Skyliner Gondola Update: January 2019
We continue our January 2019 Walt Disney World construction updates with current progress reports on every single Skyliner gondola station: Art of Animation/Pop Century, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Caribbean Beach, and Riviera Resort. We also have a look at one of the actual gondola cars in place at the station, commentary, and more.
The Disney Skyliner has already received a ton of attention in past posts, and we have a lot of ground to cover here, so we’re not going to rehash all the basics. Whatever background you need to know about the system is in our Skyliner Announced for Walt Disney World post.
For our thoughts on the impact to sight-lines around Walt Disney World, see our Summer Skyliner Construction Update. For those who are concerned about the lack of air-conditioning in the gondolas, see our Fall Skyliner Construction Update, which spends a lot of time addressing these concerns and complaints, and why the lack of A/C isn’t a big deal to us…
Anyway, on with the Disney Skyliner station construction photos. We’ll start at Art of Animation and Pop Century, as it has been a really long time since we’ve done an update from these two resorts.
Progress on this station is incredibly far along, to the point that if you told me it was opening next month (it isn’t–this is just a hypothetical), I’d find that totally plausible.
Is there any doubt that this is the best integration of the Skyliner of the bunch?
The Disney Skyliner will serve two hotels here, yet is not a prohibitive walk from anywhere at either resort. The wavy station design is simple, but works with both resorts (probably because they’re also fairly simple design-wise, but still). The route of the gondolas is entirely over the water, and rather than visually detracting from either resort, it’ll add a nice kinetic energy and be something cool to watch from the waterfront walkways.
It’s almost as if the entire Skyliner project was designed around Art of Animation and Pop Century, and shoehorned in everywhere else.
To be clear, I don’t think that’s actually the case. The Skyliner is just such an organic fit here that it seems that way.
The biggest potential ‘weakness’ of the Skyliner at these two resorts is the demand versus capacity.
These are two incredibly large hotels that frequently operate near full occupancy, which means there’s going to be a line at this station during the morning ‘rush hour.’
With that said, anyone who has ever stayed at either resort has probably experienced huge lines for the buses in the morning, so it’s not like that will be anything new.
Personally, I’ll take the constantly-moving line of the gondola over the bus line, which can be excruciating and frustrating.
While I was wandering around Art of Animation and Pop Century, I saw a gondola car in place at the station. You’ll notice that there’s a paper cover on it, but this is an actual gondola car (it’s yellow), not one of the maintenance/construction vehicles we saw in our last Disney’s Hollywood Studios Update.
When I noticed this, I became a bit too excited. All I could think was, it’s almost here. I know that, officially, we still have over 6 more months…but the Skyliner is almost a reality.
Over on the Art of Animation side of the Century Gap bridge, there’s construction for a small building that has a wavy roof similar to the Skyliner station.
My guess is that this will be a restroom facility. I’ll go further and speculate that the line for the gondola–for both resorts–will form over here, and this will be for people to use while waiting or before getting into line. That morning coffee works its way through the body fast! 😉
Next, the Disney’s Riviera Resort station, which will also service the north side of Caribbean Beach Resort.
Since this is technically the Riviera’s station, it’ll mirror that resort in style. Hopefully the finished product will have a nicely stylized mansard roof.
From there, we head south to the station at Caribbean Beach. This will be the largest of the gondola stations, and handle the most traffic.
Design-wise, I think this will fit the resort nicely. You can see the framework for a tower rising to the right, which will have a cupola mirroring other architecture around Caribbean Beach. The exterior framing reminds me a bit of the Speedway station over by Boardwalk…which might sound like a knock, but that’s a cool gas station.
While it doesn’t look like a ton of progress has been made since our last update, every time we’ve been here, there has been a lot of work both day and night.
The above photo was taken around 6:45 p.m., and there was still work being done.
Heading to the parks, we begin with Epcot’s International Gateway.
For the longest time, visible progress on this station was way, way behind everywhere else. It now appears to be moving faster, but it’s impossible to tell what work remains to be done within the station complex.
Walking between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can see this turn from the pathway. It’s been really far along (finished?) since about last October.
Unrelated, but the regular pathway is once again open between the parks, making this a much easier walk. Mild January weather doesn’t hurt, either.
Finally, we head to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is the Skyliner station that has been consistently farthest along.
