Disney Skyliner Stays Open in January 2025, Breaking Annual Refurbishment Trend

Feb 06, 2025 in "Disney Skyliner"

Gallery / 2 Photos
Disney Skyliner overview

Posted: Thursday February 6, 2025 7:10am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

For the first time since its debut, the Disney Skyliner has not closed for a January refurbishment. This marks a break from past trends, where the Walt Disney World gondola system temporarily shuts down for maintenance in the first month of the year.

Disney Skyliner overview

Previous January Refurbishments

In previous years, the Skyliner saw brief closures for maintenance:

2024: Closed January 16–27
2023: Closed January 22–29
2022: Closed January 23–28

However, in January 2025, the Skyliner remained fully operational, providing uninterrupted transportation between EPCOT, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and several Walt Disney World resorts. Disney has not given a reason for skipping this year's refurbishment, but it could be due to adjustments in maintenance schedules or improvements in system reliability. A refurbishment may still happen later in the year, but nothing is scheduled at this time.

The Disney Skyliner officially opened on September 29, 2019, bringing a new high-capacity transportation option to Walt Disney World. Inspired by classic gondola systems, it allows guests to travel between parks and resorts from a bird's-eye view.

Resorts and Parks Connected by the Skyliner

EPCOT (International Gateway)
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort (Main Skyliner hub)
Disney's Riviera Resort
Disney's Pop Century Resort
Disney's Art of Animation Resort

The Skyliner features over 300 gondolas, each capable of carrying up to 10 guests. The system operates continuously, with brief stops at stations to allow for boarding and unloading.

Disney Skyliner - Riviera Resort station

Discuss on the Forums

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GoofyernmostFeb 20, 2025

If you had to compare the two, the gondola's will win the race for low cost operation when empty. Imagine a couple engines as opposed to a hundred running all day long.

mmascariFeb 20, 2025

I'm thinking of the line path and turn wheels. The turn stations are already essentially two end stations plus extra turn pullies to guide the cable around the turn. There's a diagram somewhere in this thread. Having two actual end stations would eliminate the extra pullies with it's additional cable routing and complexity plus two shorter instead of one longer cable. Adding an extra drive motor instead. Everything else would be the same. That extra motor may cost more to drive 4 motors instead of 3, or not since 1 of those motors is moving less stuff now. Definitely some trade offs. They could transfer cars between two end stations. Just like the 3 end stations share a yard now. In this scenario, cars would be unloaded from a Riviera/CBR line first, then cars on an Epcot/Riviera line unloaded at Riviera and be transferred to the Riviera/CBR line destined for the same storage yard. Probably a manual push instead of driven rollers for the entire switch at Riviera. Knowing the operations impacts now, after they've been running, I wonder if they would have decided differently than they did. Maybe that extra motor costs so much, or the guest experience of making a transfer would be so much worse than the current impacts that the same decision would still be right. We'll never know. 🤷‍♂️

Chef idea Mickey`=Feb 20, 2025

How will the waterway connect from Coronado Spring's to Swan and Dolphin. They just built Swan Reserve and unless you rip out the Golf. If the Skyliner Turn station was a station even like Riviera you could easily have another skyliner run straight and it would cross the highway straight on to Coronado Spring's a solution much easier than a waterway where how will it cross World Drive.

Chef idea Mickey`=Feb 20, 2025

so Riviera is a hub station. 🙂 Thanks!

UNCgolfFeb 19, 2025

Yeah, despite me not being a big fan of the Skyliner for a variety of reasons, the fact that it's continually moving is a benefit in this regard. Buses and boats can't just sit and wait until they're full (although they do sometimes wait a few minutes before leaving if they're mostly empty) because it would make guests furious -- what if you have a dinner reservation, get on the bus with plenty of time, and then the bus doesn't leave for 30 minutes because there aren't enough guests and you miss the reservation? -- so they're not remotely optimized. An empty Skyliner cabin has very little effect on anything. Buses/boats running mostly empty is definitely a bigger hit to optimization/efficiency (and more importantly, costs) than empty Skyliner cabins.

MisterPenguinFeb 19, 2025

Disney probably doesn't like busses running empty, but they do.

HauntedPirateFeb 19, 2025

Just imagine needing to get out of your gondola at Riviera, whether arriving from Epcot or arriving from the hub station.

Chef idea Mickey`=Feb 19, 2025

I wish you had an illustration, the "two end" station concept is confusing me 😂

larryzFeb 19, 2025

Remember, this is the company that once stretched very similar visually discordant attractions across their theme parks.

JoeCamelFeb 19, 2025

Empty or full it costs the same to run so a fixed cost is budgeted for

BrianLoFeb 19, 2025

IF there’s one sitting there waiting for you that leaves as soon as you board. We’re talking a few percentage points on being that lucky. So much of WDW transit is pulsed and a lot of it with sub optimal cost cut intervals. What I like about the Skyliner is it’s often running empty, which Disney probably doesn’t like…

Vegas Disney FanFeb 19, 2025

I still think 4 lines with one transfer station would have been better than 3 lines with 3 transfer/turn stations. This would have removed most of the ugly poles from the resorts and the lone Caribbean beach station could have been a positive for Riviera guests by giving them their own priority line rather than the current negative of having to wait longer in hopes of an empty car.

TrainsOfDisneyFeb 19, 2025

I’m pretty sure they are faster than the skyliner. Straight line from Coronado to The swan / dolphin is about the same distance as swan / dolphin to studios - that’s a pretty quick boat ride.

Chef idea Mickey`=Feb 19, 2025

How would a canal cross "World Drive" highway between Coronado and for Epcot? Tunnels? Does the canal connect to the front of Epcot or somewhere between Seas and The Land.