News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[EvilChameleon]

Will be very interested in keeping up with any news this brings. Transportation is boring everywhere else in the world except Disney World.

 

[RobbinsDad]

I love racing the Friendship boats. I feel like some kind of super human.

I walked the route backwards (most of the way) while pushing a stroller once. It was laughable how much faster I was than the Friendship.

 

[George]

Gondolas and a Sky-ride are very low capacity, very susceptible to weather (wind and lightning) are incredibly unreliable, and do not have adequate climate control for a Florida. (No AC).

Would be old school Disney though. Something cool that moves that lots of people could look at, fun to ride once in a while when you weren't in a hurry, and no big deal if it was closed when weather was bad. I say huzzah and hooray.

 

[danlb_2000]

I walked the route backwards (most of the way) while pushing a stroller once. It was laughable how much faster I was than the Friendship.

On my last trip I walked 56 miles. I am thankful for anything that can help keep that mileage under control, even if it does take longer.

 

[George]

On my last trip I walked 56 miles. I am thankful for anything that can help keep that mileage under control, even if it does take longer.

I like whizzing 3 to 4 feet over the ground with my jet pack. I used to think the CMs throwing themselves at me were just being playful. Thanks to the letter I just received (I'm assuming I'm interpreting the legal mumbo jumbo correctly) I am now starting the get the vague impression that I was in violation of some convoluted rule and some fraction of the aforementioned CMs were trying to stop me.

 

[Nemo14]

I like whizzing 3 to 4 feet over the ground with my jet pack. I used to think the CMs throwing themselves at me were just being playful. Thanks to the letter I just received (I'm assuming I'm interpreting the legal mumbo jumbo correctly) I am now starting the get the vague impression that I was in violation of some convoluted rule and some fraction of the aforementioned CMs were trying to stop me.

rules, shmules I say!

 

[bhg469]

Interesting indeed.. Those resort fees are just early I guess.

 

[roj2323]

Why not? Seems like the capacity could actually be pretty high.

I would assume gondolas would be individually motorized as opposed to being attached to a constantly moving line, right? The latter would have higher capacity, but would make load/unload more difficult especially since these would have to be large enough for a number of people as well as strollers, wheelchairs, etc.

Edit: in searching the web, I found this article from 2013 that proposed a gondola system for WDW. It suggests they have a "high capacity moving over 10,000 people an hour"

That was truly interesting to watch and read.

 

[Creathir]

My guess is a Personal Rapid Transit system similar to:
http://www.ultraglobalprt.com/

The big challenge in the past with systems like this was processing ability. Computers are so small and common enough that this is no longer an issue.

Walt Disney himself would have built something like this had it been around in the '60s.

What better way to showcase new clean, eco friendly transportation than at WDW, traveling to the newly created DVC property at CBR...

Hop in your pod with your family, select your destination, and away you go, arriving in a short amount of time.

 

[TiggerDad]

View attachment 189690

From the CBR renovation thread. The location of the elbow shape buildings are not consistent with a boarding station. Same goes for the one located in the middle of the boardwalk parking lot. This seems more like a system to transport to and from The pop century area to and from Epcot and the studios. Seems like the ones who loose the most are those at CBR who have this thing cutting straight through the middle of the resort.

Read the rest of that thread. Half of CBR is being demolished and replaced with new multistory buildings, one of which is adjacent to the station by pond E4. Those new buildings will be something different than CBR.

 

[GoofGoof]

Why not? Seems like the capacity could actually be pretty high.

I would assume gondolas would be individually motorized as opposed to being attached to a constantly moving line, right? The latter would have higher capacity, but would make load/unload more difficult especially since these would have to be large enough for a number of people as well as strollers, wheelchairs, etc.

Edit: in searching the web, I found this article from 2013 that proposed a gondola system for WDW. It suggests they have a "high capacity moving over 10,000 people an hour"

Interesting read and video attached. This makes it seem possible and it covers both the issue of capacity and the issue of cost. As labor costs continue to rise I think this kind of "automated" transportation solution at WDW makes a lot of sense. The one issue I can still see is lightning. What happens if there's a storm? Do they still need to have backup buses and drivers?

 

[Slowjack]

While I would love to see a PRT system, monorail addition, or light rail, if this is a transportation system (big if), then a Skyway is what fits the facts. Those elbow-shaped buildings make perfect sense for cable cars but your don't build rail systems with corners like that.

 

[Creathir]

While I would love to see a PRT system, monorail addition, or light rail, if this is a transportation system (big if), then a Skyway is what fits the facts. Those elbow-shaped buildings make perfect sense for cable cars but your don't build rail systems with corners like that.

PRT is not rail necessarily.

The biggest argument against it is the lack of support infrastructure, but then again a gondola system would also need this as well and it's not accounted for.

 

[larryz]

Moving sidewalks. No need for complex pulleys and transfer points...

 

[surfsupdon]

Such interesting news. We gotta keep an eye over at CaribbeanBeach. So much could be happening!

 

[monothingie]

Read the rest of that thread. Half of CBR is being demolished and replaced with new multistory buildings, one of which is adjacent to the station by pond E4. Those new buildings will be something different than CBR.

I am quite familiar with the thread. Since it seems you didn't read it too well, the building being demolished are not in the line of site to which this new transportation system is being installed in. This system will pass through/over Aruba and Jamaica. Further the building Being proposed for CBR lacks the size to be a full station as well as the fact that having a load point in the middle of gondola system is not very practical.

 

[Slowjack]

PRT is not rail necessarily.

I know that, but I haven't seen a PRT system based on cable cars. The PRT system you linked to uses electric cars on guided beamways, and while that's not exactly rail, it seems to present the same general profile as rail in terms of grade and curvature issues.

The biggest argument against it is the lack of support infrastructure, but then again a gondola system would also need this as well and it's not accounted for.

We don't know enough about this project (if it is indeed "a" project, and not several, unrelated projects) to say what it is, and there are definitely pieces missing, whatever it turns out to be. I'm just saying that we shouldn't say it generally suggests a transportation system and then try to guess what that system is, because I think it really only fits one system. The elbow building in the NW corner of the Caribbean Beach Resort, for example--there's no reason I can see to put that so far north and east in that section, if you would building anything with beams or guideways. It only makes sense if travel is constrained to straight-line segments.

 

[peter11435]

I am quite familiar with the thread. Since it seems you didn't read it too well, the building being demolished are not in the line of site to which this new transportation system is being installed in. This system will pass through/over Aruba and Jamaica. Further the building Being proposed for CBR lacks the size to be a full station as well as the fact that having a load point in the middle of gondola system is not very practical.

The plans seen so far do not rule out that Aruba and or Jamaica won't be demolished as well.

 

[Slowjack]

Further the building Being proposed for CBR lacks the size to be a full station as well as the fact that having a load point in the middle of gondola system is not very practical.

There are multiple buildings being constructed in CBR in these permits. I thin you are referring to the elbow building in the NW section. There's a much larger building in the previously undeveloped SW section which presumably would be the CBR station.

 

[peter11435]

I am quite familiar with the thread. Since it seems you didn't read it too well, the building being demolished are not in the line of site to which this new transportation system is being installed in. This system will pass through/over Aruba and Jamaica. Further the building Being proposed for CBR lacks the size to be a full station as well as the fact that having a load point in the middle of gondola system is not very practical.

Also you can definetely have a load point in the middle of the system. There are several examples of this around the world