News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[begood524]

Did Disney remove the big gates from the Pop station? They don't appear to be there in this video

 

[Goofyernmost]

Given they will shut them down when lightning is within a certain range, and central FL IS the lightning capital of the world, I think it’ll be a little more frequent than you realize.

I still believe your statement is greatly exaggerated

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.

 

[monothingie]

A still photo of a line doesn’t show how fast that line is moving.

Considering your photo appears to show approximately 50 people those guests could be on board in 1-2 minutes.

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]

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.

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]

The astro-turf is a bad call. They missed a great opportunity to "plus" the Skyliner with some cool landscaping or grass art.

 

[Fantasmik]

Just a heads up that the skyliner is open to all this morning. Not sure if that applies to all legs, but it absolutely does get you from the Studios to Epcot.

 

[180º]

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.

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!

 

[wdwmagic]

Just a heads up that the skyliner is open to all this morning. Not sure if that applies to all legs, but it absolutely does get you from the Studios to Epcot.

Thanks, are you there now?

 

[Grimley1968]

The astro-turf is a bad call. They missed a great opportunity to "plus" the Skyliner with some cool landscaping or grass art.

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.

 

[joelkfla]

Just a heads up that the skyliner is open to all this morning. Not sure if that applies to all legs, but it absolutely does get you from the Studios to Epcot.

I have a terrible cold. Nevertheless, barring further reports to the contrary, I'll be there later today!

 

[DisAl]

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.

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.

 

[joelkfla]

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.

One of the bloggers reported that a Skyliner cm told him:

1. 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.
2. If riders are still on board when lightning is detected within 3 miles, all will be required to disembark at the next station.
3. When no lightning has been reported within a certain distance for a certain time period, boarding will resume.

There was a post way back (like months ago) that some Doppelmayr engineers had said, "Of course they're safe during lightning," so Disney will be shutting down for an abundance of caution, and for Guest perception of safety.

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]

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.

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.

 

[danlb_2000]

I do think they should have screened or enclosed the overhead equipment at CBR. I don't think the exposed view there was all that necessary.

Anyone see in the videos yet where the cabins are switched onto the lines at CBR? Didn't see too many wandering cameras in these videos when it came to CBR except for the central open area.

You can see the switch track here. Looks like it goes through a set of doors into maintenance area.

 

[danlb_2000]

Strange that they had that one support painted/tinted green at Epcot. I’m guessing that’s some kind of permanent colouring?

If they could do that there you think they may have done it for some of the others that are smack in the middle of a resort.

Still, can’t wait to ride it, probably end up being my kid’s favourite “ride”

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]

You can see the switch track here. Looks like it goes through a set of doors into maintenance area.

View attachment 413888

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.

 

[easyrowrdw]

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!

 

[joelkfla]

So it looks like DHS and POP share a "yard" while Epcot/Riviera has its' own. Makes sense since it is the bigger line.

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]

Our load post illuminations was pretty quick despite a very long line similar to the picture shown. There were a lot of stoppage issues on the line, because of door opening issues at the other end.

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.

 

[easyrowrdw]

Epcot fireworks from the Skyliner