Subsonic Radio

Anyone else catch the stories that say WDW has filed permits for structures that suggest a gondola system linking Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Caribbean Beach Resort, and Art of Animation? This will be interesting to follow and see what, if anything, comes of this. Link to the article I first saw down below.

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/gondol ... rld-rumor/

Never mind... missed the part about it being a skyway.

Neat idea but I'm not totally sure it could support the larger volume of guests that those resorts have. I am more surprised that with the focus on making money in the short term they would even consider the temporary removal of a retail location for something that requires more staff and doesn't directly generate money.

Well, it's actually something of a cross between a skyway and a monorail.

Personally, given how things went with the last Skyway, my guess is that something of an enclosed nature is more likely.

Just found this article with image of what Disney might be thinking of.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/wal ... nfo.com%29

The problem, as I see it, is the number of people who would want/need to be transported. A monorail can hold hundreds of people at a time. A gondola - not so many.

True, momeja, but the number of people moving between the proposed routes would not be in the thousands, certainly not near that level for any given hour. More likely, this would offset some bus transportation for guests at two resorts that have no alternative to buses. True, you could lump All Star, Coronado, and even AKL into this category, but the ones they chose are likely candidates due to the straight shot between them with no buildings that would get in the way and only needing to cross BV Drive.

Interestingly, the best spot for an Epcot station would be between Italy and the American Adventure. That, I believe, is already a bus stop for private events. Getting between Epcot and a likely station at the Studios would require a turn, so I bet there won't be any direct connection between the two parks, just to/from each resort.

While I'd prefer monorails I love the idea!

At the same time, a system like that is unmanned and can have more people riding, constantly getting on/off (phrasing: boom!) which could have a greater throughput. Not sure if it is actually a smart idea but it certainly is something...

This looks awesome!

I'm a fan of any additional forms of transportation to/from the parks. Add the thrill factor of it almost being an attraction itself and that's a bonus as well.

This sounds like fun and a nice addition but I see it as maybe problematic. Giant summer rain storms, lightning, (we get a lot of lightning in Florida) windy thunderstorms (wind is a part of every thunderstorm) and just generally a lot of people trying to get on at the same time.

We tend to avoid the Monorail at the end of the day in the Magic Kingdom for the reason alone of the crowds. Have you ever been there at the end of the night? They cram people in like sardines! Sounds like a scary proposition on a gondola

cousininmiami wrote:This sounds like fun and a nice addition but I see it as maybe problematic. Giant summer rain storms, lightning, (we get a lot of lightning in Florida) windy thunderstorms (wind is a part of every thunderstorm) and just generally a lot of people trying to get on at the same time.

We tend to avoid the Monorail at the end of the day in the Magic Kingdom for the reason alone of the crowds. Have you ever been there at the end of the night? They cram people in like sardines! Sounds like a scary proposition on a gondola

Yikes. Good points.

I wonder if it will be more like the gondolas used to ascend mountains and such (I've seen them in Alaska and Canada). They are larger and hold lots of people. Either way, personally I would likely just stick to bus/boat/monorail transportation. I was not a fan of Skyway at all...

I really wish the Monorail went all over Walt Disney World... to Disney Springs, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, more resorts.
Wouldn't that be awesome?

cousininmiami wrote:I really wish the Monorail went all over Walt Disney World... to Disney Springs, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, more resorts.
Wouldn't that be awesome?

It would be great! But evidently it wasn't cost effective. I wonder how much them not expanding the monorail had to do with them having to build the pylons on Florida's swampland too? I imagine those pilings have to get set really deep to avoid issues with sinking.

Hard pass, system can't scale and has too many weaknesses to be worth the effort.

Wizzard419 wrote:Hard pass, system can't scale and has too many weaknesses to be worth the effort.

bummer