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

[SouthFayetteFan]

I totally get what you are saying but if someone is afraid of heights they aren't going to try it. I could understand decreasing the buses but totally cutting them out wouldn't be good I don't think. And renting a car may not be their best option with the parking fees at the parks, their best option would be to stay somewhere else I guess!

FYI Those staying onsite don't get charged parking fees.

 

[Mark Cameron]

FYI Those staying onsite don't get charged parking fees.

If you drive a rental car to a park you don't have to pay for parking? I didn't know that. My bad!

 

[dina444444]

If you drive a rental car to a park you don't have to pay for parking? I didn't know that. My bad!

Correct. If your staying on site parking is free at your resort and the theme parks.

 

[Mark Cameron]

Correct. If your staying on site parking is free at your resort and the theme parks.

I apologize, never knew that! I guess because I have never driven on property. Thank you!

 

[rteetz]

Photo Update

https://www.wdwmagic.com/transporta...sney-skyliner-gondola-construction-update.htm

 

[Iowamomof4]

Looks like the southern end of Jamaica will be the ideal location once the gondolas are up and running.

 

[skier_pete]

So - there's been a lot of debate about whether they will eliminate buses from these resorts to Epcot and DHS. I have been of a mind that they will want to eliminate the buses. But then I was thinking about our recent WL stay and how weird it was that they gave you the option of a bus to MK. We never took the bus, because then boats were on a very reliable schedule of every 15 minutes. Yet that option was still there.

As I thought about it, I realized - any resort that has non-bus transportation to a park has a second option to get to that same park:
Poly & GF to MK: Boat or Monorail
Contemporary to MK: Monorail or walk
WL or FW: Boat or Bus
BC/YC/BW/S&W to Epcot/DHS: Boat or walk

Sure, in some cases the second option is walk - but there's ALWAYS a choice. If you are afraid of the monorail, take a boat. If you are afraid of the boat, bus / walk / monorail.

It makes me think that they will continue to run a bus to these parks. The bus will likely come much less frequently than it currently does, and you may even get more sharing. (I think Pop and AoA did not share buses to Epcot or DHS - they might now.) But by keeping a bus available, Disney does not have to worry about those that say "I am afraid to ride the gondola." It also gives them an out for during bad whether when a storm shuts down the gondola. "Oh, you'll have to take a bus." (Not great at Epcot when you have to trudge back to the front of the park, but the option is there.)

So - I've switched teams - I think they will continue to run a bus, just a significantly less frequent / shared bus. People will be encouraged to take the Gondola, but won't be denied a bus option.

That's my two cents.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So - there's been a lot of debate about whether they will eliminate buses from these resorts to Epcot and DHS. I have been of a mind that they will want to eliminate the buses. But then I was thinking about our recent WL stay and how weird it was that they gave you the option of a bus to MK. We never took the bus, because then boats were on a very reliable schedule of every 15 minutes. Yet that option was still there.

As I thought about it, I realized - any resort that has non-bus transportation to a park has a second option to get to that same park:
Poly & GF to MK: Boat or Monorail
Contemporary to MK: Monorail or walk
WL or FW: Boat or Bus
BC/YC/BW/S&W to Epcot/DHS: Boat or walk

Sure, in some cases the second option is walk - but there's ALWAYS a choice. If you are afraid of the monorail, take a boat. If you are afraid of the boat, bus / walk / monorail.

It makes me think that they will continue to run a bus to these parks. The bus will likely come much less frequently than it currently does, and you may even get more sharing. (I think Pop and AoA did not share buses to Epcot or DHS - they might now.) But by keeping a bus available, Disney does not have to worry about those that say "I am afraid to ride the gondola." It also gives them an out for during bad whether when a storm shuts down the gondola. "Oh, you'll have to take a bus." (Not great at Epcot when you have to trudge back to the front of the park, but the option is there.)

