Disney Skyliner shutdown and evacuation - October 6 2019

[lazyboy97o]

IMHO in an isolated incident like the one we seem to have seen they should move that car immediately (like they ended up doing) and get the line moving weither it be backwards out of necessity or forwards and evac that way. Even if the car for some reason cant be directly taken off the line it should be moved by hand with the speed of the line to a place where it can be stored in an emergency if this is simply the ADA loading zone etc. Lastly i think unbolting the cabin from its hook should be a last resort option that can be done well in advance of a 3 hour delay. My concern isnt what went wrong its brand new and it will be worked out. My concern is the awful evac scenario we saw.

The idea of just resuming operations after an apparent mechanical failure is just stupid and also illegal.

"Passive cooling" is marketing speak for ventilation and tinted windows.

No, it is something that has worked for hundreds of years. The only problem here is people who don’t know or understand thinking it simply cannot work because they only have experience with bad design that requires mechanical systems.

 

[larryz]

The answer is simple: modify the gondolas with detachable roofs and four winched cable drums in the corners so that IF the line stops and evac is necessary, someone inside the cabin could break a seal, pull a pin, yank a lever, and slowly winch the lower part of the gondola down to the ground/water level for expedient evac.

Any estimates as to what this might cost... per gondola?

 

[EdnaMode]

I would really love for us to stop offering to sit in a gondola for 3 hours in exchange for something free from Disney. It's terribly disrespectful to the people who actually did do it, and who had to deal with very low communication, no washroom facilities, fear, health concerns, stolen emergency kit items, impatience, etc.

 

[RustySpork]

Its amazing how people get so conditioned.. they forget alternatives even existed previously. It's like all the design choices that went into houses before there was AC to maximize airflow, layouts, elevations vs the sun path, etc. Just because something isn't high tech doesn't mean it's not functional or purposeful.

Before AC things were built to maximize airflow, but that didn't negate the requirement for air to move.

Well, now, you didn't say "solar powered fans with battery back-up," now, did you?

I hadn't said anything about it at all actually, was my first mention of it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[DisneyJoe]

So, let's not have a fan because guests might mangle the enclosure to get at those tempting blades?
You know, they make fans with soft, flexible plastic and/or foam blades too.
Such a fan could have been installed on the ceiling of the gondola, so that if guests felt that they absolutely had to tear apart the housing to get to it, the blades still wouldn't hurt their fingers.

Sorry, my point was if they installed fans and many fans broke down due to guest abuse we'd still be in here complaining about AC and airflow.

 

[Nunu]

The


Not to be mean but he shouldn't ride this anyway from the health conditions you described.

I gotcha, thanks.
He wouldn't.

 

[larryz]

Sorry, my point was if they installed fans and many fans broke down due to guest abuse we'd still be in her complaining about AC and airflow.

Another easy solution... put 10 of these in the emergency kit...

 

[Andrew C]

I would prefer sitting in a gondola high in the air in 95 degree weather rather than below on the hot asphalt. Actually, I would prefer neither. I am from Texas but still walk around with a cooling towel around my neck at the parks.

Bottom line, if a 3 hour stop only occurs once in a blue moon (or, really, less frequently), there isn't much to worry about.

 

[Prototype82]

I was really hoping to ride this on Sunday... Would love if this could be resolved efficiently. I am glad no one was hurt.

 

[monothingie]

IMHO in an isolated incident like the one we seem to have seen they should move that car immediately (like they ended up doing) and get the line moving weither it be backwards out of necessity or forwards and evac that way. Even if the car for some reason cant be directly taken off the line it should be moved by hand with the speed of the line to a place where it can be stored in an emergency if this is simply the ADA loading zone etc. Lastly i think unbolting the cabin from its hook should be a last resort option that can be done well in advance of a 3 hour delay. My concern isnt what went wrong its brand new and it will be worked out. My concern is the awful evac scenario we saw.

While it would be great to just start it up again, without having someone qualified look at the accident area and properly assess damage, you could be creating a worse situation than what’s already transpired. What if there was structural damage or the haul rope was damaged or a multitude of other scenarios that need to be looked at before the reset button can be pushed. They did the right thing by waiting. The situation was stable and no one was put in immediate danger. Those that experienced issues were assessed and removed accordingly.

 

[joelkfla]

Is there only one storage space on the whole line that all cars MUST make it back to? And the cars can't be manually removed in a station to clear room to empty the incoming cable?

