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Post by jflatto on Apr 18, 2023 19:05:55 GMT -5
Has anyone had any recent experience using Disney's Skyliner with an ECV? We stayed at Riviera shortly after it and the Skyliner opened. With an ECV, I found the experience to be poor. Apparently only certain Gondola's (every 1 out of 10 maybe?) were allowed to take an ECV and if they were occupied, I had to wait for another "special" gondola and hope it was not occupied. Since to get anywhere meant getting off at Caribbean Beach to switch, it made using the gondola's a PITA.
Has anything changed for using the gondolas with a ECV?
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Apr 18, 2023 20:07:05 GMT -5
It’s the same. I waited for a bit with my mom, but it wasn’t at opening. We were going from RR to Epcot so once we were on, we were good to go.
One of the CMs there said it's because only certain gondolas can be pulled off at the other stations.
My only suggestion would be head to the CBR location and start there. I’m not sure if this is possible. DH and I have done it, but we were walking. Going to Epcot from RR can still be an issue though depending on when you go. We were a bit later so that wasn’t an issue. Coming back is ok although at closing it’s a nightmare.
The bus isn’t an option because they only run when the skyliner is down to DHS and Epcot.
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Post by bubster on Apr 18, 2023 20:10:28 GMT -5
Has anyone had any recent experience using Disney's Skyliner with an ECV? We stayed at Riviera shortly after it and the Skyliner opened. With an ECV, I found the experience to be poor. Apparently only certain Gondola's (every 1 out of 10 maybe?) were allowed to take an ECV and if they were occupied, I had to wait for another "special" gondola and hope it was not occupied. Since to get anywhere meant getting off at Caribbean Beach to switch, it made using the gondola's a PITA. Has anything changed for using the gondolas with a ECV? I have never had an issue using an ECV on the Skyliner between Epcot, Studios or the transfer station. The only time there was a delay was at the Riviera station and that was without the EVC. Waited for a very long time for an empty gondola and the line behind us got extremely long. Not a pleasant experience. |
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Apr 18, 2023 20:13:56 GMT -5
Has anyone had any recent experience using Disney's Skyliner with an ECV? We stayed at Riviera shortly after it and the Skyliner opened. With an ECV, I found the experience to be poor. Apparently only certain Gondola's (every 1 out of 10 maybe?) were allowed to take an ECV and if they were occupied, I had to wait for another "special" gondola and hope it was not occupied. Since to get anywhere meant getting off at Caribbean Beach to switch, it made using the gondola's a PITA. Has anything changed for using the gondolas with a ECV? I have never had an issue using an ECV on the Skyliner between Epcot, Studios or the transfer station. The only time there was a delay was at the Riviera station and that was without the EVC. Waited for a very long time for an empty gondola and the line behind us got extremely long. Not a pleasant experience. Very true. Mornings at the CBR transfer station can be brutal. Long lines. Which now has me rethinking my suggestion above. |
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Post by helenabear on Apr 18, 2023 20:53:41 GMT -5
Well this thread has me even less happy about the idea of staying at RR. Such a shame that it is that bad at RR.
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Post by broganmc on Apr 18, 2023 22:36:04 GMT -5
I wondered what it would be like to board at Riviera. I always get on it Epcot or Hollywood Studios where they have separate lines for the wheelchair ready gondolas. I remember when it first opened, the biggest problem they had was not having nunchucks available at the stations. They had to wait until the gondolas that had the nunchucks cycled around. Nunchucks are the things they put behind your wheels so you don't roll. Now they have them at the stations as well as in the vehicles. So I don't think it's any particular vehicle that has to be pulled aside. They can pull over anyone they need. But for fire code reasons they don't want to have too many on the line at the same time. That has to do with how difficult it is for the firefighters rescue from a gondola. It would be a lot harder to get someone with limited mobility in a wheelchair or a scooter off that gondola from a ladder than it would be a person without mobility issues.
Probably the best advice is don't try to go with the crowd. Start out a little bit later in the morning or earlier in the evening. I tend to not get started until around 11:00 a.m. so I don't have problems. I usually close up the parks so the crowd leaves before I get there.
The only thing that we concern me about Riviera is that you don't actually get a hard stop to load. They'll slow it down, but if you have any sort of issues driving I would assume that would make it a little tricky.
