Disney Skyliner shutdown and evacuation - October 6 2019

[Phil12]

This is why they should never have built the gondola because of weather like this. It is much perferable, when you have these sudden violent storms, to be at an uncovered (or barely covered) bus stop waiting 15 minutes there for a bus. The bus is so much safer that way.

I certainly appreciate your facetious take on the issue. However, I think we have already established that as long as you're in a heavy gondola (preferably sharing with a few overweight guests) you'll be perfectly safe. You may swing and sway a bit in the breeze but that will only serve to cool things down and will help prove that we don't need no stinkin' air conditioning. And if the gondola stops over a roadway, we can laugh at those poor guests on those unsafe buses as they drive by underneath us.

 

[Incomudro]

And what is the possible outcome from this discussion? More wild guessing and FUD.

The rescue folks already have their rules and procedures for dealing with storms. This is not some 'new discovery' to them.
Disney would also already have a plan in place for 'what to do if the line can not be emptied' - because, this too is not some 'new discovery' to them.

The answers always boil down to the same outcomes... Disney will conclude it is safe to run the line, or they will not, and when appropriate, evacs will happen.

There are no other outcomes... You either get evac'd, or you ride the thing. There is no magic third, fourth, or whatever possible outcome.

If you have to wait.. you wait.

The possible outcome of the discussion is that we are having a discussion.
"Imagine if the people stranded the other week also endured a severe thunderstorm?"
My post has nothing to do with the safety of running the line - I believe it is safe - always did.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I certainly appreciate your facetious take on the issue. However, I think we have already established that as long as you're in a heavy gondola (preferably sharing with a few overweight guests) you'll be perfectly safe. You may swing and sway a bit in the breeze but that will only serve to cool things down and will help prove that we don't need no stinkin' air conditioning. And if the gondola stops over a roadway, we can laugh at those poor guests on those unsafe buses as they drive by underneath us.

What other modes of transportation are enhanced with fellow travelers of unusual size?

 

[Heppenheimer]

Seems like a silly argument, and a bit disingenuous. If you've lived here for more than a minute you know that storms can come in with only a few minutes notice. There will be storms that begin before there's time to completely evacuate the gondola system.

This is no different from mountain weather. I've seen the weather change from clear blue skies to blizzard conditions within minutes in the Alps.

 

[flynnibus]

The possible outcome of the discussion is that we are having a discussion.
"Imagine if the people stranded the other week also endured a severe thunderstorm?"
My post has nothing to do with the safety of running the line - I believe it is safe - always did.

Point is the discussion is doomed to be nothing but circular disagreements from the start. The outcomes are already known... you ride, you wait, or you get evac'd. The decisions on how those choices are made are already set in stone.

You said
"The fact that the gondola's stopped for 3 hours could have subjected the occupants to a severe thunderstorm should one have come through during that period of time."

What will we discover with this discussion?
That people have fears
That some people would freak out
Many people won't
Most have no idea if they are safe or not and have to listen for input

That none of the above will change the possible outcomes and it's all Captain Obvious stuff.

There is nothing to be gained from hashing out the hypotheticals because the outcome is always the same.

 

[Phil12]

What other modes of transportation are enhanced with fellow travelers of unusual size?

None that I know of. That's one of the reasons why the Skyliner at WDW is such genius! Those designers knew what they were doing!

 

[RustySpork]

This is no different from mountain weather. I've seen the weather change from clear blue skies to blizzard conditions within minutes in the Alps.

Certainly makes sense to me. I have no problem with the gondola, but the argument was pointlessly ignorant and dismissive.

 

[Phil12]

This is no different from mountain weather. I've seen the weather change from clear blue skies to blizzard conditions within minutes in the Alps.

Are some skiers overweight?

 

[lazyboy97o]

How long are people going to play the 'what if..' game?

How long can people claim they are just thinking about others and not at all projecting their own nonsense?

 

[Heppenheimer]

Are some skiers overweight?

Certainly, but perhaps not so morbidly as some Disney guests.

For what's it's worth, a ski gondola will usually get loaded with about 25 extra lbs per person, when you consider the boots, heavy clothes, skis and snowboards.

 

[Rich Brownn]

They can develop very rapidly.

It's best just to plan on a thunderstorm every afternoon at WDW. I got in the habit many years ago of buying a few dozen rain ponchos at my local dollar store prior to any visit to WDW. And a storm can suddenly develop, unleash heavy winds, lightning and rain and then clear out all within 30 minutes. I always carry a few ponchos in my cargo pants at WDW.

And let me add that thunderstorms are often very unpredictable. I have seen instances in which dark clouds are on the horizon and it looks like the storm is headed straight for my location. I put on my poncho and take cover, but the storm never materializes and the clouds pass over harmlessly. On other occasions I have been standing in bright sunshine, and without any warning, a bolt of lightning ensues from the sky and a sudden downpour erupts and I get wet before I can duck into shelter. Those are the uncertainties of dealing with thunderstorms at WDW.

