News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner

[danlb_2000]

so do we know have permit for all of the buildings or are some still speculation?

We have seen all the building in the permits with the exception of the Epcot station. Due to it's location it might not require a South Florida Water Management District permit.

 

[PJBuckeye]

So, when are they going to start changing over Pop to more AoA? Any guesses on new themes... my guess: Frozen, Zootopia, Monsters, Inc. Inside Out

 

[danlb_2000]

So, when are they going to start changing over Pop to more AoA? Any guesses on new themes... my guess: Frozen, Zootopia, Monsters, Inc. Inside Out

Did I miss a rumor on this?

 

[Rteetz]

Did I miss a rumor on this?

Jim Hill did say they might be moving to the AoA model at Pop. I think it was more speculation though.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Did I miss a rumor on this?

Yeah, there's a rumor, but not from any of our noted insiders, that POP is going to be rethemed to be part of AoA so that they can start charging AoA prices there.

Never mind that the reason for the AoA prices is that they're mostly family suites. And never mind the cost of changing out all those giant props.

Most likely the current refurp of POP rooms is the source of this rumor. Which is also a reason why this rumor is false. If they were going to retheme POP, they wouldn't be refurbing the rooms with the same old POP theme.

 

[Biff215]

Yeah, there's a rumor, but not from any of our noted insiders, that POP is going to be rethemed to be part of AoA so that they can start charging AoA prices there.

Never mind that the reason for the AoA prices is that they're mostly family suites. And never mind the cost of changing out all those giant props.

Most likely the current refurp of POP rooms is the source of this rumor. Which is also a reason why this rumor is false. If they were going to retheme POP, they wouldn't be refurbing the rooms with the same old POP theme.

I agree this is likely false too, but AoA charges higher prices on the standard rooms as well, possibly since they are in limited supply. Retheming POP to other Disney/Pixar movies would no doubt be a draw, but likely not worth the investment and downtime.

 

[djkidkaz]

Here is an updated map with the AOA/Pop structure.

View attachment 192693

I think it's odd that the gondola from CBR to Epcot will go over Buena Vista and then just hug the side of the road so you'll be looking at traffic down below.

 

[peter11435]

I think it's odd that the gondola from CBR to Epcot will go over Buena Vista and then just hug the side of the road so you'll be looking at traffic down below.

Not unlike the view from the Epcot monorail as the line hugs World Drive..

 

[TiggerDad]

I think it's odd that the gondola from CBR to Epcot will go over Buena Vista and then just hug the side of the road so you'll be looking at traffic down below.

That also leaves almost the entire plot behind the USA pavilion free. I think @danlb_2000 said it would be used as construction staging, but what if something else is going there? Probably more likely that they just wanted some separation between gondola line and backstage EPCOT, but we will see.

 

[articos]

I think it's odd that the gondola from CBR to Epcot will go over Buena Vista and then just hug the side of the road so you'll be looking at traffic down below.

Working within existing RoW is always preferred if possible.

 

[doctornick]

I am a little surprised that they are going over water, but I like it!!

My question about going over water is how that impacts safety features, i.e. rescues in the case where a vehicle (or vehicles) are "stuck".

 

[Voice of Disney sanity]

I think it's odd that the gondola from CBR to Epcot will go over Buena Vista and then just hug the side of the road so you'll be looking at traffic down below.

A lot of people will be driving down that road looking at those gondolas wishing they were staying at those resorts. Could be that Disney is thinking its advertising.

 

[roj2323]

My question about going over water is how that impacts safety features, i.e. rescues in the case where a vehicle (or vehicles) are "stuck".

You disengage the motor and engage a manual crank to bring people into the station? The reality is with a loop system such as the gondola system the only major breakdowns would be from major deferred maintenance or tampering (bad people doing bad things). In either case provided the cable is intact the system can be operated manually or worst case scenario the cable can be dragged by a rope attached to a truck to move the system somewhere else along the line that is over land. Either way the people wouldn't be trapped for any significant length of time no different than the monorail.

 

[Lift Blog]

You disengage the motor and engage a manual crank to bring people into the station? The reality is with a loop system such as the gondola system the only major breakdowns would be from major deferred maintenance or tampering (bad people doing bad things). In either case provided the cable is intact the system can be operated manually or worst case scenario the cable can be dragged by a rope attached to a truck to move the system somewhere else along the line that is over land. Either way the people wouldn't be trapped for any significant length of time no different than the monorail.

