News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[Creathir]

I think they put the turn station where they did because first, it keeps the line away from backstage Epcot as much as possible, and second, the other option would have been the large plot of land behind American Adventure which they may be saving for other things. The land they did use is just big enough for the station.

As previously mentioned, I'm surprised they spent as much as they did to route it all the way to the IG.
I'd have just gone straight into the rear of the Italian or German pavilions.

 

[Creathir]

Won't the weight of the people inside have a dampening effect?

Yes, for sure.
She won't get a Ferris Wheel with me though either for the same reason (sway) so a video of the gondolas swaying would seal the deal in her mind.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Ugh... just imagine a couple of high schoolers (or immature adults) deliberately trying to make a gondola sway, particularly in a situation like the one in the video from BlogMickey.

Not that this would dissuade me from riding on the gondolas. Wary, yes, but stop me, probably not (as I sit here writing this at this moment in time).

 

[lentesta]

Have to ask a physicist to be sure, but I think the weight is only one aspect, it's more the motion of the guests inside that may either counteract the sway or amplify it. Counteracting would work, I believe, similar to the tuned mass damper of a skyscraper.

Tuned Mass Damper of Taipei 101

Enormous pendulum helps keep Taiwan's tallest building from swaying.

www.atlasobscura.com

This is literally the video I had in mind when I asked about dampening.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

When will Disney crank up the prices on Pop and AoA??? AKL is a deluxe resort and their only transportation is the bus. It will be interesting to see if there is a bump in prices in late fall when we are closer to SW:GE opening up.

I booked a trip for my Jan/Feb 2020....My room prices were showing the prices for 2019....They did say to expect to see a price change come by next year (But, this is the norm for every year)...But as of right now my prices showed for my 10 days
Sundays - $129
Monday - Wednesday - $119
Friday & Saturday - $156

 

[marni1971]

I wonder if this is at least one reason Martin has backed off on the possibility of an earlier opening: http://blogmickey.com/2019/03/disney-skyliner-evacuation-points-at-caribbean-beach-resort/

Grief. They’re the first photos I’ve seen of Aruba recently.

It’s bad.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Have to ask a physicist to be sure, but I think the weight is only one aspect, it's more the motion of the guests inside that may either counteract the sway or amplify it. Counteracting would work, I believe, similar to the tuned mass damper of a skyscraper.

Tuned Mass Damper of Taipei 101

Enormous pendulum helps keep Taiwan's tallest building from swaying.

www.atlasobscura.com

As other's mentioned, with more 'weight' there is more mass and more resistance to motion. So, a full gondola will be more resistant to getting big swings... at first. But with more mass comes more momentum, that, once started, will be slower to stop.

Physics tells you otherwise... forces unless opposing will continue unabated. So cross-winds are still gonna be blowing side to side no matter the forward movement.

Tho moving through the towers would likely dampen movement some with all the extra contact and movement.

There's also the fluid dynamics of the air compressed in the forward direction, speeding by both sides, and then turbulence in the wake. That will provide some cushioning from cross wind.

 

[pdude81]

As previously mentioned, I'm surprised they spent as much as they did to route it all the way to the IG.
I'd have just gone straight into the rear of the Italian or German pavilions.

But that would require a new entrance that goes through backstage areas, over a major road, possibly the fire station, and another body of water to drop you off in the WS that isn't open at 9am. Plus if they put it in an expansion pad that would cut down on another potential growth space.

 

[iowamomof4]

Grief. They’re the first photos I’ve seen of Aruba recently.

It’s bad.

It really is awful. I've been hearing reports from folks who are staying there and struggling to find their way to their rooms through the maze of fencing.

 

[danlb_2000]

Could you get a straight line from IG to that plot of land without going over parts of the park?

The way I see it, they picked the terminal at IG. They picked the terminal at Riviera. Then drew a straight line, and didn't like the path. After that, it's just dragging a point in that straight line to create 2 new straight lines that only crosses stuff they want to cross, which looks like they didn't want it over any of the parks along the way.

They could have picked other routes, not from Riviera, maybe from CBR or direct from HS. My google maps skills aren't up to the task, but starting from IG and drawing a cone shape out that's not to close to France and stays out of the park on the East, and also not to close to the Boardwalk Conference Center on the West. Those would seem to be the limiting factors getting out of IG to anywhere. To my eye, it doesn't look like anyplace in that cone is someplace where you would put a terminal. Which means it has to be a turn station, and it's just picking which terminal to go to then.

