News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[NobodyElse]

I have seen seniors "drive" an ECV right into a group of people and keep going because they panicked and did not let go of the handle for it to stop.

You're inadvertently making the point that it's not the gondolas that might be the problem.

In situations involving seniors and ECVs, it'll be good to know that there'll likely be an attendant to make sure they load and unload with little issue. Probably a safer scenario than being out in the wild around a group of people.

 

[Creathir]

Novices visit and live in other places in the world. These novices made it to the gondola station and all of the same obstacles along the way.

You're missing the point.
There are few places in this world where people rent ECVs for the week and drive the around.

WDW is one of them.

It will take a fair amount of skill for someone to board a moving vehicle with their motorized vehicle.

I've seen a single ECV take 10 minutes to load on a bus before, with the assistance of the driver.

Imagine, 10 minutes... that is 50 cycles of the gondola.

Put another way: a line of 400 people backing up.

We'll see what happens. Maybe it won't be an issue. I hope so.

But I certainly am not going to be as cavalier as you are in essentially stating Disney will just tell them to kiss off.

Disney will solve for it when it becomes a problem.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You're missing the point.
There are few places in this world where people rent ECVs for the week and drive the around.

WDW is one of them.

It will take a fair amount of skill for someone to board a moving vehicle with their motorized vehicle.

I've seen a single ECV take 10 minutes to load on a bus before, with the assistance of the driver.

Imagine, 10 minutes... that is 50 cycles of the gondola.

Put another way: a line of 400 people backing up.

We'll see what happens. Maybe it won't be an issue. I hope so.

But I certainly am not going to be as cavalier as you are in essentially stating Disney will just tell them to kiss off.

Disney will solve for it when it becomes a problem.

Or maybe, just maybe, with all of their successful accessible installations, Doppelmayr knows how to build accessible systems. Loading takes seconds. Even if every gondola came to a complete stop, the system could chug along because it is such an easy to use system, you just enter.

 

[peter11435]

You're missing the point.
There are few places in this world where people rent ECVs for the week and drive the around.

WDW is one of them.

It will take a fair amount of skill for someone to board a moving vehicle with their motorized vehicle.

I've seen a single ECV take 10 minutes to load on a bus before, with the assistance of the driver.

Imagine, 10 minutes... that is 50 cycles of the gondola.

Put another way: a line of 400 people backing up.

We'll see what happens. Maybe it won't be an issue. I hope so.

But I certainly am not going to be as cavalier as you are in essentially stating Disney will just tell them to kiss off.

Disney will solve for it when it becomes a problem.

It won't be a problem

 

[Incomudro]

You don't think that stopping and starting causes more stress on a cable?

You lost me on this one.

 

[allgiggles]

What we call where I work the "point" job is key. Someone who needs to be seriously on top of their game asking "How many are in your group today" and assigning to cabins by number then back filling with single guests and smaller groups. Ideally you get eight people ready to begin loading as soon as the cabin is empty because the next one is ~12 seconds behind. In the winter we have 2-3 other employees at each station just helping people load. Not having skis and snowboards is huge. In the summer, an entire terminal can be staffed with just one person here.

My next gondola shift is later in the week and I should count the number of wheelchairs, elderly folks, people with canes and strollers and report back. It will surprise some of you guys.

I'm curious as to how the ECVs are loaded (genuinely curious...not stir-the-pot curious). Are they backed on to the car so they can easily exit? Or are there special cars that don't have a bench seat on one side so that the ECV can pull into the car and has enough space to turn around so they can easily exit? I'm guessing they're just backed on a normal car. I'm imagining that a CM would have them lined up on the loading platform and ready for the car as it approaches so that all they have to do is literally go straight back through the open door. I'm thinking it will be much easier than loading on to a bus as all the "maneuvering" is done on the loading platform and the movement to get in the car is a straight line (albeit one in reverse). But I could be totally wrong. Again...genuinely curious.

