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News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -
- Thread starter danlb_2000
- Start date
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
I don't believe that they are going to shut it down early because of storms in the area or even when it gets there. Because of their configuration and length of line coupled with the speed at which those semi-daily thunderstorms roll through there will always be people on the gondola's when it arrives. The line will not stop, they might stop loading until it has passed over, but it will not stop. The fact of nature is that those standing waiting to board during a storm are in far more danger then those in the moving gondola's. Unless the wind speed exceeds a designated MPH, they will not stop them. Lightning is attracted to stationary objects not moving ones, especially ones as small as a Gondola. They are a small moving target, not like a train or a group of people standing in rain waiting to get on a means of transportation.
It's to bad that no one paid attention in science class. We, of course, will see what they actually do, but, I feel confident that people, as usual, don't know what they are talking about and resort to old wives tales to guide them through life.
I will repeat again that my observation of the progress of the line was that it was moving
quite slowly. Again not sure if they were not loading people and letting cabs just go out unoccupied. Was there for a good 8-10 minutes. The line eventually backed up close to the entrance where security was checking IDs.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
There are obviously some unknowns here. But it’s also clear that something non standard had to be occurring otherwise the system should have moved those guests quickly.
It’s been talked about in several locations that many cast were requesting to wait for gondolas without decals.
toolsnspools
Well-Known Member
The astro-turf is a bad call. They missed a great opportunity to "plus" the Skyliner with some cool landscaping or grass art.
180º
Well-Known Member
I’d love it if this eventually became such a common request that they’re forced to remove all the decals. I promise I don’t hate whimsy, but I do prefer the look of the plain gondolas!
Thanks, are you there now?
Grimley1968
Well-Known Member
I disagree. Living grass directly underneath the travel of the gondolas would have to be trimmed every few days, and that would mean shutting down that line while doing so. There's plenty of other landscaping (and probably room for more) in areas not directly in the gondolas' path.
I have a terrible cold. Nevertheless, barring further reports to the contrary, I'll be there later today!
DisAl
Well-Known Member
Motion or still has nothing to do with it. Airliners get hit all the time.
The gondolas are safer because they are hanging under a grounded steel cable.
One of the bloggers reported that a Skyliner cm told him:
- When lightning is detected within a certain distance (I think it was 6 miles), boarding will be discontinued, but riders will be permitted to continue to their destination.
- If riders are still on board when lightning is detected within 3 miles, all will be required to disembark at the next station.
- When no lightning has been reported within a certain distance for a certain time period, boarding will resume.
If they're not boarding, there's really no reason to keep them running. Might as well stop the cable and save a bit of electric.
Bender123
Well-Known Member
The other thing is how "efficient" they want to be with the Gondolas. There is a good chance that during the day, it doesn't really hurt to have people wait a few seconds to allow "private" cabs. At park closing, they will likely pack people in to make full use of the efficiency gains of the system.
They can flex this as crowd allows.
You can see the switch track here. Looks like it goes through a set of doors into maintenance area.
The one's nearest some of the stations were painted green. There is nothing "permanent" about the colouring, it will need to be regularly re-painted which is why they didn't do all the towers that way.
trainplane3
Well-Known Member
For the DHS line if you turn to the right from the perspective of this picture, the switch is on the left side of the CBR-DHS station. So it looks like DHS and POP share a "yard" while Epcot/Riviera has its' own. Makes sense since it is the bigger line.
rowrbazzle
Well-Known Member
A lot of info folks already know, but there are some great pictures (as usual). I especially like the shot of the pool at CBR. Nice plug for WDWMagic too!
Yes, that was fairly evident from aerial photos during the testing. There's a set of storage rails on the north side of the yard that are all the same length. On the south side, there are 2 sets of rails, the rails in each set being the same length, but both sets shorter than the the one on the north side.
When only DHS was running, the medium length rails were empty. The rails on the north side didn't empty until the Epcot line started testing.
And since the Epcot line runs in the opposite direction from the other two, the window configuration is different, so those cabins need to be segregated. They all have 2 windows in the front, and 3 in the back.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
To some extent, isn't that the point of the soft opening and CM use? You almost want there to be "problems" so that the cast running Skyliner can learn how to address and fix them - hopefully, quickly - before the line going into regular use with guests.
rowrbazzle
Well-Known Member
Epcot fireworks from the Skyliner