ResortTV1

After watching Resort TV 1 on Sunday it made me start wondering about using the Skyliner due to the long lines. We are staying at Pop in June and I am wondering how long we might have to wait for it to go to Hollywood and Epcot. We would like to be there at rope drop. Thoughts?

If you are scheduled to be there at rope drop crowds shouldn't be an issue. Assuming everything is operating normally. Transportation demands are heaviest mid morning.

Can’t wait to ride this attraction!

Koolaid33 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:09 am After watching Resort TV 1 on Sunday it made me start wondering about using the Skyliner due to the long lines. We are staying at Pop in June and I am wondering how long we might have to wait for it to go to Hollywood and Epcot. We would like to be there at rope drop. Thoughts?

we stayed at carribean beach and choose to uber instead of waiting at that line. it was much faster and easier. other than that we skylined ever where else


if you do get there early enough you should be ok!

jbletheby wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:32 am

Koolaid33 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:09 am After watching Resort TV 1 on Sunday it made me start wondering about using the Skyliner due to the long lines. We are staying at Pop in June and I am wondering how long we might have to wait for it to go to Hollywood and Epcot. We would like to be there at rope drop. Thoughts?

we stayed at carribean beach and choose to uber instead of waiting at that line. it was much faster and easier. other than that we skylined ever where else


if you do get there early enough you should be ok!

When we stayed at Pop, we got to the bus stop early so we could get to the parks prior to rope drop. We had to wait for a bus, but when it arrived nearly everyone got on at the same time.

We haven't ridden Skyliner. Although not everyone gets on at the same time, I assumed that you wouldn't have to wait as long as you would for a bus.

For anyone who has used Skyliner to get to the parks prior to rope drop, what are your experiences?

Any problems with Skyliner not starting early enough to get you to the parks before rope drop?

Any problems with Skyliner breaking down and leaving you up there so that you lost a lot of time at the parks?

If you get stuck on Skyliner and miss time at the parks, how does Disney compensate you for it?

I'm not sure about the time the skyliner begins running but I would try to be there very close to that time.

You would probably also have to factor in weather (winds/etc.) in case the skyliner gets temporarily shut down because the buses would probably still be limited capacity. It may be worth it to take an Uber/Lyft if you really need to get there at rope drop. I would also ask a cast member @ the station to get their input about the crowds & of course one of our friendly hoppers may have some insight.

jbletheby wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:32 am

Koolaid33 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:09 am After watching Resort TV 1 on Sunday it made me start wondering about using the Skyliner due to the long lines. We are staying at Pop in June and I am wondering how long we might have to wait for it to go to Hollywood and Epcot. We would like to be there at rope drop. Thoughts?

we stayed at carribean beach and choose to uber instead of waiting at that line. it was much faster and easier. other than that we skylined ever where else


if you do get there early enough you should be ok!

What about car seats, I have a three-year-old, and correct me if I am wrong but they are not running the Minnie Vans, Correct?

I stayed at Pop in February 2020 and rope dropped Hollywood Studios and Epcot. For HS, I showed up about an hour before park open and there was already a really long line formed at the skyliner station. They didn't start letting people onto the skyliner until 30 minutes before the park opened. After you get off the skyliner at Caribbean Beach you'll need to get in another line to go to Hollywood Studios. The line does move quickly and I was able to get into Hollywood Studios before the official park open - but people were allowed into the park earlier than the official park open and I definitely wasn't one of the first in the park.

At that time, you needed to be physically in Hollywood Studios to get a RoTR boarding pass which happened at the park open time I think? and I was able to get in there before that and get a boarding pass.

Epcot was better, normal park hopping was a thing back then - so I went to Hollywood Studios first and then Epcot, and they let me in and we were held just a bit beyond the International Gateway entrance with the rope, so I literally rope dropped Epcot and got on Test Track with a short wait, and then Soarin' with a short wait too.

So - my advice would be to try to get there early to wait in line for the Skyliner, but don't count on being the first ones in the park - especially not at Hollywood Studios.

If you really want to be one of the first, your best bet is to Uber/Lyft to Boardwalk, plan to arrive about an hour before park open and walk from Boardwalk to Hollywood Studios.

Uber/Lyft in Orlando do have a Car seat option, but it might take you longer to get one of those cars to show up.

AnimalKingdomFan79 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 8:32 am I'm not sure about the time the skyliner begins running but I would try to be there very close to that time.