 

[larryz]

I'm curious as to how the ECVs are loaded (genuinely curious...not stir-the-pot curious). Are they backed on to the car so they can easily exit? Or are there special cars that don't have a bench seat on one side so that the ECV can pull into the car and has enough space to turn around so they can easily exit? I'm guessing they're just backed on a normal car. I'm imagining that a CM would have them lined up on the loading platform and ready for the car as it approaches so that all they have to do is literally go straight back through the open door. I'm thinking it will be much easier than loading on to a bus as all the "maneuvering" is done on the loading platform and the movement to get in the car is a straight line (albeit one in reverse). But I could be totally wrong. Again...genuinely curious.

It's a shame they don't have an "ECV Arm" that would connect the ECV directly to the cable...

 

[flynnibus]

Its the bullwheel thats stopped, not the cabins. The cabins and the cable have no method of self movement.

The bullwheel is connected to an engine, and that (like any motor/engine) is designed to be stopped and started.

So? The cable still starts and stops moving... and the cable is supporting many tons of hardware that is changing velocity.

Starting and stopping is wear on the transmission, brakes, grips, and yes, on the cable (changing the inertia of the cabins causes more load on the cable and grips). The real topic is not *IF* it causes wear but if system is engineered to handle the wear within the cycles it's spec'd for. And the simple answer to this is... it is, or simply it will cause shorter service cycles and lifespans. The system would be way over-engineered to make sure such loads don't create immediate problems, but like all materials, the system is tested and engineered to last a number of cycles. And the operator is responsible for keeping the system within those operating parameters and life-cycles.

Given the design of wire cables... I'm far less concerned about wear in them, but more about the long term fatigue in the supports and friction systems.

I wonder what the overhaul time periods look like for these 365 day systems.

 

[trainplane3]

It's a shame they don't have an "ECV Arm" that would connect the ECV directly to the cable...
View attachment 220053

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE AC?????? AND THE RAIN?? WHAT IF IT'S WINDY?!




Ok I'm done. I think I hit all the points.

 

[Gatorboy]

no, you forgot there will be no bus option

Or bus drivers to get the inside info

 

[MisterPenguin]

God, I love this thread!!! I'm going to miss it once these things are up and running.

Pick a random thread....

 

[TiggerDad]

Any new construction pictures? I want to see some ladders.

The ladder is over at Toy Story Land this week, so you'll have to wait on ladder pix of the gondola construction.

 

[trainplane3]

no, you forgot there will be no bus option

Or bus drivers to get the inside info

Oh my god I'm a failure.

 

[Bender123]

Maybe they'll just have the guests with ECVs drive to their destination. Problem solved.

You laugh, but how many ECVs can they pack into a park before there becomes a safety need for a separate ECV lane at the parks...The number of people I see get hit/cutoff by ECV pilots is ever increasing. I ended up with a gash on my leg last Monday from one. I am actually all for the mouse taking action to segregate the ECVs from the walking folks.

 

[MissPixie]

You laugh, but how many ECVs can they pack into a park before there becomes a safety need for a separate ECV lane at the parks...The number of people I see get hit/cutoff by ECV pilots is ever increasing. I ended up with a gash on my leg last Monday from one. I am actually all for the mouse taking action to segregate the ECVs from the walking folks.

I have seen that many times myself where the driver hits into a person, but I have also seen numerous times when walkers stop dead in there tracks right in front of the ECV driver to look at their phone or map and the drive has to make a sudden stop or quick swirve to get out the way. I have also seen many walkers walk right in front of the ECV drivers not paying attention at all. So it does work both ways.

As for the whole Gondala system I would think the company would have something in place to make it work as smooth as possible for those using ECV's.

 

[GCTales]

So? The cable still starts and stops moving... and the cable is supporting many tons of hardware that is changing velocity.

