VIDEO - Take a complete first ride aboard Disney Skyliner on all three routes

Sep 23, 2019 in "Disney Skyliner"

Gallery / 16 Photos
Disney Skyliner preview

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Posted: Monday September 23, 2019 11:23am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney Skyliner opens next week at Walt Disney World, and we got a sneak preview of the new gondola transportation system on all three lines.

Caribbean Beach station

The hub of the system is at Caribbean Beach Resort, and the station there allows access to all three destination - Hollywood Studios, Epcot/ Riviera Resort, and Art of Animation/Pop Century. The station features a Joffrey kiosk, along with restrooms.

A wide view of the main Skyliner connecting station at Caribbean Beach Resort

Skyliner station at Caribbean Beach Resort - Art of Animation line

Skyliner station at Caribbean Beach Resort - Epcot line

Caribbean Beach station signage

Boarding the gondolas is fast - with the continuous loading operating similar to an omnimover ride like Spaceship Earth. Once onboard, the ride is very smooth and stable, and is a very enjoyable experience. Inside the 10 seater cabin, there is no air conditioning, but significant airflow during forward motion combined with insulated glass eliminates any temperature concerns. It feels cooler inside the cabin that it does outside.

Disney Skyliner seating

Although the character wrapped gondolas look great from the outside, the wraps do impact the view, and the clear glass cabins offer the best views.

There is onboard audio, offering safety information and points of interest. Although this was not working in all cabins during the preview today.

Here is a look at the 5 minute ride from the main Caribbean Beach station to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Next is the 12 minute ride from Epcot to the Caribbean Beach Resort station.

Finally the 3 minute ride from the Caribbean Beach station to Art of Animation and Pop Century.

Click the gallery for more pictures from the Disney Skyliner previews.

Disney Skyliner opens to guests on September 29 2019. Learn more about Disney Skyliner here.

Disney Skyliner preview

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.