SKYLINER OPENS SEPT 29th

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

According to a news story on WESH 2,  WDW announced September 29th as opening day.

Disney Skyliner gondolas opening date announced - WESH Orlando

 

https://www.wesh.com/article/disney-skyliner-gondolas-opening-date/28398266

 

[shoreline99 137]

[Travisma 1,317]

2 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

According to a news story on WESH 2,  WDW announced September 29th as opening day.

Disney Skyliner gondolas opening date announced - WESH Orlando

 

https://www.wesh.com/article/disney-skyliner-gondolas-opening-date/28398266

 

Its now on the DisneyParksBlog page also.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

1 hour ago, Travisma said:

Its now on the DisneyParksBlog page also.

Yep!  Complete with video...

Quote

Mon, July 15, 2019

Disney Skyliner Takes Flight on Sept 29, 2019 at Walt Disney World Resort

by Thomas Smith, Editorial Content Director, Disney Parks

The dawn of a new era in Disney transportation is right around the corner! On September 29, Disney Skyliner gondolas will take flight and officially begin transporting guests around Walt Disney World Resort.

As many of you have seen, this state-of-the-art transportation system offers a new way to experience the resort with amazing views only available from the sky.  Disney Skyliner connects Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot to four resort hotels- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and the new Disney’s Riviera Resortscheduled to open in December 2019.

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Some Disney Skyliner cabins feature graphics based on Disney films, attractions and characters. We previously featured a few of the character cabins on the Disney Parks Blog, including those with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto and Chip & Dale. Other Disney stories taking flight with guests include:

• “Coco”
• Goofy, Pete, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow
• “Finding Dory”
• Haunted Mansion
• “Monsters, Inc.”
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• “Ratatouille”

Before you know it, Disney Skyliner will be floating guests across Walt Disney World Resort! Keep checking the Disney Parks Blog for more details in the coming weeks.  

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/07/disney-skyliner-takes-flight-on-sept-29-2019-at-walt-disney-world-resort/?CMP=SOC-DPFY19Q4wo0711190029A&fbclid=IwAR15rLrD5Zn0AaB0OM1v0Y60I7ZwB0YdvtHvDnIYtOJgJbiCuFT7AtULlx4

[Travisma 1,317]

The last picture is impressive.  Especially with the 4 lane road they built underneath to get the rescue and maintenance vehicles in.

There was a post the other day showing Reedy Creek conducting  rescue drills.  They set up multiple belay lines and the rescuees have to zip line down from the stalled cars. This will count as a FP ride. 

The pictures were on Chip and Co, but it looks like they were pulled down.

They did have this picture

 

In case of an emergency, guests can evacuate from the Skyliner onto a three-story pontoon. This giant blue boat is outfitted with plenty of ring buoys and foam barriers to protect the boat.

Guests will unload onto the top platform and proceed to the bottom to continue onto their journey back to the dock where they will unload to “safety”.

[Beckers 1,136]

Been watching the video and reading reviews. They say as soon as it slows down or stops it’s instantly and oven 😬

 But when it’s moving it’s not too bad.  There’s also emergency kit with water and snacks underneath one of the benches in case it gets stuck for half an hour or longer 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

25 minutes ago, Beckers said:

Been watching the video and reading reviews. They say as soon as it slows down or stops it’s instantly and oven 😬

 But when it’s moving it’s not too bad.  There’s also emergency kit with water and snacks underneath one of the benches in case it gets stuck for half an hour or longer 

Thanks for the tip about free snacks. I'll be looking for those in about 4 hours from now. 

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Thanks for the tip about free snacks. I'll be looking for those in about 4 hours from now. 

TCD

Black box, looks like it has a zip tie

 

 

[BeckersDadJohn 44]

Cast member event yesterday riding on Skyliners. No public.

[Beckers 1,136]

TcD I hope you post a review!!! I was hoping you’d get to go to the previews 

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

I have been watching video reviews and am super excited to ride. It will be interesting to see if the public enjoys it enough to expand to other areas. 

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

15 hours ago, Beckers said:

Been watching the video and reading reviews. They say as soon as it slows down or stops it’s instantly and oven 😬

 But when it’s moving it’s not too bad.  There’s also emergency kit with water and snacks underneath one of the benches in case it gets stuck for half an hour or longer 

They are gong to have a real problem if people are trapped for an hour or two in the middle of the summer snacks and water won't help much. 

[rtguy007 74]

Wonder how hot that water would be in there. Couldnt imagine they found a way to keep it cool.

[Travisma 1,317]

1 hour ago, ImDownWithDisney said:

They are gong to have a real problem if people are trapped for an hour or two in the middle of the summer snacks and water won't help much. 

Each Disney Skyliner cabin can accommodate up to 10 guests...

With that amount of people in a small cabin at 2:00 PM on a nice bright muggy 98 degree August afternoon, it's going to heat up in there pretty quick even if you don't break down.

Wonder if there are multiple deodorant sticks packed in those emergency kits?

 

[Beckers 1,136]

Oh man someone needs to take a thermometer!!! 

 

There was another video I saw and the lady was saying how it was sooo breezy in there but when she was sitting you couldn’t see her hair moving, but when she stood up (which I think your aren’t supposed to do?) you could see the air was moving pretty good.

 

[Beckers 1,136]

The views look amazing 

[Travisma 1,317]

9 minutes ago, Beckers said:

The views look amazing 

I imagine it'll look nice at night with all the parks and hotels lit up.

[Beckers 1,136]

2 minutes ago, Travisma said:

I imagine it'll look nice at night with all the parks and hotels lit up.

