Disney Skyliner Gondolas Closed Indefinitely After Accident & Evacuation
Last night at Walt Disney World, there was an accidental collision at one of the Disney Skyliner stations, causing the Epcot line to close. Thereafter, Reedy Creek Fire Department evacuated guests on that line via lifts over the course of a few hours. In this post, we’ll look at what happened and our commentary about the future impact of this incident on the Disney Skyliner’s operations.
Sometime between 8 and 9 pm, at the Riviera/Caribbean Beach Skyliner station, the aqua-colored gondola cabin did not attach to the cable to dispatch from the station en route to Epcot (see top image via @Ada58974405 on Twitter). The gondola cabins behind it slowly crashed against it. The crushing of the vehicles caused the glass to shatter on the impacted vehicle and several of the yellow cabins behind it to be damaged.
Consequently, the Epcot line went down for several hours, necessitating an evacuation by Reedy Creek Fire Department. This process was done via lift on a cabin by cabin basis, and reportedly took until after 11 pm to complete. Some guests report being stuck for as long as 3 hours, and the entire Skyliner system remains closed today…
Thankfully, Walt Disney World is reporting that no guests were injured in the accident. (It’s also fortunate that this happened at night, as the lack of air-conditioning definitely would have been an issue had this occurred during the middle of the day yesterday.)
Walt Disney World has informed Orlando-area media outlets that there has not been an accident, but rather “unexpected down time” of the Skyliner. That is quite the disappointing spin, especially with widely-circulated photos on social media reflecting what actually happened.
As compensation, stranded guests are reporting that Walt Disney World Guest Relations provided each of them with a $100 gift card, 2 park tickets, and taxi vouchers. Some guests who were stuck stated in the “Disney World Junkies” Facebook group that they applaud how Disney handled the situation.
Many of the guests who saw the crash first-hand or were stranded on the Epcot line of the Skyliner posted photos to social media. Here’s a look at some of those:
Not a fun experience on the new skyliner. @WaltDisneyWorld @WESH pic.twitter.com/fwuXjlN9wg
– Ada (@Ada58974405) October 6, 2019
What happened with this new ride? Feeling sorry for the people still trapped. @WaltDisneyWorld @WESH pic.twitter.com/mAjcH7hD5o
– Ada (@Ada58974405) October 6, 2019
Part 2 Disney Skyliner Stuck @ the Boardwalk #disney #skyliner #disneyworld #epcot #epcotforever #disneyskyliner #disneypark #disneysboardwalk @WESH pic.twitter.com/QLR7gE5Znr
– JK DeLaCruz (@JK2559) October 6, 2019
More trucks now being dispersed for evacuation. This one has parked directly under us for Disney Skyliner. #disneyskyliner #disneyworld @WDWToday pic.twitter.com/ml64YWAoC7
– Aaron Murray (@WaltyDis) October 6, 2019
– Theme Park Alex (@themeparkalex) October 6, 2019
Well here’s a look inside the emergency kit on the #Skyliner. We were just told we could open it. There’s water inside, a note pad, cups (possibly in case nature calls), light stick … hitting 90+ min @WaltDisneyWorld @WFTV pic.twitter.com/3xyvrHGyUO
– Cierra Putman WFTV (@CPutman_WFTV) October 6, 2019
Evacuating two people at a time off of the Disney World Skyliner… could be very slow with 10 capacity gondolas…. #disneyskyliner #disneyworld @WDWToday pic.twitter.com/y5S1IJxhtP
– Aaron Murray (@WaltyDis) October 6, 2019
UPDATE the gondolas #Skyliner are moving! pic.twitter.com/WH5WytPlFc
– Jena Polyak (@jenapolyak) October 6, 2019
Additionally, our friends over at BlogMickey.com headed to the scene and captured some good photos of the evacuation as it was in progress. Coincidentally, we were driving on Buena Vista Drive shortly after the accident but before road closures started and the evacuation began. Oblivious to it all, we didn’t see anything even though we were right there!
We did, however, head out to Disney’s Hollywood Studios early this morning to confirm that the Skyliner would remain closed today (our photos in this post are all from this morning).
