Disney Skyliner (Gondola Transportation System) Read Post 1 Now Open!

[jade1]

She meant the vents would have to be shut.

Ha yea sorry, that was what I meant thanks.

29 degree air moving is about 10 degrees wind chill.

I have said earlier-heaters would be nice many times through the winter, just not really necessary.

 

[OSUZorba]

I think it makes sense to have a press preview for this opening, because as a transit system it has implications way beyond Disney. There are quite a few municipal governments watching this very closely to see how it is received.

Having a for-profit company pay to be the guinea pig for how well a ropeway works as mass transit in the southern US is a great piece of luck for urban planners. No taxpayer money spent before we see how it feels to ride. However, as with all mass-transit systems, the sociological factors are harder to gauge. There is still the possibility that a ropeway installed as urban mass transit could suffer the same fate as the one built in Rio de Janeiro. Some communities will embrace them and effectively police them (see Medellin and LaPaz), and some will not, and it is up to their local leaders to accurately predict /manage that aspect.

I'm obviously very pro the Skyliner and public transit in general, but I can't really think of many real urban use cases for a system like this. Obviously a Breckenridge has a use case, but it and other ski cities are much more similar to WDW than say LA or DFW.

It seems like it really needs very concentrated origins and destinations separated by no more than a few miles.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I'm obviously very pro the Skyliner and public transit in general, but I can't really think of many real urban use cases for a system like this. Obviously a Breckenridge has a use case, but it and other ski cities are much more similar to WDW than say LA or DFW.

It seems like it really needs very concentrated origins and destinations separated by no more than a few miles.

Have you ever been stuck in traffic in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. A Skyliner system starting in Sevierville and running through Pigeon Forge and on to Gatlinburg with various stops would be a godsend as roads down there just can't be built big enough.

 

[jknezek]

Have you ever been stuck in traffic in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. A Skyliner system starting in Sevierville and running through Pigeon Forge and on to Gatlinburg with various stops would be a godsend as roads down there just can't be built big enough.

I think this is an excellent demonstration of where it could work, and exactly the demonstration why it won't work in most places. Sevierville is a straight line essentially. Almost everything entertainment, lodging, and restaurant wise is within a couple blocks of that horrible main road and that holds true from the gates of the SMNP down to the far end of Pigeon Forge. So yes, I could see making something like this work there so long as the Riviera loading/unloading area works as well as planned. Myrtle Beach and International Drive are two more areas that are incredibly linear. Possibly Huntingdon Beach area in California and there are probably some I'm missing. But by and large, cities, either as transit or as tourism, aren't linear. There is a reason subway systems in established cities tend to look like plates of spaghetti. Or that to get around major cities in 2 directions you need to change transit options at least once and sometimes multiple times.

Gondolas are great getting people to/from a few areas in roughly a straight line. From a hotel up a mountain. From a resort to a theme park. Large numbers at both ends wanting to go the same places. They aren't going to do as well with diverse pickup and drop off points, unless you can run it like Riviera is supposed to work, and even then, it only solves the diverse terminal issue, not the non-linear issue.

 

[OSUZorba]

Have you ever been stuck in traffic in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. A Skyliner system starting in Sevierville and running through Pigeon Forge and on to Gatlinburg with various stops would be a godsend as roads down there just can't be built big enough.

Yes, been twice in the last year, actually. I would lump that in with a tourist area like ski cities. People are staying here and want to get there. But you'd still have to park n ride or bus to the terminals, which would hurt it's desirability for a lot of people.

Disney is a perfect use case because you have thousands of people wanting to start from a specific point and wanting to end at an extremely specific point.

The only really urban use case I can think of would be from LGA to JFK airports, but that is still serving tourists.

 

[Mikey15]

Yes, been twice in the last year, actually. I would lump that in with a tourist area like ski cities. People are staying here and want to get there. But you'd still have to park n ride or bus to the terminals, which would hurt it's desirability for a lot of people.

Disney is a perfect use case because you have thousands of people wanting to start from a specific point and wanting to end at an extremely specific point.

The only really urban use case I can think of would be from LGA to JFK airports, but that is still serving tourists.

