News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

[Goofyernmost]

The Skyliner is much slower than the monorail in general, even if it didn't have any of the slowdowns/stoppages. A trip from the TTC to EPCOT on the Skyliner, if built along the existing monorail line, would take roughly 20 minutes even if it ran at max speed the entire time (it almost certainly wouldn't). The monorail does that trip in about 6 minutes.

The speed is one of the reasons the Skyliner isn't a viable option for resort wide transportation -- at least not without continuing to run buses as they do now, or adding some other new options.

Speed isn't anywhere near as slow as the bus and it isn't influenced by traffic, etc. I think as a constant moving entity it is probably fast. Just think about the time used just loading the buses before it moves an inch. The monorail is faster, but we were just talking about, what if it isn't there anymore.

 

[scottieRoss]

The most expensive part of the skyliner is the number of stations on the line.
Gondolas travel in straight lines. You would need so many turning stations to be able to circle Seven Seas Lagoon. Or to go from TTC to Epcot.

 

[lewisc]

The Skyliner's "slow" problem is that they didn't build a physical needs bypass at Riviera. Every EV and person/group going on or off at Riviera that needs more time slows the whole line down, and sometimes stops it completely.

If you have special needs pull-offs at every station, it can be pretty speedy. But don't count on speeds over 15 mph (WDW's Skyliner's top speed is 11.2 mph (5 meters/sec).

The issue is the mix. The problem would all but dissappear if Riviera had the bypass.

Specific gondola cabins are configured to bypass. I'm thinking every 12th, not sure of the exact number. Riviera would work better if the line could be slowed or stopped and then 3 or 4 scooters loaded at once. That can't be done, the scooters designated to bypass have to be spaced out.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The most expensive part of the skyliner is the number of stations on the line.
Gondolas travel in straight lines. You would need so many turning stations to be able to circle Seven Seas Lagoon. Or to go from TTC to Epcot.

As I recall, the original gondola ride in WDW's MK had a turn and didn't have any fancy turning stations to do it. Now it might be that they couldn't have more then one before it started to have a problem. But it seems like it is possible without a whole lot of effort. Now on the Epcot line going around that lagoon would be problematic, I would think, but they could find a straight line from MK to Epcot without to much effort. Please understand that I am NOT in favor of losing the Monorail. Aesthetically, it is an integral part of WDW.

 

[scottieRoss]

here is a picture of the turning station in Magic Kingdom from yesterland.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Everyone’s talking about adding the skyliner as the possible alternative to the monorail, yet everyone’s forgetting the fact that it shuts down during high winds and thunderstorms…it’s just NOT a viable option.

 

[JoeCamel]

Everyone’s talking about adding the skyliner as the possible alternative to the monorail, yet everyone’s forgetting the fact that it shuts down during high winds and thunderstorms…it’s just NOT a viable option.

So do the ferries

 

[RamblinWreck]

That would be completely impossible to do at WDW. The Epcot line has two stops. And whether Express or Resort monorail there a multiple stops -- two on the Express and five on the resort monorail. Can you imagine if what is the resort monorail now was roundtrip only from MK? Well, fine, you've just made a ride of the monorail but have totally destroyed the Poly, GF, and Contemporary Resorts as deluxe resorts.

Well, maybe the Poly, to an extent.

The best part of staying in the GF or Contemporary is walking back and forth from the magic kingdom.

And then for GF and Poly there’s also the boats, which you can increase the number of.

 

[lewisc]

Over the years a lot of rumors, more accurately speculation, says its inevitable the EPCOT monorail will shut down. Disney will cannibalize trains and parts to continue the 7 seas lagoon monorail. Bus service would replace the monorail for MK-EPCOT transportation.

YMMV

 

[JoeCamel]

Over the years a lot of rumors, more accurately speculation, says its inevitable the EPCOT monorail will shut down. Disney will cannibalize trains and parts to continue the 7 seas lagoon monorail. Bus service would replace the monorail for MK-EPCOT transportation.

YMMV

I could see skyliner for that segment

 

[GrumpyFan]

Over the years a lot of rumors, more accurately speculation, says its inevitable the EPCOT monorail will shut down. Disney will cannibalize trains and parts to continue the 7 seas lagoon monorail. Bus service would replace the monorail for MK-EPCOT transportation.

YMMV

It would be great if there was a MK parking lot loop, or just a line that went straight to the parking lot from the TTC.
So, it would leave the TTC, then head for the center of the parking lot.

 

[UNCgolf]

I could see skyliner for that segment

I think the trip would be too long. There's a big difference between a 5-10 minute Skyliner trip and a 20-25 minute one -- that's roughly how long it would take to get from the TTC to EPCOT via Skyliner if it followed the existing monorail route, and that's assuming it could actually travel at the 11.5 mph max speed the entire way. That's actually impossible because it would require turn stations, so it could take 30+ minutes.