Although there was no signage outside indicating as much, Cast Members posted outside the Skyliner station indicated that it would remain closed today. We could see from a distance that the Epcot line was likewise not moving. No one with whom we spoke has insight into when it’ll reopen, and as such, this closure should be treated as indefinite.
It seems likely that safety inspections or more will need to occur before the Skyliner can resume operations. We hesitate to speculate as to when it’ll return, or what training, technical, or other safety adjustments might need to be made before Walt Disney World is comfortable running the Skyliner again.
For us, this news is incredibly disappointing. It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of the Skyliner and have been strong advocates of this system since even before it was officially announced two years ago. This has been among our most anticipated additions in a long time at Walt Disney World.
It’s also no secret that the Skyliner has been dogged by delays and closures throughout the first week of operations, but we chalked these up to early growing pains. Given the uptime and reliability of the thousands of similar Doppelmayr gondola systems around the world, it seemed likely that these would be resolved in the near future and the Skyliner would become a reliable–and beloved–form of transportation at Walt Disney World.
In fact, our experiences with the Skyliner have been resoundingly positive. Since publishing our Skyliner Gondola Review: Disney World’s Most Magical Flight on Earth article, our rides have been even better. We’ve used the gondolas for Extra, Extra Magic Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot’s rope drop a couple of mornings and had zero delays, zero wait in line, and zero other guests in our cabins. It has been (had been?) smooth and flawless.
Despite our unblemished firsthand experiences, there is no denying that others have not had similarly glowing results. Last week, the Art of Animation and Pop Century station had a delayed opening by 2-3 hours on at least one morning. The Epcot line has had a lot of sporadic downtime leading to backups at the International Gateway station, and one evening we saw it down completely for the rest of the night while walking over to Crescent Lake.
Those are just the issues we’ve been on hand to observe or hear about–it’s possible there have been more. Given the reliability of these gondola systems elsewhere and the fact that Walt Disney World has been testing the Skyliner for months, we’re left scratching our heads. What happened? Why have there been so many operational challenges?
Still, all of what happened prior to last night would be fairly easy to shrug off as early hiccups (so long as you aren’t a first-time visitor who was delayed for a prolonged period by one of the outages). Short stoppages, delayed openings, or early closures would be long forgotten after a few months of reliable operations with minimal downtime. None of those are stories that would stick with visitors and cause them not to use the Skyliner in the future.
Judging by social media, this incident is quite clearly different. Some guests already had understandable fears of being so high up in an aerial transportation system, and reports of being stuck for 2-3 hours in a small cabin is only going to give more guests pause about riding. For many Walt Disney World fans, images of the collided gondolas and the evacuation process will cast a long-term pall over the Skyliner.
We’re still incredibly enthusiastic about the Skyliner, but have to admit that this one really stings. However, we have to report the realities of the new gondola transportation system, rather than what we want it to be.
As much as we’d like to convince ourselves otherwise, this is a serious issue for the long-term perception of the Skyliner. This will be a PR nightmare for Walt Disney World–especially as the story is already making international news.
We will continue to use the Skyliner as normal with zero hesitation just as we would automobiles, airplanes, bicycles, monorails, peoplemovers, our feet, or any other mode of transportation with an imperfect record. More concerning than safety is reliability and up-time.
If you’re traveling to Walt Disney World in the next couple of months, you should keep apprised of Skyliner operations to determine whether it’s sufficiently reliable for you to use during your trip. For Walt Disney World vacation planning purposes, we’ll keep you posted on that and everything else to do with the Skyliner.
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Your Thoughts
Did you witness the Skyliner accident? Does this crash have you more hesitant to use Walt Disney World’s newest form of transportation in the future, or will you stick to buses? Anything else to add? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m a snow sports journalist who has covered ski resorts for decades. I can’t recall of many incidents ski resorts that align with the scenario being described here, and I’m surprised that the built-in safety systems on a modern Doppelmayr lift didn’t immediately detect the failure of the gondola cabin to properly switch between the “slow” and “fast” tracks. (Or, perhaps, it was the safety system that detected the fault and brought the line to a stop before employees acted — just not quick enough to avoid some cabin collisions.) There are sensors throughout the system that detect the location of the cabin and e-stop if a cabin isn’t where it’s expected to be, or if wind causes a cabin to tilt beyond safety parameters, etc.
