This guide to the Skyliner explains everything you need to know about our favorite form of transportation at Walt Disney World, which connects some of WDW’s top resort hotels to EPCOT & Hollywood Studios. The gondolas are not without faults, so this also covers pros & cons, how to minimize problems, best & worst resorts/rooms, times to ride & when to avoid…with the goal of helping you make the most of the system so you end up loving it as much as we do!
We’ll start with some quick basics about the Disney Skyliner gondolas. Dubbed the “Most Magical Flight on Earth” by the in-cabin audio, the Skyliner services two Walt Disney World theme parks (Hollywood Studios and EPCOT) plus four resorts (Art of Animation & Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, plus Caribbean Beach (again) & Riviera Resort) via 5 stations.
One of the Caribbean Beach stations is the hub, from which you can reach every destination. It connects directly to Hollywood Studios, Art of Animation/Pop Century, and EPCOT via the Riviera Resort/Caribbean Beach second station. At most, you will have one transfer while riding the Disney Skyliner, as the Riviera station is en route to EPCOT and does not require disembarking.
Technically, the Skyliner also services all of the Crescent Lake Resorts that are within walking distance of the stations at EPCOT’s International Gateway. This includes the Yacht & Beach Club, BoardWalk Inn, and even the trio of Swolphin resorts.
In practice, the Skyliner is only efficient for accessing the four Skyliner hotels from Crescent Lake. It’s faster to walk from any Crescent Lake Resorts to Disney’s Hollywood Studios than it is to take the convoluted Skyliner route. Use the boats if you want to save your feet.
In air travel times on the Skyliner vary. It’s roughly 3-4 minutes from the shared Pop Century/Art of Animation station to the Caribbean Beach hub station. It’s also about 3-4 minutes from the Disney’s Hollywood Studios station to the Caribbean Beach hub station. (At the risk of stating the obvious, these 3-4 minute flights are on separate lines.)
At the other end of the spectrum, it’s 10-11 minutes from Caribbean Beach to EPCOT (or 4 minutes from Caribbean Beach to Riviera, plus 6 minutes from Riviera to EPCOT). Add to that whatever time you wait in line at your original station and the Caribbean Beach Resort hub station.
Here’s a Skyliner route map that should give you a better idea of how this all works:
Every red Mickey Mouse head on the Skyliner map above is a station. Transfers are required at all of these stations except for the one at Disney’s Riviera Resort, meaning that if you get on at the Caribbean Beach hub, you can fly directly to EPCOT without getting off.
There’s a brief slowdown so guests can load at the Riviera, but guests already on-board don’t have to get off and back on again. From the Skyliner station at Disney’s Riviera Resort to EPCOT, you might notice a sharp right turn on the map above. That’s not someone having a spasm when making the map–there’s a station there designed for turning only.
The turning station exists primarily to preserve sightlines in World Showcase, and does make the flight slightly longer than it’d otherwise be–but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff in the grand scheme of things. (It also maintains an easier and necessary evacuation route for the gondolas along roadways and parking lots, so there’s that, too.)
Riding the Disney Skyliner is “free” in the same sense that all other Walt Disney World transportation is free. You aren’t paying a fare directly when boarding, but you better believe guests at the resorts serviced by the Skyliner are seeing its infrastructure and operating costs built into their nightly rates.
Annual Passholders, guests of other resorts, and even individuals off-site are allowed to use the Skyliner. The only restriction on use comes via parking, meaning that you cannot stay off-site and park at a Skyliner resort to avoid paying for parking at the theme parks. Security will stop you and turn you around at the hotels.
Otherwise, there are no rules on who may ride the Skyliner or get off where. If you’re a guest staying at a Skyliner resort and thus indirectly paying for the transportation, you might think this is unfair. In practice, it does not really matter.
The primary time guests staying at other resorts will be using the Skyliner is the middle of the day, when it has plenty of excess bandwidth. Due to the aforementioned parking restrictions, there’s no reason for off-site guests to use the Skyliner pre-park opening or post-closing, when demand and strain on the system is highest.
Best & Worst Skyliner Resorts & Room Categories
The best hotel for the Skyliner is undoubtedly Caribbean Beach. This sprawling resort is home to the hub station, meaning direct flights to everywhere else. You don’t have to transfer for Disney’s Hollywood Studios or EPCOT if starting from this hub station. There’s the brief slowdown for Disney’s Riviera Resort, but that’s inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
This might lead you to wonder whether guests of Disney’s Riviera Resort are at a disadvantage, as the Skyliner arrives at this station pre-loaded from the Caribbean Beach hub. No, not really. Most cabins are dispatched well below full capacity and Riviera is a relatively small resort (by far the smallest of any Skyliner resort), so there’s also less demand. Unless you have a very large party and are departing first thing in the morning, it’s a non-issue most of the time.
