Skyliner Update: Shaky Start…and Smooth Sailing?
We’re back with another Skyliner gondola update from Walt Disney World! Here we have new photos, updated hours, and anecdotal observations from a slew of rides to test the system. We’ll also cover more of the fallout from the Skyliner collision that occurred a couple weeks ago.
To bring you up to speed, after 6 days of operations the Skyliner had a malfunction/accident that caused cabins to smash into one another at the Riviera Resort station, resulting in aerial evacuations after some guests had been stranded for three hours.
After another week of downtime and testing, Walt Disney World quietly resumed operations last Monday morning with modified hours. Following that, Disney released a statement offering “deepest apologies to the guests impacted by the malfunction that resulted in extended operating delays on Oct. 5.” and that “similar to ski lift systems, Disney Skyliner may slow or come to some stops during the ride.” Closures and delayed openings were also announced for last week, but that wasn’t the end of Disney’s Skyliner woes…
Following the completion of modifications to the system, it appeared to be smooth sailing for the Skyliner. Then, the 911 calls from the night of the (well just call it “unfortunate incident”) were released by the Orlando Sentinel following a public records request. The audio on these was…not great, Bob.
The most unnerving of these came from an 11-year-old Lakeland girl who was on the phone with 911 with nearly an hour, pleading for rescue assistance for her epileptic and anxious mother stuck in the Skyliner. (This was one of the cabins that subsequently received an aerial evacuation.)
Other audios reveals stranded riders crying, pleading for help, and requesting assistance for family members with health conditions or who have passed out. These paint a picture of guests who generally are, in the words of one caller, “freaking out.” At least one Skyliner guest was hospitalized after the evacuation.
It would seem that one of the main issues for those stranded was with regard to communication. Several calls complained of only automated messages that they’d be moving shortly, even after the Skyliner had been stuck for two hours. Hopefully this was an area that was addressed via further Cast Member training, as it would seem that a lot of fears could’ve been assuaged with proper human communications.
In any case, the Skyliner has now been operational for over another week, and we’ve had several chances to ride it since the unfortunate incident. (Always being sure to use the restroom before riding and filling our water bottles!)
As we’ve written before, we won’t hesitate to continue using the Skyliner. We still love it. Without exception, our experiences with it have still been flawless.
Of course, this is entirely anecdotal–we’re ridden the Skyliner less than than 1% of the total operating hours of the system since it resumed operations. Even if we logged dozens of hours on the Skyliner, that’d still be a comparatively small sample size.
And of course, one person’s anecdotal experiences of smooth sailing is meaningless to someone else who rides once and experiences a prolonged delay during the middle of a hot day. (Not that we’re saying this has happened of late–but it theoretically could.)
Our most common use case (actually…maybe our only use case?) for the Skyliner in the last week has been park hopping from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Epcot via Caribbean Beach/Riviera Resorts.
Every single time, we’ve had a cabin all to ourselves (or all to myself, as the case may be) from DHS to Caribbean Beach, and then again from there to Epcot. Every single time, we’ve requested an uncovered cabin, and our request has been obliged. Aside from International Gateway post-fireworks, we’ve never even seen a wait time of more than 5 minutes.
The short waits could be explained by trepidation about the Skyliner, but I think it’s more likely a result of the system’s high hourly capacity coupled with the time of day we’re using it. Aside from the weekends when ‘Sunday Skyliners’ come out to joyride, lines are a rarity at any time other than park closing.
Despite media coverage, it would seem many guests either don’t care or don’t know about the Skyliner’s issues. To that point, the most common question we’ve heard guests ask about the Skyliner is whether it goes to Magic Kingdom (no joke).
Disappointingly, the Skyliner is still operating with a delayed start time. You might recall that it originally started running at 5:45 am, which was insufficient for arriving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the start of Extra, Extra Magic Hours.
Nevertheless, the Skyliner was still pretty good if you wanted to glide in right after the first wave of guests was escorted by Stormtroopers to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. (A congested experience we recommended avoiding, anyway.)
