News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[GoofGoof]

I'll just leave this right here... a visualization of what buildings are required to withstand..
View attachment 190365
https://www.floridabuilding.org/fbc/publications/fbc.pdf

Because... minimum 100mph building code standards would be so.. odd.. for an area not expecting to be hit by storms..

So according to this the gondola stations and structure would need to be built to withstand 100mph winds. There's no reason to assume then that the gondola systems would be destroyed if a hurricane does strike the area unless maybe it was a category 5 which would be pretty rare that far in-land. I think that puts to bed the issue of building this where hurricanes are possible. It's a non-issue.

 

[GoofGoof]

What if any information do we have for hypothesizing about the heights of the gondolas?

My fingers are crossed that they don't rise much above the treetops, for sightline reasons - from the gondolas and from the parks and resorts (and Boardwalk).

Also, how likely do we think it is that the cabins will be custom-designed?

No reason to go higher than they need to. The higher you go the more expensive so I would expect they build as low as they can. One area that may need to be slightly higher is the stretch over CBR if it actually goes over the hotel buildings. I think those are only 2 story buildings so even that doesn't need to be that high. The rest crosses open land, roads and parking lots so I wouldn't see a need to go any higher than the monorail does.

 

[GoofGoof]

Ya the Disney crowd looks nothing like the ski crowd and I would think they will make up new, interest and totally annoying ways to screw this up. LOL.

For those of you who haven't been to a ski resort, plain and simple. The ski crowd is in much better shape, thinner and better looking. Along with they just are more self capable people. The Disney crowd is more a statement of being a first world person.

I've been skiing a bunch of times in the Poconos in PA does that qualify me as part of the ski crowd or do I need to go to a "real" mountain

I do think they will need to keep a large open floor space on the gondolas for wheelchairs, strollers and ECVs which is something that ski resorts never have to deal with. It will probably lower the overall capacity a little. From the examples I have seen the gondolas should be moving slow enough at load/unload to easily accommodate strollers and experienced wheelchair users. Where there may be an issue is guests who have rented an ECV and are not as familiar with operating it. I've seen bus drivers pull people's scooters on to the bus because they can't get it to work. I assume that if that happens they will need to stop the whole line like when someone falls getting off of a simple ski lift. It could slow things down some.

 

[Lets Respect]

I think as long as they have buses for ECVs they won't have to accommodate them on the gondolas.

 

[GoofGoof]

I think as long as they have buses for ECVs they won't have to accommodate them on the gondolas.

Except for issues with the gondolas running I can't see them continuing to run buses to CBR, Pop or AoA for EPCOT or DHS. Similar to how the monorail resorts don't run buses to MK or EPCOT and BC/YC doesn't have a bus to DHS. I'm pretty sure the gondolas will have to accommodate ECVs just like boats and the monorail.

 

[flynnibus]

So according to this the gondola stations and structure would need to be built to withstand 100mph winds. There's no reason to assume then that the gondola systems would be destroyed if a hurricane does strike the area unless maybe it was a category 5 which would be pretty rare that far in-land. I think that puts to bed the issue of building this where hurricanes are possible. It's a non-issue.

I agree its always been a non issue in terms of 'surviving' because they'd engineer and build it to code.. which is spec'd to survive hurricane force winds. What their operating envelope in terms of winds would be.. I guess its a matter of how far they want to invest.

I find it odd people seem to forget these systems are primarily used in extreme mountain areas.. which apparently most don't realize are WINDY LIKE $%$@#$%.

I just had to respond to the ludicrous statements that Central Florida and hurricanes shouldn't be mentioned together because they don't take direct hits often.

 

[flynnibus]

No reason to go higher than they need to. The higher you go the more expensive so I would expect they build as low as they can. One area that may need to be slightly higher is the stretch over CBR if it actually goes over the hotel buildings. I think those are only 2 story buildings so even that doesn't need to be that high. The rest crosses open land, roads and parking lots so I wouldn't see a need to go any higher than the monorail does.