It has received more ornamentation (a racing strip!), and as with the Pop Century/Art of Animation Skyliner station, it appears that this could open as soon as a month from now. Again, we highly doubt that’ll happen, but it just illustrates how far along the work is on some of these Skyliner stations.
That’s it for this update on the Walt Disney World Skyliner gondola transportation network. If work keeps up at its current pace, there could be a lengthy soft opening well before the official Fall 2019 debut of the Skyliner.
There are a few potential reasons why that might’ve been chosen as the grand opening, but this update is already long, so we’ll tackle that topic in the February update.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your thoughts on the Skyliner? Have a favorite station yet? Have you already sworn off the Skyliner for some reason or another? Do you agree or disagree with our perspectives on sight-lines or A/C? Thoughts on construction progress? 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!
Hi Tom,
Not sure if this helps but last year our zoo The Oakland Zoo in California got these very same gondolas. They are truly amazing, and the air flow even in the hot Cali heat isn’t an issue since you’re always moving. We love them! It will be a perfect addition to Disney. They do tend to slow down when a stroll boards so that might be another factor of time since so many people have strollers. 😉
I don’t really think your comment helps per se, but it doesn’t hurt, either! 😉 You don’t need to “sell” us on the Skyliner–we’ve experienced a number of Doppelmayr gondolas in various places, and have been very impressed.
Those who have made up their minds that the Skyliner is an awful idea seem hellbent on being unpersuaded by evidence to the contrary.
Great work as always. Do we think security lines will be at the gondola station similar to how Monorail resorts act now? That could impact morning lines for sure. I think security may be before boarding the gondola because look at how the station is set next to the International Gateway station. Any thoughts?
I actually hadn’t given that any thought, but it’s plausible.
Thinking a bit about human nature (and fears) I would imagine that Disney will make every effort to make guests feel secure before they sit hanging in the air for several minutes in a small enclosed box with complete strangers. I personally don’t feel any fear of riding in an “unsecured” gondola, but I’m sure Disney knows that all it will take is one incident to make the public extremely wary of this means of transportation.
I do realize there’s no security line to board the buses, but there’s A) a driver on board, B) the ability to exit in an emergency, and C) Some ability to move away from (or not sit next to) folks who would pose a perceived threat.
Do you know if the Gondola will be wheelchair accessible?
Hi, Kriston. I would be interested in knowing if the gondola will be accessible to wheelchairs, too.
If you have to transfer that’ll be horrible. Once they open need time frames comparing the buses. Probably be nice just to ride see other resorts
I was at Caribbean Beach Reaort last July and I saw that some of the towers are close to buildings. How loud is this transportation system. I feel that people will get annoyed with the sound especially when they cross over a tower!
I was very surprised by how big the south station at Caribbean Beach is in person. It’s huge! Also, do you think they’ll have a bus stop there for the internal bus?
Well I drive busses for Disney and as as of now there is no plans to make it a bus stop there
Has there been anything put out about travel times for this? It’s very unlikely to matter for us since we’re looking to go in mid-August, but it got me thinking about it as we’re staying at Yacht Club. I was initially thinking that if it was going to be announced to be running by summer, walking into Epcot at International Gateway and taking the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios would be an option. However, it would seem that would be impractical, based on the map/route, since you’d have to go to Riviera and Caribbean first (potentially have to switch cars too at Caribbean?).
The pace of the system has to be slow enough for easy ingress / egress all while continuously moving. Couple that with small cars (if more than four adults can fit in each I would be surprised) leading to longer lines, along with possibly transferring along the way, and you have a slow journey. I imagine people at the home resorts will try this once or twice and quickly hit the bus once the novelty quickly wears off.
I take it you’re not a skier? That’s not at all how modern gondola systems work. They’re geared and can be detached and slowed in the load/unload area so people can get on/off without issue. If they can get 10 people in ski boots and gear on and off a gondola in 20 seconds at Vail, I have a high level of confidence that Disney can manage to get 6 people on/off a gondola car while wearing shorts and flip flops.
Speed in station = slow. Speed between parks = fast.
Now, everyone freak out about the lack of air-conditioning! Scary!
Yes – this has been covered quite a bit. The gondolas will be able to slow down (and even detach, I believe, from the cables) to allow easier boarding.