Sort of. A typical lift system has three movers - the primary electric motor, a large diesel standby drive and a smaller diesel evacuation drive - in addition to three sets of brakes. The evacuation drive bypasses some of the safery systems that could be preventing the lift from moving and is designed only to offload passengers at slow speed under careful supervision. There are still a few possible but unlikely failures that could necessitate a rope evacuation: a major deropement, bad bullwheel bearings or gearbox failure. Disney could opt for additional redundancies including DirectDrive (no gearbox) to further minimize the already unlikely scenario of an evacuation.

 

[Creathir]

Sort of. A typical lift system has three movers - the primary electric motor, a large diesel standby drive and a smaller diesel evacuation drive - in addition to three sets of brakes. The evacuation drive bypasses some of the safery systems that could be preventing the lift from moving and is designed only to offload passengers at slow speed under careful supervision. There are still a few possible but unlikely failures that could necessitate a rope evacuation: a major deropement, bad bullwheel bearings or gearbox failure. Disney could opt for additional redundancies including DirectDrive (no gearbox) to further minimize the already unlikely scenario of an evacuation.

I'm assuming something like Peak to Peak has similar safety systems in place.

Is there ever a possibility for Peak To Peak to undergo a rope evacuation, and if so how on earth would that be accomplished if the gondola was in the middle of the span?

 

[Lift Blog]

I'm assuming something like Peak to Peak has similar safety systems in place.

Is there ever a possibility for Peak To Peak to undergo a rope evacuation, and if so how on earth would that be accomplished if the gondola was in the middle of the span?

Peak 2 Peak has a non-standard system of rescue vehicles that winch themselves down and back up that big span on top of the existing track cables and can pull the cabins back to towers 2 and 3.

This much simpler setup is what most ski areas use to evacuate gondolas with trained personnel... http://www.cascade-rescue.com/products/cascade-rescue-cable-glider.html

I imagine many locations at WDW could be accessed by ladder truck and helicopter is also an option. Again, the need for any of these methods is very small but whatever plan is chosen will be practiced regularly.

 

[Creathir]

Peak 2 Peak has a non-standard system of rescue cars that winch themselves down and back up that big span on top of the existing track cables and dock alongside the cabins.

This much simpler setup is what most ski areas use to evacuate gondolas... http://www.cascade-rescue.com/products/cascade-rescue-cable-glider.html

I imagine many locations at WDW could be accessed by ladder truck and helicopter is also an option. Again, the need for any of these methods is very small but whatever plan is chosen will be practiced regularly.

Oh of course, and WDW doesn't have any spans which will be anywhere near the height AGL that Peak 2 Peak does.

Really these appear to be extremely safe transportation systems which have a long record of reliability and lack of incidents to back that up.

I'm assuming the automation components make modern systems infinitely safer than systems such as the original Skyway at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Lift Blog]

Oh of course, and WDW doesn't have any spans which will be anywhere near the height AGL that Peak 2 Peak does.

Really these appear to be extremely safe transportation systems which have a long record of reliability and lack of incidents to back that up.

I'm assuming the automation components make modern systems infinitely safer than systems such as the original Skyway at the Magic Kingdom.

The brand new Doppelmayr gondola where I work is extremely impressive and I know Leitner-Poma versions are too. There are touchscreens with literally pages and pages of possible faults. Each terminal has dozens of switches that monitor rope and bullwheel positions. An anti-collision system monitors cabin spacing by zones. Every grip is checked for proper clamping force on every revolution. Each time cabin doors close, they are verified by multiple sensors. Rope position and winds are monitored on the towers. Gearbox and motor temperatures are constantly checked. When the machine detects something it doesn't like, it stops and tells you the fault(s) so you can put eyes on and quickly get moving again.

 

[Creathir]

The brand new Doppelmayr gondola where I work is extremely impressive and I know Leitner-Poma versions are too. There are touchscreens with literally pages and pages of possible faults. Each terminal has dozens of switches that monitor rope and bullwheel positions. Every grip is checked for proper clamping force on every revolution. Each time cabin doors close, they are checked by multiple sensors. Rope position and winds are monitored on the towers. When the machine detects something it doesn't like, it stops and tells you so you can put eyes on and quickly get moving again.

Amazing technology.

 

[danlb_2000]

That also leaves almost the entire plot behind the USA pavilion free. I think @danlb_2000 said it would be used as construction staging, but what if something else is going there? Probably more likely that they just wanted some separation between gondola line and backstage EPCOT, but we will see.

It will be construction staging for now, probably for the gondola project, but it could be used for something else in the future.