Based on the description of this event, this wasn’t a minor mishap. Doppelmayr engineers are going to need to determine what happened because massive amounts of engineering go into preventing exactly this kind of fault. Disney may also need to develop strategies to evac the cabins in a more expeditious manner. Ski resorts can’t rely on firetrucks reaching lift towers in mountainous/snowy conditions, so Ski Patrollers regularly train to use a harness system that they toss over the lift cable to evacuate guests. They’re quite efficient at it. Then again, Disney’s cabins are likely more accessible (e.g., wheelchair accessible), which could present additional evacuation challenges.
Once they get to the bottom of it, there’s no reason that this can’t be a safe and effective transportation system. Doppelmayr has been perfecting this technology for decades and there are countless incident-free miles on this type of lift system.
What are crowd levels at ski resorts like in comparison to Disney? And, how are the athletic and active individuals who go skiing regularly different from Disney guests. I think this is a different organism, and I’m not sure the nuances of that fact were taken seriously enough in the overall concept.
The ski resorts, though, have a different temp issue, as well as no water to deal with. The gondolas there are always over land. Here, the Skyliner gondolas travel over water for part of the trip. How are ECV and wheel chair passengers supposed to be taken down by a ladder or repelled to the ground? Also, ski resorts don’t have 100 degree weather to deal with, so if a lift stops, there is not a problem with overheating. Heat stroke, though, is real – and could definitely happen in a gondola if there is no air circulating and the cabin is sealed for, say 3 hours.Finally, the length of ski resort gondolas is much shorter in most cases than the length of the Skyliner, so there are more opportunities for issues by the simple nature of the length.
Is Dopplemayer a capable gondola engineering company? Very likely. Is a gondola transportation system faster than taking a bus? Very likely. Is the system with designs for loading and unloading passengers in ECVs and wheelchairs innovative? Very likely. Can these moving vehicles become comfortable in a breeze by the nature of moving long quickly? Very likely. Can there be significant safety issues due to the nature of the guests using these gondolas? Yes.
Michelle, Disney is aware of of new technology that puts electricity in those moving cabins. They were going to take a wait and see approach. It may change now @ElectricGondola. Dopplemayer is a very capable company but they are very resistant to new technology when it come from outside their space. They sit on the board of ANSI and the ANSI board approve this new technology that puts electricity into a moving cabin which provides AC, Heating and communications for its passengers while in motion. ANSI writes the bible for this industry. @ElectricGondola
Scott, its interesting Doppelmayr is aware of a new technology that puts electricity in those moving cabins and they refuse to try it. They sit on the board of ANSI and ANSI approved use of this technology. Explain that. They could have AC & Heat plus communications systems, charging stations for their phones. Disney was taking a wait and see attitude . They may reach out to us, we shall see. @ElectricGondola
I posted a link earlier, Dopplemayr installed a system with AC in Macao China at the Wynn. It’s probably just more than Disney wanted to spend!
I was one of the lucky ones — was only stuck on there for 45 minutes. However, I have massive panic attacks and my girlfriend is diabetic. We were right at the station, could literally push open our doors (if we could) and step out onto a platform. I knocked on the door to try to get someone’s attention and to ask what was going on, and the cast members standing there turned their backs to us and refused to acknowledge this. The emergency call button did not work (or they weren’t answering it), and the repeated message from an automated system did nothing to stem any panic. We had no idea what was the hold up, what was going on to fix it, or if we (or anybody else) would be rescued.
While this article makes it seem like “oh it was just 3 hours”, it was an absolute nightmare. They had many people being pulled off by cast members and brought to medical personnel. What they offered to us was a single bottle of water (between two people) and we were stuck for nearly an hour. The seven managers standing around didn’t even ask if we were okay — just handed me the bottle with a monotone “sorry” out of them.
Unacceptable. This was not Disney standards.
It sounds like maybe this was a construction problem so maybe goes back to installer? I know that Disney is ultimately responsible but there is a third party involved here.
Not that that makes the publicity any better. And, as a stockholder whose vote was ignored, it makes me even more irritated about Iger’s paycheck and his justification of it as “it had been a really tough year” and he deserved the $65,000,000. Who’s running the show while he’s collecting his $$$?
