue Gondolas continue around the station continuous loop.

The Orange handicap gondola transfer from the Blue gondolas continue loop and transfers to the handicap unloading zone while the regular Blue gondolas continue to move along the continuous loop.

The Yellow handicap gondola loads in the handicap loading zone while the regular Blue gondolas continue around the station continuous loop.

The Green handicap gondola waits until released in the handicap loading zone while the regular Blue gondolas continue to move along the continuous loop.

The Blue Gondolas continue around the station continuous loop.

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Diagram Four:

The Blue Gondolas continue around the station continuous loop.

The Orange handicap gondola unloads in the handicap loading zone and not the regular Blue Gondola continuous loop.

The Yellow handicap gondola loads in the handicap loading zone while the regular Blue gondolas continue around the station continuous loop.

The Green handicap gondola transfers from the handicap loading zone to the regular Blue gondolas continue on the station continuous loop with the other Blue gondolas to the next Disney Skyliner Station.
 
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On to a related issue:
I have a question that maybe someone can answer - Everyone keeps saying that there is no pull off at Riveria for HA loading/unloading, because it is "turn" station? (where it makes a 90 degree turn) If so, where will Riveria Guests go to load/unload mobility devices?

If there is no pull off there for HA loading, that explains why they couldn't just take that group of cars and push them off onto the HA loop to clear the track... but how could they build a station with no HA accommodation?

Unfortunately I’ve been too busy the past couple of weeks to fully keep up with posts on the subject, including the issue over the weekend. But to answer your question about the design of the Riviera station...My understanding is that the gondolas would move through the Riviera station so slowly and that station’s platform is so long that mobility devices could load without a pull-off. Keep in mind, the extra HA loop is unique to WDW and similar gondola systems elsewhere in the world use mainstream loading of mobility devices. However, it sounds as though WDW has been stopping the system for HA loading at Riviera over the past week.
 
We rode all last week. The Riviera station is odd for sure. If you had said, "there was an accident, guess where?" I would have guessed that station. I am assuming they will send some empty cars out from CB station, because we saw the Riviera guests (well, CB) jumping into 1/2 empty cars most of the time.

We stayed at AoA. On Day one, the 29th, I pushed my son onto the Skyliner in his Convaid chair (18"). He just made it width wise. When we got off at CB, it was a little tricky backing him out though. (he stayed in his chair for the trip). So we moved on to Plan B. When we got close to front of the line I had him get out of the chair (he can walk, I am fortunate) and I partially collapsed the chair so it was narrower, but still pushable. This worked great. But we were often told to use the HC line (which can be long with scooters and other things). And we did not need it. I would say, "we have a system, we are fine". Or "we are experienced, no worries!"

We LOVED LOVED the Skyliner. (2 nights before the accident, we WERE stuck on the Epcot line for 35 minutes. It restarted and stopped 3X, going a few feet then stopping again). I also think one day they had an issue at the AOA/Pop station with a car that they pulled over to the HC boarding area. It seemed stuck and for at least part of that day, they were not boarding in the HC section. It is amazing for me not to try to juggle heavy collapsed Convaid chair onto a bus at the same time hanging onto my adult son who wanders off and needs some support going up the bus steps.

I would ride it again tomorrow.
 
But to answer your question about the design of the Riviera station...My understanding is that the gondolas would move through the Riviera station so slowly and that station’s platform is so long that mobility devices could load without a pull-off. Keep in mind, the extra HA loop is unique to WDW and similar gondola systems elsewhere in the world use mainstream loading of mobility devices. However, it sounds as though WDW has been stopping the system for HA loading at Riviera over the past week.
This may be part of the reason why there have been so many reported stops of the Skyliner system. Based on videos I've seen to date, I can't imagine trying to roll into a moving gondola with an ECV or power wheelchair, no matter how slowly the gondola is moving.
 
We rode all last week. The Riviera station is odd for sure. If you had said, "there was an accident, guess where?" I would have guessed that station. I am assuming they will send some empty cars out from CB station, because we saw the Riviera guests (well, CB) jumping into 1/2 empty cars most of the time.



We LOVED LOVED the Skyliner. (2 nights before the accident, we WERE stuck on the Epcot line for 35 minutes. It restarted and stopped 3X, going a few feet then stopping again). I also think one day they had an issue at the AOA/Pop station with a car that they pulled over to the HC boarding area. It seemed stuck and for at least part of that day, they were not boarding in the HC section. It is amazing for me not to try to juggle heavy collapsed Convaid chair onto a bus at the same time hanging onto my adult son who wanders off and needs some support going up the bus steps.

I would ride it again tomorrow.

If you had been stuck on it for 3 hours, my guess is you would have fallen out of love with it, especially if they had to evacuate you by ladder truck and you had to leave the convaid chair behind. Would your son be able to handle 3 hours stuck in the gondola?
 

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