I suppose they could have put a double terminal in the HS parking lot, but sending all IG bound guest to HS first sounds sounds like a poor choice for operations.

It's tight, but they could have done something like this...

 

[mmascari]

As previously mentioned, I'm surprised they spent as much as they did to route it all the way to the IG.
I'd have just gone straight into the rear of the Italian or German pavilions.

But that would require a new entrance that goes through backstage areas, over a major road, possibly the fire station, and another body of water to drop you off in the WS that isn't open at 9am. Plus if they put it in an expansion pad that would cut down on another potential growth space.

Just the "a new entrance" part is hiding lots of operation costs too. Security, ticket gate, guest services, ticket windows. All things that need at least some minimal staff and ongoing staff costs. It's possible that the extra resorts using IG require more of all of those staff members, but it's probably less than having a new independent facility. All independent of the physical infrastructure.

 

[marni1971]

It's tight, but they could have done something like this...

View attachment 354215

A second turn west of the Epcot canal would have eradicated the issues with France, Morocco and some of the CBR.

 

[mmascari]

It's tight, but they could have done something like this...

View attachment 354215

What about the RAT expansion? Isn't that under part of the way this is drawn?

I tried to see if I could dawn a line up the Eastern side with 1 turn station back to the parking lot front entrance. But the BBB get's in the way and the lines end up significantly longer and still require the turn station. So, it didn't help at all.

Straight line access in the built up (or to be built up) area creates more restrictions than one would think, even owning all the land. Plus the presumed desire to keep it all outside the park.

 

[Incomudro]

I booked a trip for my Jan/Feb 2020....My room prices were showing the prices for 2019....They did say to expect to see a price change come by next year (But, this is the norm for every year)...But as of right now my prices showed for my 10 days
Sundays - $129
Monday - $119
Friday & Saturday - $156

They're booking 2020 rooms?
I was on Disney's site earlier, and the option didn't project that far.
Did you book through another means?

 

[danlb_2000]

What about the RAT expansion? Isn't that under part of the way this is drawn?

I tried to see if I could dawn a line up the Eastern side with 1 turn station back to the parking lot front entrance. But the BBB get's in the way and the lines end up significantly longer and still require the turn station. So, it didn't help at all.

Straight line access in the built up (or to be built up) area creates more restrictions than one would think, even owning all the land. Plus the presumed desire to keep it all outside the park.

As I said, it's really tight, probably one of the other reasons they didn't go this route.

 

[flynnibus]

should have done a straight shot over WS, over the lagoon, and to the huge area btween future world and the lagoon. Then they could have sold fireworks seating too

 

[BrerJon]

These gondolas aren't exactly a new concept. Anyone who's been to ski resorts will have been on them and yes, they sway in the wind when they're motionless sure, but so what, they're attached tight to the cables, and it's never for very long. If you can survive the gentle swing of the Soarin' seats, you can survive this.

Besides over at Magic Kingdom people are waiting hours in line for a coaster that swings side to side - here you can experience it with no wait!

 

[iowamomof4]

They're booking 2020 rooms?
I was on Disney's site earlier, and the option didn't project that far.
Did you book through another means?

Yes, you have to call. You can book a room-only reservation something like 499 days ahead of time (I could be off on that, just going off what I remember). The price will adjust when new rack rates are released this June/July.

 

[Creathir]

Just the "a new entrance" part is hiding lots of operation costs too. Security, ticket gate, guest services, ticket windows. All things that need at least some minimal staff and ongoing staff costs. It's possible that the extra resorts using IG require more of all of those staff members, but it's probably less than having a new independent facility. All independent of the physical infrastructure.

Very true. You would need staffing at the second entrance that is not shared between the other two.

Of course, I’m sure they ran the numbers and this was the best approach, I just think it might have solved some of the concerns surrounding forced perspective.

You’re going to get a nice look up backstage with the system as designed, so I’m not sure that’s really a solid argument against coming in at a different point.

 

[JeffAndKaren]

Commence freak-out...

I wonder why the other gondolas shown in that clip are not oscillating near as much (if at all).