News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[Lift Blog]

@Lift Blog can confirm, but I believe it is the other way around, the station buildings will be built first and then the lift equipment can be installed in the building.

Most of the gondolas built these days in the U.S. have open-air terminals and no buildings around them, which is why they can be completed in six months or less. I could see the angle station between the Riviera and Epcot built this way with the terminals on tall masts above the parking lot and no building.

At the Oakland Zoo, one end of a new gondola is inside a two story building and the other is outside. For the former, Doppelmayr came in and installed the machinery part way through construction. An entire restaurant was then built on top before a crew came back to hang the cable and commission the system.
During construction:

After:

Here are a few other station building examples:
Mammoth Mountain, CA

Northstar, CA (this one was constructed inside after the building was built.)

Heavenly, CA

Steamboat, CO:

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Im digging in my memory.. remember riding them to discovery, and across bay lake on my first trip.. and that's before the covers were on space mountain.

According to this, the first two current ferries were put into service in July of 1972, so that's possible.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/yourma.../disney-worlds-magic-kingdom-ferry-boats/amp/

 

[SLUSHIE]

Northstar, CA (this one was constructed inside after the building was built.)

That was actually a recent refurbishment. The gondola actually existed long before that building was built and looked like this...

The new building was basically built over the top of this one and you can even still see some of the steel framing from the original building inside the new one. A few years ago they upgraded both terminals inside of their current structures.

So clearly terminals can be installed after the building is built, but I think it's probably more efficient to install them before they put a roof on it.

 

[TiggerDad]

Yep. Also, I think the bus lines there were already at capacity. Building new resorts/expanding the ones they have their would have overcapped the bus system (logistically, you can only have so many buses on a loop before it starts to block itself out and become less efficient).

I know the bus-centric transportation system for the bus-only resorts at Disney has been an issue they have been looking at for a while. I spoke to a guy with a clipboard a few years ago, who had, according to him, been brought over from some other countries park to look over the bus system and try to sort it out. At that particular point they were doing analysis on the PO buses, as they were getting massive crowds at the stops, and buses were arriving at the PO:R main stop already full, due to the smaller stops around the loop. And they were having a hard time adequately anticipating guest demand.. IE: three MK buses would go by mostly empty, and everyone was waiting for a DHS or AK bus.

One of the things he said they were pondering was more "depots" like in front of MK, spread out around the property, to make it more of a hub and spoke transportation system, but I have no idea if that ever got any further discussion. (There would be a central "south" depot, for example, where buses from all the resorts and parks met, and exchanged people, rather than using the parks for that purpose, as they do now)

During peak morning times, CBR would run separate buses for three stops and four stops, versus stopping at all seven. That increased capacity without having the buses block each other.

Back to @danlb_2000's observation about the walk to the gondola stations from certain parts of the resort, I wonder if they will run an internal shuttle from each bus stop to the gondola station to help?

 

[TiggerDad]

Most of the gondolas built these days in the U.S. have open-air terminals and no buildings around them, which is why they can be completed in six months or less. I could see the angle station between the Riviera and Epcot built this way with the terminals on tall masts above the parking lot and no building.

At the Oakland Zoo, one end of a new gondola is inside a two story building and the other is outside. For the former, Doppelmayr came in and installed the machinery part way through construction. An entire restaurant was then built on top before a crew came back to hang the cable and commission the system.
During construction:

After:

Here are a few other station building examples:
Mammoth Mountain, CA

Northstar, CA (this one was constructed inside after the building was built.)

Heavenly, CA

Steamboat, CO:

Great pics that illustrate how the line can drop steeply to load at ground level.

 

[GCTales]

Chip and Co have pictures and video of the start of the AoA / POP construction on their web page(16 July):
http://www.chipandco.com/photo-vide...struction-begins-along-hourglass-lake-275786/

They also have video from today of a walk through of the construction on their Facebook page (I don't know how to put that link, sorry)

 

[PizzaPlanet]

If you stay at Wilderness Fort, there is no bus to the MK. You must use a boat and even if you have a fear of the water, they won't send a bus for you. Walking is one to two miles.

If you stay at a monorail resort, there is no bus to Epcot. You must use the monorail and even if you have a fear of heights, they won't send a bus for you. Walking is not an option.

