Wait Lines for New Gondolas

Damon7777

Well-Known Member
Do we know if there will be a security checkpoint before gondolas? That's what will really add to the wait times.

I question the policy of a no bag check pre gondola.......buses have no bag check so who knows.


As for bag check affecting total wait times that would highly depend on traffic patterns. It may or may not affect.
 

Damon7777

Well-Known Member
Expect your wait to increase due to bag check when there are very few guests using the gondola.

Expect your total wait to be unaffected when many are using the gondola system.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
AOA is already priced higher than moderates. I'm going in April and it was priced higher than all the moderates.

Were you looking at the family suites? (effectively 2 rooms)... AOA is higher than the other values for single rooms, but cheaper than moderates for single rooms.
 

clarabellej

Well-Known Member
Pop is our favorite resort. We were there last March and stayed in a newly renovated room. We were in 60s down toward Generation Gap bridge and could see the gondola construction. I don’t think Pop will ever be the same again. Once the Star Wars fans hit and gondola service starts up, it’ll be packed and hard to get a room. We loved staying there. We never had any issues with the buses.
 

Storm

Active Member
Were you looking at the family suites? (effectively 2 rooms)... AOA is higher than the other values for single rooms, but cheaper than moderates for single rooms.
A lot cheaper than moderate for single rooms , about a $900 difference if not even more depending on date , i'm confused as to how he/she managed to see it as more expensive than CBR for example
 

Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Premium Member
This is the telling quote from the article listed for me:


I don't know how much Singapore runs their system in lightning storms- or even how often they get them- but it seems that if an engineer who has built them all over the world says they can't run in lightning, then that's a much better answer for me than all of us who like to think we know what we're talking about (and I very much include myself in that. lol)

The same article says this later on (which makes me think they may only be referring to shutting down in severe lightning storms):

“St. Petersburg transportation director Evan Mory said the city worked with LeClair and his real estate company Echelon on the grant application. Mory said the city used years of research LeClair had done on gondola technology, which all points to a feasible transportation system in the Florida climate.

"It's not a danger for lightning strikes or any of the wind you'd receive in a normal storm," Mory said. "It would start swinging and become uncomfortable before it would become dangerous. Just like the highway patrol makes a decision when to close the (Sunshine Skyway) bridge in certain wind situations, there'd be a decision to close down that system."”
 

ThatMouse

Well-Known Member
As of right now, we can see the pricing for Pop, AoA, and CBR until the end of 2019. None of those resorts have a price hike beyond the usual increase all resorts go through.

If WDW is going to hike prices this year for those resorts because of the gondola and/or SWL, it'll be a bit too late since most reservations for the Fall will already be made.

One form of price hike is reducing the amount of rooms that are discounted. For example, Mermaid rooms never get discounted. You pay rack rate. That's why people say AoA is higher, nothing to do with the family suites. So, a Pop price hike would be every room getting sold at rack, which I suspect will happen this year (edit Oct - Dec).
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
I just hope they do something with the towers , they are so ugly, not very Disney looking

1546460414630.png


Yea, because Disney would surely never do anything like that in the old days.
 

TiggerDad

Well-Known Member
Warning: This post will probably be unpopular to practically everyone because it's not predicated on justifying preconceived notions but rather seeks to surface relevant data upon which we can base our conclusions.

I found two particles of information that people might find relevant if they are seeking knowledge vs confirmation bias:
1. The following article presents a study of the energy efficiency of electric buses vs diesel. Seems like electric buses in the real world operated at about 2 kWh per mile or 1.25 kWh per kilometer. The data table comparing the efficiency with compressed gas buses is deceptive because it doesn't present comparable numbers in different columns. At any rate, the 4.04 miles/gasoline gallon equivalent is equivalent to about 8 kWh per mile.
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/02/22/electric-buses-efficient-as-he-nrel-finds/
2. The following page presents that the Doppelmayr install at Koblenz Seilbahn uses 0.1 kWh to transport one rider one kilometer. It's sketchy to use this as a proxy for the Disney Skyliner, but let's do that.
http://gondolaproject.com/category/cable-transit-industry/

So we've got a 60 passenger CNG bus using 8 kWh per mile, which amortizing across passengers and converting to kWh per kilometer, actually gets you about 0.1 kWh to transport one rider one kilometer. So if we use these cases as proxies, the two are about equivalent in energy efficiency. The additional factor of the carbon efficiency of the sourced electricity generation and other efficiencies could give either an edge.

But it would be better if we could improve the estimates by using an actual diesel bus mileage. Plus we could have a useless discussion accounting for the human efficiencies. But really, we are unlikely to have any more discussion because I bet that at least one of the sets of parties in the argument doesn't really care about actually discussing facts but rather is just looking to justify their narrative. And yes, I'm hoping that this blatant passive-aggression encourages better behavior. Ha! I hope it at least makes people laugh!
Not sure I should be encouraging people who are bringing facts to this thread by responding :), but don't forget to account for the distance traveled by the two options. For CBR-DHS, it's a straight shot on the gondola, but the bus will have to drive much longer to go around. It's even worse for Epcot, as the bus has to go all the way around to the main entrance, while the gondola goes to IG. Even the zig-zag route it takes is far shorter.
 

spock8113

Well-Known Member
Pop, the absolute go to.
As for the SkyWay, clearly the gondolas won't move fast and that's the largest drawback.
How long will it take to go from point A to Point B, and if their are changes mid-flight, is that going to add to your travel time where you simply opt for the old reliables, or OOooober?
It's one of the few recent ideas I think is a good idea, it just has to be implemented smartly to get the most out of it.
 

Minnie1976

Well-Known Member
View attachment 337898

Yea, because Disney would surely never do anything like that in the old days.
A wonderful picture💞. I loved the skyway! Bring it back!!! I can’t wait to ride the gondalas! What fun! If they can’t accommodate my husband’s scooter he can park it and we will ride back to get it or I will ride the gondalas by myself!
Nothing could have been scarier than during the New Orleans world fair riding the gondalas across the Mississippi River and back. Scary and fun at the same time!!!
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
A wonderful picture💞. I loved the skyway! Bring it back!!! I can’t wait to ride the gondalas! What fun! If they can’t accommodate my husband’s scooter he can park it and we will ride back to get it or I will ride the gondalas by myself!
Nothing could have been scarier than during the New Orleans world fair riding the gondalas across the Mississippi River and back. Scary and fun at the same time!!!
More good news.... They will easily accommodate your husbands scooter. Worry not!
 

NormC

Well-Known Member
Pop, the absolute go to.
As for the SkyWay, clearly the gondolas won't move fast and that's the largest drawback.
How long will it take to go from point A to Point B, and if their are changes mid-flight, is that going to add to your travel time where you simply opt for the old reliables, or OOooober?
It's one of the few recent ideas I think is a good idea, it just has to be implemented smartly to get the most out of it.
A lot quicker than the buses. Gondola is direct and even at the rumored 11 mph it will still get you there faster than the bus that is forced to use the roadways and deal with stops and traffic.
 

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