I agree the urban applications may be limited. Aside from the Disney scenario of moving hordes of captive audience across relatively short distances, the other proposals seem to be cheaper-alternatives-to-bridges where there's water or terrain obstacles:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/08/29/leitner-poma-ski-war-gondolas/

One of the brightest horizons for Leitner-Poma of America is urban gondola transportation using a three-cable system its sibling companies Poma and Leitner have developed in cities across the world. Aerial tramways are huge internationally.

Poma built and operates a 10-gondola network in Medellin, Colombia, that is a big part of the urban transportation system for the 240,000-resident city. Leitner and Poma have cable transportation systems in Algeria, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France and Italy.

Cole says interest is growing in the U.S., where his company operates the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City and the automated people-mover system at Miami International Airport.

His company is talking with Oakland about gondolas connecting the proposed Oakland A’s stadium with downtown. He’s studying a possible gondola across the Potomac River in Washington. There’s a proposal to string gondolas between L.A.’s Dodger Stadium and downtown. Another would connect Staten Island in New York with Bayonne in New Jersey. Utah transportation officials have identified a gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon as an option for reducing skier traffic on the avalanche-prone route.

In Colorado, talk of Telluride-like gondolas connecting mountains and communities have long lingered in Winter Park, Steamboat and the Roaring Fork Valley.

A developer in Loveland wants to build a gondola connecting Northern Colorado Regional Airport with The Ranch and The Brands West villages. Cole thinks the pie-in-the-sky tinge of urban aerial transportation could be fading as communities large and small grapple with auto traffic.

“I’d say in the U.S., right now there are probably 12 to 18 proposed aerial cable systems out there,” says Cole, who expects the first American city to install an urban gondola will trigger a deluge across the country.

 

[sachilles]

I've asked this before in this thread. If and when Disney adds another line or 2, where would you put it?
I know that they had mentioned something might come to animal kingdom lodge/AK(not necessarily a gondola).
Where would it make sense. I can see offering non bus transport between animal kingdom lodge and the park would alleviate the need for many buses that might only be able to be dispatched in that area, as it's fairly remote.
I still feel like disney springs is screaming for one, I was amazed how many people were there on my last visit. I think a link to Epcot, with a link to OKW/Saratoga and port orleans could serve a decent amount of beds and link into the other system. I Also can help but look at the fairway across from Port Orleans french quarter, I could see riviera 2.0 there, with the golf hole(s) being relocated a bit.
Also think connecting reflections, the fort, and wilderness lodge into the transportation center might make some sense.

Certainly the skyliner seems far more cost effective per mile than a monorail. Roads are really too congested for more bus traffic, so they have to do something to help alleviate that burden.

 

[rwalker1304]

Here's an example of an application for mass urban transit: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/07/how-cable-car-systems-are-revolutionizing-public-transport-in-la-paz.html

 

[rteetz]

https://blogmickey.com/2019/09/disney-shares-on-board-video-of-disney-skyliner-gondola-system

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm obviously very pro the Skyliner and public transit in general, but I can't really think of many real urban use cases for a system like this. Obviously a Breckenridge has a use case, but it and other ski cities are much more similar to WDW than say LA or DFW.

It seems like it really needs very concentrated origins and destinations separated by no more than a few miles.

I really don't think any urban system would propose to use *just* gondolas, but I think that quite a few are looking closely at them as a partial solution on certain potentially popular routes, particularly in places (like, ironically, Orlando) where bodies of water or other natural features complicate possibilities for cost-effective ground routes. I think that many systems *do* look at them mostly with regard to tourism, in that there is hope that they could at least be used to get tourists off of the roads that are used by local commuters.

The option of a ropeway has been raised several times over the years as a possible option for getting beachgoers off the bridges between Tampa and Clearwater. (Of course, the TB area is notoriously backward in transit terms, but there is light on the horizon. Just recently they finally voted to fund a year-round ferry service! It rather helps that the population of the more urban parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas are starting to skew both old *and* young adult; prime demographics for mass transit.)

I could also see a retirement community like The Villages opting to use one to reduce residents' need to drive, even if what they mostly drive is golf carts. it still runs up the accident rate.

