Skyliner Update: What’s New with the Disney Skyliner?

The Skyliner continues to near completion and we recently got to see the look of some of the character gondolas previously only seen in concept art. The Disney Skyliner system is a new transportation system Disney has developed to give guests at select Disney resorts some other options for getting to different parts of Walt Disney World. The Skyliner is based on the former Disney attraction the Skyway and even has some similarities to the people mover. It’s exciting that a new Disney mode of transportation is on its way. Here is a Skyliner update on everything we know.

Disney Skyliner Update So Far

Unwrapped

On May 9th there was a big announcement for the Disney Skyliner System. Finally, we got a Skyliner update on this date. See 55 character gondolas were unwrapped and revealed to the public. Many of the Skyliner gondolas have character designs wrapped around their casing. This looks much like the Monorails that have themed wraps every once in a while, such as the current Mickey Mouse monorail for Mickey’s 90th birthday. The Gondola wraps feature characters from Disney attractions and cartoons, as well as animated Features and films from studios like Lucasfilm and Pixar and Marvel. The designs on the gondolas make characters like Belle and the Beast, or the Hitchhiking Ghosts appear to be riding inside. This will be fun in a “see what you get” kind of way.

Coming Soon!

The gondolas have been testing for quite some time and unwrapping them seems like a big step forward. With the opening date for Galaxy’s Edge looming we still anticipate an early fall date. However no official date has been released yet and there is no telling how soon we can expect it, even now.

The Skyliner System

The Skyliner System is Disney’s new transportation system in lieu of the monorail. Whereas the monorail connects guests between Epcot and Magic Kingdom resort areas, the Skyliner connects Hollywood Studios and Epcot guests to the ESPN Wide World of Sports resort area. It will stop at both parks which will make hopping from Hollywood Studios to Epcot easier than ever.

When Gondolas approach the station, they will slow down to one mile per hour and stack up tightly against each other front to back. It will resemble the loading deck for the Peoplemover. once out of the station the Skyliner will resume a speed of 11 miles per hour. The gondolas are wheelchair accessible with fold-up benches and they have ventilation to keep the interiors cool. Although they are equipped for AC installation, the initial run will not include air conditioning. Rather there is built in ventilation that is expected to keep the cabins cool.

Skyliner Stations

The Disney Skyliner has stations set up at Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Each is themed to the gateway where the guests are dropped off. The station at Epcot is just outside the International Gateway and matches well with the France Pavilion inside the park. The Skyliner also connects to the new Riviera Resort and Caribbean Beach. Each station is themed to match the resort surroundings. The final station at the end of the line is the one located between Pop Century and Art of Animation. This station will be designed with a more artful and imaginative flair than the others.

The Pile Ons

Although the stations and the gondolas are dressed up nice, the pile ons are not. They are big conspicuous polls that don’t do night lines any favors. Nothing yet is known about whether the pile ons will be dressed up or ignored, but they are pretty unattractive.

There you have it with the skinny on the Disney Skyliner update thus far.

Are you excited for the Disney Skyliner to open soon?

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