Disney Skyliner shutdown and evacuation - October 6 2019

[YankeeMouse]

Maybe it's more about the timing? That after months of testing, after the first week, they had an incident? And for me it's about the fact that if you are afraid of heights or swaying on the line, you maybe shouldn't ride it. It's not the fact that this was stopped for some time, it was the phobic element of the fear that made it worse. I don't like heights, have never been in a gondola, but will try anything at Disney once, so I'll be trying it most likely.

 

[techgeek]

You are forgetting that humans love to make relative comparisons to help understand things. When it stops, it will get more uncomfortable compared to when it is moving. It will get “hot” in the sense they are not as happy with the environment verse the other situation. But that does not mean it has gotten hot to the point of dangerous, or even miserable. It means it got less comfortable than they would have liked.

This Mayo Clinic page references a heat index of 91 degrees F as a threshold risk point for heat exhaustion. Some of the other risk factors mentioned (high humidity, dehydration, rapid temperature changes, physical activity) are exactly what you’d expect to experience walking around a central Florida theme park in the summer. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heat-exhaustion/symptoms-causes/syc-20373250

Given what the temperature and heat index were yesterday afternoon, I think it’s reasonable to conclude this would have been a dramatically different situation if the incident had occurred at 2pm instead of 8pm. At the very least heat exhaustion would have been a risk for a large percentage of riders, perhaps progressing to heat stroke if proper intervention wasn’t rapidly taken.

I think potential situations like that are what many are concerned about. I know I am, I was initially when this system was announced and I am much more concerned now. We have a standard to define when that is a risk. It clearly appears the Skyliner system has the potential to exceed that threshold, for a lengthy period, if there is a system failure.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm not disagreeing with you here, but as you know, most ≠ all. My windows have reflective coating tint, probably around the same grade as the Skyliner and while it certainly reduces the heat..there is still heat. We would have to know the grade of the coating to know what percentage of the sun's energy is being rejected vs being absorbed or passed through. From the inside out the view doesn't appear as shaded as one would expect if it was a high-grade tint. It was so light in-fact that I originally questioned if it was coated at all.

To keep it simple...auto tint is more about blocking light than reflecting solar energy. The type of reflectivity here is different.

Shade is not devoid of solar energy either... thats why its not pitch black

Neither however is the same as sitting directly in the suns line of sight without cover.

 

[RustySpork]

Alright, that's kinda gross, but comped hotel? For that? No wonder people have crazy expectations for reimbursement.

You're right, a comped stay is pretty bad..but probably what was offered. They should have proactively refunded everyone who had eaten there that day.

To keep it simple...auto tint is more about blocking light than reflecting solar energy. The type of reflectivity here is different.

Shade is not devoid of solar energy either... thats why its not pitch black

Neither however is the same as sitting directly in the suns line of sight without cover.

Home tint, not auto tint but we're in total agreement here. That's why I had come to the conclusion that the screened cabins seemed slightly cooler, they're almost blacked out. Seemed ≠ fact though, it was just an opinion.

 

[Beacon Joe]

I can't wait for this to happen in July or August, and then watch robot Chapek try to remove these sky ovens as quietly as possible.

 

[Lilofan]

The incident happened on a weekend night. Most likely, inexperienced leaders were working at that time. The upper leadership were probably enjoying their weekend since when do they ever work on a Saturday night? I'm sure many people got a phone call and text and need to get back to work...

 

[flynnibus]

Yes, but considering I know someone personally who had a lift being raised to their gondola and they aborted evac right when the lines started to move I tend to doubt it. The only thing strategic was the order of who they could get to the quickest. But I see the point, I just don't buy it.

Again... we only have some of the information. Maybe by that time they had changed their mind and were evacing everyone. Point is, we cant take points in isolation and make firm conclusions on what was happening all along the way. It is not that water tight.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

1. I don't understand the idea that the folks stuck in gondola's for three hours shouldn't be compensated in some way. I find what they are getting to be fine, but people are saying it's awful that anyone would want to be compensated because their day was "slightly less magical" lol ... Being stuck dangling 60 ft above traffic for 3 hours without AC or power is not "slightly less magical" than someone who missed their bus or couldn't ride test track.

This I definitely agree with. For what Disney is charging, they need to be compensating guests for missed time in the parks, hotels, etc. I would have found a free park hopper pretty useless as an international guest, and more an invitation to come again and spend a lot of money at WDW in the future than compensation. That said, I am not that easily traumatised and have been to WDW plenty of times so I'd probably be fine with the $200 gift card and a free taxi (if that was really offered). It is kind of the bare minimum, though.

 

[Figment82]

I mean, I'm glad they had such a magical time being stuck in the air. As someone with claustrophobia issues, I'd have a much different experience. Being stuck for 15 minutes is one thing...3 hours and I would have come unglued. And what if a pregnant woman had gone into labor while stuck? What if someone had had a heart attack? A lady reported being stuck with her diabetic son and wasn't able to get into contact with anyone. They need to figure out a way to quickly deal with a real medical emergency quickly if something like this ever happens again.

