Disney Skyliner shutdown and evacuation - October 6 2019

ImperfectPixie

Well-Known Member
It is unclear to me how many cabins were evacuated via cherry picker ,etc vs how many returned to the station normally after they got it up and running. Also unclear as to why it took 3hrs. I am not saying it shouldn't have, but it is unclear why. Anyone have more info?
Orlando Sentinel quoted RCFD as saying that one cabin with 6 passengers was evacuated while still in the air. The delay was caused by emergency services being in the way of the cabins while they were evacuating that single car. All other cabins were returned to the stations for normal exit.
 

Naplesgolfer

Well-Known Member
Orlando Sentinel quoted RCFD as saying that one cabin with 6 passengers was evacuated while still in the air. The delay was caused by emergency services being in the way of the cabins while they were evacuating that single car. All other cabins were returned to the stations for normal exit.
WOW! Three hours to remove 6 people from one cabin and lack of coordination between Park Op's and Disney emergency services really made this balloon into a even bigger problem than it already was.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
One thing I noticed on P2tP's video: When he entered the queue for Pop at CBR, the line was stopped. It looked like when it started moving, it was in "creep mode" for maybe 10-15 seconds. Then I could hear the engine accelerating.

It seems to me this would be a very reasonable "adjustment to our processes ... following a complete review with the manufacturer," considering that the pileup occurred when restarting after a stop.

I can't quantify it, but I also felt that they were slowing the system more frequently. That would also make sense, training operators to be more aggressive in anticipating a loading challenge and slowing the line before a stop becomes necessary.

It's good they're trying to avoid full stops. The first day I rode the Epcot line there were three hard stops one immediately after another. And boy, did it make the gondolas bounce (fun for me, I'm sure terrifying for others).

Minimizing full stops isn't also preferable not only because of the clearing of each station issue, but because of inertia and friction. Takes a lot of power to start the line moving again compared to keeping it moving. Similarly, a lot of braking for a full stop.
 

ImperfectPixie

Well-Known Member
WOW! Three hours to remove 6 people from one cabin and lack of coordination between Park Op's and Disney emergency services really made this balloon into a even bigger problem than it already was.
Well, there were other contributing factors as well (like difficulty locating the specific cabin that needed medical services), but they can't move the cable while there's a cabin being actively evacuated.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
WOW! Three hours to remove 6 people from one cabin and lack of coordination between Park Op's and Disney emergency services really made this balloon into a even bigger problem than it already was.

No

It took about 30mins for them to get that person down and to the ambulance.

The nearly 4hrs was a cumulative time of the entire event.
 

Naplesgolfer

Well-Known Member
Well, there were other contributing factors as well (like difficulty locating the specific cabin that needed medical services), but they can't move the cable while there's a cabin being actively evacuated.
Which brings in to question their whole safety plan for the Skyliner. How did they not foresee needing a method to identify problem cabins to evacuate first?
The more I ponder the Skyliner at Disney the more you see the problems Disney's unique mix of guest's present vs a ski resort and to a lesser extent a general city gondola. Disney has far more wheelchairs, ECV's, older unstable people, obese people, very small children. It will be interesting to see if Disney guests can navigate the sky liner without a inordinate number of issues.
 

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
Doesn't matter. Unless Disney prevents such guests from riding, they will continue to do so. And it's Disney's job to make if safe for them. It's Disney's job to know their guests and be prepared for these situations.

And there will always be a certain number of people who may be of questionable health or psychological conditions who are going to give it a go on the Skyliner.
Who's to say where the line is drawn?
It's up to the individual.
 

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
Which brings in to question their whole safety plan for the Skyliner. How did they not foresee needing a method to identify problem cabins to evacuate first?
The more I ponder the Skyliner at Disney the more you see the problems Disney's unique mix of guest's present vs a ski resort and to a lesser extent a general city gondola. Disney has far more wheelchairs, ECV's, older unstable people, obese people, very small children. It will be interesting to see if Disney guests can navigate the sky liner without a inordinate number of issues.

That's what I said.
WDW guests do not represent the average city goer (wherever that may be) at all.
The ratio of obese, ecv's, strollers and children at WDW is far higher.
The average skier is more in shape, more familiar with gondola's and more aware than the average WDW guest as well.
I do have high hopes for this system at WDW though.
 

