The Reedy Creek Fire Department reportedly posted a couple of photos to their Facebook page of Disney Skyliner evacuation testing. The photos, which have since been deleted, were taken from atop the Disney Skyliner cabins. The photos show crews rappelling down from the cabins, with a boat on the water underneath them.
The evacuations seen here are not typical of what we’ve seen elsewhere. When over land, various lifts can be used to retrieve guests who might be stuck on the Disney Skyliner gondola system. On hourglass lake, Disney has a specialized boat that will be used to evacuate guests from the Disney Skyliner cabins.
The section of the Disney Skyliner seen above is over the canal that runs between Epcot and the Epcot area resorts. We have yet to see a specialized boat for over-water evacuations in this area. If there is no boat like what we’ve seen on hourglass lake, it’s possible that rappelling down from the cabin might be the only solution in an evacuation scenario. Of course, it could be that Disney was simply testing this method as one of multiple methods under consideration. Either way, Disney has until the announced opening date of September 29th to perfect their evacuation procedures along the entire line.
As a reminder, the Disney Skyliner gondola system will connect Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Art of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Beach Resort, and Riviera Resort. Over 300 gondola cabins will whisk guests between the five different stations, taking up to 15 minutes in one direction.
- 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