I think Tom’s hit on the question many of us are asking: Why such a rough start? They’ve had a lot of time to work on this and have everyone trained and ready. It seems there’ve been a lot of issues for such a brief operating time.
We always knew weather would be an issue, but it seems that many (most?) of the closures have not been weather related. Now this, which likewise seems to be unrelated to weather conditions.
No one was hurt, but being trapped in one of those cars for 3 hours, especially when someone who has a fear of heights is sucking it up for the brief ride….ouch.
Right on Garden State Guru! I hope you read the post by the woman who rode with a double wide stroller. . . and then commented that it was crowded.
IMO, no children under 12 and no wheelchairs or strollers should be allowed on gondolas. Ground transportation is sufficient for this demographic.
I predicted there would be problems with this system, mainly safety problems. I was correct. Only I didn’t think the problems would occur so soon. Skyliner was another BAD idea by some Disney genius. Millions of dollars spent on a bad idea. Stupid stupid stupid. I love the ride, but it’s not going to work in the long run. It’s a safety nightmare.
What Bob said.
Ur right bob. I was stuck on it twice. Never again.
That’s brilliant. No one under 12; so alienate Disney’s biggest demographic (i.e families with younger kids). They should get you on the board.
Really !! What an idiot, uncaring and selfish comment.
The land of the free, is it not? Where people should not be discriminated against for any reason what so ever a specially if you are a wheelchair user. If a person is disabled it is not there fault ( you really think people want to be stuck in a wheelchair, would they rather not be able body and would rather not be suffering from their illness be it terminal cancer or they have lost a leg fighting for their country or even been hit by a car through no fault of there own ) and why should they not be allowed to ride just like anyone else. What next over weight people should not be allowed and people that suffer with body odor problems or people that make uncaring, stupid and ignorant comments. No ! of course not….
Got to say I have read some really stupid comments on here but But yours Mr Garden State Guru comes a really close 1st and is IGNORANCE at its entire finest
Just remember that one day you or someone you really love could be struck down with an illness or in a severe accident ( cross fingers it never happens ) would you or would you not want your loved one to be treated like a human being and be able to experience things such as this.
My comments are strictly from a safety viewpoint. I would not want to read about kids or handicapped persons being injured due solely to their age or lack of mobility. I have absolutely nothing against anyone using the gondolas; Disney restricts access to many rides when certain age or height or mobility requirements are not met, so please spare me your condescending comments.
Shocking it took them so long to get this moving. If it happened at noon, the cars could dangerously overheat–I would be especially worried about babies in that case. I predict the gondolas will not resume until they have had a major overhaul. They need a cooling system that does not depend on movement
And just why should they offer.you something if the skyride is still closed?? There is ALWAYS something closed for repairs, updating, etc. Pay your money and take your chances. Have a magical day, and don’t let GREED ruin it.
My son, his family and 3 young children rode the Skyliner for the first time on Friday afternoon. We went fromm Hollywood Studios to the transfer station and then on to Epcot. It was a great ride with no issues. So sorry to hear this news. I was taking my other son and husband to ride today. Nothing was moving on the Epcot this morning. So glad to hear there were no injuries.
We stayed at Pop Century this past week and tried to use the Skyliner everyday. Out of 5 days, Monday through Friday, we were only able to complete a round trip once on Thursday. The other four days we were turned away by cast members/security at the entrance because it was inoperative.
Twice we rode from Pop to CBR only to find out that the Hollywood Studios or Epcot lines were down. They really need to have monitors at the entrances of each station giving the current status of the rest of the system so you don’t waste time going only halfway to your destination and then taking a bus anyway.
Agreed! Maybe something on the app as well. Thinking of the set up at AOA, this would be frustrating if we walked all the way there only to have to head back to the buses, and lose time!
Geez. . The inconsiderate woman got on with two little ones and a double wide stroller, which she didn’t fold up, and then complained that it was crowded???
I can’t imagine how you could not fold up a double stroller. A single city mini is almost an exact fit between the benches. It would still be crowded even with it folded and we saw a lot of people last week folding without unpacking so the stroller was about twice as thick as it needed to be.