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Apr 19, 2023 5:27:09 GMT -5
I wondered what it would be like to board at Riviera. I always get on it Epcot or Hollywood Studios where they have separate lines for the wheelchair ready gondolas. I remember when it first opened, the biggest problem they had was not having nunchucks available at the stations. They had to wait until the gondolas that had the nunchucks cycled around. Nunchucks are the things they put behind your wheels so you don't roll. Now they have them at the stations as well as in the vehicles. So I don't think it's any particular vehicle that has to be pulled aside. They can pull over anyone they need. But for fire code reasons they don't want to have too many on the line at the same time. That has to do with how difficult it is for the firefighters rescue from a gondola. It would be a lot harder to get someone with limited mobility in a wheelchair or a scooter off that gondola from a ladder than it would be a person without mobility issues. Probably the best advice is don't try to go with the crowd. Start out a little bit later in the morning or earlier in the evening. I tend to not get started until around 11:00 a.m. so I don't have problems. I usually close up the parks so the crowd leaves before I get there. The only thing that we concern me about Riviera is that you don't actually get a hard stop to load. They'll slow it down, but if you have any sort of issues driving I would assume that would make it a little tricky. My mom and I go once a year and it's the only time she ever drives an ECV and she has no issues boarding or getting off at RR. I have no idea if the CM this last time was correct or not, but only certain gondolas have the nunchucks for behind the wheels as they are the ones that can go in the pull offs at the other stations. She pointed to something above on the gondolas and was telling us, but we couldn't hear what she was saying...way too loud as is typical at Disney. I have also noticed CMs putting something on the outside of the gondolas as well and I wondered if that was how they determined which ones would carry an ECV. |
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Apr 19, 2023 5:52:04 GMT -5
I was thinking about how we were impacted at the CBR station and what we did after I started thinking about it. We were staying at Pop, fill in dvc, not enough points...I can't remember why or when, but we were going to Epcot. It opened at 11 am and we headed to the skyliner at around 10:15. The Pop station was fine. We dumped in CBR and it was a 30-45 minute wait to get onto the skyliner for Epcot which goes to RR 2nd. We went to DHS because there was no line and walked to Epcot. Now, both parks open around the same time. I'm not sure what that looks like. I believe people who want to hit Studios in the morning walk to the CBR from RR to avoid the first station at RR. Maybe someone who does that can chime in?
When we stayed at RR in Jan 2022 the skyliner was under refurb and had to walk to the CBR station as it was the Epcot line that was down. I don't believe bus transportation was available to DHS. We walked to Epcot from DHS. **thinking this over in my head as I type**
Evenings leaving Epcot can be a long wait after the fireworks especially with an ECV. I am not sure how DHS is. I wonder if the timing of Fantasmic and the close of DHS has more delay now due to the Skyliner congestion.
Storms are another issue. We got caught in that when we were at Pop in Sept 2020 and there was much confusion about where people could get a bus to different resorts. We should have taken an Uber back. Storms are never fun at Disney.
The impacts on IG from the skyliner exist as well. The lines can back up to the bridge over to BWV in the mornings. When I went with my mom it was fine because we arrived later. It must have been 10ish with early entry at 8:30 that day? I don't go that way often enough to know the timing for getting on Remy, Frozen, etc.
Now, I love the skyliner and I thought I'd never get on it! The station at Pop/AoA bothered me the most as I didn't want to be alligator food if an accident occurred.
I also LOVE RR.
All modes of transportation have issues, including cars and feet. The monofail bothers me the most; I've been stuck too many times on it.
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Post by rwethereyet on Apr 19, 2023 10:59:58 GMT -5
Well this thread has me even less happy about the idea of staying at RR. Such a shame that it is that bad at RR. I would not let this discourage you (if you use an ECV). I choose to stay at the Riviera because of being able to use the Skyliner to get to EPCOT and DHS. Trust me, it is a far more pleasant experience than waiting for a bus to have an open spot at other resorts.
I don't find the process to be cumbersome at all, and I use an ECV and have mainly stayed at the Riviera my last few trips, . Since you literally scoot ahead of the line when in an ECV to get on the Skyliner, I feel that a little wait for the right gondola is not a problem--you often get on ahead of people that have been waiting iin the regular line. Yes, mornings can be an issue, but they can be with busses as well.