This isn’t to say the line doesn’t move slower than the one at the Caribbean Beach hub–it definitely does. But it’s also shorter in the first place. We’ve never had any issues with the Skyliner from Riviera to EPCOT or Disney’s Hollywood Studios (knock on wood).
Without question, the worst resorts for the Skyliner are Disney’s Pop Century and Art of Animation. These are the only resorts that require a transfer for both EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This means getting in line twice. If you’re staying at Caribbean Beach or Riviera Resort, you’ll have at least one direct flight.
That’s not even the biggest issue, though. Between the two Value Resorts, there are nearly 5,000 rooms. And at Art of Animation, a large number of those are family suites, so there are more guests per room on average. This is a lot of guests being serviced by the one Hourglass Lake Skyliner station.
During peak season, there’s not just high occupancy at the resorts, but also higher crowds in the parks–creating a greater incentive for more Pop Century and Art of Animation guests to use the Skyliner to rope drop the parks.
By contrast, there are under 2,000 rooms in total between Caribbean Beach and Riviera Resort.
More importantly, there are two stations at these two resorts, which dilutes demand to some degree. The “to some degree” part is because these stations also have to process AoA and Pop transfers.
The bottom line is that you’re much more likely to wait in a line from the Hourglass Lake Skyliner Station than anywhere else. It’s purely a numbers game, making Pop Century and Art of Animation the worst resorts for the Skyliner. These are also the only two Value Resorts serviced by the gondolas, so that seems at least somewhat “fair.”
Drilling this down even further, we have favorite buildings and rooms at Caribbean Beach for Skyliner stays.
This may seem like splitting hairs, and that anywhere at Caribbean Beach is “good enough” by virtue of being the #1 Skyliner resort. That’s a fair perspective, but it’s an incredibly sprawling resort, and many rooms are a long walk from either–or both–Skyliner stations.
There’s also the fact that the Skyliner stations are a long walk from the main lobby of Caribbean Beach, so it’s a matter of tradeoffs–which matters more to you, being near the lobby or the Skyliner? For us, the answer is easy: Skyliner, without a doubt. We’d rather be close to the stations first thing in the morning, at the end of the night, or when wanting to get back and crash during a midday break. We use the Skyliner much more than the main lobby. Your mileage may vary on that, though.
Here’s a map of Caribbean Beach Resort showing the buildings in relation to the Skyliner stations:
Buildings 41-43 in Jamaica, buildings 31-33 in Barbados, and 34-36 in Trinidad are the closest to the hub Skyliner station. Buildings 54-56 are closest to the Skyliner station at Riviera Resort. It’s better to be near the hub station, but you might prefer the Aruba location if you plan on dining at Riviera Resort frequently.
Drilling this down even further, our favorite rooms for a Skyliner-centric stay at Caribbean Beach are those in Trinidad. These are farther away than those in Jamaica, but we prefer the Under the Sea rooms inspired by The Little Mermaid in Trinidad. Check out our Review, Photos & Video: Little Mermaid Rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort for a full tour to see whether they’re right for your family. Just be warned that they’re a little tricky to reserve.
For an even deeper dive about where to stay and room requests to make, see Best Rooms & Locations at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. That offers more balance, and advice on specific buildings and even blocks of rooms within those.
Best & Worst Travel Times
As hinted at above, the worst travel time is pre-park opening. Although hours vary, the current standard operating procedure is for the Skyliner to open only an hour before Early Entry starts, meaning it’s usually open at 7:30 am. The Skyliner used to open at 7 am daily with regularity, but that hasn’t been the case for at least a year.
Starting the Skyliner at 7:30 am puts more stress on the system, as many guests want to take advantage of Early Entry want to be at Disney’s Hollywood Studios or EPCOT by around that time–yes, an hour before Early Entry starts. (If you’re early, you’re on-time; if you’re on-time, you’re late!) As a result, some guests line up before the Skyliner opens, and there can be a backlog to process that never goes away in the lead-up to Early Entry, especially at the Art of Animation and Pop Century station.
Consequently, you’re looking at a 30+ minute wait from the Hourglass Lake station from 7:30 am to 8:30 am many mornings. For a look at this experience, see Skyliner Warning for Rope Dropping Disney’s Hollywood Studios or EPCOT. Note that this is not nearly as bad from Caribbean Beach due to the aforementioned numbers imbalance.
The other busy time of day is around park closing from either Disney’s Hollywood Studios or EPCOT.
This is especially true during the post-closing exodus following the Luminous fireworks at EPCOT or Fantasmic nighttime spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. At these times, you’ll encounter long lines at respective Skyliner stations, as everyone staying at the Skyliner resorts is heading the same direction. Lines can be 20-30 minutes long at their peak.
