Walt Disney World Resort Non-Park Discussion Thread

This news is about a month old, but I just came across the article today. A local chain from Chicago, Beatrix, is coming to Disney Springs!

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/08/beatrix-coming-to-disney-springs/

Although it's described as a healthy restaurant, their market with baked goods and coffee features some of the best cookies I've ever had and are widely regarded as some of the best cookies (Oatmeal butterscotch, magic [with marshmallows/frosted flakes/chocolate chips], seasalt chocolate, PB&J etc) you can get in Chicago! I'm sure you will will love this spot as it has something for everyone, it can be as cost efficient or expensive as you want, and it's all really really good. There's always a huge selection of the staple menu items but they offer lots of specials and features which makes going there frequently very easy

Here's the page for one of the Chicago locations:

https://www.beatrixrestaurants.com/beatrix/river-north/

Nutella fans don't know what they're missing

There's something for everyone's taste and diet!

Cookie for 1 or 2, you decide!

Sometimes a fork and knife are required

The Skyliner looks great! I can totally see myself inventing reasons to ride it and pretending it makes more sense than just moving the car.

PS: Obviously I'm speaking to our needs on our next trip when we're not staying on property, not for hotel guests where this is super awesome.

Staying at AoA in February, itll be nice riding this instead of driving to Epcot and DHS. Intersted to see how quickly the lines move at the end of a night too.

It's great to see the "Skyway" return to a Disney park--and serve a practical purpose.

On Monday I was able to give this fantastic new transportation option a couple of rides before seeing the final IllumiNations and the Skyliner doesn’t disappoint! For not having A/C it really is quite comfortable and I’d much rather take this than the busses. The only downside I experienced was that the difference in view between the cars with the character wraps and those without is quite noticeable. On my last ride back to Epcot I requested a car without obstruction and it was well worth the short wait! Of course they were happy to grant my request. I noticed others were also asking for the undecorated cars. This is a transport option that feels very “Disney”. Much more so than the bus fleet.

I very much hope they expand the system and wonder if it would be something they would consider for Disneyland in the unlikely event the third gate ever becomes a reality.

I'm loving this addition to the parks. My question on it though: do they group you with others that aren't in your party? Did you have to wait for an individual carriage? etc.

When it's busy with a line, they do group you so that there are up to 10 in each gondola. When it's quieter they don't put as many in. It has also been reported that they've been good with letting people request and wait for certain gondolas.

The Skyliner really gives an impressive entrance to Epcot! Yet another way to beat the traffic and get that resort experience.

I know I could probably read up more on my own, but I'm curious to hear about how boarding and riding works from people that have used the Skyliner. Is there a lot of transferring from one gondola to another involved or do you pretty much board one and stay on? For example, if I board at Hourglass Lake, do you then transfer over to one of the park lines at Caribbean? If you board at Caribbean on the Epcot line, do you just stay on board through the Riviera station or transfer again? I'm sure it's simpler than I think.

I can't wait to try it out. My wife, ever the huge People Mover and monorail fan, wants to take a trip to WDW just for the Skyliner.

Basically everyone switches at Caribbean Beach. That's where the mechanics for all three separate lines are. If you board at Caribbean Beach heading to Riviera and Epcot you STAY in your gondola at Riviera and people may or may not be added to it at that hotel once it's open. They do NOT make you get off and get back on at Riviera when you're heading to Epcot.

Most American parks removed their cable skyways in the 80s after the Magic Mountain and Six Flags Mid America fatalities. These are great rides. Hopefully they make a comeback in the US wIth these more modern systems.

The announcement voice and the chime during the Disney ride is VERY annoying. Lol

Thanks for posting the video. These are nice looong rides. One could spend hours just riding them around.

^^ That sounds like a great reason to stay at Caribbean Beach.

Basically everyone switches at Caribbean Beach. That's where the mechanics for all three separate lines are. If you board at Caribbean Beach heading to Riviera and Epcot you STAY in your gondola at Riviera and people may or may not be added to it at that hotel once it's open. They do NOT make you get off and get back on at Riviera when you're heading to Epcot.

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't realize Riviera wasn't open yet.

I've stayed at Caribbean Beach twice and, like the other moderates, it is nice, but very spread out. Getting to the common buildings and the bus stops can be a bit of a chore, especially in the heat and humidity. I've stayed at Pop Century twice in the meantime and I think I would choose there or Art of Animation going forward. The more compact layout (made smaller by spending a little extra on a preferred room) and the centralized bus pickup just makes for an easier stay. I can handle walking a little more if needed, but I don't feel guilty since we're walking like crazy in the parks. The room quality at Caribbean was no better than Pop Century.

^ Between the three southern resorts on the Skyliner I would definitely spend a little extra money for the Caribbean Beach resort. While I can’t compare the rooms (since we stayed at the Fort Wilderness campground) the grounds and amenities of Caribbean beach were so much more pleasant. The main pool was way nicer with water slides. And the food options were very delicious. I could tell they recently renovated the lobby and it was gorgeous. I ate at Banana Cabana and it was one of the best meals we had on property. I’ve heard good things about Sebastian’s Bistro too. The extra walking is worth it, and the resort has 6 pools so one is probably not too far from you. Pop Century and Art of Animation still seemed like a ton of walking to me, especially if you stay in a room further away from the Skyliner. AND does the amount of walking you do at the Caribbean Beach resort compare to the amount of time you save skipping one leg, and a transfer on the Skyliner? It seems like a wash, and if you have no kids I would definitely prefer the Caribbean Beach.