So - I've switched teams - I think they will continue to run a bus, just a significantly less frequent / shared bus. People will be encouraged to take the Gondola, but won't be denied a bus option.

That's my two cents.

They certainly will want to save on busses but I agree it likely will be cutting # vs eliminating ... certainly at least at first until the gondolas prove themselves

 

[sndral]

I’ve been following this thread since the debate was whether they’d extend the boat access to the new DVC resort and I know at some point the issue of the gondola passengers swamping the IG entrance to Epcot was discussed and one suggested solution was that the security check point would be at the gondola boarding platform like they do for the monorails now.
I can see that working at Epcot based on physical proximity to the entrance gates of the gondola unloading station, but the DHS gondola platform is quite a hike from the current security - any predictions on unloading in or out of security there?

 

[rteetz]

I’ve been following this thread since the debate was whether they’d extend the boat access to the new DVC resort and I know at some point the issue of the gondola passengers swamping the IG entrance to Epcot was discussed and one suggested solution was that the security check point would be at the gondola boarding platform like they do for the monorails now.
I can see that working at Epcot based on physical proximity to the entrance gates of the gondola unloading station, but the DHS gondola platform is quite a hike from the current security - any predictions on unloading in or out of security there?

The plan is to have them inside the security zones.

 

[OKW Lover]

Interesting story from the Boston Globe about a similar gondola system operating in Mexico. http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...as-fly-free/S5kUvJbW5yghnOiUIpc7wN/story.html

 

[skier_pete]

Correct. If your staying on site parking is free at your resort and the theme parks.

So far...there have long been rumors of them charging for parking, but it hasn't happened yet - (Universal charges for on-site parking.)

 

[skier_pete]

I’ve been following this thread since the debate was whether they’d extend the boat access to the new DVC resort and I know at some point the issue of the gondola passengers swamping the IG entrance to Epcot was discussed and one suggested solution was that the security check point would be at the gondola boarding platform like they do for the monorails now.
I can see that working at Epcot based on physical proximity to the entrance gates of the gondola unloading station, but the DHS gondola platform is quite a hike from the current security - any predictions on unloading in or out of security there?

No one knows for sure, but it might make sense for them to move the security back in both cases.

At DHS as you point out, the gondola station is significantly further out from the park then the current security station. It is also further out than the boat dock. IF they move security back, they would have to deal with separate security for the boat dock. They could "fix" this by having security at the individual resorts instead. They could also do this for the gondola, making arriving boats and gondolas at both parks be within the security bubble, and movement between parks also within the security bubble.

The problem is at Epcot is you have three forms of patron, boat traffic, gondola traffic and foot traffic. If you have both boat and gondola within the security bubble, then you will need to also put another security station at the Epcot entrance anyways for foot traffic, as probably as many people walk from Yacht/Beach and Boardwalk as come on boat. So the problem here is you've moved some of the security back to the resorts, but still require security to get into the park.

Of note, Universal has managed to move the security away from the park entrances. Each hotel has security for the boats, and a separate security for people that walk. This is slightly easier for them since they only have two parks and Citywalk all lumped together. Whether Disney can do something similar for the gondola/friendship boats is another question. It seems to be very staff inefficent to have 2 or 3 security people sitting at each hotel all day when most of the time there are very few people going through security. I would think the easier solution is to increase the size of the security at the IG and that's all. Putting in 6 new security points (S&D,B&YC,BW,Pop/AoA, CBR, Riviera) seems much more complicated than just slightly increasing one existing security point.

The short version is....no one outside Disney really knows how it will be handled yet. I'm sure we will find out when the gondola's roll.

 

[danikoski]

So - there's been a lot of debate about whether they will eliminate buses from these resorts to Epcot and DHS. I have been of a mind that they will want to eliminate the buses. But then I was thinking about our recent WL stay and how weird it was that they gave you the option of a bus to MK. We never took the bus, because then boats were on a very reliable schedule of every 15 minutes. Yet that option was still there.