HiJe

Well-Known Member
This is a crazy question I know, but I'm curious if it is possible to remove a single gondola from the middle of the line if a machine were created to do so. Instead of having baskets and boats and lifts, could they just remove the whole box from the line, lower it down, and get the line moving again? Again, I'm sure there is an obvious reason why this can't be done, but I'm at work and don't feel like thinking. ;)
 

RaveOnEd

Well-Known Member
This is a crazy question I know, but I'm curious if it is possible to remove a single gondola from the middle of the line if a machine were created to do so. Instead of having baskets and boats and lifts, could they just remove the whole box from the line, lower it down, and get the line moving again? Again, I'm sure there is an obvious reason why this can't be done, but I'm at work and don't feel like thinking. ;)
I'm thinking due to how they're attached to the line it really isn't that easy to do.

I love your last line!
 

chiefs11

Well-Known Member
This is a crazy question I know, but I'm curious if it is possible to remove a single gondola from the middle of the line if a machine were created to do so. Instead of having baskets and boats and lifts, could they just remove the whole box from the line, lower it down, and get the line moving again? Again, I'm sure there is an obvious reason why this can't be done, but I'm at work and don't feel like thinking. ;)
It is an interesting, out-of-the-box, idea and it would make evacs a lot easier and faster. But, it would be a highly specialized piece of equipment. Like a self-propelled crane with an attachment on the end that can unclamp and lift the gondolas off the cable, then lower them to the ground. Something like that would really only work at the Disney gondola, since most gondolas don't have a service area under almost the entire length of the cable... so that being said, it would probably be quite expensive to develop and build for just this one gondola installation... But if they had a couple of them on-site, they could evacuate the entire line a whole lot faster.

Then again, stoppages that require actual evacs are supposed to be extremely rare, so the investment in developing and building it wouldn't be worth it.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
I'm thinking due to how they're attached to the line it really isn't that easy to do.

I love your last line!

Gondolas are just clamped to the line. Literally they are just 'holding on' with a spring loaded clasp. That's why it's called a 'detachable gondola line'. They detach everytime they go into the station.

The idea is an interesting one but completely impractical if the intent is to speed things up. You'd have to setup a full crane and wide base... vs just a basket type thing that is much lighter and thus much smaller equipment is needed to elevate and support.

It's only purpose would be to remove a gondola that has fouled and can't traverse the line for some reason.
 

Patcheslee

Well-Known Member
Which brings in to question their whole safety plan for the Skyliner. How did they not foresee needing a method to identify problem cabins to evacuate first?
The more I ponder the Skyliner at Disney the more you see the problems Disney's unique mix of guest's present vs a ski resort and to a lesser extent a general city gondola. Disney has far more wheelchairs, ECV's, older unstable people, obese people, very small children. It will be interesting to see if Disney guests can navigate the sky liner without a inordinate number of issues.
Just from pictures I've seen the numbers look to be in a bad spot without help from binoculars. Only one loction outside the cabin, which means they can't stand on the same side of the line and see gondola numbers traveling both directions. Also not really sure but is the number under glass or something that could reflect light?
 

TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
This is a crazy question I know, but I'm curious if it is possible to remove a single gondola from the middle of the line if a machine were created to do so. Instead of having baskets and boats and lifts, could they just remove the whole box from the line, lower it down, and get the line moving again? Again, I'm sure there is an obvious reason why this can't be done, but I'm at work and don't feel like thinking. ;)

They would still need a lift to get to you and it's not a one size fits all then either. The gondola traverses roads, beachy terrain, lakes, etc. It's much easier to simply bring a cherry picker up to the gondola and get people out, except in the rare cases where it's over the water over IG where a zipline is required but in that case very few cabins are effected.
 

peter11435

Well-Known Member
It is an interesting, out-of-the-box, idea and it would make evacs a lot easier and faster. But, it would be a highly specialized piece of equipment. Like a self-propelled crane with an attachment on the end that can unclamp and lift the gondolas off the cable, then lower them to the ground. Something like that would really only work at the Disney gondola, since most gondolas don't have a service area under almost the entire length of the cable... so that being said, it would probably be quite expensive to develop and build for just this one gondola installation... But if they had a couple of them on-site, they could evacuate the entire line a whole lot faster.

Then again, stoppages that require actual evacs are supposed to be extremely rare, so the investment in developing and building it wouldn't be worth it.
I don’t think that would be faster than the current evacuation procedures
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom