Disney Skyliner shutdown and evacuation - October 6 2019

[monothingie]

Anyone else wonder if the odd hours for this week are for software/hardware updates?

Yep or possibly operator training.

 

[Bender123]

Yep or possibly operator training.

Likely a little from both columns...

 

[Disstevefan1]

Do you have any idea how long it has been since Disney designed and built any form of Transportation? I know you are thinking about the Monorails, but, monorails existed long before Disney started to use them. They may have designed the body but, the mechanics and engineering were already in existence.

My point exactly.. Disney has not designed their own transportation since the 50s.

 

[Allyp]

This statement does not really exclude any root causes or give insight into consideration of how the outcome was reached.
- Was it a system failure and operators overrode it?
- Was it a system failure that required operators to intervene and they failed to?
- Was it an operational mistake that the operators overrode the control system?
- Was it an operational mistake that the system was not designed to ID and intervene?

How would it make a difference to the average guest visiting if these questions were answered? I'm asking sincerely because I'm guessing the majority visiting wouldn't give a second thought to these questions about the system when riding it. I imagine they trust the system that Disney built and the questions you posted above are strictly "fan service" to those here in the online community.

 

[Disstevefan1]

No, and why would they? There's a service agreement and warranty in place on the system, I'm sure.

Doppelmayr will fix what's wrong if it's systemic.

Disney will fix what's wrong if it's a personnel training issue.

Agreed. Then everyone will live happier ever after. See Ya on the Skyliner

 

[flynnibus]

How would it make a difference to the average guest visiting if these questions were answered? I'm asking sincerely because I'm guessing the majority visiting wouldn't give a second thought to these questions about the system when riding it. I imagine they trust the system that Disney built and the questions you posted above are strictly "fan service" to those here in the online community.

Because we don't gauge acceptable risk based on what the lay person is willing to do via blind trust. Disney management has proven time and time again in its history that it's self-regulation was not inadequate in preventing future issues. It's not a stretch for people to question that blind trust some seem to have.

Plus, in the future... we could accurately state what happened... not let the internet run wild with claims on what did happen.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Both “mob” mentalities are evident here:

The one that condemns constantly...

...and the one that trusts Disney for more than it’s become and calls themselves cutesy names like “MinnieprincessMommyof2”

The truth is always bouncing between the two like a ping pong ball

 

[Patcheslee]

Anyone else wonder if the odd hours for this week are for software/hardware updates?

I was thinking maybe a check of the system after running under normal operating conditions. Figure "if" they identified a mechanical failure and implemented a change, and ran unloaded testing, they would want to monitor the change after load. And ensure there are no signs further issues. That's just my logic to it.

 

[Bender123]

Both “mob” mentalities are evident here:

The one that condemns constantly...

...and the one that trusts Disney for more than it’s become and calls themselves cutesy names like “MinnieprincessMommyof2”

The truth is always bouncing between the two like a ping pong ball

Overall, based solely on safety, Disney is pretty gosh darn safe...even on the roads. With as many people and as many miles the transport and attractions travel, Im pretty impressed that accidents are so few and far between. I tend to error on Disney's side, because in 50+ years of mass transit management, they have, I believe, two fatalities...one which was a kid who stood on the monorail track in DL and the other was a human error accident.

If there are any other, I cant recall, but even with, the rate of injury and death is far below national standards for mass transit systems.

 

[Allyp]

Because we don't gauge acceptable risk based on what the lay person is willing to do via blind trust. Disney management has proven time and time again in its history that it's self-regulation was not inadequate in preventing future issues. It's not a stretch for people to question that blind trust some seem to have.

Plus, in the future... we could accurately state what happened... not let the internet run wild with claims on what did happen.

I get what you're saying, I really do. No one should put blind trust is any system. But in terms of this conversation of receiving a statement that basically implied that some fault was human error regarding procedures, do we really need to know the dirty details of every possible fault and those procedures to back them up? I'm sure there is a training and operational binder that of course the operations team has that spells out all of the procedures you are asking for, but my question is, does Disney need to publish that binder for one transportation system?

 

[flynnibus]

I get what you're saying, I really do. No one should put blind trust is any system. But in terms of this conversation of receiving a statement that basically implied that some fault was human error regarding procedures, do we really need to know the dirty details of every possible fault and those procedures to back them up? I'm sure there is a training and operational binder that of course the operations team has that spells out all of the procedures you are asking for, but my question is, does Disney need to publish that binder for one transportation system?

You don't need to do what you are saying. But you could make the distinction between 'operator error' within the designed system, and having to make improvements to prevent this unforeseen outcome.

Are you at the mercy of some 19yr old kid with 20hrs of training... or are you protected by a company with decades of experience and is the world leader in this field?

People get on coasters, etc because there is an expectation of safety from confidence in the regulation, experience, and risk adversion that went into building and running that system. People have proved in these threads time and time again that same trust is not really here for these kinds of 'unfamiliar' systems. Disney isn't helping that here with their 'nothing to see here' kind of responses.

