UPDATED: Disney Skyliner Gondola Incident/Delays Shared On Social Media
This came into the MickeyBlog.com newsroom late Saturday night.
There was an issue at one of the Skyliner stations. Photos showed a pile up of gondolas. As a result, many passengers were stranded for several hours, with firefighters making extractions until the transportation system resumed movement.
We followed the events via social media.
UPDATE: 8:19 AM, Sunday, Oct. 6
This morning (Sunday, Oct. 6), The Orlando Sentinel reported:
Riders aboard the new Skyliner gondola ride at Walt Disney World were stranded for hours late Saturday night after an apparent malfunction, according to witnesses. The aerial transportation system will be closed while Disney investigates the incident, the company said in a news release early Sunday morning.
There were no reported injuries, a Walt Disney World spokeswoman said. It was “unexpected downtime” on the Skyliner, the spokeswoman said Saturday.
“One of the three Disney Skyliner routes experienced an unexpected downtime Saturday evening,” the release said. “As a result, the Skyliner will be closed while we look into the details surrounding the downtime.”
UPDATE: 11:47 PM, Saturday, Oct. 5
Just to clarify – Disney Skyliner vehicle 108 failed to dispatch from the Riviera station properly toward Epcot, rolled back, and was crashed into by the vehicle trailing, smashing the rear glass window and stopping the system. https://t.co/vrsXgitBVf
— R. A. Pedersen (@Epcyclopedia) October 6, 2019
UPDATE: 11:33 PM
The reporter is finally off:
We’re off!! @WFTV @WaltDisneyWorld #skyliner pic.twitter.com/MZqNjGaX8i
— Cierra Putman WFTV (@CPutman_WFTV) October 6, 2019
CMs prepared at stations after 3 hour delay on Disney Skyliner. #disneyskyliner #disneyworld @WDWToday pic.twitter.com/YlWKjERvYB
— Aaron Murray (@WaltyDis) October 6, 2019
Note: The ziplining photo was from training this past summer.
UPDATE: 11:23 PM
Video of folks finally getting off…
Guests are now SLOWLY moving towards the station as the #DisneySkyliner is NOW MOVING after a 3 hour delay after a gondola cabin collided with one another at the #Riviera resort station. FOLLOW IS FOR THE LATEST. #WaltDisneyWorld #WDW #Epcot #DisneyParks
pic.twitter.com/8LOyqoJdYX— Mouse-ka-Magic (@MousekaMagic1) October 6, 2019
Another reporter, with some great on-the-spot journalism:
The Skyliner is slowing moving again after the incident earlier. #WaltDisneyWorld #DisneySkyliner https://t.co/Lrd35et5BN
— Tony (@wdwtony) October 6, 2019
UPDATE: 11:19 PM
“Good” News. The machine is moving. This is from a Texas-based news employee…
Just got off. They managed to get it running again to get us off. It is still stopping and starting. #skyliner #disneyskyliner
— Michael Wallace (@TigerMike83) October 6, 2019
UPDATE: 11:12 PM
More local news reporting:
Just heard from Disney spokesperson. They tell us:
[[there has NOT been an accident and there’s “an unexpected down time” on the Skyliner gondolas.]]
That’s all they can say right now. https://t.co/rQ6QmkpLcc
— Greg Angel (@NewsGuyGreg) October 6, 2019
UPDATE: 10:44 PM
Local reporter with some info/video:
A spokesperson for Disney telling @wsvn "No accident on the skyliner. Unexpected downtime for the skyliner." This video shows the response to the incident https://t.co/YhtmIhTz2D
— Robbin Simmons (@RobbinSimmons7) October 6, 2019
UPDATE: 10:37 PM
Local NBC news has an update with video. They haven’t yet heard official word.
More from social:
#skylinerevacuation pic.twitter.com/aRukXzXCTj
— Judy Samselski (@DrJudySam) October 6, 2019
Original Reporting
In semi-order, this is what we’ve found:
We have been stuck on the Disney Skyliner for over an hour hanging in the sky with no explanation, and now the fire trucks are here and they’re emergency crew are putting on harnesses. What is going on???!!!… https://t.co/YdL8Jzy6QG
— GoodeDisneyDays (@BellePixi) October 6, 2019
Happening under or Gondola now. #ddisneyskyliner #trapped #disneyskyliner pic.twitter.com/S9jwDgJ9Uy
— GoodeDisneyDays (@BellePixi) October 6, 2019
Skyline rescue. #disneyskiliner pic.twitter.com/UYdsnZXphz
— GoodeDisneyDays (@BellePixi) October 6, 2019
#disneyskyliner #rescue pic.twitter.com/wQfVLcXJyv
— GoodeDisneyDays (@BellePixi) October 6, 2019
The people in front of us have been evacuated. #disneyskyliner @ Disney Skyliner https://t.co/XqAya6iwYA
— GoodeDisneyDays (@BellePixi) October 6, 2019
The person they evacuated was put in an ambulance. Hope they are ok.
— GoodeDisneyDays (@BellePixi) October 6, 2019
Others are now weighing in:
A look at Riviera station today at 3pm. Arrow is where the accident occurred later tonight on Disney Skyliner. In dispatch to Epcot. pic.twitter.com/QYg2eSxd64
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) October 6, 2019
@WESH @WFTV Disney Skyliner has been in an accident, no injuries reported. Guests have been stuck for over an hour and Disney just broadcast to open the emergency kits. Developing.. pic.twitter.com/ONpB1sfwGT
— Kevin Damghani (@kevindamghani) October 6, 2019
Disney Skyliner Accident at Riviera Station Causing Major Delays; Evacuation in Progresshttps://t.co/Sm2QNLC22p pic.twitter.com/fVrHEREM5z
— The DIS (@TheDIS) October 6, 2019
Some terrible news happening right now, apparently there has been some type of accident on the Disney Skyliner inside the International Gateway Station. Guests have been stranded for nearly an hour and evacuations are underway. #disneyskyliner pic.twitter.com/vz8wCSPGBg
— PassportToTheParks (@p2padventure) October 6, 2019
Passengers report being stuck on Disney's new Skyliner gondolas https://t.co/KJ618o6JKP pic.twitter.com/jY8ImpHrU6
— WESH 2 News (@WESH) October 6, 2019
We’ll update this story as we find out more.