Disney Skyliner is transporting guests around Walt Disney World Resort again this morning, eight days after a malfunction caused a few cabins to stack up in the Riviera angle station. The system has been operating since then but without passengers. Hours today are 8:00 am to 10:30 pm for all three gondola lines. New signage reminds riders that Skyliner flights may occasionally be interrupted with stops and delays. “Following a complete review with the manufacturer, we’ve made adjustments to our processes and training, and we are improving how we communicate with guests during their flight with Disney Skyliner,” a statement from Disney read. “We again offer our deepest apologies to the guests impacted by the malfunction that resulted in extended operating delays on October 5th.”
According to the Skyliner website, temporary closures will follow this week for “system updates.” On Wednesday, the Hollywood Studios line will be closed all day while the Epcot and Pop Century/Art of Animation lines will spin from 1:00 pm to 10:30 pm. Thursday and Friday, all lines will be closed in the morning and open at 1:00 pm.
Skyliner launched on September 29th, linking Hollywood Studios to Epcot and four Walt Disney World resorts. Doppelmayr designed and built the lifts and maintains them through its Doppelmayr Cable Car subsidiary in partnership with Disney. “We greatly appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding, and we look forward to welcoming you back aboard Disney Skyliner,” the theme park operator told guests.
Lift Blog 
Any thoughts on the cause? Your report hints at staff error as well as some sort of mis-adjustment or such?
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The spacers in one of the terminals malfunctioned, from the photographs.
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Anticollision monitoring should avoid collisions, but you can reset and go …till nothing moves anymore. ;-)
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Exactly. Operator error without eyes on the situation.
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Technical question if I may. Are the station guideway wheels driven by haul rope PTO or independently of the haul rope?
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Typically, they are driven by the haul rope through a PTO belt system. Spacing takes place with a variable-speed motor driving a section of tires. Older spacers were driven as part of the overall tire system, with magnetic clutches that would switch back and forth between two different sets of bulleys for either advancing or retarding carriers. I’m not sure of the setup on the Skyliner but I assume it’s fairly standard.
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Thanks John,
I was under the impression – assumption most likely – they were independently powered from the haul rope.
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I just rode most of the system Oct 21st, late in the evening. A prefect place to watch the fireworks shows from IMO (though that was by accident). Rode the Hollywood studios and Epcot lines in both directions (long story on why).
The system was running very smoothly and was gobbling up fairly large crowds as they came out when each park closed for the night. One Dad/family I rode with and had ~2-3 years olds commented “These are so much better than buses, why can’t they just replace all the buses with these things”.
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