I’m just more curious if there has been anything put out about how long approximately it would take to travel the whole thing from end to end or from location to location. I feel like I heard or read a reference to a number of minutes expected for the full trip, but I can’t find that now, so may just be imagining it. I question whether they’d really publicize any such figures until after it’s been tested. I was just thinking perhaps when it was announced, there could have been a “travel from Art of Animation to Epcot’s International Gateway in as little as xxx minutes.”
Call me skeptical but if the pictured gondola is an actual working model it looks very small! How many of those will it take to equal a bus load of people? I am assuming quite a few! Heck, there are many families that may not even fit on one gondola!
If you zoom in (the photo here might be too small for it), there’s shipping info from Switzerland, Doppelmayr details, and that it’s car 337.
The units are a fair bit wider than they are back to front. Most of product pictures from the manufacturer seem to show seating for 8 to 10 people. Still a number to reach the capacity of a bus but the constant movement and comparably non-existent load times are a big benefit in their favour.
There’s a “How it works” video on YouTube that’s pretty informative
Thank you. I’ll check that out. Just looking for a time frame so we know how to schedule our days at the parks:)
Big waste of money , not practical, all it will take is one mishap and it will be taken down and scrapped, could have bought more buses or expanded the monorail.
There are hundreds of Doppelmayr gondola systems in operation throughout the world. They are being built at a rapid pace because they’re efficient, practical, and inexpensive as compared to alternatives.
::mic drop::
What a nattering Nay-Bob of negativity! Can’t you find anything positive to say, Mister William?
Thanks for the update! We’re staying at Pop the first week of October and while we’ll have a vehicle I’d love for this to be open too!
Love reading the update on the progress and seeing all the pics! I am hoping the Skyliner will soft open in time for our trip in July.
I’m really not concerned with the lack of a/c – I kinda figure if Disney is putting THIS amount of $ into something…they’ve done their research 😉 Really hoping we’ll get to utilize this when we’re at Pop Century this November!
This is great!
Just a quick question. Will the gondola be a continuous loop? Meaning, if I stay at Art of Animation, and want to take the gondola to Epcot, will there be stops at Hollywood and other hotels before reaching Epcot?
Thank you
I’m interested in learning this as well. Curious about the time factor for going from POP to one of the parks.
It’s not going to be just one big loop. Think of it like the monorail lines, except with the southern Caribbean Beach Resort station being the hub instead of the TTC. There will be transfers required depending upon the line you’re on and your ultimate destination.
In the small amount of research I have done, I think you may need to switch gondolas if you are going to Hollywood Studios. The switch point is the Caribbean Beach resort.
Does this mean that AoA and Pop will share a gondola station (meaning one, long line for both resorts)?
Tom,
Do you expect the rates at Pop Century to significantly increase once Skyliner is live?
I’m still skeptical that the non-air conditioned (they’re “air cooled”) gondolas will be anything less than greenhouses in the Florida sun. The company that makes them supposedly has dealt with hot climates before, but having driven a non-air conditioned car in Florida, I just don’t see how that’s going to work.
Greetings Tom
As I will be using a scooter on my next visit I am curious to know if the Skyliner will accommodate scooters etc..
Thanks Mike
Tom,
I’m also wondering if the gondolas will accommodate scooters. My husband and I are elderly and our trip in November with all the walking, almost killed me. Next time we go scooters will definitely be one of our travel needs.
Same here, Scooters are the only thing that lets me enjoy the parks! If all else fails, traditional transportation will undoubtedly work, but I’m excited to see this new mode of transportation.
So with the Skyliner stop at Epcot does this mean the “back” entrance will become much busier? This is our favorite way to enter Epcot. It’s never crowded or has a line. Guess all that will change.
I’m excited about Skyliner but bummed that it will cause more traffic to our favorite secret entrance.
Yes. That’s probably why Disney chose it. The gates, tapstiles, etc. will be greatly expanded.
I wondered this as well. We are staying at Beach Club for the first time this September and wondered how much this will affect the crowds at the International Gateway entrance. One of the main reasons we chose BC was because we could walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and I feel like we are definitely paying for that privilege. Now I’m concerned it’ll be as packed as the front entrance.
There will definitely be an uptick in people at International Gateway, but it’ll be a gradual stream rather than a sudden surge, like the monorail or tram.
I’d think if Disney wants to offset the increased demand by the gondolas, they could open 2 more security screening stations and be fine. In turns of tapstiles, there should already be enough–all of the ones they do have often aren’t open.