Now, the Skyliner opens at 8 am, which is fine for regular rope drop…but worthless for Extra, Extra Magic Hours. (Obviously, anyone staying at a Skyliner resort has access to ExEMH.)
Our assumption is that these hours are the ‘new normal’ and possibly a cut due to the low utilization rate for ExEMH. Speaking of which, ExEMH remains glorious despite higher midday crowds.
Those reduced operating hours are our biggest issue with the Skyliner at this point. Of course, that’ll be a non-issue in a couple of weeks once Walt Disney World runs out the clock on Extra, Extra Magic Hours.
My other biggest complaint, and this is probably nitpicking in the grand scheme of things, is that it seems like the windows of the cabins are never cleaned. It’s already challenging enough to battle reflections and glare, now I have to find the two square inches of window that kids haven’t licked. Doesn’t Walt Disney World know bloggers need the Skyliner for construction updates?!?!?
Speaking of which, the Skyliner offers some great views of progress on Disney’s Riviera Resort. Landscaping is coming along nicely and is inching closer to completion, well ahead of the resort’s mid-December 2019 debut.
In case you have skipped over our Disney’s Riviera Resort construction updates, I’m not particularly keen on the level of ambition of this resort’s design or intricacy. However, I realize my views are hardly representative of the general public, and I’ll be curious to see how this is received. Will luxury prevail over theme?
The Skyliner also offers backstage views of World Showcase at Epcot. Most notably, of progress on the France expansion and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. (We’ll have more photos of the construction progress here in our next Epcot update.)
What I really find interesting here is that World Showcase has some surprising attention to detail on the backside of its buildings. Areas that, until the Skyliner, you’d never see from within the park or literally anywhere on Walt Disney World property except the Swan & Dolphin.
Keep in mind that the Swan & Dolphin did not exist when any of this was built, which really underscores how Imagineering went the extra mile when designing World Showcase. (There’s an entire section of castle wall in Japan that you’d never see but for the Skyliner!)
Ironically enough, the one glaring exception to this is the green Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure show building. This is also the only thing built back there since the Skyliner was announced. I have no issue with this building as it’s not an issue from within the park, but the contrast is amusing.
Anyway, that wraps up this Skyliner update. We’re hopeful and optimistic that the new aerial transit system has overcome its shaky start, and things will be smooth sailing from here. Despite us really wanting the Skyliner to succeed and become a beloved form of transportation among Walt Disney World guests, we’ll continue to report the reality, good and bad. If things continue to run smoothly, we’ll turn our attention to some fun ways to leverage the Skyliner in the next few weeks. So stay tuned for that!
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of the Skyliner reopening? Are you satisfied with how Walt Disney World has handled this situation and communicated the nature of the closure with guests? Disappointed by the shorter operating hours? Will you ride the Skyliner going forward? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of the Skyliner? 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!
We rode the night before the “incident”. We got on at Pop Century after dinner, no lines so we asked for a non-wrapped gondola-no problem.!
At the switch station (CBR I believe) no line except 3 people a few feet in front of us. Asked again for the unwrapped one (which was just 2 more gondolas behind us as we saw it coming in). NO way! Get in this one. The Cast members were basically rude about it and the disdain on their face was evident. And they were not busy! First comment from the other party was they had also asked for the unwrapped gondola unknown to us. And they commented really-all these empty gondolas-and they shove us all together.
By now it had gone from dusk to dark and you can’t see that much. BUT the guy in the other group was very knowledgeable about the line and it’s workings, pointing out the highest point on the line, the switching cables etc.
Let me tell you, at that high point you are REALLY high up. Whoa! And there is the part where you are actually traveling over the buildings of the one resort. I am not sure you could be rescued from certain of those locations.
So just beware, you can ask for the unwrapped gondola but they might not honor it, even when they are not busy.
I’m a relatively frequent visitor (about once a year) popping in next week for a quick trip to Epcot and I’m wondering whether it might be worth the time to hop on a Skyliner round trip just for the experience of it, as I expect to leave the park after the Skyliner closes. Any ideas how long a round trip to DHS/one of the esorts might take? Is it worth sacrificing a couple of in-park rides or F&W booths?