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Apr 19, 2023 11:55:04 GMT -5
Well this thread has me even less happy about the idea of staying at RR. Such a shame that it is that bad at RR. I would not let this discourage you (if you use an ECV). I choose to stay at the Riviera because of being able to use the Skyliner to get to EPCOT and DHS. Trust me, it is a far more pleasant experience than waiting for a bus to have an open spot at other resorts.
I don't find the process to be cumbersome at all, and I use an ECV and have mainly stayed at the Riviera my last few trips, . Since you literally scoot ahead of the line when in an ECV to get on the Skyliner, I feel that a little wait for the right gondola is not a problem--you often get on ahead of people that have been waiting iin the regular line. Yes, mornings can be an issue, but they can be with busses as well.
I agree 100%. I love staying at RR and love the Skyliner too. We won’t own at RR because DH is not a huge fan. He enjoyed the location for DHS and Epcot. I’ll try again for next Feb. My mom had an easy time with her ECV and I worried about the bus for her. I would have taken BWV, BCV or RR for our one night stay. |
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Post by gflatto on Apr 19, 2023 12:08:39 GMT -5
I would not let this discourage you (if you use an ECV). I choose to stay at the Riviera because of being able to use the Skyliner to get to EPCOT and DHS. Trust me, it is a far more pleasant experience than waiting for a bus to have an open spot at other resorts.
I don't find the process to be cumbersome at all, and I use an ECV and have mainly stayed at the Riviera my last few trips, . Since you literally scoot ahead of the line when in an ECV to get on the Skyliner, I feel that a little wait for the right gondola is not a problem--you often get on ahead of people that have been waiting iin the regular line. Yes, mornings can be an issue, but they can be with busses as well.
I agree 100%. I love staying at RR and love the Skyliner too. We won’t own at RR because DH is not a huge fan. He enjoyed the location for DHS and Epcot. I’ll try again for next Feb. My mom had an easy time with her ECV and I worried about the bus for her. I would have taken BWV, BCV or RR for our one night stay. Is this true at all stations? The Riviera is where we had the most trouble with this before (because they didn't have a dedicated line, and only a few people get off there - the wait for an open ECV car seemed really long sometimes). If they have a separate 'ECV' line there, that would likely help. |
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Post by jflatto on Apr 19, 2023 13:01:17 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback. Limiting ECVs for potential evacuation makes at least some sense. I had been told that the "special" gondolas were different than a typical gondola. I could never see a difference in the physical gondola. It the issue was simply the chocks behind the wheels, I would bring my own "blanky blank "chocks. Many of the times, they never put the chocks behind my scooter. I never had a problem getting the ECV onto or off a gondola while the gondola was moving.
It was just frustrating watching all these empty gondolas go past and then when a "special" gondola came past, it would have 1 person in it and the waiting started again.
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Post by helenabear on Apr 19, 2023 13:48:34 GMT -5
Well this thread has me even less happy about the idea of staying at RR. Such a shame that it is that bad at RR. I would not let this discourage you (if you use an ECV). I choose to stay at the Riviera because of being able to use the Skyliner to get to EPCOT and DHS. Trust me, it is a far more pleasant experience than waiting for a bus to have an open spot at other resorts.
I don't find the process to be cumbersome at all, and I use an ECV and have mainly stayed at the Riviera my last few trips, . Since you literally scoot ahead of the line when in an ECV to get on the Skyliner, I feel that a little wait for the right gondola is not a problem--you often get on ahead of people that have been waiting iin the regular line. Yes, mornings can be an issue, but they can be with busses as well.
I don't use an ECV but long lines are something I avoid. I don't like the Skyliner enough as it is. |
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Apr 19, 2023 15:16:42 GMT -5
I agree 100%. I love staying at RR and love the Skyliner too. We won’t own at RR because DH is not a huge fan. He enjoyed the location for DHS and Epcot. I’ll try again for next Feb. My mom had an easy time with her ECV and I worried about the bus for her. I would have taken BWV, BCV or RR for our one night stay. Is this true at all stations? The Riviera is where we had the most trouble with this before (because they didn't have a dedicated line, and only a few people get off there - the wait for an open ECV car seemed really long sometimes). If they have a separate 'ECV' line there, that would likely help. There was a dedicated line when I’ve been with my mom. |
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Apr 19, 2023 15:19:40 GMT -5
I don’t know if this is true but it seemed to me they were communicating with the CBR station. I could be completely wrong, but maybe things have improved since opening.
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