How efficient do we think the Skyliner is going to be as a mode of transportation? As I plan our December trip, I am trying to decide if taking the Skyliner from Pop to Epcot for an evening ADR will be more efficient than waiting for a bus has been historically. Any thoughts?
I found transportation from Pop to be extremely fast and efficient. With that said, I saw a website awhile back that had the skylines transportation between Epcot and Pop at 14 min. That would be significantly faster unless you had to wait a long time to get on the skylines.
I think evening ADRs will the best time to travel by Skyliner, as it lands just outside the IG.
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There’s also the fact there may not be buses from POP to Epcot once the Skyliner opens.
That has always been the plan. It remains to be seen if they phase buses out, maybe having them run once an hour or so at first. Or cut them out right away.
This. Plus I imagine the skylines is fast. There really shouldn’t be much of a wait.
I don’t see that happening at all. They’re not going to leave those who have a fear of heights stranded. Not just adults but children too. And considering Disney is always pushing their “complimentary transportation”, requiring a significant number of passengers to get Lyfts only at Skyliner resorts is going to be a bad PR move.
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What about those staying at the Monorail resorts wanting to go to Epcot? No bus option and the monorail is higher up than the Skyliner.
The Skyliner has to be paid for somehow. Every resort has to contribute to their transport. So unless POP, AoA and CBR are going to pay significantly more, meaning room rates rising even more, then they need to save costs.
If people don’t like heights, then you stay elsewhere.
The Skyliner was proposed as a way to reduce bus use. That is a clear statement in the business plan.
Huh? No, every monorail resort has a direct-to-Epcot bus. They come through every 15-20 minutes.
No they don’t. Bay Lake owner, never a bus to Epcot unless the Monorail is down.
oh durr, you’re right. But doesn’t the other resorts have it? EDIT: just searched, they don’t.
Even still, I think the skyliner is going to be pushing the bounds of fears of heights, and it’s not like the resorts it’s connecting are small. Still don’t see them take away buses, at least until the skyliner proves to be hugely more popular than buses.
But, unlike Skyliner, what’s there to be afraid of on a Monorail? I mean it’s not like the doors just randomly open or fall off, or the trains run into each other or anyth…
Oh. Wait.
Nevermind.
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If I had ever considered staying at one of the Skyliner resorts in the future, if they eliminate bus service because of the Skyliner, then you can bet I’ll NEVER stay in one of those resorts.
But I’m not sure Disney cares. It just forces those guests into higher-priced resorts instead! (Or, perhaps, off site, I suppose.)
Well the figures won’t add up if they don’t.
Your reasons are why they may not do so immediately. Once the Skyliner is open they may adjust the info on the resort pages to make it clear. Although they don’t specify it for existing resorts.
Personally I think they will reduce the frequency to every 30 minutes or so, then push it even further. Until you reach the point where virtually no one waits for the buses, and then they just remove them.
They will still run buses indefinitely, but eventually only due to inclement weather.
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Just had a look. The Skyliner resorts all say that the Skyliner will whisk you away to Epcot and DHS blah blah.
Under the buses, there’s a link to a bus transportation page. That covers the fact that for some journeys you will need to change buses at another park.
So after a “honeymoon” period, they may just direct people to take a bus to MK and change there if they won’t ride the Skyliner.
If they keep running buses, they won’t be as frequent. They need to cut the bus costs at these resorts to avoid a double whammy on transport costs.
Here are the times of each leg, according to Jim & Len on a recent Disney Dish episode.
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach to Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 5-6 minutes
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort to Disney’s Pop Century Resort or Disney’s Art of Animation Resort: under 6 minutes
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort to Disney’s Riviera Resort: 5 minutes
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort to International Gateway at Epcot: 15 minutes
- Disney’s Riviera Resort to International Gateway at Epcot: 9 minutes
You will have to change gondolas at each leg. If these times are accurate, you’ll ride from Pop to CBR in six minutes - change gondolas - CBR to Epcot in 15 minutes, plus the time to queue for each. The Skyliner is a people mover style of train. It doesn’t stop to load so it may not be such a bad queue once the curiosity / “lookie-loos” die down.
IMHO - This is still better than standing at a bus stop hoping that it is “your” bus and that it’s not already full.
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We used the bus arrival times on My Disney Experience last summer at Caribbean Beach Resort. Really liked it - very useful. Used it as a time to leave our room.
One evening at the Contemporary we were having fun with the bus arrival times. The app was slightly different than the posted wait times at the bus stop. Three buses were en route, all slated to arrive about the same time. Eventually, the one that was expected to be last - when we first started watching - arrived first.
It doesn’t take much to amuse us, apparently.
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