Disney Skyliner shutdown and evacuation - October 6 2019

[DisneyJoe]

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.

You don't HAVE to take the Skyliner, you can still take the bus.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

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.

You can certainly stay there and choose to not ride the Skyliner and take the bus instead. Heck, I imagine those that prefer the bus will have shorter boarding lines thanks to this thing.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

It's funny watching folks over-react to this incident. As you live your life, whether you go out of your house or not, you're going to have unpleasant things happen to you. I'm glad they built the Skyliner. Sure, I want them to expand the monorail; but having it reach everywhere on property is not reasonable.

I'm looking forward to riding the Skyliner when I get back down there.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

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.

I would imagine they're very busy with people wanting to change where they're staying so they have access to more buses and other modes of transportation. I'll definitely be riding the skyliner in the future, but I'll wait until its been running reliably and without incident for a while first.

 

[WDW862]

Disney decided to do VERY risky gondola rescues.

Cherry pickers are not VERY risky lol

 

[HauntedPirate]

Another easy solution... put 10 of these in the emergency kit...
View attachment 416698

Those would never make their way into a gondola - They are unthemed! Have to be promoting something on each side to pass muster these days.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

You don't HAVE to take the Skyliner, you can still take the bus.

Definitely, but we chose CBR over a deluxe specifically so that we could ride the Skyliner. I'm not saying that we are entitled to anything, nor am I complaining. But, I'm sharing how our family feels about it and how I imagine other families may feel today as well. I'm curious how this may play for out families whose vacations are coming up.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Cherry pickers are not VERY risky lol

As long as the people operating them are following procedure.

 

[flynnibus]

Do you think it is any cooler sitting in a gondola that isn't moving, than in a automobile that is not moving, but has the windows rolled down and the sunroof vented?
It's the same concept.

Same concept, but different test subjects with different characteristics.

In the context of the discussion to date... yes, the Gondola would be cooler. Here, you've modified the comparison a good bit though when you add in an open sunroof.

The whole reason 'cars in the sun' is even a thing people know about is the whole concept of accumulation. The car is being bombarded with solar energy and the surfaces and air inside the car are being heated by that energy. It is a constant input of energy, and little to no turnover of the air or materials that are absorbing that energy. So the same mass keeps taking in more and more energy over time, leading to significant increases in temperature of those things. The whole situation happens because you have the car interior and a volume of air sitting there getting pumped full of solar energy constantly. That doesn't happen when the solar energy isn't there.. and that's why the glass coating is so critical and why the situations are different.

Rolling the windows down in a car helps greatly because it gives the volume of air a chance to escape or at least exchange heat with the outside... reducing the build-up that stays within the vehicle. But the part of your car that doesn't move (your dashboard, the interior, etc) are still sitting there getting bombarded. The supply of incoming energy is still there... so they still heat up. But as they radiate energy into the air, the open windows allows at least some of that to escape or transfer out.

Contrast this situation with a gondola. The huge difference is the Gondola *IS* combating the incoming energy source - by blocking the solar energy. If it's not in there to warm things up to start with. The air nor interior are being pumped the same amount by the sun like in the car example. Thus the rise in temperature due to the sun is not nearly as extreme as in the car example.

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

No

You know what would have been a good idea?
Solar powered fans mounted on the ceiling of the gondola that kick in when the line stops.

I don't disagree. But I think many would still complain because the volume of air being moved would not be that significant unless we are talking pretty large fans. And people would moan "its just sucking in hot air!!" vs respect that it's turning over the air in the cabin (which has value). In short... people who are uncomfortable are going to complain no matter what and make up their own analysis of things.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Definitely, but we chose CBR over a deluxe specifically so that we could ride the Skyliner. I'm not saying that we are entitled to anything, nor am I complaining. But, I'm sharing how our family feels about it and how I imagine other families may feel today as well. I'm curious how this may play for out families whose vacations are coming up.

If you chose the skyliner over a deluxe, just because of the skyliner, I think you may be better off changing to a deluxe. I mean if you are ok with the extra cost for a deluxe or are used to them, I don't know if a totally working incident free skyliner would have made you feel better about having less amenities and room. Plus some of those Deluxes have some pretty nifty transportation options as well.

 

[flynnibus]

Also is there no way to have GPS tracking on the gondola cars so they can locate a specific car more easily? If the report earlier in this thread is true than hundreds of people were stranded for an unnecessarily long time which likely led to additional panic and emergencies than was really necessary had they been able to identify and evacuate the original emergency quicker.

It's certainly a valid lesson learned. A simpler solution would be to simply put RFID readers on the towers and tag the cabins. The system can simply track the last tower that 'saw' the cabin thus greatly reducing the search radius immediately. Then the cabin side of the system is completely passive and doesn't require power or refreshes.

Also, put some reflective number stickers on the bottom as well to improve visibility at night. Cheap and effective.

