Skyway

[joel_maxwell]

wow, that is interesting.............. i remember the station being this awful green i beams and metal and all was exposed. i dont remember it with this white exterior and future look. interesting. see there, this is eveidence that i need to return....... it has been to long.

 

[Djali999]

Actually, there's more in that Skyway building than just the restrooms, including several cast facilities and a large stockroom for the Tomorrowland outside merchandise locations. That stockroom may actually be part of the reason nothing's been done to the building as of yet. Guessing from how chaotic things got when they shut down Star Traders for refurb, we may have to relocate the stockroom to the Timekeeper quere or something.

 

[joel_maxwell]

Actually, there's more in that Skyway building than just the restrooms, including several cast facilities and a large stockroom for the Tomorrowland outside merchandise locations. That stockroom may actually be part of the reason nothing's been done to the building as of yet. Guessing from how chaotic things got when they shut down Star Traders for refurb, we may have to relocate the stockroom to the Timekeeper quere or something.

and we are refering to the WDW skyway correct? like i said, memory fades a little but i really dont remember star traders in the TL in WDW. and probably as soon as you respond ill be like "ohhhhh yeh, now i remember" :lol:

 

[Djali999]

yes, the WDW Skyway. It is it's own free-standing building and I really wish they'd demolish it and put in a park or something...

Star Traders may not have been called Star Traders when you were there. It's the big, big, big store in Tomorrowland. You can see it from the TTA and it used to have a peach-pink ceiling full of wavy lines and a central "Mountain" of plush topped by Mickey at some kind of control panel thingy...

 

[MissM]

Actually, there's more in that Skyway building than just the restrooms, including several cast facilities and a large stockroom for the Tomorrowland outside merchandise locations.

Interesting! From a public point of view, the restrooms were the only active thing I knew of in the building. It seems so...dead sitting there. What is it with Disney leaving bit, empty structures for so many years?
-m

 

[beanboon]

They most likely will never be re-opening the skyways as they would have to comply with current ADA requirements which require a means of loading directly from a wheelchair into the ride car. Older rides are grandfathered from this, but since the skyways have been dismantled this would be considered new construction. Besides, Disney has been retrofitting as many attractions as they can to be up to current ADA requirements, and this would have been very difficult with the original skyways.

That and the state regulations requiring safe and timely egress in the case of an emergency (e-stop) put a huge damper on the likelihood of their return. (In a e-stop power to the ride system is removed, which of course stops cars in mid-air.)

 

[joel_maxwell]

yes, the WDW Skyway. It is it's own free-standing building and I really wish they'd demolish it and put in a park or something...

Star Traders may not have been called Star Traders when you were there. It's the big, big, big store in Tomorrowland. You can see it from the TTA and it used to have a peach-pink ceiling full of wavy lines and a central "Mountain" of plush topped by Mickey at some kind of control panel thingy...

"ohhhhh yeh, now i remember" :lol:

thanks

 

[phlydude]

Hate to say it but I don't think it will ever be back. Storms every day during the summer with high winds, slow load times, hurricane resistance all would have to be overcome to justify replacement. In addition, they removed the support poles from the park so they would have to be re-installed if there were to be replaced.

The buildings probably have so much built into them with the motors and pulleys used to move all those cars that they can't remove them without a major land closure to get the equipment in there to do it. Also, they seem to function as another purpose of housing cast areas and storage.

 

[mrtoad]

Is this how the station still looks today? I have been so many times (about 20) and most recently this year and I don't remember it looking like that.

I wonder what else I do not notice...

The skyway closed in WDW in 1999. A CM was injured and there were problems with guests throwing things over, and there were problems with it frequently needing to stop because of thunderstorms/high winds.


For info on the Disneyland problems and closure, click here


Since the closure at WDW, the Fantasyland station has been mainly stroller parking while the Tomorrowland one remained completely empty (though they've kept the waterfall going.) You pass it on TTA. I've heard that the revamp to the Fantasyland one are in connection with the changes in it's a small world which will be flipping the entrence and exits as well as providing a new stroller area to limit the horrible congestion you get between it and Peter Pan. I'm not sure exactly how or what they're doing, but that's what I've read.
-m

edit: Here's a photo of the Tomorrowland station in it's very sadly empty state

 

[kevmagkingdom]

The Skyway closed I think November 11, 1999 as the last day in WDW.

Everyone has a diffirent theory as to why it closed so I can't say. It just "did".

The Fantasyland station remains, and in front of it is stroller parking and soon to be character greetings -- they are rehabbing it right now.

Tomorrowland's station has not changed.

 

[phlydude]

The Skyway closed I think November 11, 1999 as the last day in WDW.

Everyone has a diffirent theory as to why it closed so I can't say. It just "did".

The Fantasyland station remains, and in front of it is stroller parking and soon to be character greetings -- they are rehabbing it right now.

Tomorrowland's station has not changed.

I think it closed before then because I was there in Aug 1999 and they were working on taking down the support poles during that time.

 

[kevmagkingdom]

You're sure about that? Because every site I read says Nov 1999. Check www.solarius.com, they say 11/11/1999. I really think it was open in August 1999.

 

[phlydude]

I was there in 1999 and wanted to ride it but it was shut down. There were cranes behind fantasyland that were being used to remove the poles. Maybe it was under refurbishment formally but then was announced as closed in Nov. Disney does have a habit of rehabing and then shutting down.

 

[hypercatmatt04]

i don't remember if it was the skyway in Disneyland or Wdw that someone fell off of one of the cars and graabbed onto his girlfriends hair, then fell to his death.
people say that sometimes, when u rode it, you could feel someone pulling on your hair.

DO YOU BELIEVE???!

 

[JoeyJoe]

I am kinda happy that it is closed down. It did have great view but that attraction was just plain dangerous. There was no way in the world to get off in in case of a emergency or power outtage.

 

[AndyP]

Tbh, I've never been a fan of such rides, however, I do go on the ski lift at BB, providing it has a short queue and so it worth it!

 

[HinunterZuNich]

i don't remember if it was the skyway in Disneyland or Wdw that someone fell off of one of the cars and graabbed onto his girlfriends hair, then fell to his death.
people say that sometimes, when u rode it, you could feel someone pulling on your hair.

DO YOU BELIEVE???!

Ohhhhhhhh noooooooo you said it! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the Disney Police are going to be at your house.

Oh by the way, no that never happened. A person did JUMP out, though he claimed that he fell. The thing that was funny was he landed on the only tall tree under the skyway, by "chance". Eventually he dropped his case and never got anything out of trying to sue.

 

[Tramp]

:wave: