The Disney Skyliner: Beauty or Beast?
We've written about the Walt Disney World Skyliner here before. If you haven't seen our discussion, check out the Related Posts at the bottom of this post.
Basically, the skyliner is a new mode of transportation for Walt Disney World which opened in October of 2019. It is a suspended gondola system that only serves certain resorts and parks - namely: EPCOT, Disney Hollywood Studios, Caribbean Beach Resort, Riviera Resort, Art of Animation, and Pop Century.
As a refresher, below is a map of the Skyliner's route:
The biggest concern before the Skyliner was operating was the lack of air conditioning. Each cabin is only kept cool by a ventilation system, but no A/C in the Florida heat.
Surprisingly, however, this seems to have not been a big issue with riders.
But there were issues...
Within a week of opening this happened. Guests likely returning to their resorts for the evening were stranded on the Skyliner for three hours while a pile-up incident at one of the stations was resolved. Those who were sent to the hospital were sent because of complications from the delay, not the collision itself.
And "pile-up" and "collision" are pretty strong words for what happened. A gondola failed to leave the station and slid backwards into another. Windows on one gondola shattered. The biggest concerns from the incident seem to have been the amount of time guests were in the air without clear communication from Disney aside from the automated message that the ride would resume shortly (No... no, it would not).
However, there were emergency kits in each gondola. They contained water, small cups, a whistle, a light stick, and a notepad and pencil. And they were ravaged during the incident (heck, I would have too).
It seems the greatest harm from this incident, aside from harm to the hype around the Skyliner, were to people who had to pee, or got bored.
HOWEVER, the Skyliner reopened with limited hours within a week of the incident and is now fully operational once more AND...
Guests LOVE it.
Like, LOVE love it. Reports are of pretty much no lines because of the constant loading, the comfort of being able to ride with your party and just your party, and the unique perspective this unique mode of transportation gives of the Disney property itself. I mean, who would not want to glide above World Showcase or the lakes at the Caribbean Beach Resort?
Concept Art, copyright Disney
And it's FAST. Despite its stately pace, its ability to go "as the crow flies" results in very short times to get to a park. Here are the current transportation times:
Caribbean Beach to DHS - 5-6 minutes
Caribbean Beach to Pop or AOA - less than 6 minutes
Caribbean Beach to Riviera - 5 minutes
Caribbean Beach to International Gateway at EPCOT - 15 minutes
Riviera to International Gateway - 9 minutes
So imagine this: You leave your room at Caribbean Beach and with little to no line, step on the next gondola. In 6 minutes, you are exiting at DHS or in 15 minutes, you are exiting at the International Gateway. Compare this to the bus where you can wait up to 20 minutes and then ride another 10-20 minutes, making your ride at least 2x longer than taking the Skyliner. Wow.
One million guests have now ridden the Skyliner and overall, they love it.
So what do you think? Are you excited or scared of the Skyliner? Should it expand to other parts of the property? Leave us a comment here or on our Facebook page. We'll see you next week!