I have seen this exact situation on the mountain Gondolas before (and been inside one of the ones piling up last Winter) but the workers were quick to notice the cabin didn’t latch right and stopped the lift immediately after 2 or 3 cars piled up. Both times they had the “offending car” taken off the line and the gondola back up and running in under an hour. I would assume Disney got input from ski resorts, but they could learn from the ski gondola operators, they’ve seen this before.
Friday my family and I rode the Skyliner many times. My 3 and 8 year old kiddos loved it! So did my hubby and I. However, the thought of being stranded for hours with my little ones is worrisome.
I do hope DW can determine the issue and get the Skyliner moving again. It is an attraction my little ones are looking forward to on our next visit.
before we visited last month i was hoping this would be open for our trip and wanted to ride it, as from all the photos it looked really cool. but after we arrived and i saw just how high some of those poles are, as well as the air temps and the speed they enter the stations, i had serious pause. seeing it online is very different than seeing it in action in person, at least for me. initially i wasn’t upset it wasn’t open yet- a member of our party is very susceptible to the heat/humidity for any long period, so if we were on one in summer that stopped for more than 5 minutes, it would be a problem. so i thought maybe if we ever visit in winter it wouldn’t be an issue. now after hearing this, i’m a pretty firm no. as a mom of small kids, i can’t imagine myself trying to evacuate from these, let alone worrying for the safety of my children. any number of issues could happen even when being brought down in a bucket truck, people could fall or whatever. and how in the world would they evacuate a wheelchair from those heights with only a crane?? i know the monorails have issues, but you’re not stuck at these heights being dangled. and even if it’s not a safety question, what about little kids (or some adults for t hat matter) who have a bathroom emergency? yikes…
Absolutely some have medical issues this probably was a nightmare for them and honestly probably embarrassing to some. Sorry two tickets and some water is not enough..I am afraid of heights but I still try to conquer it by doing stuff I’m very uncomfortable with..I just grit my teeth and say I will do this but with medical issues on top of it lets say this just made me not to use this at all no matter the optimistic view this blog wants to portray..
I’m visiting in December and will definitely be using the gondolas to get around. That said, it won’t be 100 degrees outside when I visit. I have reserved judgement about the lack of air conditioning in them, but like you mentioned, I would need to see a proven track record with no hour-plus delays before I’d ride in the middle of a summer day. I know they were really pushing to have these open by the end of September and it seems now like they should have delayed opening and had more time to train cast members and work out the bugs.
I feel bad for the people stuck on this for three hours. However I’m quite disappointed because I’m going next week and I chose the Caribbean Beach resort because of the Skyliner. Not happy
If they’re still closed, I wonder if they will offer you anything. They really should.
Yikes! Glad nobody got hurt. My 10 year old daughter is super stoked to ride these but I have a fear of heights. I was going to suck it up for her sake but hearing about this makes me think twice.
Rachel, Why should they offer u something. Every time we r there something is down for upgrading or another reason. No, they shouldn’t offer something. As someone said u r greedy
Pete I’m not sure why you are calling me greedy for wishing that another person would get some compensation for their stay at one of the gondola resorts. I’m not asking for anything. I do however commiserate and have empathy for a fellow traveler who booked many months in advance at a specific resort they otherwise would not have chosen just to ride/utilize this new method of transportation. The bus system at CBR is notoriously terrible, so I’d be upset too if I was in the same situation. Maybe have a little compassion and kindness and stop jumping all over people who are simply voicing frustrations.
This wasn’t a horrific crash, it was just a malfunction. Anyone who is an alpine skier knows lifts good down regularly. There are so many safety systems built into these areal lifts all in an over abundance of caution.
I worked as a professional Ski Patroler for many years. Areal evacuation of a lift, in this scenario, is out of necessity. The decision was made because either removing the malfunctioning car was not possible with a loaded system and/or local laws may prohibit movement of the cars until an inspection of the incident location could take place. Either way, I don’t see it a big PR issue for Disney.
Just my 2 cents.
This is great perspective- thank you for posting it.
I remember the old gondola ride at MK and to me that was the scariest experience in the park, especially on a windy day. I am sure the tech has improved but I won’t be riding this thing any time soon.
Gosh, my hubby was bitten on his toe at AKL and all we got was a dinner!
Bitten? By what?
One incident. I hope it’s not due to a significant design issue. Hoping they hire some additional CMs to address safety even further. I can’t wait to try these.