Skyliner or Car?

[mom22boys]

DS and I are planning a quick weekend trip in October. Epcot for GOG is a top priority. We love to rope drop and enjoy the parks in the morning when they are not as crowded or hot! We might park hop to HS too. It will kind of depend on Genie+ availability. We are not interested in staying at CBR (not a fan of carpet in the rooms) and do not want to spend the money on Riviera (hopefully we will be in the parks and not at the resort that much!)

Given all of that, would you recommend staying at Pop for the use of the Skyliner? Or, we will have our own car so should we just stay wherever we want and drive to the parks? I guess I am just wondering how efficient the Skyliner from Pop is. Wouldn't we have to wait in line to get on the Skyline at Pop, then have to transfer to another Skyline at CBR? I am thinking we would then have to wait in line at the CBR station. Is that right?

Thanks for any insight!

 

[julie-o]

My experience with skyliner (two different trips about a week each time, once at Pop, once at CBR) was even with a long line, it moves constantly. I think the longest we ever waited was maybe 10 mins. Prob less. I imagine it’s a lot quicker than driving, parking, and walking to gate. The only downside of SL is it goes down during storms. But if that happens, buses run.

 

[mom22boys]

My experience with skyliner (two different trips about a week each time, once at Pop, once at CBR) was even with a long line, it moves constantly. I think the longest we ever waited was maybe 10 mins. Prob less. I imagine it’s a lot quicker than driving, parking, and walking to gate. The only downside of SL is it goes down during storms. But if that happens, buses run.

Did you rope drop? If so, any suggestions there?

 

[julie-o]

Yes we rope dropped most days. Those were the longest waits for the SL, but again, the line moved quickly, and we waited 10 mins or so. They post the times SL opens, so I think we tried to get there right when it opened. This was Feb and June 2021

 

[ftbaker1313]

I love the skyliner. We used to hardly ever stay at any of the value resorts. We liked Wilderness lodge, but our favorite was definitely POFQ. Now our last half dozen trips we've stayed at POFQ, AK, AoA, CBR, POP. Our next two stays will be at POP. The skyliner was the deciding factor. Even with a long line at rope drop it was much better than any bus ride or driving ourself.

 

[mom22boys]

ftbaker1313, thanks for the insight. At rope drop, what time did you get in line? How long was the line at CBR when you had to transfer?

On a side note, we have stayed at Poly, OKW, AK, BC, YC, POR, Pop, CSR (including Gran Destino) and most recently POFQ. We loved POFQ! And, POFQ is what was actually making me second guess our decision to stay at Pop. I finally understand why POFQ is such a favorite for so many guests!

 

[sky13]

My experience with the Skyliner was from 2019 when I stayed at Pop but I loved it. It runs and loads constantly, so minimal waits for the next cabin and the line (if there is one!) moves continually. Somewhat similar to the Peoplemover or Haunted Mansion. So even if the line is long it tends to move quickly - admittedly I don't know what the current situation is at the moment.

Plus the Skyliner stations at Epcot and DHS are very close to the entrances, so very minimal walking required to get to the park entrance - vs the bus stops which are mostly further away, and car parking which is even further away.

Dowside of Skyliner is that it stops running in bad weather and when I was there it didn't run very early or very late, and went down for a couple of days during my trip (this was when it just opened though).

 

[frannn]

The Skyliner is wonderful except in bad weather. Epcot is the worst park to be in if the skyliner is down because the buses are nowhere near the skyliner station. We planned many dinners in WS to be nearest to the station to get back quickly to Pop and had to run through the park in heavy rains to get to the very very crowded bus stop (at closing time). I might consider staying at Pop but ending my day at HS. Its happended to us enough times thats its an issue.

 

[masupo]

The Skyliner is wonderful except in bad weather. Epcot is the worst park to be in if the skyliner is down because the buses are nowhere near the skyliner station. We planned many dinners in WS to be nearest to the station to get back quickly to Pop and had to run through the park in heavy rains to get to the very very crowded bus stop (at closing time). I might consider staying at Pop but ending my day at HS. Its happended to us enough times thats its an issue.

I'm staying at Riviera for the third time in October. I love the Skyliner! Luckily I haven't encountered any rain when I was trying to ride it.

From reading other people's experiences, they will send buses to Boardwalk (or Beach Club) when it rains. Just curious if that's where you got the bus, or did you go out through the front of the park?

I've heard the line can get really long at Boardwalk. I might catch an Uber if it is.

 

[jimmymc]

Skyliner is great and I would stay at Pop just for the access. Fun fact, the Skyliner usually starts running before the parking lots open, so you can be in line for ropedrop at Studios before the first cars are even in.

 

[wnwardii]

Now it has been since last October that I have been on the Skyliner. Overall, I enjoy the Skyliner and the convenience it affords. However, unless things have changed since October, the biggest issue I had was leaving Epcot after Harmonious a few times. One time I got to the Skyliner station real quick after fireworks and I waited maybe 10 minutes. Then another time the same week, I got to the Skyliner and it took me 90 minutes to get back to Pop Century. This was middle of the week and wasn't something like 4th of July or NYE (which I did do Skyliner on a NYE and it took about the same amount of time to get back). So this is just something to be aware of if you plan on staying for Fireworks.

In talking with a friend who used to work on the Skyliner, he saw where I got in line and he figured it would take 30 minutes (which would have been fine). What was happening is that the Skyliner team was taking more people from the wheelchair line and having them go through the main line. This obviously slows down the main line loading. There were people that got into the wheelchair line, an hour after I was in line, that got onto to the Skyliner before I did.

 

[bdrex28]

Love the skyliner.

If you want to go to Epcot for rope drop, I would say (weather being good) it would depend on where you wanted to rope drop at.

If you want to rope drop at the front entrance then a car would be best. But if you want to rope drop the back of Epcot then Skyliner a better option.

 

[scjo68]

I'm staying at Riviera for the third time in October. I love the Skyliner! Luckily I haven't encountered any rain when I was trying to ride it.

From reading other people's experiences, they will send buses to Boardwalk (or Beach Club) when it rains. Just curious if that's where you got the bus, or did you go out through the front of the park?

I've heard the line can get really long at Boardwalk. I might catch an Uber if it is.

We are at Pop now and there was a thunderstorm tonight causing the Skyliner to close.
They had a buses for the Skyliner resorts at the front entrance of the park, with the other buses. There was a sign posted at the IG Skyliner station with this information.
Do not rely on the MDE app or electronic bus times guide sign to indicate whether the Skyliner is closed or not. It has consistently read “Skyliner available” even when it was closed. We have to walk to the station/ bus stop to look for a physical sign indicating Skyliner status.