 

[Mikey15]

I've asked this before in this thread. If and when Disney adds another line or 2, where would you put it?
I know that they had mentioned something might come to animal kingdom lodge/AK(not necessarily a gondola).
Where would it make sense. I can see offering non bus transport between animal kingdom lodge and the park would alleviate the need for many buses that might only be able to be dispatched in that area, as it's fairly remote.
I still feel like disney springs is screaming for one, I was amazed how many people were there on my last visit. I think a link to Epcot, with a link to OKW/Saratoga and port orleans could serve a decent amount of beds and link into the other system. I Also can help but look at the fairway across from Port Orleans french quarter, I could see riviera 2.0 there, with the golf hole(s) being relocated a bit.
Also think connecting reflections, the fort, and wilderness lodge into the transportation center might make some sense.

Certainly the skyliner seems far more cost effective per mile than a monorail. Roads are really too congested for more bus traffic, so they have to do something to help alleviate that burden.

My initial wishlist was east from CBR to Typhoon Lagoon and Disney Springs, which also connects boat-served SSR, OKW, and Port Orleans. I was thinking improved waterpark and shopping access, but I imagine Disney doesn't want Disney Springs parking freeloaders.

Proximity and straight-line was, they could do a line from DHS south, bending west to Blizzard Beach (think Boardwalk turn) and offer a spur from there to Coronado and a spur to Animal Kingdom. Since I'm guessing All-Stars has the highest number of guests to move besides AoA/Pop, it would give the option of a line from All-Stars up to Blizzard Beach then transferring to AK or DHS.

 

[jade1]

I've asked this before in this thread. If and when Disney adds another line or 2, where would you put it?

Somehow to D Springs, and one along the Savanna to AK and AK Lodge.

 

[Iowamomof4]

https://blogmickey.com/2019/09/disney-shares-on-board-video-of-disney-skyliner-gondola-system

The only thing they didn't get to show was an ecv loading and unloading.

 

[Scalemaster34]

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney markets the Skyliner as an experience as well as transportation. It has already been featured on local newscasts, at D23, and the blog.

I'm expecting more of a news push, and maybe even a billboard on I-4.

Can't wait for a Gondola Playset....

 

[jade1]

https://blogmickey.com/2019/09/disney-shares-on-board-video-of-disney-skyliner-gondola-system

Looks much more private and such great views than a bus or boat. Can't wait.

And yea if your hair blows that much with the vents, they will be closed most of the winter IMO, at least AM/PM.

 

[seashoreCM]

Where would a new Skyliner be built?

How about a hub at Coronado Springs? With branches to All Star Music, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot Future World.

Features:

At least two resorts' worth of guests coming out of each theme park branch.

At least two theme parks' worth of guests coming out of each resort branch.

The hub not at a theme park so as to increase congestion there.

I do not think that an existing terminal e.g. Hollywood Studios can be shared by another branch going somewhere else but rather another terminal would have to be built, possibly alongside the terminal already there, Too much potential for having to shut down due to too much time being taken by one particular gondola car.

There are still some cons:

The total travel distance from AK to AKL via CSR is much greater compared with today's buses.
It is a long walk from 'Movies to 'Music and from 'Sports to 'Music to the space where the Skyliner station could be constructed.

 

[bookgirl2632]

Just saw this. I believe this was predicted a few pages back.
https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-storie...-to-disneys-caribbean-beach-skyliner-station/

 

[OSUZorba]

I agree the urban applications may be limited. Aside from the Disney scenario of moving hordes of captive audience across relatively short distances, the other proposals seem to be cheaper-alternatives-to-bridges where there's water or terrain obstacles:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/08/29/leitner-poma-ski-war-gondolas/

I hadn't really thought about a place like across San Francisco bay. I could see them being used across Lake Washington in Seattle, which would be awesome with floating towers . Or in NYC across the Hudson where they currently have lots of pedestrians on ferries. It makes sense if you have a good connection to it on both sides and you have to go around an obstacle that would be expensive to get around otherwise.

Thanks for the article. I was thinking of it too much like a subway replacement, not a ferry or tunnel replacement.

 

[OSUZorba]

Here's an example of an application for mass urban transit: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/07/how-cable-car-systems-are-revolutionizing-public-transport-in-la-paz.html

I knew about the La Paz system, but hadn't really looked into. It is a very impressive system and makes a lot of sense for a mountainous metro. Still relatively short distances, but looks similar to a subway map.

 

[evlaina]

What time are the gondolas going to operate? Will it be an hour before park opening? We arrive at POP on 9/28 and are rope dropping HS on 9/29, the first day the gondolas are officially open. Trying to decide if the gondolas or a bus will be better.