As I thought about it, I realized - any resort that has non-bus transportation to a park has a second option to get to that same park:
Poly & GF to MK: Boat or Monorail
Contemporary to MK: Monorail or walk
WL or FW: Boat or Bus
BC/YC/BW/S&W to Epcot/DHS: Boat or walk

Sure, in some cases the second option is walk - but there's ALWAYS a choice. If you are afraid of the monorail, take a boat. If you are afraid of the boat, bus / walk / monorail.

It makes me think that they will continue to run a bus to these parks. The bus will likely come much less frequently than it currently does, and you may even get more sharing. (I think Pop and AoA did not share buses to Epcot or DHS - they might now.) But by keeping a bus available, Disney does not have to worry about those that say "I am afraid to ride the gondola." It also gives them an out for during bad whether when a storm shuts down the gondola. "Oh, you'll have to take a bus." (Not great at Epcot when you have to trudge back to the front of the park, but the option is there.)

So - I've switched teams - I think they will continue to run a bus, just a significantly less frequent / shared bus. People will be encouraged to take the Gondola, but won't be denied a bus option.

That's my two cents.

Except for monorail resorts to Epcot...they only have one way there.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

They certainly will want to save on busses but I agree it likely will be cutting # vs eliminating ... certainly at least at first until the gondolas prove themselves

And the first time there is too much wind/lightning on property or something (gondola/monorail) breaks down.

 

[skier_pete]

Except for monorail resorts to Epcot...they only have one way there.

Really? I never realized that. I just assumed you could also take a bus. (We've only stayed at the Poly, and we walked to the TTC as what seemed the "best choice".) That really puts the GF and Contemporary as poor choices for an Epcot trip, huh?

 

[rteetz]

Really? I never realized that. I just assumed you could also take a bus. (We've only stayed at the Poly, and we walked to the TTC as what seemed the "best choice".) That really puts the GF and Contemporary as poor choices for an Epcot trip, huh?

I never had a problem getting to Epcot with the monorail while at BLT.

 

[skier_pete]

I never had a problem getting to Epcot with the monorail while at BLT.

YEah, I suppose not bad, I was more thinking the ride back requiring a change and then 4 stops on the 2nd rail.

So you guys blasted my theory about 2nd options, too...

 

[danikoski]

Really? I never realized that. I just assumed you could also take a bus. (We've only stayed at the Poly, and we walked to the TTC as what seemed the "best choice".) That really puts the GF and Contemporary as poor choices for an Epcot trip, huh?

This is one of the reasons why WL is our favorite MK resort. I have a fear of getting stuck on the monorail going between Epcot and the TTC. And although the busses can be a pain, you are highly unlikely to get trapped on them. I really enjoyed staying at Beach Club and being able to walk to two parks, but we like the themeing at WL better and WL was cheaper than BC for a few years...now they are about on par with BC, so might be worth it to try again. And with the gondolas, maybe it'd be worth it to try CBR, CSR, or Riviera...or even Pop, now with the updated rooms too. If the gondolas work more reliably than the monorail, I could see the gondola resorts pulling folks away from the monorail resorts, and possibly even the Epcot resorts.

 

[Turn the Page]

This is one of the reasons why WL is our favorite MK resort. I have a fear of getting stuck on the monorail going between Epcot and the TTC. And although the busses can be a pain, you are highly unlikely to get trapped on them. I really enjoyed staying at Beach Club and being able to walk to two parks, but we like the themeing at WL better and WL was cheaper than BC for a few years...now they are about on par with BC, so might be worth it to try again. And with the gondolas, maybe it'd be worth it to try CBR, CSR, or Riviera...or even Pop, now with the updated rooms too. If the gondolas work more reliably than the monorail, I could see the gondola resorts pulling folks away from the monorail resorts, and possibly even the Epcot resorts.

I wouldn't worry about getting stuck on the gondola much. Even if the motor stops they can still manually pull the cars in unlike the monorail which requires evacuation.