[This article was published on October 5, and updated with new information October 6]
On Saturday evening, Walt Disney World experienced a strange accident involving The Disney Skyliner (which has only been officially open for a mere six days) that left guests stranded for hours in un-air-conditioned cabins.
The incident occurred at the Riviera Resort station – reports say one of the cabins got stuck while departing the station [the first blue gondola in the photo below], causing a chain reaction and three to five cabins to pile up behind the one stuck gondola.
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Guests were stranded in the air for anywhere between one to two hours and were instructed by cast members to use emergency kits located under the benches inside the gondolas – kits include a glowstick, water and waste disposal bags.
The Reedy Creek Fire Department used cherry pickers to individually evacuate trapped guests. There were reports of rescued guests being taken away on stretchers (as you can see in the image below). This could be due to heat illness or panic attacks.
Shortly after 11pm EST, the gondolas started slowly moving again, though the Skyliner system will remain down until the incident can be investigated.
Disney initially denied that there was an accident at all, calling it unscheduled downtime. However, Reedy Creek Firefighters complained about the incident:
#disneyskyliner Reedy Creek Firefighters publicly complained about lack of responders & rescue equipment training as Skyliner was built-especially over-water accidents. https://t.co/WKCU0DZW9c
— RA (@rosieogrady53) October 6, 2019
UPDATE 10-6-19 8am (Pacific): Some guests evacuated from the Skyliner reported being given $100 gift cards and park hopper theme park tickets. However, as you’ll read in the comments below, not all guests got the same treatment.
UPDATE 10-6-19 3pm (Pacific): Due to last night’s incident, the Disney Skyliner has been closed indefinitely while the Resort looks into its cause. The station now has a sign redirecting guests to use the bus stop due to the Skyliner’s closure.
UPDATE On 10-6-19 at 9pm (Pacific), Disney released this statement: “We have a team diligently looking into the cause of the malfunction on the Epcot line of the Disney Skyliner. We have been in contact with the guests, many of whom were on the Skyliner for more than three hours until we were able to restart the system. We express our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and continue to work with each guest individually.”
Let’s Hear From You About The Skyliner
Does the prospect of being trapped in an un-air-conditioned gondola for hours on end dampen your willingness to ride this new transportation system? What do you think could be done to make the system safer? Should the Skyliner be expanded to other resorts as planned or should Disney revert to Monorails or other systems?
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