JUNE 26, 2019 UPDATE
In just a couple of months the Disney Skyliner will open to guests offering yet another mode of transportation for guests trying to travel around Walt Disney World. As of now, all lines are running with unwrapped gondolas on each of the lines. The stations are near complete, and just yesterday cast members have been spotted in training. All of this is great but Disney’s official word is that the Skyliner won’t open until Fall. However, we use the eye test, when we look at the progress and the completion of the Skyliner, we think it will actually open before Fall 2019. With Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening August 29, we believe that Disney would want to have the Disney Skyliner open before then, after all, the Skyliner would definitely help with crowd control entering and exiting the park.
In addition to that the stations are now starting to light up at night! The station in between Pop Century and Art of Animation has just been lit up last night. As for the Hollywood Studios line that has been lit up at night for a couple weeks along with a sign put up at the station as well.
With all of the “construction” part of the project nearly done, and more work on testing the system and on the aesthetics on the exterior of the stations, we don’t think it will be too much longer before the Disney Skyliner opens.
So what’s our prediction? We think that the Skyliner will at least have a soft opening to the public sometime in August or at the latest early September. Disney has told us that Cast member testing is set to begin sometime in August. Currently however, Disney is still using water weights.
WHAT IS THE DISNEY SKYLINER?
If you haven’t heard yet, Disney is in the process of building a brand new form of transportation for the Walt Disney World Resort. It’s called the Disney Skyliner. What is the Disney Skyliner? It’s a system of Gondolas that are connected to two parks and four resorts. Once guests arrive at a station, gondolas will be flowing into the station constantly moving. If you are in a wheel chair or scooter and are nervous on whether or not you will be able to load on these gondolas, fear not. Disney can actually take gondolas off of the regular track and bring them to a separate track so guests with wheel chairs and scooters can load at their own pace. Each of those 6 locations have a dedicated station. So where does the Skyliner connect to?
As you can see the Disney’s Art of Animation and Pop Century Resort share a station that then connects guests to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, the main station. Once there guests get off of the gondola and transfer to either the Hollywood Studios Line or get on the Epcot line that will bring you through the Caribbean Beach Resort, the new Riviera Resort, the Boardwalk area finally ending at Epcot.
TRAVEL TIMES
How long will it take to get to one station to another. Here is a breakdown of travel times.
FROM: Disney’s Art of Animation and Pop Century Resort
TO: Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Under 6 minutes
FROM: Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
TO: Disney’s Hollywood Studios
5-6 minutes
FROM: Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
TO: Epcot
15 minutes
Gondolas will travel at 11 mph and between 15 ft-60 ft high, allowing the rider to see birds eye views of the resort never before seen. The typical rider can expect anywhere from a 5 minute – 15 minute ride depending on where you’re going.
PICTURES
Out of the 300+ gondolas running on the entire system, some gondolas will feature characters as seen above, while some gondolas will be just a bright color with no characters.
The Disney Skyliner is set to open in Fall 2019? Are you excited about this brand new mode of transportation? Let us know below!