I'd imagine it would go higher than the monorails - simply for the reason the height between the bottom of the gondolas and top of the cable system is quite significant... and you don't want the cabins close enough to the ground that you have to make it all an exclusion area. You want clearance underneth otherwise you've just created a no-mans land barrier for miles and miles.. worse than a road. You probably need the gondolas themselves to be at least as high as the monorail beam.. Just IMHO

 

[flynnibus]

I think as long as they have buses for ECVs they won't have to accommodate them on the gondolas.

No - for the same reason they have to accommodate ECVs on the monorails today... even tho they have bus alternatives.

It's a non-issue... I really wish people would accept that and move on... like 60 pages ago. The biggest issue is SPEED at load and how they will address it (moving platform or spur for loading, etc). ECVs on the gondolas themselves is nothing.

 

[lazyboy97o]

So according to this the gondola stations and structure would need to be built to withstand 100mph winds. There's no reason to assume then that the gondola systems would be destroyed if a hurricane does strike the area unless maybe it was a category 5 which would be pretty rare that far in-land. I think that puts to bed the issue of building this where hurricanes are possible. It's a non-issue.

Everything inside the Reedy Creek Improvement District must also be built to the EPCOT Building Code, which has to be more restrictive than the Florida Building Code.

 

[marni1971]

So here is a thought:

There have been discussions of an attraction in the space in France.

What if that is actually the WDWG station for EPCOT?

It is not.

 

[GoofGoof]

I'd imagine it would go higher than the monorails - simply for the reason the height between the bottom of the gondolas and top of the cable system is quite significant... and you don't want the cabins close enough to the ground that you have to make it all an exclusion area. You want clearance underneth otherwise you've just created a no-mans land barrier for miles and miles.. worse than a road. You probably need the gondolas themselves to be at least as high as the monorail beam.. Just IMHO

Sorry, that's what I meant, just didn't word it right. The clearance between the ground and the bottom of the gondolas probably doesn't need to be any different than ground to monorail beam if crossing a road or parking lot.

 

[Pam Hates Penguins]

Would this go right next to the monorail tracks?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Would this go right next to the monorail tracks?

No. The map on the first post is quite accurate.

 

[Pam Hates Penguins]

No. The map on the first post is quite accurate.

Sorry. I didn't see.

 

[Lets Respect]

Except for issues with the gondolas running I can't see them continuing to run buses to CBR, Pop or AoA for EPCOT or DHS. Similar to how the monorail resorts don't run buses to MK or EPCOT and BC/YC doesn't have a bus to DHS. I'm pretty sure the gondolas will have to accommodate ECVs just like boats and the monorail.

They may keep them just as backup or overflow. And to accommodate ECVs more easily. You never see a scooter on a NYC subway, it's sort of known that the buses are the way to go

 

[lazyboy97o]

They may keep them just as backup or overflow. And to accommodate ECVs more easily. You never see a scooter on a NYC subway, it's sort of known that the buses are the way to go

With level entry, the gondolas would be more accessible than the buses.

 

[Pam Hates Penguins]

With level entry, the gondolas would be more accessible than the buses.

Buses take forever to wait for.

 

[NoTime42]

France is inside the security perimeter but it is also inside the ticketing perimeter. Don't see them letting gondola riders into EPCOT without paying. Also a straight line from the boardwalk building goes just behind France and straight to the IG.

FWIW, Disney has security screening and ticketing before you can board the Disneyland monorail in DTD.
But I think that would be a poor idea in the Epcot area if they want to promote resort restaurant hopping.

 

[Disney-Trains]

Not anymore... The Downtown Disney Monorail station, and all of downtown Disney, is within the same "secure bubble" as the parks. But the ticket scanners are still there of course.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Any idea what they'd call this? I have a feeling they'll try to give it a more unique name than WDW Gondola System.