News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[AEfx]

Actually them being all steel would make it a faraday cage and make it the safest place in a Thunderstorm.

It doesn't even have to only be steel - it's just like a car - the interior passenger design itself lets the metal outside shield you. There is an old wives tale about the rubber in the tires protecting you in motor vehicles, but your tires would have to be bigger than your car to do that.

That's why when people in motor accidents get electrocuted by downed power lines, it happens when they get out of their vehicle.

 

[JoeCamel]

It doesn't even have to only be steel - it's just like a car - the interior passenger design itself lets the metal outside shield you. There is an old wives tale about the rubber in the tires protecting you in motor vehicles, but your tires would have to be bigger than your car to do that.

That's why when people in motor accidents get electrocuted by downed power lines, it happens when they get out of their vehicle.

Well that two but tires are made with carbon so they are conductive.

 

[DisAl]

The greatest danger from lightning would not be while you were in the gondola, it would be while you were entering or exiting that gondola. As others have mentioned while you are in the metal gondola you are well shielded. Other than possible damage to your laundry, lightning discharges would pass harmlessly around you just like it does when lightning strikes an airliner. However, even with every support tower grounded there will be a voltage gradient at every point where the lightning strike is being dissipated into the ground. So imagine you are stepping from the gondola to the ground when lightning strikes the support cable somewhere nearby. YOU just became an additional ground path.
I guess that means a 3:00 p.m. shutdown every day in the summer.

 

[roj2323]

I'm quite impressed by the ease of which this thread goes off topic.

How about a construction update?

 

[DisAl]

Just curious.... Is this system going to be one with a continuously moving support cable that the gondola attaches to or a fixed support cable with a separate pull cable to move the gondolas?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Just curious.... Is this system going to be one with a continuously moving support cable that the gondola attaches to or a fixed support cable with a separate pull cable to move the gondolas?

Neither.

One rope (with no electric). Gondolas unattach in the station and re-clamp down on the rope when ready to leave the station.

 

[DisAl]

Neither.

One rope (with no electric). Gondolas unattach in the station and re-clamp down on the rope when ready to leave the station.

Okay, then it is the first type, a continuously moving loop of cable which the gondolas attach to when dispatched. SOMETHING has to move.

 

[GCTales]

Okay, then it is the first type, a continuously moving loop of cable which the gondolas attach to when dispatched. SOMETHING has to move.

Rumor is that it will likely be one of Dopplemayr's detachable gondola systems- 8 person per gondola capability

Possibly their new D line-
https://www.doppelmayr.com/en/products/new-d-line/

 

[GoofGoof]

Okay, then it is the first type, a continuously moving loop of cable which the gondolas attach to when dispatched. SOMETHING has to move.

The current rumor which I think is pretty solid at this point is a single cable system.

 

[DisAl]

The current rumor which I think is pretty solid at this point is a single cable system.

Technically that makes the most sense and would be the simplest to operate. Just a ski lift on steroids with enclosed gondolas. However, if they had them I would love to ride an open seat like a traditional ski lift. Soarin' for real! My wife however, would walk a hundred miles before she would do it.

 

[GoofGoof]

Technically that makes the most sense and would be the simplest to operate. Just a ski lift on steroids with enclosed gondolas. However, if they had them I would love to ride an open seat like a traditional ski lift. Soarin' for real! My wife however, would walk a hundred miles before she would do it.

Yep, the system they are rumored to be going with is pretty common and standard from the manufacturer which definitely makes it cheaper and easier to operate and maintain. The enclosed gondolas will move quite a bit faster than your average skyway type ride but I do enjoy the open air ride too with my feet dangling and the wind in my face. It can get cold though on a ski mountain...I guess not a problem in FL.

 

[DisAl]

Yep, the system they are rumored to be going with is pretty common and standard from the manufacturer which definitely makes it cheaper and easier to operate and maintain. The enclosed gondolas will move quite a bit faster than your average skyway type ride but I do enjoy the open air ride too with my feet dangling and the wind in my face. It can get cold though on a ski mountain...I guess not a problem in FL.

No snow, just bugs in your teeth.

 

[marni1971]

Not in that context. They have busses on stand by for the monorail but that doesn't mean they aren't in use. I could have chosen better words granted.

I think you should have done.

P.S. missing you.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Personally, I really, really like the idea of the gondola from the International Gateway to the Epcot monorail platform fabulous.

Sure, for some, it would expedite their travel from the MK resorts to their meal in France: Monorail to Epcot, then Gondola to IG without touching the ground.

