Disney Skyliner - Gondola Transportation System

[Doug A.]

High speed quads (chair lift) and gondolas are pretty common nowadays with the technology to take each cabin off the cable for load and unload.

 

[rhino4evr]

The current push for gondolas is for urban mass transit systems. Most of the R&D money is going into increasing their speeds, so this becomes more viable.

You have to remember that they still need to be loaded/unloaded...which these "tests" are not doing in real situations.

 

[Nick]

You have to remember that they still need to be loaded/unloaded...which these "tests" are not doing in real situations.

Load and unload will be like an omnimover though. These are constantly moving systems.

 

[darkridelover]

I'm worried that they are over-hyping and promoting something mundane while under-delivering on experience. I just see ridiculously long lines. Particularly at the Caribbean Beach transfer station.

And how do you handle the Riviera stop at peak? Do you leave half the cabins at the Epcot and Caribhbean Beach stops open so Riviera Resort has cabins to load people on? Or do you make the guests at Riviera station wait until someone gets off there?

 

[ChristopherSE]

Lots of gondolas on the cables today over the DHS parking lot, but none were moving when I pulled up. Seemed like they were testing the distance between them.

 

[Scott W.]

I'm worried that they are over-hyping and promoting something mundane while under-delivering on experience. I just see ridiculously long lines. Particularly at the Caribbean Beach transfer station.

And how do you handle the Riviera stop at peak? Do you leave half the cabins at the Epcot and Caribhbean Beach stops open so Riviera Resort has cabins to load people on? Or do you make the guests at Riviera station wait until someone gets off there?

I imagine there will be somebody monitoring the queue at Riviera and will send the appropriate empty cabins.

 

[Nick]

I imagine there will be somebody monitoring the queue at Riviera and will send the appropriate empty cabins.

Very likely. They have a plan I’m sure, this won’t be a big issue.

 

[Scott W.]

Very likely. They have a plan I’m sure, this won’t be a big issue.

You’ll have plenty of pissed off people when it’s busy demanding to know what they’re sending empty cabins but what can you do.

 

[ChristopherSE]

That’s.. a lot faster than I expected lol. Do y’all think this is just for testing, or that they’ll operate at this speed?

 

[natespf]

That’s.. a lot faster than I expected lol. Do y’all think this is just for testing, or that they’ll operate at this speed?

Hard to tell but it'll be about that, probably faster than most would expect. Close to the speed of riding a bike.

 

[Nick]

You’ll have plenty of pissed off people when it’s busy demanding to know what they’re sending empty cabins but what can you do.

Well of course, but that’s par for the course. If people don’t understand how the mode of transportation works, they’ll get upset. People will eventually get used to it though.

That’s.. a lot faster than I expected lol. Do y’all think this is just for testing, or that they’ll operate at this speed?

I mean, what would be the point of testing faster than they plan on running it? The only thing I can think of is they may not have put weights into the cabins yet, so they are moving faster as a result.

 

[Scott W.]

Well of course, but that’s par for the course. If people don’t understand how the mode of transportation works, they’ll get upset. People will eventually get used to it though.


I mean, what would be the point of testing faster than they plan on running it? The only thing I can think of is they may not have put weights into the cabins yet, so they are moving faster as a result.

As an alternative, would it be possible for a cabin to loop around in the station?

For example, there is obviously going to be a lot of one way traffic at certain times of the day. Most traffic heading towards Epcot in the morning and vice versa at night. With far more empty cars heading in the opposite direction, would they be able to pull one of the empty cars, rotate it in the station and then send it back in the busy direction.

 

[Doug A.]

That’s.. a lot faster than I expected lol. Do y’all think this is just for testing, or that they’ll operate at this speed?

Seems about same/average speed for the gondolas I have ridden.

 

[JoeCamel]

As an alternative, would it be possible for a cabin to loop around in the station?

For example, there is obviously going to be a lot of one way traffic at certain times of the day. Most traffic heading towards Epcot in the morning and vice versa at night. With far more empty cars heading in the opposite direction, would they be able to pull one of the empty cars, rotate it in the station and then send it back in the busy direction.

Sorry, the cabins have to go to the end of the line, detach, be loaded or not and run back out on the line. Might be able to run them back closer together but at the other end they are only dispatched as fast as they can be loaded

 

[Nick]

As an alternative, would it be possible for a cabin to loop around in the station?

For example, there is obviously going to be a lot of one way traffic at certain times of the day. Most traffic heading towards Epcot in the morning and vice versa at night. With far more empty cars heading in the opposite direction, would they be able to pull one of the empty cars, rotate it in the station and then send it back in the busy direction.

I don’t believe the Riviera station has anything like that, but I could be wrong.

 

[Nick]

 

[BBPH]

A second post claiming a worker was actually inside this gondola at some point, you can see a slight glimpse of a yellow vest and this would explain the sudden cover removal.

 

[ChristopherSE]

Have they abandoned the character window decals, or are they expected to be added later? With the windows owned like that for ventilation, I don’t think a graphic is feasible.

I will also say, the gondola looks great. Very sleek and I love the color

 

[leavesonthelawn]

Have they abandoned the character window decals, or are they expected to be added later? With the windows owned like that for ventilation, I don’t think a graphic is feasible.

I will also say, the gondola looks great. Very sleek and I love the color

Only certain cabins will have vinyls added I believe.

 

[Scott W.]

Have they abandoned the character window decals, or are they expected to be added later? With the windows owned like that for ventilation, I don’t think a graphic is feasible.

I will also say, the gondola looks great. Very sleek and I love the color

It would be just as easy to apply to the windows.

Sorry, the cabins have to go to the end of the line, detach, be loaded or not and run back out on the line. Might be able to run them back closer together but at the other end they are only dispatched as fast as they can be loaded

If they're being loaded at Riviera, they have to be detached from the line. If they're detached from the line, it's possibly to loop them to the other side.