And fireworks 

[Travisma 1,317]

20 minutes ago, Beckers said:

And fireworks 

For only $99 per family member, you can enjoy the Skyliner Fireworks Dessert Party.

You will be given the combination to the snack box under your Skyliner seat, where you will enjoy tepid plastic tasting water and stale granola bars.  

Please inform the Skyline attendants if you have a nut allergy, and they will give you a snack pack of Oreos.

For an extra $100 per car, your car will pause for 5 minutes giving you the best view of EPCOT's Illuminations.

An additional $50 and you will be loaned a battery operated fan to use during the duration of your Ride in the Sky Fireworks Spectacular !

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

44 minutes ago, Beckers said:

Oh man someone needs to take a thermometer!!! 

 

There was another video I saw and the lady was saying how it was sooo breezy in there but when she was sitting you couldn’t see her hair moving, but when she stood up (which I think your aren’t supposed to do?) you could see the air was moving pretty good.

 

There's a video out there. Basically, if it is moving the inside temp matches ambient. When it stopped it heated up a few degrees in like 3 minutes. If you are in one while stopped on a hot sunny day without wind you are going to fry.

[LONE-STAR 370]

11 hours ago, ImDownWithDisney said:

There's a video out there. Basically, if it is moving the inside temp matches ambient. When it stopped it heated up a few degrees in like 3 minutes. If you are in one while stopped on a hot sunny day without wind you are going to fry.

I saw that video to. I thought the same thing when it stops there will be issues. Even moving who wants to be in a car that is the same temp as the outside in the summer time.

They should have sprung for a/c. Happy people spend money, miserable people go to there rooms and sleep from heat exhaustion. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, you've seen the videos and heard the reviews of the Pixie Dust pumpers, but here's the truth: the TCD gang likes the Skyliner. The twins and I got to ride it during a castmember preview last night. 

For the previews, they have you park in the DHS lot and head to the station. Our arrival time was 7 pm, so the sun was setting, and it was in the high 80s with low humidity when we arrived. That helped a lot. 

The first thing we noticed was the queue isn't very big. Guests were overflowing out of the queue, so we wondered if they goofed on that. But the next thing we noticed is how fast the line moved. As advertised, the Skyliner cars never stopped, and the line moved steadily right up until we boarded. That was good. 

The next thing we noticed is the Skyliner cars are much bigger than they look from the ground. When I heard the capacity was 10 guests per car, I figured that would be with half the guests standing.  But, there's plenty of room for 10 with two facing benches that can easily seat 5 guests each. Signs in the cabin suggest that guests should remain seated. 

Another observation- there are a lot of the decorated wrapped cars- I thought there would be more unwrapped, but that was not the case. It is easier to get a wrapped car than not. 

For our first ride, we took off immediately, and what they say is true- there's great air circulation when the car is moving. As I said, the sun was going down, and it was a pleasant evening, so we were comfortable. But as others have noted, I don't think that would have been the case if the sun was beating down or the temperature and humidity were higher. As I have suspected all along, the term "passive cooling" is a lie. Passive cooling is no different than rolling down the windows in a car without air conditioning. It feels cooler when the car is moving, but the temperature and humidity inside the car is never going to be lower than outside. 

On our very first ride, we stopped for about 45 seconds over Buena Vista Blvd, and the cabin instantly became stuffy.  Also, we were so high at that point that I can't see how they would be able to evacuate guests from the cars there if there was ever a need.

One thing that I hadn't understood up until our ride was how the different routes for the Skyliner work.  It's actually simple, but not very convenient.  The Skyliner only goes to one place from DHS-the Caribbean Beach Resort station.  When you get there, you have to get off.  From that station, you can get in a new line to take the Pop Century/ Art of Animation route, or the Riveria Resort/Epcot route.  The lines move fast, but you do have to exit and change cars.  The Pop/AoA line is a straight shot and takes you to the bridge in Hourglass Lake. That's a great location for guests.  Same deal there- you can't stay in the car- everyone has to get out and get in line to reboard to ride back to the CBR station.

i didn't realize that the Riveria Resort has its own stop, but it does.  They let guests stay in the cars there for the previews, but I wonder if that will still be true when the resort opens. From there, you head to Epcot, with a turn at Boardwalk, and then arriving at the International Gateway station.  Same deal there- no round trips- get out and reboard.

All the line segments mean this is not the most efficient way to park hop, but it's great do the Riveria guests who have a straight shot to and from Epcot, and the CBR guests who get a straight shot to DHS.  Not so great for anyone else.

Bottom line, the Skyliner is nice and fun, but probably not during the day in the summer.

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

Did you investigate the emergency box?

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

How do they load wheel chairs, etc?  Or do the cars stop long enough to load strollers, etc?

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

24 minutes ago, Beckers said:

Did you investigate the emergency box?

I can confirm they are there, but we always had other guests in the car with us, so no investigation. 

11 minutes ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

How do they load wheel chairs, etc?  Or do the cars stop long enough to load strollers, etc?

 

Good question. They have a separate line at each loading area for guests in wheelchairs and the ability to pull the cars to that area for loading. Kind of like they do in Toy Story Midway Mania, if you've seen that. But, as far as I could see, there are no special accessible cars, and the wheelchairs have to be pushed into the aisle. I'm not sure some of the big scooters that some guests use will fit. Maybe the benches fold up?

Strollers go in the regular loading area, and can get wheeled right on. They have to reduce capacity for parties with strollers, as the stroller in the aisle reduces leg room for the benches. 

Everything worked fine during the preview, but I think there will be problems when normal guests with strollers show up. There's not much time to load and unload, as the cars slow down but don't stop moving at the loading platforms. I can easily see problems with the typical inattentive guests. 

TCD