There's a pull-out spur right where the collision occurred. In a video, it looked like they were having trouble getting the damaged cabin into it because the switch was blocked by the stopped cabins (just my assumption.)

Are there red and green lights on the outside of the cabins? Could add a tamper switch on the box that causes the lights to flash in a certain pattern to let the ride operators know.

There is just a power switch, which lights green when the internal lighting and speaker are switched on and have battery power, ane red when they are switched off.

If only they could have had a way for the passengers inside to flag down the responders on the ground and notify them which cabin was having the emergency....like glow sticks or something!

The windows are protected by mesh. I doubt a glow stick inside the cabin would be easily visible from the ground.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Friend: "So how was Disney? Did you do Star Wars and that Skyliner thing?"

Answer:

 

[mikesteffen]

Anyone know if it is running today?

 

[Oddysey]

The answer is simple: modify the gondolas with detachable roofs and four winched cable drums in the corners so that IF the line stops and evac is necessary, someone inside the cabin could break a seal, pull a pin, yank a lever, and slowly winch the lower part of the gondola down to the ground/water level for expedient evac.

Any estimates as to what this might cost... per gondola?

Nah, just add inflatable boats, retractable ladders, and/or parachutes to the emergency kits and everything will be fine. Complementary Mickey Spray fans in the emergency kit wouldn't be a bad idea either. All problems solved.

 

[NelsonRD]

The answer is simple: modify the gondolas with detachable roofs and four winched cable drums in the corners so that IF the line stops and evac is necessary, someone inside the cabin could break a seal, pull a pin, yank a lever, and slowly winch the lower part of the gondola down to the ground/water level for expedient evac.

Any estimates as to what this might cost... per gondola?

4 easy payments of $19.99? And if we order now, get a free t-shirt that says "I was evacuated from a gondola, and all I got was a $100 gift card and this t-shirt"?

 

[halltd]

The answer is simple: modify the gondolas with detachable roofs and four winched cable drums in the corners so that IF the line stops and evac is necessary, someone inside the cabin could break a seal, pull a pin, yank a lever, and slowly winch the lower part of the gondola down to the ground/water level for expedient evac.

Any estimates as to what this might cost... per gondola?

This is brilliant!!!!! I actually love this idea. It needs a bunch of safety mechanisms, but such a cool idea.

 

[cindy_k]

I imagine the vinyl shop will be producing large white numbers to adhere to the bottom of the gondolas. That would fix that issue.

 

[tree123]

This sounds horrifying.

 

[lentesta]

That's pretty vague. Full stay? One night? Weekend? Full package or just room?
(Not saying that your account was vague...just the "offer.")

I can't imagine Disney shelling out multiple "full-week" vacation packages because people had a 3-hour delay. I'd imagine it was a free night if anything (no tickets).

One family I spoke with was at a deluxe resort for multiple days. So yeah, a generous offer.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I'm very happy that I made the decision to stay at Dolphin this coming April, where we can walk, boat or bus our way around - rather than book at Caribbean Beach - where we would have relied on the gondolas.
Not that I'm personally too concerned about the gondolas, but convincing my wife that she should have no concerns would be nigh on impossible when she can point to this incident.
"Honey, they're fine - you have nothing to worry about."
"Really???" "People were stuck in those things for hours already."

It's a conversation we're having in my house. We are booked in December, and chose CBR specifically for the Skyliner. We also have a 1-year old, and my husband is seriously questioning whether or not we should stay there (although we have free dining and cannot rebook elsewhere now without losing the free dining).

So many of the posts her are extremes -- either the Skyliner is the Disney Death Trap or being trapped up there for 3 hours is an awesome time to hang out and anyone who thinks otherwise is overreacting. The truth for many of us is somewhere in the middle (while we scroll through all of the ridiculous posts to try and find useful information and helpful insights).

We're trying not to overreact in our house, but this situation (and aftermath) has certainly given us a reason to pause and assess. I can't imagine we're the only family doing so. I was speaking with another CEO in the same building as my office this morning. He took his family to WDW in August, and while he isn't a "nerd" like me, he is a casual fan of the parks. He had already heard about the Skyliner incident, and was quick to exclaim that he was glad he wouldn't be staying in a Skyliner resort in the future. I wonder how the phone lines are for CMs this morning, and how they are handling concerned Guests.