HUGE Skyliner News!

[WNYDisneyDad]

With my husband I would be okay sharing but not by myself as a solo traveler. What if you get stuck with some nutty person? If alone I would feel better requesting my own gondola.

That's a very valid point. I never thought of the physical safety aspect of it.

 

[BebopBaloo]

Was so bummed to hear this. The gondola cabins are so much smaller than a monorail cabin. It's just awkward and really not cool with me to share this transportation with total strangers...nope. not feeling it. I really hope they allow parties (no matter the size) to travel on the skyliner by themselves.

 

[Ghost Host 998]

While we enjoyed riding with just our own party post-covid, the SL was always meant to be a mass transit system. Pre-covid Disney was loading the gondolas with multiple parties, sometimes more than 2 parties, up to 10 people per gondola. In reality, they were only doing this during the busiest times such as park opening and closing, during most off-times it was usually 1 party per. My family is choosing to look at this as a twofold positive. 1) Wait times and lines should move quicker at park opening and closing, and B) this is one step closer to a return to normalcy.

 

[VandVsmama]

Back when the Skyliner first opened, a lot of us on the Dis lost our minds (myself included) over the possibility of getting stuck on it mid-air for hours. Others told us that if we didn't like it, then don't take the Skyliner as transportation...stay at a non-Skyliner resort. That was good advice.

That same advice still applies.

If you don't want to ride with other parties in the same gondola, then don't get on the Skyliner. Use another form of transportation to get where you need to go. And/or don't stay at a Skyliner resort. The solution is simple.

 

[BebopBaloo]

I think the possibility of being stuck on the Skyliner with someone who could encroach upon your physical safety is a relevant concern no matter where one stays. If one is on a bus by themselves with strangers, at least there is a driver. If one is on the monorail by themselves with a stranger(s) at least the ride between the resorts and the MK is not as long as the ride on the Skyliner.

 

[Robbydj13]

Was so bummed to hear this. The gondola cabins are so much smaller than a monorail cabin. It's just awkward and really not cool with me to share this transportation with total strangers...nope. not feeling it. I really hope they allow parties (no matter the size) to travel on the skyliner by themselves.

I wouldn't put 2 HUGE parties together, but only putting 1 or 2 people in a vehicle meant for 8-10 seems crazy. Especially on a busy day

 

[brockash]

I think the possibility of being stuck on the Skyliner with someone who could encroach upon your physical safety is a relevant concern no matter where one stays. If one is on a bus by themselves with strangers, at least there is a driver. If one is on the monorail by themselves with a stranger(s) at least the ride between the resorts and the MK is not as long as the ride on the Skyliner.

And a door to get out...there's no way to get out of the gondola without basically jumping to your death.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Some of you people have been watching far too many movies! LOL
Talking about not understanding risk assessment...
The odds of being attacked at WDW in a Skyliner would be astronomical! LMBO!!!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Some of you people have been watching far too many movies! LOL
Talking about not understanding risk assessment...
The odds of being attacked at WDW in a Skyliner would be astronomical! LMBO!!!

My thoughts exactly! The drama on these boards sometimes OMG

 

[BebopBaloo]

Being stuck in a cabin with a rowdy someone who has had too much to drink at Epcot isn't an astronomical improbability. I've seen enough in real life to not need movies to make me imagine things. Happy to make you laugh though. The world needs more laughter anyway.

 

[Robbydj13]

Being stuck in a cabin with a rowdy someone who has had too much to drink at Epcot isn't an astronomical improbability. I've seen enough in real life to not need movies to make me imagine things. Happy to make you laugh though. The world needs more laughter anyway.