But for me, my only stay at the Beach Club was nice to catch Illuminations at a whim (so nice!) but I didn't enjoy my time at Epcot nearly as much as I usually did - on getting home, I realized that a significant aspect of my pleasure in Epcot is its presentation (same as entering MK). I love going in through/under SE and then progressing from there. When entering through the IG, it felt akin to showing up in MK at Frontierland - sure, it would be great to hit Splash Mountain and BTMRR easily, but then you don't experience the castle entry and it throws off the experience. It's a large portion of why I've not returned to an Epcot resort.

So for me, I'd take the gondola from any of the Epcot resorts to the main Epcot entrance to preserve its presentation.

I salute your good taste and sense for the subtle essentials.

I always, always, enter EPCOT from the monorail. Not just the front entrance, but by monorail. I have been dropped off in the EPCOT parking lot by off-site hotel buses, only for me to take the monorail to the TTC, and then straight back to EPCOT.
I will only stray from this after my first visit to EPCOT of any trip, and even then reluctantly, but at least then the opening act has been played out that trip.

Presentation and theatrics are everything.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Okay, then it is the first type, a continuously moving loop of cable which the gondolas attach to when dispatched. SOMETHING has to move.

Technically that makes the most sense and would be the simplest to operate. Just a ski lift on steroids with enclosed gondolas. However, if they had them I would love to ride an open seat like a traditional ski lift. Soarin' for real! My wife however, would walk a hundred miles before she would do it.

I think you may be missing the point of detachability.

Most ski lifts have a non-detachable anchor to the rope (i.e., the cable). When the lift gets to the 'end' of a circuit, it whips around the turning gear at the same speed it was always traveling. Skiers have to quickly hop off and slide out of the way.

These detachable gondolas, when they get into the station, de-clamp from the rope. They are no longer moved by the cable. The cable goes whizzing past them. Instead, the gondolas move slowly by some usually rubber wheels giving people ample time to get in and out. Then, when it's the next to go, it re-clamps onto the rope and speeds off at the velocity of the cable.

 

[DisAl]

I think you may be missing the point of detachability.

Most ski lifts have a non-detachable anchor to the rope (i.e., the cable). When the lift gets to the 'end' of a circuit, it whips around the turning gear at the same speed it was always traveling. Skiers have to quickly hop off and slide out of the way.

These detachable gondolas, when they get into the station, de-clamp from the rope. They are no longer moved by the cable. The cable goes whizzing past them. Instead, the gondolas move slowly by some usually rubber wheels giving people ample time to get in and out. Then, when it's the next to go, it re-clamps onto the rope and speeds off at the velocity of the cable.

No, I am not missing anything. The requirement to detach the gondolas for passenger loading and unloading is obvious. My initial question was whether this was a single moving cable type system like a ski lift; that has now been answered.
Remember the old Skyway over the Magic Kingdom? If I remember correctly that worked in a similar manor. That was one of my favorite things to do before they took it down.

 

[Goofyernmost]

No snow, just bugs in your teeth.

Solution: Quit your damn smiling. Don't you realize that you are subject to not only electrocution in a thunderstorm, but, being roasted to death in the Florida heat if the ride ever stops for some reason. It's a disaster waiting to happen, I tell ya! You will have no reason to smile, therefore... no splattered bugs on teeth.

Spoiler

In the accidental event that the sarcasm button wasn't pushed the previous paragraph was pure, unadulterated sarcasm.

 

[DisAl]

Solution: Quit your damn smiling. Don't you realize that you are subject to not only electrocution in a thunderstorm, but, being roasted to death in the Florida heat if the ride ever stops for some reason. It's a disaster waiting to happen, I tell ya! You will have no reason to smile, therefore... no splattered bugs on teeth.

Spoiler

In the accidental event that the sarcasm button wasn't pushed the previous paragraph was pure, unadulterated sarcasm.

I have actually been bitten by induced voltage from a lightning strike. Got a scar on my thumb to prove it.
I have been to Disney World in August and roasted ALMOST to death.
A few bugs don't scare me! Just a little added protein to top off that last Mickey Bar!!!
I will still keep coming to WDW and it will take the undertaker three weeks to get the smile off my face...
(FYI Goofyernmost I love sarcasm.)

 

[cosmicgirl]

Why no one has brought up the possible risk of St Elmo's fire is beyond me. Cue the ToT spiel: "this gondola travels directly to....the Twilight Zone".

 

[MisterPenguin]

What about Langoliers!?