Disney World’s New Gondola System Will Let You Fly Across the Parks

Cailey Rizzo

Updated 17 April 2019 at 3:52 pm

Florida’s Walt Disney World has unveiled the first gondolas that visitors will soon be able to ride over the theme park.

More than six miles of cable are stretched overhead the waters of Walt Disney World. Come this fall, 22 gondolas will move across the cable at about 11 miles per hour, bringing visitors to different locations in the park, while providing some of the best views.

The Disney Skyliner (as the project has been called) will connect Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The cars will not stop moving and guests will be able to jump on and off at their leisure at designated points. (Staff will be able to pause the gondolas for anyone who needs more time to board.)

The cars will soar between 15 and 60 feet off the ground, and rides can last anywhere from five to 15 minutes. “Our vision is, this is the most magical flight on Earth,” Dean Huspen, a principal architect with Walt Disney Imagineering, said at a construction update at the park on Tuesday, according to Orlando Sentinel.

The first gondola to be unveiled was red, with images of Pluto and the chipmunks Chip ‘n Dale. The fleet will have a total of eight bright colors and 22 Disney characters, to be unveiled around May.

Inside, the gondolas are lined with two wooden benches that will be capable of carrying up to 10 passengers.

Disney employees will be the first to test out the gondolas in August. But you won’t be able to board them any time soon. The Skyliner will run 24/7 for months for safety testing before members of the public are allowed to board.

The gondolas are expected to open before Disney unveils the much-anticipated “Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge” attraction at the end of this year.

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