News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[Bandini]

It would take a lot to stop it at this point. Plans are made, permits are filed, contractors are signed, and preliminary construction is beginning.

So the construction has started?

 

[GoofGoof]

Those resorts are also tiny in the grand scheme....just sayin....this is CBR.

The capacity of the gondola system should be quite large. Significantly larger than the friendship boats. It's not just CBR but also Pop and AoA (roughly 7,000 rooms serviced). The EPCOT resorts serviced by the boats (BW, BC/YC and Swan/Dolphin) have about 5,000 rooms including DVC. The gondola will also be a more direct and faster route between DHS and EPCOT. It's hard to estimate how many people will use it for direct park to park transportation. Lots of people hop to EPCOT for dinner and this will drop you right at the international gateway.

 

[MCast]

The capacity of the gondola system should be quite large. Significantly larger than the friendship boats. It's not just CBR but also Pop and AoA (roughly 7,000 rooms serviced). The EPCOT resorts serviced by the boats (BW, BC/YC and Swan/Dolphin) have about 5,000 rooms including DVC. The gondola will also be a more direct and faster route between DHS and EPCOT. It's hard to estimate how many people will use it for direct park to park transportation. Lots of people hop to EPCOT for dinner and this will drop you right at the international gateway.

Does this gondola system in any way benefit the Crescent Lake resorts? Obviously those staying there would still walk to Epcot, but I still think walking to DHS or taking the ferry would be faster than taking the gondola from the IG to CBR then over to DHS?

 

[JoeCamel]

Thanks for providing a copy of the permit. However based on Disney's current construction pace, I can't believe this will be completed in 2019.

Couldn't this just be a Red Herring? It's an awfully inexpensive way to get the fans all hyped up about an upcoming project without even breaking ground.

Takes very little time to pour the footers, set the towers and string the cable. The time is in the main drive station but even then those pieces are built offsite and installed into the building. Two years is plenty even for DIS

 

[GoofGoof]

Thanks for providing a copy of the permit. However based on Disney's current construction pace, I can't believe this will be completed in 2019.

Couldn't this just be a Red Herring? It's an awfully inexpensive way to get the fans all hyped up about an upcoming project without even breaking ground.

2 years accounts for Disney's slow construction speed. A ski resort will typically add a new gondolla lift in one off season so about 6 months and they are building in a much more challenging environment on the side of a mountain vs over flat land mostly unobstructed.

 

[marni1971]

Does this gondola system in any way benefit the Crescent Lake resorts?

This system won't.

 

[GoofGoof]

Does this gondola system in any way benefit the Crescent Lake resorts? Obviously those staying there would still walk to Epcot, but I still think walking to DHS or taking the ferry would be faster than taking the gondola from the IG to CBR then over to DHS?

It doesn't directly impact those resorts with a direct stop. It would be easy to walk over to the EPCOT station and take a ride back to DHS but it probably wouldn't be a whole lot faster than the boats. I think earlier the estimate was about 15 mins from EPCOT to DHS on the gondola. I think the friendship boats take about 25 mins to a half hour park to park since they stop and dock at each resort on their way. If you are staying at Swan/Dolphin it's much faster to get to/from DHS since it's the last stop going and the first stop coming home. For BW it should be slightly faster to walk to IG and ride the gondolas and avoid stopping at the other 2 resorts, especially if you have to wait for the boat to arrive.

The gondolas will also provide direct transportation to the Boardwalk itself (via a short walk from IG) for about 7,000 rooms full of guests. It should help business at the restaurants and might make the Boardwalk a little more relevant as an entertainment location.

 

[peter11435]

So the construction has started?

Related utility work.. Yes

 

[CrescentLake]

It doesn't directly impact those resorts with a direct stop. It would be easy to walk over to the EPCOT station and take a ride back to DHS but it probably wouldn't be a whole lot faster than the boats. I think earlier the estimate was about 15 mins from EPCOT to DHS on the gondola. I think the friendship boats take about 25 mins to a half hour park to park since they stop and dock at each resort on their way. If you are staying at Swan/Dolphin it's much faster to get to/from DHS since it's the last stop going and the first stop coming home. For BW it should be slightly faster to walk to IG and ride the gondolas and avoid stopping at the other 2 resorts, especially if you have to wait for the boat to arrive.

The gondolas will also provide direct transportation to the Boardwalk itself (via a short walk from IG) for about 7,000 rooms full of guests. It should help business at the restaurants and might make the Boardwalk a little more relevant as an entertainment location.

I think this is a very underrated part of this plan. The Crescent Lake resort area will likely be more crowded. Which is a good thing for the Boardwalk area, and I think it provides dynamics to that area.

 

[GoofGoof]

I think this is a very underrated part of this plan. The Crescent Lake resort area will likely be more crowded. Which is a good thing for the Boardwalk area, and I think it provides dynamics to that area.

This came up earlier in the thread. Someone with more knowledge than me of the actual plans said they are planning to keep the gondolas open beyond just normal park closing to get people to/from Boardwalk.

 

[CrescentLake]

This came up earlier in the thread. Someone with more knowledge than me of the actual plans said they are planning to keep the gondolas open beyond just normal park closing to get people to/from Boardwalk.

That is excellent news. With two stops bookending the resort area (DHS and Epcot) it'll make quite the difference!

 

[thehowiet]

This system won't.

Are there plans to build other/additional systems in the future, which may or may not service Crescent Lake resorts?

 

[marni1971]

Are there plans to build other/additional systems in the future, which may or may not service Crescent Lake resorts?

There may be and it may do. I'm aware of another system type that *may* be built in the future to serve other areas of the property.

Maybe. Waaaayyyyy down the line.

 

[Bandini]

Related utility work.. Yes

But couldn't the utility work be for any number of things at WDW? Is there a reason that you are positive that this is for the Gondola project?

 

[GoofGoof]

But couldn't the utility work be for any number of things at WDW? Is there a reason that you are positive that this is for the Gondola project?

They filed a permit for the construction. It was posted earlier in the thread. Insiders have seen the plans too and confirmed it's definitely a gondola system.

 

[peter11435]

But couldn't the utility work be for any number of things at WDW? Is there a reason that you are positive that this is for the Gondola project?

Because it's for the Gondola project.

 

[jakeman]

This thread:

 

[Minthorne]

Only if they are doing 88mph

They won't even pay for AC units - no way they will install flux capacitors in all the cars.

 

[drizgirl]

This thread:

You and me both.

Although yours might be a different brand from mine.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Thanks for providing a copy of the permit. However based on Disney's current construction pace, I can't believe this will be completed in 2019.

Couldn't this just be a Red Herring? It's an awfully inexpensive way to get the fans all hyped up about an upcoming project without even breaking ground.

You don't hire engineers, architects and contractors and buy a massive piece of machinery for a lark.