Very exciting news from Walt Disney World today, guys! Disney has officially started “initial testing” for the new Disney Skyliner transportation system this week. There are gondolas IN THE SKY above Hollywood Studios, Epcot and the four resorts that will be served by the Skyliner system. (Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, and the new Disney’s Riviera Resort–opening late this year, and now accepting reservations.)
As many of you already know, Disney began construction on the Disney Skyliner transportation system almost a year ago. We’ve seen the towers and the cable lines being put into place as the months have gone by. We’ve seen the stations under construction, and we’ve seen the prototype gondola that Disney showed us at the last D23 event. But gondolas actually in the sky, on the lines–this is very exciting stuff, and a sign that we are getting much closer to be able to ride in the darn things!!!
Disney Skyliner Testing Underway
Disney released this video today when they announced that testing had begun. I love this behind the scenes look at the station at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. We get a good look at gondolas loaded into the station, and we start to see how the system will work. Take a look:
Skyliner Gondolas Will Feature Characters from MULTIPLE Disney Movies and Properties
Along with the announcement that testing has begun, Disney also released some new fun sketches of the animation graphics they have planned for the gondolas.
We’d already seen a few sample images, very early on:
With today’s announcement, Disney also let us know that the Disney Skyliner gondolas will feature a LOT more characters than the images we’ve seen previously.
Disney says that you will hop into a gondola and from the ground, it will look like characters from a variety of Disney movies, Disney cartoons, and movies produced by studios owned by Disney, have joined you for the ride. Instead of just 5- 10 characters in a rotation on some gondolas, as I’d originally thought, it sounds like there will be LOTS of different characters featured on LOTS of the gondolas. For example, we can expect to see characters from:
- Classic Disney Cartoon Shorts
- The Princess and the Pea
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Toy Story
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Moana
- Zootopia
- Finding Dory
- Ratatouille
- Peter Pan
- Lilo and Stitch
- Ralph Breaks the Internet
- Monsters Inc.
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Frozen
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Haunted Mansion
- Star Wars
Sneak Peek at Some of the New Skyliner Graphics
Pretty cool, eh? I don’t know about all of you, but I’m pretty excited to see the Disney Skyliner system start initial testing. Of course, there is still a long way to go before this system will be ready to transport Disney guests. Disney takes guest and cast safety VERY seriously, so I’m confident that they are going to test this system VERY thoroughly. It will be a while before any people ever get a chance to ride it, even in a testing capacity. However, I can’t wait until until we start hearing reports of testing with actual passengers!
On Schedule for Fall 2019 Opening?
I think we will see Disney meet, if not actually “beat” their target Fall 2019 opening date. That’s assuming all the testing goes well. Based on the pictures I’ve seen from around WDW, along with this announcement today from Disney, I’d say they’re on track for the Disney Skyliner gondola transportation system to open on schedule this Fall. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we get a more concrete date than “Fall 2019”.
I’m hoping for VERY early fall myself. I suspect Disney will want the Skyliner system up and running for a while before Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens, don’t you? If I were a gambling woman, I’d bet that a LOT of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge guests will be excited to use the Skyliner. I know I will be!
So what do you think? Are you ready to take a ride on a Disney Skyliner gondola? Are you excited to hear that Disney Skyliner testing has started?
If you’d like to take a look at any of my previous articles about the Disney Skyliner system, you can find themhere, here, and here.
Happy Dreaming!
Brooke
