Disney World’s Skyliner service is a convenient way to get between parks like EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios as well as resorts like Disney’s Caribbean Beach, Riviera, Pop Century, and Art of Animation Resorts.
The service is reliable and consistent…most of the time, but it has had its fair share of closures and issues. However, today we were taking the Skyliner when it closed due to weather — here’s what we experienced!
When we boarded the Skyliner from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT, a Cast Member announced that the Skyliner may be closing soon due to thunderstorms in the area, and that there would be bus transportation to our final destination. Halfway to EPCOT while we were at the station at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, the Skyliner service was stopped due to the weather.
Cast Members went along the line and asked for the last name and the number of people in each party. A complimentary bus was being sent for guests heading to EPCOT, and buses came to take guests to the other Skyliner resorts, and EPCOT resorts including the Swan and Dolphin.
While we waited, the Cast Members set up a makeshift ring toss game for the kids using cones! We waited about 40 minutes here before the shuttle to EPCOT came, so Cast Members were quick to set up a game to keep the kiddos occupied.
After all the remaining guests were retrieved from the Skyliners, all of the gondolas were gathered up and shut down.
Eventually, our shuttle got here and we headed to EPCOT! If you are trying to travel from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT like us and you think there might be a chance the Skyliner will close, we recommend walking, taking a bus, or hopping on a boat so that you don’t get stuck in this situation.
Also something to keep in mind — the bus dropped us off at the main EPCOT entrance, so it will be a long walk if you wanted to be near International Gateway (where the Skyliner typically takes you). Grab a bus to Disney’s Beach Club Resort instead, and it’s a short walk to the International Gateway entrance! In total, it took us 66 minutes from when the Skyliner closed to get to EPCOT.
This is the first time we have personally experienced this when the Skyliner stops service, and we wanted to share our experience in case this happens on your vacation! We’re always keeping up with the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more!
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What do you think of the Skyliner shutdown? Let us know in the comments!
Cate M says
When we were there a few weeks ago, we went to get on the Skyliner in Epcot to get back to Caribbean Beach and found it closed. The cast member sent us to Beach Club and said they would send buses. It took about an hour for us to get a bus and only after all of the displaced Skyliner passengers started pleading with bus drivers to call dispatch and remind them we were there. Most bus drivers recommended we take a bus to Disney Springs or one of the other parks and then take another bus back to our hotel. I think if I got stuck at Epcot in the future, I would walk to the front of the park in search of a bus instead of heading to Beach Club.
FL-DAD says
OMG!! Really? This has happened before, and will continue to happen. Not really news.
Remember Lyft timeshare is always an option too.
Benjamin says
We had an odd experience when the skyliner shut down for weather. We were at the transition terminal in the queue line on the way back to Pop Century. Cast members started taking our names, but another cast member told us to follow him and we (people bound for Pop Century) were put on a bus. The name taker cast members were confused at what was going on.
Most all of us on the bus were bound for Pop Century, but the bus kept going to all of the different resorts first. Everyone was frustrated and started complaining to the driver, but the driver was trying to explain that he just has a standard route that he has to follow. At this point, I understood the breakdown in communication.
After reporting this to the front desk at Pop Century, I requested that a manager at the skyliner call me. Moments later, I received a call from the skyliner supervisor. I explained that there seemed to be a breakdown in communication between cast members as to what was going. There was also no forewarning to the guests bound for Pop Century that the bus has a standard route to follow. There was also no instructions to the bus driver to make an exception to stop at Pop Century first since that was the destination of most of the passengers.
The supervisor was kind and listened to me with interest. He admitted that there should be procedures for better communication to the guests and between cast members. He said that he was even going to review the videos in the terminal to help train cast members for future incidences like this. Thanks Disney for your attention and for listening to resort guests.
Ken says
I wonder, in a cost analysis, does the skyliner cost less to operate than a monorail? I wonder what the start up costs for each were? The skyliner is nice, smooth, seats uncomfortable. The monorail is nice too, smooth and the seats are more comfortable. But at least the monorail operates in poor weather…
Mr . JOHN says
The bus is the last transportation when things go wrong .The mono rail goes down and Sky liner can not be used . Thanks to the bus drivers they are the best .
Marc Livitz says
I’m here right now. The fam & I spent the day at DHS & were on our way back to the skyliners when the weather had other ideas. We proceeded to the bus depot & ended up being the lone group on a very nice passenger style travel bus. Took us directly to Caribbean Beach. I guess we lucked out, as the driver seemed to be more of a pinch hitter in weather cases like this afternoon.
Patti says
Try being ON the skyliner while the storm is coming in. Scariest ride ever.
Paul Headley says
I also was stranded at the main transfer station heading to EPCOT. Took over an hour for a bus to arrive for us. And NoOne played games
Debra says
When the Skyliner closes for weather…so do the Friendship boats! I was at Hollywood yesterday when the storm came through, and was headed back to Boardwalk. They did send buses for us, but those buses were for 5 resorts: Swan, Dolphin, Yacht, Beach and Boardwalk. We were crammed in just like pre-pandemic. I hadn’t planned to take any buses this trip, but…it could have been worse.
Joan Duczman says
I wish I had read your story before we had the same thing happen to us. We have a daughter in a wheelchair and they just dropped us off at some time share area with no advice where to go. We wandered around in the storm before finding a bus station.