Yeah, but... aren't all those haul ropes cored with tons of -- wait for it -- PLASTIC?
Re-cycled straws ...
I think you and everyone else is jumping to conclusions about the shutdowns because of lightning. High winds might be a problem but lightning really isn't. The towers and the gondola's are grounded and even a direct hit on the highest point (the towers) would be loud, but, shouldn't harm anyone. At any rate all that has ever been mentioned is the speculation that they will shut them down. They might, I really don't know, but, I do know that I have never read anything that could be listed as actual operating fact. Lightning in central Florida is an almost daily happening in the summer, but, the storms usually go through fast and by the time they got buses there and people from the Gondola stations to the bus areas, the storm will have passed and the sun will be shining brightly. It's just the nature of storms in Florida. A hurricane is another story, but, if one of those is about to hit there will be nothing open to go too.
A thought about the plastic. Do people think the plastic is the same strength as a cereal box toy? Some plastics now are tougher then steel. What they do besides make the ride quieter is that being between some of the strands of steel also act as an insulator. Since the steel is a conductor of heat the plastic will help to keep the cable cooler because it doesn't conduct heat or electricity (for those that are worried about the above mentioned lightning). So besides being quieter, it also reduces friction between the strands thus keeping them cooler and is as tough as the steel cable itself. Instead of panic shouldn't this be generating a bit of calmness?
Just No. Here is the real reason for the plastic which has been around for nearly 10 years.
A standard propulsion cable (or ‘rope’) is not uniform in diameter. The basic nature of taking dozens of separate, uniformly-shaped strands and winding them together into a larger rope ensures non-uniformity. That non-uniformity has three major drawbacks:
Firstly, the ropes wear more heavily on rubber components such as the sheaves and bullwheels than they would were they of a uniform diameter.
Secondly, the lack of uniformity causes slight vibrations between the ropes and other components that cause an increase in noise. The low-level humming one hears at a ski lift is typically due to this issue.
Thirdly, increased rope maintenance is required than would be necessary with ropes of uniform diameter.
Cables such as Fatzer’s Integra (Steel) line of ropes are almost completely uniform in diameter, but that uniformity results in a rigidity that prohibits their use as propulsion ropes. Such uniform-diameter ropes can be used almost exclusively for support functions (such as in a 3S or Aerial Tram installation).
What the Performa line of cables does – in layman’s terms – is fill in the ‘gaps’ of a rope’s diameter using plastic to best-approximate a uniform diameter. The flexibility of the plastic, meanwhile, allows the rope to be used as a propulsion cable.
That benefit, however, comes at a cost. A Performa rope costs roughly twice the price of a standard rope. That premium feature is often out of the price range of most ski hills as: a) hills only experience a short 4 month long peak season; b) lifts typically operate for only 8 or 9 hours out of the day and; c) the outlying areas ski hills service minimize the need for decreased noise pollution.
But here’s the interesting thing: On a typical lift, the rope costs less than 1% of the total project price. So while a rope such as the Performa may be cost prohibitive in a ski lift market, the marginal cost of a Performa cable is more than justified in the urban market. This is due simply to higher overall project prices in urban installations; the need for decreased noise in urban environments and; the need for decreased wear-and-tear on a system due to increased overall usage in urban markets.
In other words, ropes such as the Performa should yield significantly greater benefits in an urban environment as compared to the marginal costs involved in their application.
It’s common to hear complaints from people about the aforementioned low-level humming of lifts as an argument against their application in urban environments. Yet here we have, again, a tried-and-tested method of dealing with that very problem. But since the cable industry is still focused on their core ski lift market, this solution is rarely offered proactively as a solution to laymen in the urban transportation industry.
Oh do have the statistics of how much electricity is used to run these gondolas? Does it really use less energy? Remember coal is one of the main sources to produce electricity. Also fuel oil on a smaller scale. Let's not forget maintenance. Over time these one of a kind parts are going to wear and will need replaced which will require specialized man power/training unlike going to get a part for a bus. Not greener and not more efficient. Reliability remains to be seen. Remember, when a bus breaks down it can be replace by another. If the gondola system breaks down you are stuck several feet in the air.
I didn't say they buses were unreliable that part of my comment was in response to someone that claimed they were. You need to read what a post is responding to to fully understand the context of it.
You only have to look at the systems to see where the problems will be. No need to crunch numbers if a system creates 2 inputs and only has one output and all are the same size you get a bottleneck. Pull you head out and think
Please don't give me the greener argument unless you can prove it. Studies have already shown that the "green" electric cars are not green at all they simply hide the pollution in the smoke stacks of the power plant or in the toxic soup created from mining the lithium and other rare earth metals used to make the cars. No way to really know if the gondolas are cleaner than a bus. If they wanted clean for the buses why not go to CNG powered buses or electric powered buses.... because green isn't the goal of Disney.
Exactly.
It could be a positive net to guests but the fact that quite a lot of people have a fear of heights is also true , obviously its not a majority of people but a certain small % of the population is in fact scared of heights which could lead to people taking detours/uber/Lyft to get around which would probably take them a longer time , i dont think it would be a net for these people (that includes me) but aslong as there are alternatives that are viable i dont see an issue with it personally , however if the waiting time for busses on these resorts went from 20 mins to an hour or two that would be a problem population wise. Plus AoA really needs additional transportation systems and so does POP , not a replacement but an additional one.