My two cents-no-don’t take park time away to ride the gondola, unless you have already done everything you wanted to do in that park. Park admission is too expensive.
Do it on a non-park day, like the day you arrive or depart. It’s free to ride.
Also, as has been mentioned, do not use it if you have dining reservations to get to. The reality is there can still be delays.
And I second Tom’s suggestion to use the restroom and fill the water bottles 😉
Alas, I’m driving in first thing and leaving last thing the next night. But when you put it that way, I think squeezing in one more Spaceship Earth farewell ride will vastly outweigh the Skyliner for me.
I rode it the day it reopened and they are clearly still working out the bugs. Although it never stopped moving we were getting recorded messages saying the ride had stopped and one that said help was on the way.
Used the Skyliner from AoA and Pop on our most recent (in fact still current) stay. Mixed results.
On our first HS day, 16th, that line was down for maintenance, so we had to get the bus both ways – and would have done so in the morning anyway due to EEMH. On our second HS day, it worked beautifully, room to park in 20 minutes, same back home.
Going to EPCOT on 22nd, we got on at Pop with no issues and all lines placarded as operating, however by the time we got to CBR the EPCOT line had closed and we had to get a bus…which took us right back past Pop. Missed RD due to this plus arriving at the “wrong” entrance.
Fortunately we managed to get FPs for all of the major attractions during the day, so it wasn’t a major problem in the end. Still, annoying that it went down less than 5 mins after it was advertised as fine at Pop. Nature of the beast I suppose!
Tom, thanks for the balanced article! I would like to expand a bit on something you touched on.
“… experiences a prolonged delay during the middle of a hot day”
This is a serious issue! A hot humid July day, stuck in a glass and metal box for 3 hours. When the Skyliner is not moving there is no air flow, and the Skyliner has no air conditioning. Heat stress and heat stroke are real things, and babies and the elderly are particularly at risk.
Disney cannot under any circumstances leave people in the Skyliner on a hot humid day for 3 hours! This would be very very dangerous.
Disney needs to be able to evacuate the Skyliner in a half hour or less, assuming a half hour to make the decision to evacuate, and a half hour to do it, guests would be trapped in the Skyliner for no more than an hour.
I would be happy to ride the Skyliner on a cool day, but I wouldn’t even consider it on a hot day. Not until Disney demonstrates that they can evacuate it quickly.
I really don’t know what is going on with Disney. They were always supremely managed, extremely safely conscious, and had a procedure in place for nearly every possible problem. Cast members were very well trained and had everything they needed to ensure guest safety. What has happened to them? Disney’s response to the Skyliner Accident was unacceptable and not up to Disney standards. The problems with their response run much deeper than “Communication”!
Hi there. This past weekend it was in the 90’s in Disney World and the Skyliner cars were very comfortable. The windows were open and it was beautiful. That being said, I cannot speak to summertime temps.
Just my 2-cents.
What would it have been like if you were stopped… Hanging in the hot sun, for 3+ hours?
My daughter and I traveled via the Skyliner several times this past weekend and can report we absolutely love this system!! My daughter was skeptical at first but now hope the system will expand to the rest of the parks and resorts. It’s extremely easy to board and the views are spectacular!! We highly recommend the Skyliner!!!
We are driving home after our WDW vacation as I type this. We LOVED riding the Skyliner! We used it one morning to hop from Hollywood Studios (towards the end of ExEMH) to Epcot for two rope drops in one day! Then, we used it two more times to prevent our family from having to walk from World Showcase to the front of Epcot to catch a bus to our resort (Port Orleans French Quarter). On those two days, we already had racked up 12 and 10 miles of walking, and our kids couldn’t think of having to walk from World Showcase back to the front of Epcot. So, we caught the Skyliner over to Hollywood Studios, then walked a much shorter distance to catch our bus to Port Orleans. The only time we experienced a wait for the Skyliner was the day we left immediately after the Epcot Forever show. We watched the show from France (right by the exit), so that cut down on some wait time, but there still was a 15ish minute wait (but the line was continuously moving, and that always helps with morale while having to wait!). We are fans of the Skyliner!
