News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Skyman1971 said:
Getting rid of the monorail would be destroying one of the greatest icons WD ever created. I could not imagine that would ever happen...but who knows I guess....
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Here is what the future of the monorail looks like to me.

I think you will end up with a dedicated ring that serves only the MK resorts and the MK. Then a second line that serves the MK and Epcot stations only. Eventually the TTC will be eliminated. IMO.

And just as a reminder, I was one of the first, if not only posters to mention gondolas as a possibility. And was dismissed as usual.

So you could say I have a "track" record. A monorail pun if you will. :cat:
 
toolsnspools

toolsnspools

Well-Known Member
I think we're missing the green details....
Gondola.PNG

EPCOT to DHS express posted earlier makes a ton of sense too.
 
*Q*

*Q*

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
I should also add whilst the gondolas theirselves will be theme generic, each of the station complexes will be appropriately themed to their location and to existing adjacent (and proposed) buildings.
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Perhaps they'll design them to evoke ye olde Skyway.

marni1971 said:
It would make sense, but I've a.... hunch... other things may happen in the future.
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marni1971 said:
It could be more a when than an if.
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I am freaking excited.
rfc0001 said:
I thought height doesn't matter ;)
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No, that's length.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Coaster Lover said:
Out of curiosity, where did you get that figure? According to the BBC, the London system cost 45 million GBP to build in 2012 (~$72.5 million at that time) and that system was only 1.1 km long (or roughly $106 million per mile). Granted the London system was built over water, built at a MUCH greater height than the WDW system will need to be, and was built in the middle of a major city (all of which would increase costs), but unless there were SEVER cost overruns on the London project, it's hard to imagine a system five years later could be built at 1/10th the cost per mile... then again, like I said, there could have been other factors that substantially increased the cost for the London project...
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I got it from this posted article and the video attached.
doctornick said:
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"
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They were quoting the price as $3 to $12M per mile but it is a few years old and this is Disney so I upped it a little. I was also basing it on the Whistler gondola which covers about 3 miles and cost $50M to build. It connects the peaks of 2 mountains and is significantly taller than anything Disney would need so would be more expensive.

My understanding is the London project had pretty large budget overruns. The original budget was 25M pounds and the major driver of cost overruns was the cost to purchase the land needed. That's not an issue with Disney.
Tonka's Skipper said:
Goof,

1. I did say relatively low and 4000 covered those large resorts and parks is relative low.

2. I agree and made the same point you are in a later post.

3. ! agree...just another expense.

I am sorry, but I am one of the folks that disagree on the monorail costs..........at 10 to 15 mil per mile the gondola and the monorails will not be that far apart.

AKK
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Capacity is relative to what you compare it to. I've read that the monorail has an hourly capacity of about 7,000 guests so if this system comes in between 4,000 and 5,000 each direction as speculated it would be "relatively" close to the monorail.

No way anyone is building a monorail for $10 to $15M per mile. The stations alone will blow the budgets way over the top since they need to be elevated. It shouldn't cost $85M per mile like the Vegas monorail either, but it's still gotta be much cheaper to build the gondola system. It's way cheaper to buy and install cable than it is to install metal or concrete tracks and supports.
 
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2351metalcloud

Active Member
rreading said:
So I have not read all 43 pages of this topic, so apologies if it's already been covered. My excitement about this suggestion is that to me, this is exactly what Animal Kingdom Lodge needs to get to AK; traveling over the animals of the lodge and then wrapping around to the front entrance of the park would be such a nice addition to that resort. Also, it would make scooting over to a meal at Boma or Jiko from AK so much easier/more pleasant.
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[URL="
 
TimeTrip

TimeTrip

Well-Known Member
I'm especially interested in what they're going to do at the large station (HUB?).

In theory, HS is coming in from the west, Pop/AoA from the south, and IG to the north. That's 3 lines coming into one location.

I wouldn't think they would have a setup advanced enough to have a merging system. It would probably either be:
  1. HS <-> HUB, HUB <-> IG, and PoP/AoA <-> HUB. The simplest. Pop/AoA to either park is a transfer. HS to IG is a transfer, or
  2. HS <-> HUB <-> IG. and Pop/AoA <-> HUB. Pop/AoA folks would need to transfer for either park... or
  3. HS <-> HUB <-> Pop/AoA and HUB <-> IG. PoP/AoA would need to transfer for IG. HS to IG is a transfer
  4. HS <-> HUB, Pop/AoA <-> HUB <-> IG. HS to IG would need to transfer. Pop/AoA would need to transfer to get to and from HS...
Perhaps they'll go all out, and have dual lines from the HUB to DHS, and dual lines from HUB to IG, and just have the Pop/AoA lines ride on their own dedicated line...

My guess is option #1.. Cheapest and least complicated and most convenient for CBR guests only.
 
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Rodan75

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
Nubs70 said:
As a skier myself, how do you see the size of WDW clientele affecting gondola operation?

Several large adults on one side and small children on the other, the cab is going to come into the terminal sideways .
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I'm sure some smart skinny person will jump in to assist. :rolleyes:
 
rfc0001

rfc0001

Active Member
macfreak said:
someone mentioned about the cost. Well Its not been maybe 2 years since Disney redid all the rooms at CBR. Completly remodel not just a paint job. Putting the doors in the doorway to the vanity rather then the curtin. New lights, the trundle bed in some rooms and then they painted all the outsides right around that time. So now Disney is going to demolish a quarter of the resort and build new buildings so why not the gondola? I would think it would bring value to the resort and save money over running the busses
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All of which point heavily to the expansion being a DVC resort, so eager new member can foot the bill for all the expansion (and a significant chunk of the gondola) ;)
 

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