I’m all for the Skyliner, and will gladly continue to ride despite last night’s event, but this is what worries me. I have type 1 diabetes, and while I usually carry a snack, I probably wouldn’t consider needing 3+ hours of sugar-boosting supplies a necessity before I boarded. They need to get the communication in better shape should a medical emergency occur. I can only imagine someone in a more dangerous situation than I would be if my number dropped while stranded.

 

[flynnibus]

Given what the temperature and heat index were yesterday afternoon, I think it’s reasonable to conclude this would have been a dramatically different situation if the incident had occurred at 2pm instead of 8pm. At the very least heat exhaustion would have been a risk for a large percentage of riders, perhaps progressing to heat stroke if proper intervention wasn’t rapidly taken.

How many people died in the outdoor queue of Flight of passage?

 

[Beacon Joe]

*Cue spooky laugh*

 

[The_Jobu]

They should have proactively refunded everyone who had eaten there that day.

That sounds.... problematic.

 

[MisterPenguin]

...hanging over water in many places

It would have been better if the stoppage was over the water at Hour Glass Lake. The barge has a platform that is the same height as the floor of the gondola since the gondolas are so low. People would have been able to walk off.

 

[MisterPenguin]

These systems are used around the world, many similar ones going up mountains and over forests...how do those systems account for evacuations?

Harnesses hanging from a helicopter.

 

[WDW_Jon]

We have actually known quite a bit about the system for a couple years now.

In reality 99% of the people on here know anything I’d say. We know what we read and hear which doesn’t really qualify to ‘knowing’ but sorry if I have offended you

 

[flynnibus]

I mean, I'm glad they had such a magical time being stuck in the air. As someone with claustrophobia issues, I'd have a much different experience. Being stuck for 15 minutes is one thing...3 hours and I would have come unglued. And what if a pregnant woman had gone into labor while stuck? What if someone had had a heart attack? A lady reported being stuck with her diabetic son and wasn't able to get into contact with anyone. They need to figure out a way to quickly deal with a real medical emergency quickly if something like this ever happens again.

What if a meteor hit a cabin?

Why are you closing your eyes to the evac options that were already in use?

In any of those situations you use the call box, or call 911... and the response would have been proportional to the need.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

I apologize in advance if this has already been asked before, but do we have confirmation that there were people in the gondolas that were involved in the accident?

 

[MisterPenguin]

I apologize in advance if this has already been asked before, but do we have confirmation that there were people in the gondolas that were involved in the accident?

Yes...

There is a post on another board from the folks who were in the cabin that was crushed between two others. Interesting enough to quote:

from "Diz Bee" on another board (search for the first 3 letters in Disney)
"Ok... soooo... this is my wife and I last night...
View attachment 416474

Let me start by saying this was our first time on the gondola. We had tacos and a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our inaugural ride at the Caribbean Beach quick service. We got on at the skyliner at the Caribbean and were on our way to EPCOT. When we arrived at the Rivera we came to a stop. The system was down for a while... 5 to 10 minutes. While it was down our doors were open and a cast member was doing a Disney trivia game with each car. Then the system came back on line, our doors shut, and we moved forward... the blue car in front of us was NOT moving, so we crushed up into it and the car behind us crushed into us and the car behind that hit them and so on... you could hear the metal into metal scraping and the breaking of the plexiglass vents. The accident didn’t last long... but I remember sitting there and saying to my wife “I don’t think that was supposed to happen...” Security started going around asking if everyone was OK. A maintenance guy came over with a giant pole type tool, like a overgrown hanger pole they use at clothes stores to get up high. He did some jockeying of the blue car in front and we were freed up. The car swung around pretty hard and the noise was pretty harsh. My wife screamed. We noticed our doors were bent and weren’t shut all he way. There was definitely body damage to our car and several others, including broken vents. We were lucky that we were at the Rivera turnstile because our evacuation was swift! I don’t think we realized the extent of the accident until we saw pictures of our car on the news. So that being said the cars are pretty tough. I think it could of been worse, and we’re very lucky it wasn’t. Cast members were very calm and super nice. They offered us transportation, but we decided to walk back to our car. "

Followed up with

"I would like to add.. that the odds are so low that this would happen. I mean we can’t win the lottery! My wife and I have been talking about it all morning, it’s very bizarre. The weird thing is... is OUR car was the car that was crushed... the first car before the blue car that failed. Yet after they fixed the placements of the cars and we evacuated... no one from Disney approached us and all. Disney management doesn’t know we even exist... it kinda odd. Here we are watching videos from the local news and YouTube and we keep hearing “no one knows if the crushed cars had people inside”. Well we’re fine over here... thanks for asking!!!!
Even though we were in the accident, at least we weren’t stuck in the air! Hope everyone was ok!"

FWIW All the cars in that photo had people in them when it happened, and all got off there.

 

[King Racoon 77]

I apologize in advance if this has already been asked before, but do we have confirmation that there were people in the gondolas that were involved in the accident?

I believe someone posted a couple of pages back of a FB post from people in the crashed gondolas. They were all unharmed from what i read.

 

[King Racoon 77]

Yes...

Pesky penguin beat me too it