Reality is Disney is facing liability still... (even though its really stupid as no real harm was done to guests) so they will, unless their hand is forced, avoid placing any blame, or disclose where their shortcoming really was.

This 'statement' was just as much a 'nothing to see here' statement as their 'unexpected downtime' statements.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Overall, based solely on safety, Disney is pretty gosh darn safe...even on the roads. With as many people and as many miles the transport and attractions travel, Im pretty impressed that accidents are so few and far between. I tend to error on Disney's side, because in 50+ years of mass transit management, they have, I believe, two fatalities...one which was a kid who stood on the monorail track in DL and the other was a human error accident.

If there are any other, I cant recall, but even with, the rate of injury and death is far below national standards for mass transit systems.

I agree with you on the transportation point. They do a pretty great job.

To the point that Disney, overall, “likes me and appreciates me and cares for my happiness”...that seems to be prevalent?

...That’s a different story

 

[flynnibus]

Overall, based solely on safety, Disney is pretty gosh darn safe...even on the roads. With as many people and as many miles the transport and attractions travel, Im pretty impressed that accidents are so few and far between. I tend to error on Disney's side, because in 50+ years of mass transit management, they have, I believe, two fatalities...one which was a kid who stood on the monorail track in DL and the other was a human error accident.

If there are any other, I cant recall, but even with, the rate of injury and death is far below national standards for mass transit systems.

We have had a kid ran over by bus... we have employees killed in monorails and skybuckets... I think your list is incomplete.

But yes I agree their overall history is pretty good... alot of that comes from the 'closed loop' nature vs other public systems tho IMO. The crowding on property hurts that now...

 

[ThatMouse]

Some of you people with your mob mentality kills me. I think you need something to complain about.

The latest complaint from some of you "they won't even release a statement" then within the hour they do and you same people say "they didn't tell us enough"

Don't ride it.

If we're the mob then you're the sheep! ;-) Not riding is a realistic option. Some people are even avoiding the monorail. We drive to avoid waiting forever on bus stops and then having to stand on the bus. A Disney vacation can be $100's per day, and the Skyliner still has a lot of unanswered questions as to: long lines, start/stops, comfort, and chances of being stranded for 3 hours. Right now the track record it breaks down about once a month.

 

[Phil12]

Well, I am glad to see that the Skyliner bumper cars are up and running again.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You don't need to do what you are saying. But you could make the distinction between 'operator error' within the designed system, and having to make improvements to prevent this unforeseen outcome.

Are you at the mercy of some 19yr old kid with 20hrs of training... or are you protected by a company with decades of experience and is the world leader in this field?

People get on coasters, etc because there is an expectation of safety from confidence in the regulation, experience, and risk adversion that went into building and running that system. People have proved in these threads time and time again that same trust is not really here for these kinds of 'unfamiliar' systems. Disney isn't helping that here with their 'nothing to see here' kind of responses.

Reality is Disney is facing liability still... (even though its really stupid as no real harm was done to guests) so they will, unless their hand is forced, avoid placing any blame, or disclose where their shortcoming really was.

This 'statement' was just as much a 'nothing to see here' statement as their 'unexpected downtime' statements.

And this point is so often overlooked. Wdw is “well run” in spite of itself. They choose profit over proper training and staffing far more than people want to believe...from behind the curtain.

I was thinking this the other day when reading the grand Floridian rehab thread...there’s a belief there is a “commitment to service”. Wrong...there isn’t at all. It’s smoke and mirrors. I’ve lived it. Nobody wants to believe it because it’s woven into the hype.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well, I am glad to see that the Skyliner bumper cars are up and running again.

Is that a tier 1 or 2 fast pass?

Is there a desert party?...there really SHOULD be

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We have had a kid ran over by bus... we have employees killed in monorails and skybuckets... I think your list is incomplete.

But yes I agree their overall history is pretty good... alot of that comes from the 'closed loop' nature vs other public systems tho IMO. The crowding on property hurts that now...

Forgot about that fort wilderness incident...that was bad...

I’m actually surprised there aren’t more bus incidents considering the sheer volume of buses and how the roads aren’t exactly built to handle belchers

 

[Skywise]

Reading between the lines of the press release - I suspect there's 2 things they've come up with. They're probably going to modify the system so that it won't load gondolas from the off track until the system is fully running from a restart (or need to have it manually restarted or train the staff not to move it in until the system is fully restarted). That will help prevent the original issue (and probably why they're having the downtime). Second and more importantly, I'll bet they've updated their processes so if this happens again (and it will) they'll clear the affected gondolas quickly and restart the line for evacuation.

The latter part "we'll communicate better" is they'll make actual announcements rather than let the automated system repeat ad nauseum.

But it's interesting that they'll forge ahead with this but shut down all access to the lakes "for safety". Priorities...

 

[Lilofan]

Forgot about that fort wilderness incident...that was bad...

I’m actually surprised there aren’t more bus incidents considering the sheer volume of buses and how the roads aren’t exactly built to handle belchers

Don't know if any injuries happened but I still don't have the nerve to go on that insane water slide the Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach. I get chills when I walk by there in the summer.