You would probably also have to factor in weather (winds/etc.) in case the skyliner gets temporarily shut down because the buses would probably still be limited capacity. It may be worth it to take an Uber/Lyft if you really need to get there at rope drop. I would also ask a cast member @ the station to get their input about the crowds & of course one of our friendly hoppers may have some insight.

you will have to be there at least 30 minutes prior to them running

Koolaid33 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 8:47 am

jbletheby wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:32 am

Koolaid33 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:09 am After watching Resort TV 1 on Sunday it made me start wondering about using the Skyliner due to the long lines. We are staying at Pop in June and I am wondering how long we might have to wait for it to go to Hollywood and Epcot. We would like to be there at rope drop. Thoughts?

we stayed at carribean beach and choose to uber instead of waiting at that line. it was much faster and easier. other than that we skylined ever where else


if you do get there early enough you should be ok!

What about car seats, I have a three-year-old, and correct me if I am wrong but they are not running the Minnie Vans, Correct?

not sure about car seats for uber, that could be tough, as far as i know no minnie vans. i would talk to the front desk see if they have a creative solutions.

We stayed at Art in November 2020. For our HS day, we got a breakfast reservation at Trattoria al Forno on the Boardwalk so we were able to park there, walk to HS, and get in line for the park before skyliner, bus, and regular driving crowds. For Epcot, we got in the Skyliner line around 9:00 and got into park well before official opening.

nittanylions wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 8:28 am

jbletheby wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:32 am

Koolaid33 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:09 am After watching Resort TV 1 on Sunday it made me start wondering about using the Skyliner due to the long lines. We are staying at Pop in June and I am wondering how long we might have to wait for it to go to Hollywood and Epcot. We would like to be there at rope drop. Thoughts?

we stayed at carribean beach and choose to uber instead of waiting at that line. it was much faster and easier. other than that we skylined ever where else


if you do get there early enough you should be ok!

When we stayed at Pop, we got to the bus stop early so we could get to the parks prior to rope drop. We had to wait for a bus, but when it arrived nearly everyone got on at the same time.

We haven't ridden Skyliner. Although not everyone gets on at the same time, I assumed that you wouldn't have to wait as long as you would for a bus.

For anyone who has used Skyliner to get to the parks prior to rope drop, what are your experiences?

Any problems with Skyliner not starting early enough to get you to the parks before rope drop?

Any problems with Skyliner breaking down and leaving you up there so that you lost a lot of time at the parks?

If you get stuck on Skyliner and miss time at the parks, how does Disney compensate you for it?

Under normal operation you won't wait long at all. However as with anything the skyliner really fills up at the start and end of the day. You do have much lower wait times with the skyliner during the rush hours but you will still see significant waits. 1 hour + in the morning for example.

You want to be in line early. If Hollywood studio rope drops at 9am you want to be in line before 8am.

The Skyliner starts 1 hour before so it is early enough.

The Skyliner does break down or stop. Normally it's not long. 5 minutes is the norm but there are examples of it stopping with people hung up there for hours. It's certainly rare but it does happen. I ride the Skyliner a lot and I've never been stopped up there for more than 5 minutes.

Not sure how they compensate you but I have seen them be really lenient. My last trip I drew a boarding pass for Rise under Group 10. Which means our group was done 1 hour+ after park open. That day the Skyliner was completely down and there were no buses for more than 1 hour and a half after park opened. So I got to the park about 30 minutes after my window for Rise expired. I still got to entire the queue.


My personal experience coming from several trips is that the Skyliner's failure rate is very very high. It's a great addition, don't get me wrong, but it does fail a lot. From my last 4 trips it's down about 30% of your stay. That's really high. Way too high for Disney to be as unprepared for it going down as they are. Disney really needs to accept that they need to continue buses to the Skyliner resorts and just drop their frequency. Not having a decent fall back option for something that is down that often is poor planning. It really feels to me that Disney hasn't accepted the Skyliner for what it is which is a really awesome aesthetic addition. They are still convinced that it's a cost saving tool. It really isn't.

I still highly recommend using the Skyliner, but be prepared for it going down. Make sure you have a backup plan in mind for each stop in case it does. Normally the best plan is not following what a Disney Cast member tells you so you need to think it out in advance. Typically the fast way back to your room is to take a bus from wherever you are to Magic Kingdom and from there take a bus back to your resort.