As far as the Skyliner goes, loved it! Miss having an attraction like this at Magic Kingdom but this definitely makes up for it. We extended our campground reservations a week longer so we could experience the new mode of transportation. It lived up to most of our expectations. We went on two days when it was 95 outside and we were concerned it was going to be hot. Most of the time it was not.

However, the Skyliner slowed down frequently on the Epcot/Riviera line due to the ECV & Wheelchair loading area not working. We slowed down and stopped almost every 30 seconds. It got brutally hot in the Skyliner and it’s October. When it is working the Skyliner has to slow down to allow one car to transfer to the ECV loading area. This too caused the breeze to dissipate and making the ride too hot and uncomfortable.

I do think Disney’s going to get complaints about the cars being too hot. Yes an A/C might be too much to ask, but at least a fan?

I'm just so glad there's Disney Skyrides/Liners, back in our lives.

Well, it doesn't look good for the first week of Skyliner's operation to the public.

https://www.clickorlando.com/theme-parks/passengers-being-rescued-from-stuck-disney-skyliner-gondola-witnesses-say

https://wdwnt.com/2019/10/breaking-an-accident-has-occurred-on-the-disney-skyliner-at-riviera-resort-station/

^ Whelp! It looks like back to the busses again for a while. Good thing we just left.

Seriously though, it’s not like this is Doppelmayr’s first rodeo. We saw their trucks were still on site the last time we rode it on Friday the 5th. We even joked about the cars looking like they would collide coming into the station, because they do come in quickly and stop suddenly.

Needless to say, with a product this new, this is terrible press and this is going to hurt Doppelmayr more than it’s going to hurt Disney.

The collision was actually leaving the station, not entering it. From what I've been hearing, there was a power outage that stopped the whole line for a few minutes, and when the power came back on, the yellow cars were driven into the blue one.

I hope nobody was hurt in this accident.

Certainly a shame something like this happens so close after opening.

Based on the information given, aka this is the departure side of the terminal, all we know is the blue cabin wasn't moving. Whether it didn't attach to the haul rope (lift auto stops in that case), power failure, or slippage, quite a few possibilities in regards to why the cabin was stopped.

Lot of theories out there right now in regards to the actual collision. Someone from liftblog.com has a good theory though:

That’s usually what’s happens when the lift operators acknowledge and start again after an automatic stop from the anti-collision system… without any investigation and looking if all gondolas are still moving!

 

In this case, they probably re-started the lift at least two times to get such stacking and a high speed collision which break the gondola glass!

The broken glass could be just a bad angle and not from speed, but who knows. But very likely human error as lifts have many systems just to make sure something like this doesn't happen. But you never know, multi failures can happen.

Seriously though, it’s not like this is Doppelmayr’s first rodeo. We saw their trucks were still on site the last time we rode it on Friday the 5th. We even joked about the cars looking like they would collide coming into the station, because they do come in quickly and stop suddenly.

 

Needless to say, with a product this new, this is terrible press and this is going to hurt Doppelmayr more than it’s going to hurt Disney.

It is standard procedure for the lift manufacture to be on site a week or two after opening to continue to monitor the lift to make sure everything is functioning properly. Someone has a picture out there with Doppelmayr trucks in the parking lot backing this up. Doppelmayr North American headquarters are over in Salt Lake and they certainly don't have trucks just sitting in a state they just built their first installs in.

With the tight cabin spacing, there is little room for error. I'm sure Disney will spread out spacing by removing cabins for a while.

Doppelmayr has no name anywhere, I'm doubting many people know who made it, most will think Disney made the system. The D-Line is proven technology (this coming from a Leitner-Poma fan) that has many installs in Europe and is slowly starting to be introduced here in the states. The only thing that is different at Disney is the accessible cabins being broken off every so often, but as mentioned, this accident happened when the cabin was supposed to be accelerating out, not where cabins merge back in.

I figured the Skyliner would be evac'd eventually and guessed that the media would go bonkers but so far it seems like I haven't seen as much coverage of this incident as I expected. Maybe a good thing that it happened at night when the resort wasn't as active. I fully anticipated seeing it shared on facebook by someone vowing to never go to Disney world again but hat hasn't happened......yet haha.

I fully anticipated seeing it shared on facebook by someone vowing to never go to Disney world again but hat hasn't happened......yet haha.

You'd think that it's the end of the world based on the reactions from some "fan" sites (ESPECIALLY people in the comments).

I fully anticipated seeing it shared on facebook by someone vowing to never go to Disney world again but hat hasn't happened......yet haha.

You'd think that it's the end of the world based on the reactions from some "fan" sites (ESPECIALLY people in the comments).

Yeah haha, I mean that was guaranteed to happen but I was expecting this story to get legs with the general public which doesn't seem like it's happened yet.

I fully anticipated seeing it shared on facebook by someone vowing to never go to Disney world again but hat hasn't happened......yet haha.

You'd think that it's the end of the world based on the reactions from some "fan" sites (ESPECIALLY people in the comments).

 

Yeah haha, I mean that was guaranteed to happen but I was expecting this story to get legs with the general public which doesn't seem like it's happened yet.

Plenty on Twitter saying theyd never ride it. I hate people. I was on a ski lift in the Adirondacks that got struck by lightning and had to ride out a severe thunderstorm. Wont stop me from doing it again.

Then let them not ride it. More room and less wait for actual adults.

Then let them not ride it. More room and less wait for actual adults.

Agreed