Work continues on the new Disney Skyliner gondola transportation system for Walt Disney World, with plenty of construction quite visible from the Art of Animation and Pop Century Resort Hotels:
Pylone visible out in Hourglass Lake.
Pylons are starting to rise on what will be the gondola station between the two hotels.
The bridge between the two resorts is still open, but they needed to end bike rentals due to the tightened walkway.
Imagine in a few years, you’ll be boarding a gondola with Disney characters on it, right here.
No completion date on the project has been provided. The Disney Skyline will connect Epcot, Disney’s Riviera Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Art of Animation, Pop Century, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Wow i would say March to November 2019 is the target date that what this open for Star Wars Land But if it gets done in 2018 cool. I hear the stations are getting themed.
Great pics!
“Bike rentals are needed”
Still can’t grt a grasp on that whole proof reading thing, huh Tom?
Horrible Pics!
When does the 45th anniversary merch for the magic kingdom go away.
Likely very soon.
Just went on several Gondolas in the Swiss & Austrian Alps this summer. They are awesome but have flaws that don’t match well with Florida:
1. They are not climate controlled, so each one would need an independent thermostat system (very expensive & imagine all of them working perfectly?)…non of them in Europe had A/C and they got hot inside fast.
2. If one stops or needs to stop, they all stop…how to load handicap visitors without continual stops, etc.
3. If nobody gets off at a station, then obviously no room for people to get on…I guess if you are one station from the destination and are waiting to get on (and people don’t exit at your station), all of the stations before can have high volume that fills all of the space…thus you cant get on and we all know how busy it gets
4. They are metal cars on metal wires…electrical storms in Florida are common…not a good combination
5. High winds make them swing…if you get stuck in one thats swinging…well just imagine
My family got stuck on a monorail for over 2 hours outside of the contemporary a few years ago. The power was off with no A/C, kids crying, smelly, people needing the bathroom…that will all be nothing compared to one of the Gondolas braking down.
I love Disney and I hope it works but I’m a bit nervous for this one. What’s your feeling on this one Tom?
There is a sure fire way to ensure that you don’t experience any issues with this system: Don’t use it. Problem solved.
I’m sure Disney has thought through these “flaws” pretty extensively.
I’m sure at least one one of the imagineers working the project has also recently been on a European vacation and gained your level of expertise.
The answer to all of this is: Of course they have thought of it, but…That’s why nearly every ride goes down weekly at the parks….Some things are beyond their control…in my “expert opinion” …not LOLOLOL
Just a guy backpacking with his family in a 90 degree gondola that was swinging side to side…trying not to heave ho…my “expert” lunch
The gondolas are cool and its interesting to consider the “logistics.”
Jason wrote an article back in April here: http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/04/depth-speculation-disney-world-gondola-project-will-take-shape/
In the article he addressed all of your concerns and showed how the system that Disney is likely to use is designed to handle your concerns. Except for #4, Jason didn’t address it in the article, but he did discuss it later in the comments.
Cool, thanks for the link. We went to the top of the Stanserhorn and Mt Pilatus in Lucern Switerland…and the Nordkettenbahnen in Innsbruck Austria. Those gondolas aren’t as near nice as the ones Disney is using. I was optimistic that Disney had it all squared away. Its going to be exciting to see this play out!
With the level of “attention” to detail of the current Disney management, you can bet it’ll have problems from the get go
Hit the “Gondola” tag at the end of the article. You can find an article from April where Jason discusses all of your concerns. He explains which system Disney will probably use and why it’s not a problem.
I’m on board for these and understand the low cost high efficiency of them. But am I the only one worried about the visual intrusion? Cutting through the Riviera, Caribbean, animation and pop….. And likely even more to come. I think the current wdw leaders are more Roy and less Walt. Roy had some great and important characteristics that made this company work but Walt insisted on the magic. Of course if it gets me back to my hotel faster after a late night, I guess that is magic in itself.