I don’t understand why we are giving any time or merit to people who clearly overreacted and got hysterical for no good reason. Your stuck, it’s not forever, your not going to die, freaking out even passing out was all on them, you can’t blame Disney for idiots. I am about as claustrophobic as you can get, and Im scared of heights but I would be fine. My daughter and I were disappointed that the evacuation photos with the zip line rescues were not of the actual rescue, zip lining looked fun.
Looking forward to riding the Skyliner when there in April for our vacation. I’ve read on many bloggers and YouTube channels that the glass is dirty and nobody cleaning them, making the gondolas looking like NYC subways.
I’m curious – how long are waits typically at the IG station after Epcot Forever? I assume if you were going to a skyliner resort that it would still be faster than walking to the front of the park and taking the buses?
I haven’t timed it because all we’ve been doing is walking past on our way to a Crescent Lake resort (or DHS, in one case), but my guess would be that even the long lines we’ve seen are under 15 minutes.
The Skyliner is a people-eater, capacity-wise. Unlike the buses, you also don’t have to wait for it to show up.
Thanks. That seems completely reasonable. The walk from the lagoon to the bus stops is probably nearly that length of time.
Tom how long would you say your trips from Epcot to HS via Caribbean Beach have taken? From what I’ve heard it may be slightly faster than taking the boats; interested in what it is in your experience. Thanks!
I believe it’s 16 minutes park to park with no lines at either station.
Thank you! Very helpful for my upcoming beach club stay.
We used the Skyliner multiple times from our room in Aruba at Caribbean Beach. It could not have been more convenient. 15 minutes to the gate at DHS, 10 minutes to Epcot and then a short walk over to the Boardwalk for ice cream. We experienced one stop, and it was for literally 10 seconds, out of the 6 times or so we rode it on our trip. Most of the times we walked on with the only wait being at closing time of DHS and that wait was under 5 minutes. I assume that will change as it becomes more popular, but as of right now the Skyliner paired with Caribbean Beach is our new favorite way to do Disney, especially as a family of 5.
I am very excited this is running again, and can’t wait to use it for our trip. Zero hesitations.
That being said, you ask, “Are you satisfied with how Walt Disney World has handled this situation and communicated the nature of the closure with guests?”
I was appalled by the way Disney handled communications following the accident. I get the whole PR/spin thing, but this wasn’t simply a “malfunction” that created “operating delays”. It was an accident. Like you said, those tapes were bad.
I can’t fathom all the legal wrangling going on behind the scenes, but there has to be some middle ground between however one describes Disney’s approach and full transparency.
It’s interesting you reference the level of detail from back in the day when building World Showcase. I believe the way they handled the accident highlighted a lack of attention to detail. How hard is it to get on an intercom, explain to guests what’s going on, and stop an automated audio loop that I imagine became tortuous?
Not a good look for Disney, though I imagine most people have no idea it even happened.
From my view, there are two failures here. One is ‘on the ground’ with Cast Members dynamically handling the situation. I’m sure this is unforgivable for some of those who were stranded, but I have a lot of sympathy for these CMs–it was still opening week and there are probably a lot of nerves after the initial collision. Plus, it’s late at night on a Saturday–who knows if any managers were around.
I take more issue with the PR spin. Disney is very “fortunate” on both coasts to have local media (with the only exception being the LA Times) that is very deferential to Disney (to put it charitably). Due to the latitude Disney has been given, the company continue to push the envelope in terms of spin. Here, the local media actually did their jobs, and the result was a lot of coverage that excoriated Disney.
I just returned from a trip and can say I loved the Skyliner! Thanks to Tom & Sarah for keeping us updated so we’ll, I felt very prepared on what to look for and expect. While we did experience a delayed opening, we enjoyed every ride we took (quite a few). We never waiting in line more than 2-3 minutes. Only once did we pause for about 2 minutes (probably due to allowing wheelchair accessibility). The views were wonderful. We even timed it right to catch some Hollywood Studio and MK fireworks.