They could potentially cut it down to maybe a 15 minute trip if they built it in a straight line directly from TTC to the EPCOT front entrance, but I don't think they'd want to do that for several reasons -- it would go through the middle of both the MK and EPCOT parking lots (meaning they'd lose some parking spaces, although it would be a small amount) and it would cut through undeveloped land that may not be suitable for installing support columns.

 

[lewisc]

I think the trip would be too long. There's a big difference between a 5-10 minute Skyliner trip and a 20-25 minute one -- that's roughly how long it would take to get from the TTC to EPCOT via Skyliner if it followed the existing monorail route, and that's assuming it could actually travel at the 11.5 mph max speed the entire way. That's actually impossible because it would require turn stations, so it could take 30+ minutes.

They could potentially cut it down to maybe a 15 minute trip if they could built it in a straight line directly from TTC to the EPCOT front entrance, but I don't think they'd want to do that for several reasons -- it would go through the middle of both the MK and EPCOT parking lots (meaning they'd lose some parking spaces, although it would be a small amount) and it would cut through undeveloped land that may not be suitable for installing support columns.

Do that many people still hop between MK and EPCOT? I'll speculate bus service is more likely. Wouldn’t a bus from the Contemporary to EPCOT be faster then any service which requires a transfer at TTC?

 

[GrumpyFan]

I think the trip would be too long. There's a big difference between a 5-10 minute Skyliner trip and a 20-25 minute one -- that's roughly how long it would take to get from the TTC to EPCOT via Skyliner if it followed the existing monorail route, and that's assuming it could actually travel at the 11.5 mph max speed the entire way. That's actually impossible because it would require turn stations, so it could take 30+ minutes.

It's not that long. There are longer cable car runs across the world.

 

[UNCgolf]

It's not that long. There are longer cable car runs across the world.

It is long for Disney's specific use circumstances -- the fact that there are longer ones in the world doesn't really matter because they're not comparable services.

Disney has other options that are better than the Skyliner for longer distances, especially since the Skyliner can't operate in weather conditions that are relatively common in Florida.

I think Martin (or maybe someone else) pointed out that Disney has already written off the Skyliner for any major expansion because it's not cost effective for longer trips (that doesn't mean they won't expand it for some additional short trips though).

 

[Touchdown]

Do that many people still hop between MK and EPCOT? I'll speculate bus service is more likely. Wouldn’t a bus from the Contemporary to EPCOT be faster then any service which requires a transfer at TTC?

Yes, midday the monorails are usually over 50% full during hopping time.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I think the trip would be too long. There's a big difference between a 5-10 minute Skyliner trip and a 20-25 minute one -- that's roughly how long it would take to get from the TTC to EPCOT via Skyliner if it followed the existing monorail route, and that's assuming it could actually travel at the 11.5 mph max speed the entire way. That's actually impossible because it would require turn stations, so it could take 30+ minutes.

They could potentially cut it down to maybe a 15 minute trip if they built it in a straight line directly from TTC to the EPCOT front entrance, but I don't think they'd want to do that for several reasons -- it would go through the middle of both the MK and EPCOT parking lots (meaning they'd lose some parking spaces, although it would be a small amount) and it would cut through undeveloped land that may not be suitable for installing support columns.

Indeed.

Tho, there is a way, but it will be 17.5 minutes (at 5 meters/s)...

 

[flynnibus]

elon should have built the first boring tunnels at WDW... obviously

 

[UNCgolf]

Indeed.

Tho, there is a way, but it will be 17.5 minutes (at 5 meters/s)...

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Even there, who knows if it would actually be possible to build support columns on that land... plus, would they need to put one in the middle of Bay Lake? I'm not sure how far apart they are.

I mean I'm sure they could build on any of the land if they really wanted to, but it might not be worth the cost.

I've gotten the impression that there are a lot of people who wouldn't be interested in riding the Skyliner for 20+ minute long trips, even when they love the existing service.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Even there, who knows if it would actually be possible to build support columns on that land... plus, would they need to put one in the middle of Bay Lake? I'm not sure how far apart they are.

I mean I'm sure they could build on any of the land if they really wanted to, but it might not be worth the cost.

I've gotten the impression that there are a lot of people who wouldn't be interested in riding the Skyliner for 20+ minute long trips, even when they love the existing service.

The existing Skyliner goes through some mush with rather deep pilings. It’d be deeper, but building towers in the Seven Seas Lagoon wouldn’t be much different than building towers in Hourglass Lake.