If you stay at a Crescent Lake resort (Y&B, BW, Swolphin), there is no bus to Epcot or DHS, you must use the Ferry, and even if you have a fear of the water, they won't send a bus for you. Or, walk (which can be close to a mile).

Thanks, I'm glad someone finally gave this simple analogy I was too lazy to type.

 

[Kamikaze]

Back to @danlb_2000's observation about the walk to the gondola stations from certain parts of the resort, I wonder if they will run an internal shuttle from each bus stop to the gondola station to help?

I doubt it. They located the AoA/Pop station centrally between the two, and its off the bridge above the lake so no shuttle running there. Meaning - no road.

The CBR stations are spread pretty well. The furthest walk will be the remaining Martinique rooms. Definitely further than the usual walk to a bus stop, not as far as some of the rooms are/were from OPR. You could definitely catch the internal shuttle that they already run and then walk from Jamaica to the CBR station.

 

[cosmicgirl]

I couldn't help but notice an outline which looks a lot like the shape of the Riviera station on one of bioreconstruct's latest aerial shots (link). Except the location doesn't match up with the plans.

 

[marni1971]

Really great to see how quickly they are starting work on this. I really wish we could have seen some photos of what the stations are going to look like. I think seeing that would give us a better estimate on how quickly this will be built. Either way, I think the terminals will need to be installed before any structure is built around it.

Once we see footers being poured for the towers though, I would expect it to come together pretty quickly after that

The stations are pretty standard lift halls, albeit with furnishings matching their surroundings. The PoP AoA stop will be the most difficult. All should look quite smart.

 

[MCast]

Was by the International Gateway this weekend. Noticed they have a ton of construction supplies/materials over the barrier. I think groundbreaking is pretty imminent on this site, in particular.

 

[surfsupdon]

I'd like to see the gondolas stay open past Epcot's closing as well. I love staying at the BoardWalk, but some nights that place is just dead. It should help that Resort Guests from 4 other Resorts can have easier access to the night time entertainment around Crescent Lake.

I know if I were on the Skyliner line, I'd take it over for some entertainment at BWI Y/B and S/D. I'd just like it to be running till at least midnight so it would be easy to get back to Caribbean, art, pop, riviera.

 

[danlb_2000]

I couldn't help but notice an outline which looks a lot like the shape of the Riviera station on one of bioreconstruct's latest aerial shots (link). Except the location doesn't match up with the plans.

Your right, I didn't notice that initially. It is in the wrong place so it may just be a coincidence.

 

[Coaster Lover]

I know if I were on the Skyliner line, I'd take it over for some entertainment at BWI Y/B and S/D. I'd just like it to be running till at least midnight so it would be easy to get back to Caribbean, art, pop, riviera.

Based on the extended hours of Animal Kingdom to accommodate Pandora, wouldn't surprise me to see Hollywood Studios open until midnight (at least for a little while) after Star Wars Land opens... which would justify the extended hours for the gondolas. If/when they cut hours back, I would have to think hours for the gondolas would cut too, but I can't imagine Hollywood Studios closing before 10ish/11ish for quite some time after Star Wars Land opens... which would justify the gondolas staying open until 11ish/Midnight-ish

 

[cosmicgirl]

Your right, I didn't notice that initially. It is in the wrong place so it may just be a coincidence.

View attachment 217729

Exactly. It should be on that patch of dirt between Aruba and Sea Breeze Dr.

 

[davis_unoxx]

Any rumors on when the Skyliner will open?

 

[Jordanaous]

Any rumors on when the Skyliner will open?

Expectation is March to October 2019 [here]

 

[MisterPenguin]

I couldn't help but notice an outline which looks a lot like the shape of the Riviera station on one of bioreconstruct's latest aerial shots (link). Except the location doesn't match up with the plans.

All those white line things touch the main tower in some way and move out from it, but don't conform to any shapes on any of the plans. Drainage? Infrastructure? IDK.

 

[Texas84]

I'm from south Texas. Will these things have heaters?

(runs away)

 

[GCTales]

I'm from south Texas. Will these things have heaters?

(runs away)

Heating will be available, from orbital nuclear furnace, during the hours of ~5am - ~8pm (generally known as sunrise to sunset), weather permitting. It will be most effective between 10am and 2pm, between June and October. During other times of year (generally known as spring, fall, and winter) and during periods of inclement weather, it will be deactivated to prevent interference with the "Disney Dome"[/joke].