Headed back this weekend with my entire family. Cannot wait to take everyone up for the Skyliner ride!
I won’t lie – I’m obsessed with the Skyliner. My fiance and I just got back from our trip on Monday and we rode it every chance we had, even if we didn’t really need to. I really don’t think people know about it, honestly, as the entrance from the Skyliner to Epcot was DEAD. There were never really any slowdown issues, as ECVs load separately. We only had to share a cabin twice, and both times, that was for Hollywood Studios or Pop Century. It’s absolutely ruined the buses for me, though. You get so spoiled by the Skyliner.
Also, not to brag, but my fiance proposed on the Skyliner when we were delayed over Hourglass Lake, so I’m a little biased.
Congratulations–that’s awesome!
Always a big fan of unique and original proposal spots at Walt Disney World. Lots of people get engaged every day in front of Cinderella Castle…you might be the first to get engaged aboard the Skyliner!
We rode the skyliner last week twice. Once was the first day it reopened, the other was Friday 10/18. On Friday 10/18, we rode from DHS to Epcot, and were shocked that the line to transfer to Epcot spilled out of the defined queue, clogging the entrance to those restrooms. That may be an indication of it’s popularity despite the early issue. We probably didn’t wait more than 10-12 minutes to get back on to Epcot, but it was still more than we expected, and we were “stuck” there of course. Pleasant ride – would highly recommend!
Out of curiosity, what time did you park hop from DHS to Epcot?
Aside from weekends, we haven’t experienced *any* line for the Epcot line at CBR.
This was at about 1:15 Friday afternoon, Friday 10/18.
Now that I think about it, I feel like maybe it didn’t open until 1 pm that day, on 10/18, but I don’t remember off the top of my head. It could have been some people excited to ride soon after it opened that day?
We always have a car…I’m trying to figure out when I would ever use the Skyliner. The only time I can think of is if we’re at either Epcot or DHS and want to go to one of the online resorts or the other park and coming back to the park I was at, saving me from having to repark the car. On our next visit, I’ll likely ride it to experience it, but after that I don’t see using it much.
Now…if they ever connect it to Disney Springs or Fort Wilderness…that’s another story.
I parked at DHS. Rode the Skyliner directly EPCOT for a walk around the world. Then came back to DHS for some nighttime Star Wars fun.
It was Super convenient and quick. Far better than parking at EPCOT or both.
Reading reports on forums, some people were frustrated by repeated slow down / stops often attributed to ECV or other non-ideal loading conditions. Some people were saying it significantly increased the time.
Tom – Can you comment on that? I was curious if that was just a growing pains issue, or if that was always going to be unavoidable due to the type of guests at WDW?
I have not experienced any of that since opening weekend.
Starting and stopping is possible due to slow-loading, but this is a detachable gondola. That means ECV users load separately, on a stationary platform. When their cabin reattaches, you’re looking at a slight slowdown for a few seconds–not the line stopping completely.
Thanks for this report. We leave in 3 days….After the “unfortunate mishap”, I swore I would not ride this; however DH says he is absolutely going to. I guess I will either grow a back bone and join him or will walk and meet him at HS
If the weather is nice out (and it’s certainly getting better!) and you’re not keen on riding, it’ll only take a few minutes longer to walk between DHS and Epcot. Might be the better route for you to go.
I would not, however, bear taking the buses from CBR, AoA, or Pop over using the Skyliner if you’re staying at one of those resorts. It’s just too convenient and worth overcoming your hesitations, IMO.
The problem I have with the Skyliner accident is that the cars were allowed to pile up after the initial two hit. what, exactly, was the attendant at that station doing? There is something called an Estop ( Emergency Stop) that is required by law on all such operating equipment. It is a big red button that brings everything to a screeching halt in the case of an emergency. Was no one trained to use this or was the person who was supposed to monitor the system at this point, either inattentive or just plain Lax? either way it doesn’t speak well of Disney’s preparation to take this ride live.