I would think you could mention the concern of a drunk guest to the castmember at boarding. No reason to assume everyone is awful. Thinking that you deserve your own personal car for no other reason but being uncomfortable doesn't make sense at a theme park either though

 

[BebopBaloo]

I would think you could mention the concern of a drunk guest to the castmember at boarding. No reason to assume everyone is awful. Thinking that you deserve your own personal car for no other reason but being uncomfortable doesn't make sense at a theme park either though

I make no assumptions. I don't think everyone is awful. The Skyliner is different than riding other theme park attractions and transportation. I never said I was deserving of a cabin to myself, just that I didn't like the new policy for xyz reasons.
We're just going to have to agree to disagree here. There are others that share our opinions on both sides of this argument. I'm so tired of everything being a fight. I started visiting the disboards more often again as a respite from other stress, but seriously everything everywhere becomes a matter of someone being better than someone else. I'm out.

 

[FCDub]

Gosh, it was the swinging gondolas of death when it first opened – where you'd either do full corkscrews during windy days or burn alive during the summer because of no A/C.

Now we're onto inventing scenarios where people are being forced to choose between being physically assaulted or killing themselves by jumping.

If you feel unsafe, please ask the loading attendant for a separate car – if that's not possible, be prepared to take a form of transportation that allows for more passenger volume.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I would guess if there is almost no line, you would still get your own. I enjoyed sharing before Covid, most of the time. We got stuck once for 35 minutes, glad it was with a nice family.

 

[WEDWDW]

Hopefully it will help with wait times. I've been hearing people lamenting how long the lines can be in the morning and evening right now.

It will END the massive Park Open/Park Close lines for the most part.

And as others have posted,during low demand periods of the day,historically Groups have been given their "own" Gondola in practice.

The Social Distanced Gondolas practically rendered the Gondolas useless at Open/Close and completely defeated the purpose of Skyliner.

Many things at WDW have Pros and Cons and I will take the Cons of multiple Group Gondolas at Epcot Park Close versus the Cons of waiting for and riding a Bus with other tired,sweaty,sleepy,irritable Guests at Epcot Park Close EVERY time!

 

[Rosanne]

I'm guessing if it isn't busy at all (like no or almost no wait) you could get your own gondola. If it is busy and the people around you are acting pretty normal (which is most people) you can get put in a gondola with them and be fine. I think if the lines are super long you've already figured out if the people/person near you is cray-cray and you can avoid them by either requesting your own for your group or be willing to go back to the end of the line.
On the buses, for instance there have hardly ever been people that really creep me out but if there was a concerning situation I would wait as long as I need to.

 

[focusondisney]

And the line was still never bad. BLAH.

Line was never bad? I have a family member there this week. They waited 50 minutes to get on at Epcot closing. And I’ve read posts from people who missed rope drop at studios because it took them 45 minutes to get there.

 

[crazymomof4]

Being stuck in a cabin with a rowdy someone who has had too much to drink at Epcot isn't an astronomical improbability. I've seen enough in real life to not need movies to make me imagine things. Happy to make you laugh though. The world needs more laughter anyway.

This called to my mind the several news reports this week showing videos of all-out brawls on airplanes. A SW flight attendant got punched in the face and two teeth knocked out! It's easy to brush off someone's concern as "far-fetched" and ya, I get it.. chances are slim anything would happen. But no one can deny that *crazy* is on the rise of late and people's actions are more unpredictable than ever.
You can bet that if we get put on a gondola with strangers I ain't sayin' nuthin' about their mask usage (or lack of), behavior of their kids, how much room on the bench their "man-spread" is taking, etc, etc ... NOPE! Keeping my mouth shut and looking out of the windows until we're back on the ground! LOL

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

Ugh, hate to hear this. We loved the Skyliner, and while I thought we'd gotten efficient at boarding with the stroller and the kids, it stresses me out to think another party will have to board at the same time as us.

 

[mom2rtk]

We were in line for the Mickey Fun Wheel in DCA once for about 20 minutes. There was a teen brother/sister pair in line right beside us. They were loud, boisterous and very disruptive the entire time we were in line. He was karate chopping and kicking at his sister. There was absolutely no way I was getting in a gondola with them. When we got to the loading platform, I just said I'd like to wait for the next car. No big deal. We were placed with the next party and that was fine.

Basically, if the party in front or behind you seems drunk or rowdy, just ask to wait for the next car. Or offer to let a couple parties pass you.