News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[Goofyernmost]

Lift Blog posted this:

Someone commented on the risk of being stuck in a gondola there during an earthquake. Probably a valid concern but also not a reason to not build it. I wouldn’t want to be caught on a bridge in an earthquake either but they still build plenty of bridges in CA.

Yea, I did notice that after and corrected it. Actually I would think that bridges are much more problematic then Gondola's. The actual foot print used by the towers is very small and unless it split the earth open right where the gondola towers are located, it probably wouldn't amount to much except a little shaking. There are no seams that come apart like a bridge and it is a single cable instead of a large number connecting not only the length but also the connected width. Even bridges that were affected had no problems with the towers. Just the solid suspended pieces.

 

[flynnibus]

Yea, I did notice that after and corrected it. Actually I would think that bridges are much more problematic then Gondola's. The actual foot print used by the towers is very small and unless it split the earth open right where the gondola towers are located, it probably wouldn't amount to much except a little shaking. There are no seams that come apart like a bridge and it is a single cable instead of a large number connecting not only the length but also the connected width. Even bridges that were affected had no problems with the towers. Just the solid suspended pieces.

You seriously have no idea about earthquakes and structures... or bridges for that matter.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yea, I did notice that after and corrected it. Actually I would think that bridges are much more problematic then Gondola's. The actual foot print used by the towers is very small and unless it split the earth open right where the gondola towers are located, it probably wouldn't amount to much except a little shaking. There are no seams that come apart like a bridge and it is a single cable instead of a large number connecting not only the length but also the connected width. Even bridges that were affected had no problems with the towers. Just the solid suspended pieces.

The only place I want to be during an earthquake is safe here in the Northeast

You seriously have no idea about earthquakes and structures... or bridges for that matter.

I went to a damn good engineering school but majored in business instead so I don’t have much of a formal clue either, but something in my gut just tells me I don’t want to be in a car dangling on a wire between 2 poles even if there was only a little shaking.

 

[MisterPenguin]

What about volcanoes?
https://www.volcanocafe.org/lurking-in-the-swamp-the-florida-volcano/

The magma from a volcano would be a cool and welcome respite from the heat of a gondola.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I'd worry more about the island of Epcot capsizing before I'd worry about earthquakes.....unless of course I were Hank Johnson......then I may have some real concerns about Epcot capsizing.

And yes....albeit very loosely defined - an argument can be made for Epcot being an island. It is completely surrounded by water - more like a moat - but water none the less.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I'd worry more about the island of Epcot capsizing before I'd worry about earthquakes.....unless of course I were Hank Johnson......then I may have some real concerns about Epcot capsizing.

And yes....albeit very loosely defined - an argument can be made for Epcot being an island. It is completely surrounded by water - more like a moat - but water none the less.

With the system of canals running throughout the region, then all the parks, and towns, and neighborhoods in most of Florida are islands by that definition.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

With the system of canals running throughout the region, then all the parks, and towns, and neighborhoods in most of Florida are islands by that definition.

I hear ya. It's loosely based. Granted it's not an island in the traditional sense - the way most think when envisioning an island. But if you go by the text book definition - a body of land surrounded by water - I guess it'd qualify (unless there are carve outs for moats - which there might be). I'd imagine there are a lot of places in Florida that could fall into the standard definition.

 

[rocketraccoon]

The magma from a volcano would be a cool and welcome respite from the heat of a gondola.

And in the 5 days in Winter where people are freezing to death from hypothermia, it'll be a great heater! A win-win.

 

[marni1971]

Tree clearance adjacent to Boardwalk is complete

 

[MinnieM123]

Tree clearance adjacent to Boardwalk is complete

View attachment 329267

Thanks for sharing the photo. I am sorry to see the removal of the trees though, although I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[Goofyernmost]

You seriously have no idea about earthquakes and structures... or bridges for that matter.

Once again, insults with no backup. I never said I did, I was speculating and I'm sure you in your infinite wisdom know everything about it because, well, you are Flynnibus and you know everything there is to know about everything. So I will bow to your superior knowledge on the subject.

In that earthquake in SF back in the 90's, which bridges had the damage that killed a number of people the ones attached by gravity to spaced areas or the one suspended by flexible cable and engineered to restrain twisting of roadways. Gondola's have no roadways, they only have towers. If built on sand, especially landfill sand liquefaction can weaken the single structure, but, the speed of the gondola's is not 60 or 70 miles per hour. It depends on the scenario... if over a large span of water that is a huge problem, if moving slowly over land with many spaced towers, nowhere near as catastrophically dangerous.

NOTE: for those that can't read my signature block, the only time I ever post established fact, I will start out with something to the affect of "As an expert in this field I will state (whatever I state). Otherwise it is always opinion base on what seems logical and likely, not some wild disastrously negative "could happen". We all know anything could happen.

 

[mikejs78]

The only place I want to be during an earthquake is safe here in the Northeast

Hate to burst your bubble, but there are some major fautlines in the northeast... Expect a major earthquake sometime in the next 400 years... On the plus side, looks like WDW is safe...

 

[Smooth]

But what about exploding fireballs!
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-38082752/fireball-dazzles-in-florida-skies-explosion

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Tree clearance adjacent to Boardwalk is complete

View attachment 329267

I was confused by this post at first... an on-topic update... weird...

 

[larryz]

But what about exploding fireballs!
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-38082752/fireball-dazzles-in-florida-skies-explosion

Maybe that was Disney, doing early Gondola product testing?

 

[trainplane3]

Tree clearance adjacent to Boardwalk is complete

View attachment 329267

What camera do you have? To get a picture like that all the way from the UK is pretty incredible...

 

[larryz]

Ummm... I was replying to a post that included an article about gondolas in the San Francisco area

True, but let nobody say that we left any potential threat to the Gondolas in WDW unexplored...

 

[Ripken10]

What camera do you have? To get a picture like that all the way from the UK is pretty incredible...

Does this not explain his insider info? If a window is left open during a meeting...

 

[mmascari]

The Blog Mickey post about Friendship Boat service has a great picture of the IG station. It's significantly taller than I thought. I had always seen the ramp on the left, but from the photo it looks like it raises an entire story not just a slight increase. What I had thought was enough lift to make it easy for the gondolas level entry instead looks like an entire story.

With that change in perspective, the questions about the rate of climb, size of the garden keeping people away, and amount of clearance for people walking by on the path are all changed. Starting an entire story off the ground vs the walking path makes all of those distances easier to understand. All those mock up photoshops guessing at the path spacing effectively had the gondoals 10 feet to low at the start. Much easier to visualize the clearance with the gondola never getting all the way to ground level.

 

[Doug Means]

The gondolas are like boats... you know... gondolas. So, when the big one hits and the ground is liquefied and everything sinks, all that will be left on a marshy plain are the gondolas, the ferries, and the tip of the Dolphin sticking out of the ground.

Well not if the windows break, but for real, the chances of sinking to a depth that will kill you in quicksand is very small