LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Walt Disney World Resort guests will have an aerial view of the theme parks as they ride on a future skyline transportation system, according to renderings of the gondola-like system released by Disney.
Disney officials announced in July during the D23 convention in California that the new Skyliner transportation system will take guests from Epcot to Disney's Hollywood Studios. The renderings released Friday show where the cabins carrying guests will enter and travel through the resorts.
Recommended Videos
A station at Epcot's International Gateway will be European-inspired, covered with metal and glass canopies, hand-painted murals and steel structures, according to the Disney Parks Blog. Guests will float over the World Showcase as they enter the park.
Disney official expect the station at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort to be the busiest hub for Disney Skyliner. The Caribbean station will be similar to an open-air marketplace and feature Caribbean color schemes and architecture.
Guests who ride the Skyliner into Disney's Hollywood Studios from the Caribbean Beach Resort will have aerial views of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
A joint station is also planned at Disney's colorful Pop Century and Art of Animation resorts, and a turn-station on Buena Vista Drive.
The Skyliner system is being manufactured by a European company that primarily makes ski lifts. The system is designed to be able to run safely during most Florida thunderstorms, but service may have to be temporarily delayed during storms with strong winds.
The Skyliner is one part of a larger plan to improve transportation throughout Walt Disney World, with a goal of reducing traffic and decreasing the resorts reliance on busing.
The transportation project is also part of Disney's plans to upgrade many of the older resorts. Construction is underway to improve dining and hotel towers at Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs Resort.
While Disney officials have has not announced an opening date for the Skyliner, construction is already underway and insiders tell News 6 that the goal is to have the system fully up and running months before Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens, drawing what could be unprecedented crowds to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2019.