News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[Aries1975]

If you follow the link to the original story on the SI paper and read the comments, they're universally negative: a political boondoggle, too expensive to ride, too many transfers, too hard to get to, and on and on. And in this case, they're probably right

I agree, but I thought it was interesting someone had done a study on this kind of solution. This was the first time I heard of it, so I am not surprised there is no public support. The article basically said, NY is doing this and Bayonne is like 'yes, we kicked in for a study.' Bayonne has been working on starting a ferry service to Manhattan, maybe it will go to Staten Island also. Many people commute from Staten Island to NJ and there are no good mass transit options.

In any case, we need a new rail tunnel first.

 

[danlb_2000]

Would now be the time to try to compare the gondolas to the old skyway in MK? It seems that we keep hearing all the talk about heat, but the good old "SOMEONE FELL OFF THE SKYWAY!!!!!" discussion hasn't popped up in awhile...

Which is good, because technically speaking no one ever "fell" from the skyway.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I still can't believe people don't drop like flies in the NYC subway stations every August... it's crazy.

This! I was in NYC in July, 2006. While riding an escalator down to a station, a random person said, "This is a 5-story escalator into hell". He wasn't far off.

Little did I know it was just preparing me for riding the Skyliner 13+ years later.

I'm less and less worried about how hot these will be. Warm, sure, but the air movement should make it tolerable for the ride, far more tolerable than standing in a queue in TSL...

 

[Lensman]

As a NYC subway rider for more than 34 years to this day, I can attest to that.
I predate the days when the subway cars had AC.
Down in the tubes, it's actually often hotter than up on the streets - because the trains themselves give off a lot of heat - and the heat is not removed from the stations.
It can be brutal.

I still can't believe people don't drop like flies in the NYC subway stations every August... it's crazy.

This! I was in NYC in July, 2006. While riding an escalator down to a station, a random person said, "This is a 5-story escalator into hell". He wasn't far off.

I remember being on the platform on some local stop on the Lexington Avenue line on a hot summer day and thinking that it was even more hellish than usual - particulary where I was standing where it felt like being in front of a blast furnace.

And then I turned around and noticed that I was actually standing next to a small MTA office space that had a wall air conditioner blasting hot air directly onto the platform where I was standing. Grrr!

 

[Phil12]

Some evac testing is occurring:

PHOTOS: Disney Skyliner Evacuation Procedure Testing Begins at Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

Here's the other evacuation method if the lift breaks:

And there will be an up-charge if they use this method.

 

[MiddKid]

I'm going to use the ski-gondola example here again. I have, on occasion, felt uncomfortably warm in ski gondolas, even on cold winter days, and while riding models with tinted windows with the window slats open. On sunny days, there's simply too much greenhouse effect.

But now the caveats: The main front and rear facing windows on ski gondolas usually don't open, expect for a small area on top, so you experience only a minor amount of airflow in the direction of travel. Also, the occupants of a ski gondola, if they have just completed a run down the mountain, usually give off quite a bit of body heat. Presumably, Disney guests won't be in such a hypermetabolic state during their ride.

I'm hopeful these things don't turn into flying sweatboxes, but not completely convinced it won't happen either.

Comparing to a gondy at a typical ski resort is a totally apples-to-apples comparison. Except for:

• These cabins have significantly more ventilation
• These cabins have special reflective glass
• There are fans/ventilation system in the stations
• When skiing, even on the warmest days, you're wearing ski pants, boots, helmet, goggles, gloves, etc. So yes, you've felt uncomfortably warm because it's a balmy 50 degrees in the gondola and you're wearing the same items you wear when it's 20 degrees out.
• Skiing is a sport. You're exercising. Your heart rate is up. You're supposed to be warm.
• You're carrying, on average, 15lbs of gear of with you while skiing. Gear that's awkward to carry. And you just wrestled getting those twin tips into the carrier without dropping your poles or knocking over the person next to you.

Totally the same

Your better comparison are the urban systems that have been running successfully for decades in tropical climates like Singapore.

 

[montyz81]

Seems like they have plenty of time to work on it at this point. It'll be interesting to see them practice water evacuations at Pop/AoA.

What about over the water at International Gateway. That seems pretty high there and at certain points, it looks inaccessible from the shoreline.

 

[Andrew C]

What about over the water at International Gateway. That seems pretty high there and at certain points, it looks inaccessible from the shoreline.

boats

 

[mm121]

I feel like something has to go really wrong if they need to evacuate like this some day, but I'm glad they have the plan.

Definitely it would be the option on last resort, but just like on the coasters and many other attractions there must be a plan.

That's one advantage of Disney having the Reedy Creek Improvement District, it's easier to train the fire department for rescues when their main focus is events on Disney property.

 

[mm121]

Promotional video for the Titan Boom. Impressive, but slow moving. (Tech details start about halfway in.)

Definitely a cool tool.

Looks like they modified it special for this with platforms and gates on the ends.

 

[mm121]

What about over the water at International Gateway. That seems pretty high there and at certain points, it looks inaccessible from the shoreline.

Anything less than a complete total system failure they should be able to move the cabins a few feet.

Plus this is probably why the fire department was involved with the training as their equipment has a further reach than the primary rescue vehicle.

