News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
I am curious how they are going to handle the loading of the cars. Will it be one-car-per-party, or will they try to get maximum capacity by filling each car with 8 people? I'm guessing it will be the latter. If this is the case, will there be a single-rider line?

Usually how it works at a ski resort is that they load by party, unless smaller groups don't mind traveling together. Its going to be less than 5 minutes per trip, not that big of a deal. Single rider line is a definite no.

Obviously running with less than full cabins takes down your capacity, but it won't be that big of a deal. The numbers they are talking are so far above any other form of WDW transport that they don't even compare.
 

Monorail_Orange

Well-Known Member
Well once its open and its plenty cool enough without AC, I'd say that those who are dead set with their 'we need AC' will have to admit they are wrong.
I'm having difficulty remembering, it may have been discussed before, but what was the timeframe for the new system to open? I wouldn't think it would necessarily have to wait for the Riviera Hotel to be complete; just the station there, which from concept art, appears to be a separate structure.
 

SoupBone

Well-Known Member
I think guests will love this experience, since it's something new. A lot of people have probably never ridden these, or if they did it was way back when Magic Kingdom has a skyway.

Ahhh yes, the Skyway. Twas where I learned the art of dive-bombing unsuspecting Disney guests with ketchup and mustard packets. Yeah I was that jerk, though I was influenced by friends that were doing the same. While my mature adult self looks at that and thinks what an idiot I was, my child-like side still snickers a bit.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
My question is:
How many cars on the line between station?
How fast does these travel?
Do we really save time on these with all of the stop and go compare to a 10 minute bus ride?

A lot. Enough that one is leaving the station every 15-20 seconds or so. If we knew the exact distance of the lines you could do some napkin math and figure it out. It doesn't really matter though.
Fast enough. Probably around 10mph for this system. The lines are pretty short. You're looking at a 2-3 minute trip per line. (Maybe 4)
There isn't any stopping. Yes, it will be faster in almost all cases than the bus.

The cabin seats 8.

Cabins depart every 12 seconds.

Out of the station, cabins travel 4m/s (9 mph)

Throughput is rated 2,200 people/hour.

Distance POP to CBR: 900 meters = 225 s = 3.75 min

Distance DHS to CBR: 1,140 meters = 285 s = 4.75 min

Distance CBR to Riviera: 680 meters = 170 s = 2.83 min

Distance Riviera to IG: 1,778 meters = 444 s = 7.40 min
 

OliveMcFly

Well-Known Member
In the art I like that they show character in the gondolas. Could they possibly add some "character" to them by applying skins similar to what they put on the monorails? Could be cute.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Original Poster
I am curious how they are going to handle the loading of the cars. Will it be one-party-per-car, or will they try to get maximum capacity by filling each car with 8 people? I'm guessing it will be the latter. If this is the case, will there be a single-rider line?

I think at the busiest time they will try to fill the cars best they can. At less busy times they will probably do it by party unless there are small parties. If there are two parties of two I can't see them breaking it up. We also have to remember that since these cars are going to be coming pretty fast they won't have a lot of time to put together groups with the proper number of people.
 

Maeryk

Well-Known Member
I think at the busiest time they will try to fill the cars best they can. At less busy times they will probably do it by party unless there are small parties. If there are two parties of two I can't see them breaking it up. We also have to remember that since these cars are going to be coming pretty fast they won't have a lot of time to put together groups with the proper number of people.

It'll be, I imagine, a lot like loading the peoplemover.. (or loading a currently operating gondola). If your party gets split up, it gets split up.. it's not an attraction, it's a what.. 9 minute transportation. People all over the world have figured out how to get on and off these things without incident. I am confident they will do so in Orlando, as well.
 

ABQ

Well-Known Member
They could treat it like the cars on Imagination, I've been in the front row with two members of my family with 4 complete strangers in the row behind me plenty of times. No big deal. I am used to having limited to no personal space when at WDW.
 

mmascari

Well-Known Member
Not onsite. But in conditions simulating the real world.

The magic is gone. :(

Now, I'm picturing a room in a warehouse somewhere with heaters and spot lights. Maybe with fans to simulate motion as a gondola hangs from a support.