ETA: a problem with this system tho is the dependency on power and memory... which is a high probability of 'not being there' in emergency situations. Passive systems always work best in these fault-tolerant situations.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

As long as the people operating them are following procedure.

You could say that about every single ride and mode of transportation at Disney....

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

If you chose the skyliner over a deluxe, just because of the skyliner, I think you may be better off changing to a deluxe. I mean if you are ok with the extra cost for a deluxe or are used to them, I don't know if a totally working incident free skyliner would have made you feel better about having less amenities and room. Plus some of those Deluxes have some pretty nifty transportation options as well.

Yeah, agreed. I think we'll probably go that way. I'm really not trying to be dramatic, but it's something to think about as they work the kinks out of this system. If we were going later in the winter, I probably wouldn't think about it. But it's still so early, and the holidays will be extra challenging. I think maybe it's just better to let them work it out and experience the Skyliner once they've smoothed everything out. If I didn't have a baby, I probably wouldn't think about it at all.

I always feel for the CMs who are on the phones with Guests all day -- people can be rough. But today, I suspect they need an extra dose of Pixie Dust to get through their days.

 

[Yert3]

This is what would and has driven me nuts on breakdowns. They could have simply said they were clearing an obstruction from the line (very vague but worded not to cause panic the "collision" would) and give an ETA or update every 15 minutes or so. Then disable the auto repeat message.

I absolutely cannot stand that Disney doesn’t explain what happened on attractions that stop. In my 23 years of visiting, I’ve never seen an engineer or cast member say what has gone wrong in person. There’s only one video I have ever seen of an engineer explain what what wrong when ToT went down. Cool video, wish they did this every time.

 

[flynnibus]

Why only kick in then, if they're solar-powered it would be better for them to run continuously to reduce wear.

The opposite. Continuous use would wear out the bushings and bearings early. Electric motors don't suffer the same start/stop concerns that IC engines do. DC electric motors just deal with the additional current needed to get a fan started from zero.

But here, running them continuously would probably be done purely for customer perception.

 

[EdnaMode]

Definitely, but we chose CBR over a deluxe specifically so that we could ride the Skyliner. I'm not saying that we are entitled to anything, nor am I complaining. But, I'm sharing how our family feels about it and how I imagine other families may feel today as well. I'm curious how this may play for out families whose vacations are coming up.

We canceled our December Riviera trip (and we also specifically booked over GF so that we could use the Skyliner.)

I'm not fearful about the gondolas (even though I have had a FUN time years ago being on an "unexpected downtime" in open gondola with only myself and a busy toddler. 10/10 do not recommend.)

The price at Riviera was $702/night, so having an indefinite service outage in the primary means of transportation right now was a factor. If the monorails go out for an extended period after an accident, and without any indication of when they might be back up, I won't keep a near-future GF booking, either. Even Disney agrees that better transportation logistics have higher value, so it is more than ok for you to expect that the transportation options that induced your booking will be generally available. In your situation, I would (I guess you could say that I did) rebook and let this thing shake down awhile longer.

Here's the real deal for me though: I'm realizing that (again, for me) Skyliner would be better viewed as an attraction than as a primary means of transportation. I'll take my chances on my feet, a water taxi, a ferry, and the monorails. The bus and Skyliner are, for now, low priority as transportation for us.

 

[erasure fan1]

It's funny watching folks over-react to this incident. As you live your life, whether you go out of your house or not, you're going to have unpleasant things happen to you.

But I don't pay thousands of dollars to leave my house. sure there are extremes on both sides of the situation. I have a family member who will now never set foot on this. It might be overreacting to you. But for someone with anxiety issues, being trapped in a high spot with no way out, for 3hrs is a bad situation. This whole incident is amplified because it's Disney. People expect things might not go as planned. But no one really would expect that stepping onto the skyliner, they could be stuck for 3hrs.

 

[dizneycrazy09]

Usually just a reader, but holy hell, the bickering and garbage posts to wade through to find an actual piece of information is astonishing. Just a tip - you don't have to post every thought that comes to mind...

Actual question: Is the Skyliner running with guests today? Testing without? Does anyone have insight into management's plan on how to proceed from here or how things will change?

 

[monothingie]

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

Amazing. There has been monorail “downtime” for just as long with people stranded and they didn’t give anything like that away. They must really really really want to make sure that no negative PR comes from affected guests.

 

[Hockey89]

But I don't pay thousands of dollars to leave my house. sure there are extremes on both sides of the situation. I have a family member who will now never set foot on this. It might be overreacting to you. But for someone with anxiety issues, being trapped in a high spot with no way out, for 3hrs is a bad situation. This whole incident is amplified because it's Disney. People expect things might not go as planned. But no one really would expect that stepping onto the skyliner, they could be stuck for 3hrs.

Do they drive or ride in cars? If so, their chance of injury is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>This skyliner….