On October 5th, 2019, Disney World’s newest mode of transportation, the Disney Skyliner, left passengers stranded in the air as gondolas collided in the Riviera Resort station. The passengers were stranded for hours on the line that connected the Caribbean Beach Resort to Epcot.  

Riders were stranded in mid-air immediately after the collision took place. Some guests were allegedly removed mid-line by the Reedy Creek Fire Department. Most guests had to wait nearly three hours for the line to get back up and running to disembark from the gondola. Disney did acknowledge the incident in the hours following. 

In the few days that followed the incident, Disney closed the system to review what happened and to make any changes that needed to be made. They said two days after the incident that the system would be closed until further notice. Only a day after Disney stated this, news reports stated that the Skyliner was testing, but not anywhere near opening. 

About a week later on October 14, Disney posted an update that said that the Skyliner would reopen without any major changes. They stated in the same update that the system would run at reduced hours on October 16-18th.  

This incident took place in less than a week of the gondolas official opening. Although the gondolas had been testing since February and had been running with people for various media events and previews a week before opening, the system officially opened on September 29th, a mere six days before the incident. 

For those skeptical of riding the system, don’t be. Disney and the gondola manufacturer Doppelmayr have more than likely worked out the kinks that the system had in it’s first week of operating. If something like this were to happen again, the Disney transportation and emergency services have thought of a quicker and more efficient way to evacuate people off the line.