So much for sending out people to scour the landscape looking for a 2 tower test facility somewhere on property with a few different gondola cabin options forever circling...... :)
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
Maybe Disney can sell a $5/day 'solo gondola' package. Where those that want it(!!) can pay to have a gondola without any strangers. Because... it doesn't take away from others right, its only for those that want it!!
 

allgiggles

Well-Known Member
o_O of the many numerous times I have gotten in them, in the summer, I have never been treated to A/C.
The door is usually open at the back, the windows are open and we are all hoping for a breeze, if not sitting in the back. Which is in the sun but at least has a breeze. I must be super unlucky.
Friendship-Boats.jpg

I am equally as unlucky. The first time we rode a Friendship it was because we wanted to do something "new". It was 95 degrees on a June afternoon. We got on the boat at DHS with 50+ people. No a/c. It was ungodly hot and stuffy in the boat. We seriously wished we had walked and I'm not sure why we didn't hop off at the first stop and walk the rest of the way to Epcot. We swore we would never use those boats again. After reading numerous posts on various message boards that insisted the boats had A/C and if someone was on a boat that didn't have a/c, it must have just broken down that day and they probably repaired it overnight, I decided it was just a fluke. Fast forward a few years and we decide to give it another try. Guess what. No a/c. Fortunately, there were only about 20 people on board and we were getting off at Yacht Club so it was a little more tolerable. I'm not giving them a 3rd try.
 

Maeryk

Well-Known Member
I am equally as unlucky. The first time we rode a Friendship it was because we wanted to do something "new". It was 95 degrees on a June afternoon. We got on the boat at DHS with 50+ people. No a/c. It was ungodly hot and stuffy in the boat. We seriously wished we had walked and I'm not sure why we didn't hop off at the first stop and walk the rest of the way to Epcot. We swore we would never use those boats again. After reading numerous posts on various message boards that insisted the boats had A/C and if someone was on a boat that didn't have a/c, it must have just broken down that day and they probably repaired it overnight, I decided it was just a fluke. Fast forward a few years and we decide to give it another try. Guess what. No a/c. Fortunately, there were only about 20 people on board and we were getting off at Yacht Club so it was a little more tolerable. I'm not giving them a 3rd try.

They do have AC. In fact, they have a second engine that provides power for the lighting, AC, fans, etc, specifically. Now, that doesn't mean the AC is always working.. or can keep up with demand.

(Just read a bunch of specs on the friendship boats.. never knew one lost it's thruster and plowed into the boardwalk!)
 

mmascari

Well-Known Member
It'll be, I imagine, a lot like loading the peoplemover.. (or loading a currently operating gondola). If your party gets split up, it gets split up.. it's not an attraction, it's a what.. 9 minute transportation. People all over the world have figured out how to get on and off these things without incident. I am confident they will do so in Orlando, as well.

I doubt they split up any party that will fit in a single cabin. If you've got special considerations taking up more space like a mobility vehicle, that may split you up. But, that wouldn't be to combine with someone else, but because your party's adjusted space requirement is bigger than a single cabin.

Using the 8 person cabin size, I would guess a mobility scooter and rider counts as 2 to 4 people instead of just 1. As 2 is easy, the scooter has weight and takes up space. Counting as 4 is possible if they raise up a bench on one side. The rider stays on the scooter but is consuming all the space of the raised bench.

For small parties, 4 or less, I could see them combining them if the wait is long. At peak times, combining 2 groups of 4 or less to get closer to 8. Even 4 groups of 2. Maybe a group of 5 and 3 (or 2).

But, even at peak, once a group get's to 6 people, my bet is they get their own cabin all the time.

Not at peak times, when the line should be really short, my bet is every group gets it's own cabin.

Strollers fitting in somewhere between not mattering at all and counting like a mobility scooter if they are huge. Two of those large jogging strollers and you're probably getting you're own cabin no matter the crowd. A couple of umbrella strollers not mattering at all.
 

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
The cabin seats 8.

Cabins depart every 12 seconds.

Out of the station, cabins travel 4m/s (9 mph)

Throughput is rated 2,200 people/hour.

Distance POP to CBR: 900 meters = 225 s = 3.75 min

Distance DHS to CBR: 1,140 meters = 285 s = 4.75 min

Distance CBR to Riviera: 680 meters = 170 s = 2.83 min

Distance Riviera to IG: 1,778 meters = 444 s = 7.40 min

Where did you get these numbers?
 

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
I'm having difficulty remembering, it may have been discussed before, but what was the timeframe for the new system to open? I wouldn't think it would necessarily have to wait for the Riviera Hotel to be complete; just the station there, which from concept art, appears to be a separate structure.

Sometime in 2019.
 

cosmicgirl

Well-Known Member
Are there any other geeks out there who would enjoy creating a simulation model of this system? With the amount of data they have the possibilities for predictive modeling are endless. Based on past behaviour, room composition, age, type of ticket etc. you could probably predict the demand at any given moment pretty darn accurately. Fun stuff!
 

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
Chapek's slide > Lift Blog's I.D. of cabin > Martin's sly confirmation > Google search for Singapore's version > Doppelmayr website.

Google Earth measure tool > maths.

The trail is all in this thread. :D

What about the distances, and how often they depart? The vertical climbs count as well in the distance. It isn't as simple as just drawing a line on the map.

The throughput you're mentioning is less than half of what @Lift Blog said they are shooting for, which is 4500-5000.
 

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