It's very rare for a thunderstorm to just *pop* into existance. They do build up, clouds show up on radar and the potential is right there. In alll the years I worked at a theme park, not once did the employees get caught in a storm that *popped* in. Guests might, if they were just looking at the sky.

 

[celluloid]

It's very rare for a thunderstorm to just *pop* into existance. They do build up, clouds show up on radar and the potential is right there. In alll the years I worked at a theme park, not once did the employees get caught in a storm that *popped* in. Guests might, if they were just looking at the sky.

The downpouring rain may not always to people tracking storms, but lightning has an incredible distance from a storm. Especially in the Lightning captial of the United States which is in fact, Florida. Lightning can and often strikes 5 to 10 miles in blue skies away from the edges of a storm. This means that in the Summer Months and Hurricane Season in general, it is in that zone almost daily. Many times multiple times a day. That being said mountains have an incredible dangers of lightning due to their altitude and I know wind is far more the concern for operation as the Skyliner which there is also experience in designing for. It would be a quite safe structure to be in as it is covered and very grounded to disperse the bolt(s).

 

[Phil12]

It's very rare for a thunderstorm to just *pop* into existance. They do build up, clouds show up on radar and the potential is right there. In alll the years I worked at a theme park, not once did the employees get caught in a storm that *popped* in. Guests might, if they were just looking at the sky.

I think your experience is rather rare. I can tell you from my experience that thunderstorms can pop up quickly, be very intense and then diminish rapidly. I can recall a number of occasions when I have entered a ride such as IASW and the sky was clear. However, during the ride I could hear loud thunder and when I exited the ride I observed that the ground was very wet from a torrential downpour yet the sky was once again clear with bright sunshine. Such rapid thunderstorms are very common at WDW. Conversely, it's rather rare for WDW to have a full day of rain. The don't call Florida the "Sunshine State" for nothing.

 

[TrojanUSC]

I think your experience is rather rare. I can tell you from my experience that thunderstorms can pop up quickly, be very intense and then diminish rapidly. I can recall a number of occasions when I have entered a ride such as IASW and the sky was clear. However, during the ride I could hear loud thunder and when I exited the ride I observed that the ground was very wet from a torrential downpour yet the sky was once again clear with bright sunshine. Such rapid thunderstorms are very common at WDW. Conversely, it's rather rare for WDW to have a full day of rain. The don't call Florida the "Sunshine State" for nothing.

As a guest, maybe. As a working CM they keep track of how far out storms are before they roll in. This is how they know when to cease operations on Everest and Test Track when it seems like there's no reason to quite yet.

 

[flynnibus]

Seriously people are arguing what they see walking around verse the peoples who job it is to use the radar and lightning tracking to know where storm activity is active and moving?

Tune out people...

 

[peter11435]

I think your experience is rather rare. I can tell you from my experience that thunderstorms can pop up quickly, be very intense and then diminish rapidly. I can recall a number of occasions when I have entered a ride such as IASW and the sky was clear. However, during the ride I could hear loud thunder and when I exited the ride I observed that the ground was very wet from a torrential downpour yet the sky was once again clear with bright sunshine. Such rapid thunderstorms are very common at WDW. Conversely, it's rather rare for WDW to have a full day of rain. The don't call Florida the "Sunshine State" for nothing.

Just because you didn’t know it was coming doesn’t mean nobody did.

 

[RustySpork]

Seriously people are arguing what they see walking around verse the peoples who job it is to use the radar and lightning tracking to know where storm activity is active and moving?

Tune out people...

You'd have a point if it was a bus driver's job to track the weather.

 

[larryz]

Just because you didn’t know it was coming doesn’t mean nobody did.

Well, if CMs know a severe thunderstorm is coming, it'd sure be nice if they'd share that info. I recall a mid-afternoon departure from DHS when the clouds were building heavily and dark, winds whipped up, then the sky opened -- all while we were waiting for/on the tram to our car. We were unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the parking lot and dashed to the van, completely soaked by the time we got to it, and had to drive back to Tampa with the heater on to dry out. As we were leaving, we tuned a local radio station only to find out the WDW area was in a severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch.

 

[peter11435]

[

Well, if CMs know a severe thunderstorm is coming, it'd sure be nice if they'd share that info. I recall a mid-afternoon departure from DHS when the clouds were building heavily and dark, winds whipped up, then the sky opened -- all while we were waiting for/on the tram to our car. We were unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the parking lot and dashed to the van, completely soaked by the time we got to it, and had to drive back to Tampa with the heater on to dry out. As we were leaving, we tuned a local radio station only to find out the WDW area was in a severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch.

The cast in general would not have that information. But there are people monitoring the weather and those that need to be aware are. This includes those that make decisions regarding delaying canceling entertainment or cycling our attractions or something like the skyliner

 

[RustySpork]

The cast in general would not have that information. But there are people monitoring the weather and those that need to be aware are. This includes those that make decisions regarding delaying canceling entertainment or cycling our attractions or something like the skyliner

They're not always right either, as meteorology relies on prediction and weather is not always predictable.