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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Chef idea Mickey`=33 minutes ago

If they can paint the Guardian's building blue, they can easily paint few of these beams blue.

Vegas Disney Fan54 minutes ago

I counted 5 towers inside CB resort, even at 10x that price it would be worth every cent. This is a company that’s hid entire roller coasters inside mountains, I find it hard to believe they can’t figure something out… and if it’s impossible to hide them due to maintenance/code reasons that should have been a sign not to build it in the first place. At this point I’d settle for some paint and some trees but even that seems to be too much effort for modern Disney. Doesn’t really affect me since I’ll just stay at other resorts but I think it speaks volumes of how little Disney cares now. We used to love CB because we found it one of the most beautiful resorts on property, the skyliner unfortunately took a lot of that beauty away.

plutofan151 hour ago

Probably the best way to go .

larryz1 hour ago

Paint it more blue than gray.

dmc4931 hour ago

I think the kinetics of the Skyliner and what it adds to the area outweighs the objectively obtrusive support towers. And honestly the towers as is really don't bother me

plutofan151 hour ago

A stealth cell tower can easily cost 3x a normal tower. Any custom stealth tower for the Disney would easily push $500,000 each. And would stick out like a sore thumb along with access difficulty. I am not a gondola tower expert but a stealth tree cell tower can run easily $300,000 total construction cost. For all I know, there could be limitations on what can be done on gondola towers in regard to limiting access for emergency evacuations.

JoeCamel2 hours ago

A fat yard

nickys2 hours ago

I can see why you’re confused. He really meant metre. 😊

andre852 hours ago

I can't imagine theming a handful of towers that run directly through some resorts would cost more than the towers themselves. I'm obviously no expert, but Disney has plenty of money, and I remember a time when they used to go out of their way to hide or disguise things that would break the theme

plutofan152 hours ago

The cost is anything but trivial. Access to the support tower would be more difficult for maintenance and emergency access. Every structure has a life expectancy, including the Skyliner support towers. At some point thet will need upgraded/ replaced. Plus a lighthouse or some other structure would stand out with part of support tower sticking out of the top. It would be nice to camouflage them in some way but practicality and cost would be prohibitive.

plutofan152 hours ago

While I agree that some sort of camouflage would be nice, over 25 years working in construction and engineering for a cellular provider, trying to hide towers is extremely expensive and the majority of the time it doesn’t work very well. In fact, the camo sites tend to be more obvious than the standard towers. Can you find the camo tree site in this photo? 😄. Because cell sites need the antennas aby the tree line, camo sites are going the tallest “tree” in the area. Plus they are completely straight and the fake leafs/pine needles do not change during the seasons. In the case of palm trees, they would be the tallest & thickest trees in the area with the remaining tour sticking out of the top. It would look awful. Plus, the extra complication of performing maintenance would be prohibitive.