Starting and stopping is wear on the transmission, brakes, grips, and yes, on the cable (changing the inertia of the cabins causes more load on the cable and grips). The real topic is not *IF* it causes wear but if system is engineered to handle the wear within the cycles it's spec'd for. And the simple answer to this is... it is, or simply it will cause shorter service cycles and lifespans. The system would be way over-engineered to make sure such loads don't create immediate problems, but like all materials, the system is tested and engineered to last a number of cycles. And the operator is responsible for keeping the system within those operating parameters and life-cycles.

Given the design of wire cables... I'm far less concerned about wear in them, but more about the long term fatigue in the supports and friction systems.

I wonder what the overhaul time periods look like for these 365 day systems.

If I understand the system correctly, the cable keeps moving.... The cars detach from the cable when they enter the station.... So, except for when it is shut down completely, there is no regular and repetitive start / stop wear.

Further, since these are an off the shelf system and have already been frequently operated in environments where they are planned to run 365 days a year... Am sure there is planned inspection process and maintenance that takes into account long term wear on the cable.

 

[Bender123]

You're missing the point.
There are few places in this world where people rent ECVs for the week and drive the around.

WDW is one of them.

It will take a fair amount of skill for someone to board a moving vehicle with their motorized vehicle.

I've seen a single ECV take 10 minutes to load on a bus before, with the assistance of the driver.

Imagine, 10 minutes... that is 50 cycles of the gondola.

Put another way: a line of 400 people backing up.

We'll see what happens. Maybe it won't be an issue. I hope so.

But I certainly am not going to be as cavalier as you are in essentially stating Disney will just tell them to kiss off.

Disney will solve for it when it becomes a problem.

#1: The cars are not attached to the rope at the station and can be slowed or stopped (even removed to a siding) independently from the cabs in motion. Your statement makes no sense after a basic review of the technology. The cabs disengage from the rope at the station.

#2: See number 1...it doesn't really matter how long it takes to load an ECV, because they aren't depending on the rope speed to load and can be loaded on a siding without stopping the system.

#3: I can imagine ten minutes, but see #1 and #2...the current technology makes this point moot, again, because you don't seem to understand how a gondola system works.

#4: At an estimated 5000 ppl/hr and being part of a hotel system, where not everybody is rushing the park or exit at the same time, this simply, based on statistics and common sense, wont happen. You are serving some large hotels, but the vast majority of people arrive at different times and leave at different times. At any rate, the current bus load is about 50 people if you really cram people in. Now lets go with the standard 20 minute cycle time and road time and you get a low side 150 ppl/hr at normal load and about 300 ppl/hr at high staffing. The system will be able to move, at a conservative estimate, 10 times ore than the current system, which is strained, but still fairly adequate. 400 people standing in line rarely happens now with a batch based bus system, so its extraordinarily unlikely to happen in a continuous cycle system without massively increasing the load at the end of the system.

Yes...there may be delays or tech issues, but doing a moderate level of research shows that most of your issues really don't exist in this system.

 

[Incomudro]

You laugh, but how many ECVs can they pack into a park before there becomes a safety need for a separate ECV lane at the parks...The number of people I see get hit/cutoff by ECV pilots is ever increasing. I ended up with a gash on my leg last Monday from one. I am actually all for the mouse taking action to segregate the ECVs from the walking folks.

I'm not laughing.
These are electric motor vehicles.
They are a nuisance.

 

[Goob]

I would be thrilled if Disney would require all of these ECV rental company's to force all customers to present a doctors written note. That way, just being lazy won't get you an ECV.

 

[marni1971]

You laugh, but how many ECVs can they pack into a park before there becomes a safety need...

I don't laugh... I find it disgraceful. It's like Wall-E.

Reminds me of a guest who parked their vehicle outside Harbor House and then easily walked inside. I won't go into hidden physical issues or guest sizes or anything... short version is she parked it right up against the outward opening exit only door. Cut to a strong male trying to open the door from inside. He gave the door a huge shove and over went the ECV, contents and all. No sympathy.