On the epcot line this could also be why the corner turn station was built lower to the ground. So if there able to move the cable some even if slowly they can evacuate at CBB, Riviera, the turn, and IG.

 

[OG Runner]

As a NYC subway rider for more than 34 years to this day, I can attest to that.
I predate the days when the subway cars had AC.
Down in the tubes, it's actually often hotter than up on the streets - because the trains themselves give off a lot of heat - and the heat is not removed from the stations.
It can be brutal.

I went to NYC last September and took the subway from Time Square. I can't imagine what those cars must have been like without AC.
Standing on the platform, just waiting for our train to come, I was sweating. It is hotter than hades and the air is literally heavy.

 

[Lensman]

I went to NYC last September and took the subway from Time Square. I can't imagine what those cars must have been like without AC.
Standing on the platform, just waiting for our train to come, I was sweating. It is hotter than hades and the air is literally heavy.

One hears stories that the platforms were less hot before the days of the subway cars pumping hot air onto the platforms, but maybe @Incomudro can provide confirmation?

Every so often you'll find a car with broken AC that shows you what the cars would be like without AC. Clue: It's the one that's suspiciously empty when the subway pulls into the station. Also, I read an article about the initial testing of AC on the subway and it mentioned that un-air conditioned cars were 15 degrees hotter than ambient temperatures on the street.

 

[Incomudro]

One hears stories that the platforms were less hot before the days of the subway cars pumping hot air onto the platforms, but maybe @Incomudro can provide confirmation?

Every so often you'll find a car with broken AC that shows you what the cars would be like without AC. Clue: It's the one that's suspiciously empty when the subway pulls into the station. Also, I read an article about the initial testing of AC on the subway and it mentioned that un-air conditioned cars were 15 degrees hotter than ambient temperatures on the street.

Hmmm...
Hard for me to say if the platforms are more hot now since the trains have A/C that vents hot air out into the tunnels, than in the days before the cars had A/C, as too much has changed in my commute since then.
I'm only in the subway for one stop - Bowling Green to Borough Hall, vs days of 'yore when I travelled from different stations as well as made other trips in the subway. I had a girlfriend in Queens 20 plus years ago, and would travel to see her, to her job etc.
We also had some really bad heat waves in the 80's and 90's, so comparisons are difficult.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Anything less than a complete total system failure they should be able to move the cabins a few feet.

Plus this is probably why the fire department was involved with the training as their equipment has a further reach than the primary rescue vehicle.

On the epcot line this could also be why the corner turn station was built lower to the ground. So if there able to move the cable some even if slowly they can evacuate at CBB, Riviera, the turn, and IG.

I think they only thing that was stop them from moving it manually would be because the cable broke and that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

 

[Lensman]

I think they only thing that was stop them from moving it manually would be because the cable broke and that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Something like some gross mechanical failure of the sheave wheels on any of the towers would mean that the rope would not be able to move safely and so they'd have to evac passengers in place, but that's an ultra-low probability event. Similarly, I think a fault in the gearbox of the main drive system could prevent any further safe movement, but I don't know if that whole system is disengaged when the secondary drive system is engaged. @Lift Blog would know.

But basically, I bet there are a number of things that would put the lift into a state where it was not known to be safe to operate and so would result in stoppage and possible evac. I'm sure all of these things are ultra-low probability.

 

[larryz]

Something like some gross mechanical failure of the sheave wheels on any of the towers would mean that the rope would not be able to move safely and so they'd have to evac passengers in place, but that's an ultra-low probability event. Similarly, I think a fault in the gearbox of the main drive system could prevent any further safe movement, but I don't know if that whole system is disengaged when the secondary drive system is engaged. @Lift Blog would know.

But basically, I bet there are a number of things that would put the lift into a state where it was not known to be safe to operate and so would result in stoppage and possible evac. I'm sure all of these things are ultra-low probability.

The biggest worry I have (after immolation, being eaten by alligators, and being squished by inexperienced ECV drivers) is that one or more of the sheave towers winds up at the bottom of a sinkhole, pulling the cable and several cabins down in with it...

 

[note2001]

The biggest worry I have (after immolation, being eaten by alligators, and being squished by inexperienced ECV drivers) is that one or more of the sheave towers winds up at the bottom of a sinkhole, pulling the cable and several cabins down in with it...

First off, this is Disney. Sinkholes happen all around the outside of the property but not on Disney property. The parking rates are too high for them.

Now, *IF* a sinkhole were to happen at a pole, I want to say there is not enough slack in the line for the cars to be dragged down in. The line would dip way down for sure, maybe your feet would get wet, but the two poles around it would save the line and gondola.

 

[DisneyCane]

The biggest worry I have (after immolation, being eaten by alligators, and being squished by inexperienced ECV drivers) is that one or more of the sheave towers winds up at the bottom of a sinkhole, pulling the cable and several cabins down in with it...

Assuming there is margin built in, the cable might be able to support the weight of a tower. It would definitely sag in the area but the sink hole won't have suction pulling it down.

 

[flynnibus]

Assuming there is margin built in, the cable might be able to support the weight of a tower. It would definitely sag in the area but the sink hole won't have suction pulling it down.

No.. just no.

The cable just rides along the top of the sheaves... it can't hold anything that isn't gripping onto the cable.