The good thing is that there’s a solution to this. Either you can beat the post-fireworks crowd by booking it out of the parks, in which case you might wait 5-10 minutes. Or you can linger, savoring the nighttime atmosphere in World Showcase at EPCOT or the neon at the front of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This is what we do. We’d rather spend that exact same ~30 minutes hanging out in the park, enjoying the ambiance, than hurrying up to wait in line for the Skyliner. The Skyliner usually runs until 11 pm, so there’s a 90-120 minute buffer from park closing or the end of fireworks. Plenty of time. There’s no rush to exit the parks, either, so we take a leisurely stroll and leave once the Skyliner line has died down. Usually, there’s no line–we often get a cabin all to ourselves!
As for the best times to take the Skyliner…pretty much any time outside the windows identified above. The vast majority of the day is fantastic!
If you’re using the Skyliner from one hour after park opening through one hour before park closing, there’s a good chance you will encounter a wait time of under 5 minutes. Often times, it’ll be a complete walk-on.
If you use the Skyliner outside of peak park opening and closing times, you’ll also usually get a cabin to your party. Even when there’s a short line, Cast Members will not make groups share cabins. They’ll give everyone their own gondola unless there’s a moderate or above line, in which case parties do share. (Meaning that you’ll absolutely be grouped with other guests at park opening and closing.)
We’ve found Cast Members to be excellent at exercising discretion about when to–and when not to–seat strangers in cabins together. Basically, go ~30 minutes after the rope drop rush to ~60 minutes before park closing and the likelihood of having your own cabin most of the time is reasonably high.
Best & Worst Skyliner Stay Dates
Let’s start with the worst dates for booking Skyliner resorts, which is when it’s either scheduled to be closed or more prone to unplanned daily downtime. The first of these is during the (almost) annual refurbishment, which typically occurs in late January. Here’s a rundown of past, present, and future Skyliner refurbishment dates:
- Winter 2027: Skyliner closure January 24-30, 2027
- Winter 2026: Skyliner closure January 25-31, 2026
- Winter 2025: No closure
- Winter 2024: Routes in phases from January 16-26.
- Winter 2023: Skyliner closure January 22-29.
- Winter 2022: Skyliner closure January 23-28.
- Winter 2021: Skyliner individual routes closed for single-day downtime between January 24 and 28.
- Winter 2020: No Skyliner closure–it was only a few months old!
This closure almost always within the same window, usually after MLK Day Weekend. Since you’re paying a premium for Skyliner resorts, you shouldn’t book them during this timeframe. If you’re already looking ahead to 2028 or beyond, it’s worth keeping these refurbishment dates in mind.
The other ‘worst’ window is much longer: Storm Season at Walt Disney World. if you’re visiting Walt Disney World from June 1 through November 30, the official Atlantic hurricane season according to NOAA, you should be prepared for rainy days–or worse. Narrowing that down a bit, August and October is the heart of hurricane season.
There’s a storm radius for the Skyliner and if a lightning strike occurs within that, the gondolas will cycle until they’re empty, dumping guests from the lines and not reloading until there have been X minutes since the last strike. Disney has sophisticated weather tracking technology (you probably do too in your pocket), and they’ve honed this process over the years for pools and outdoor attractions.
No one is going to be stranded inside gondolas during a storm. Even if you were due to a series of unfortunate events, the Disney Skyliner is grounded. It also can operate in wind and rain, although there are some limits to this. If conditions are bad enough, even in the absence of lightning, the Skyliner can close due to inclement weather.
Worth noting that storm season coincides largely with summer, and the hottest months of the year. Since the Skyliner is not air-conditioned, this might enter the calculus when determining whether you want to stay at a Skyliner resort during your stay.
The best time of year for staying at a Skyliner resort is basically the opposite of this, the months that are not storm season.
Personally, I’d adjust those dates just a bit. Our favorite time of year to do Skyliner stays is October through April/May, minus that week or so closure for refurbishment. Although there have been October and November hurricanes at Walt Disney World in the last few years, those seem like a ‘feast or famine’ situation. And if there’s a hurricane approaching Central Florida, you’ve got a lot bigger problems than the Skyliner going down. It’s going to impact almost everything.
In my experience, Skyliner closures due to lightning are most frequent from June through August. Those are the months that I typically wouldn’t book a Skyliner resort. Or rather, the dates I’d be least likely to book, if other options were on the table. I’d still take a Skyliner resort over one with all-bus transportation, as it’s usually fine at park opening and closing. Midday is the real problem, and I’d just be mindful of the weather when strategizing a midday break.
Note that when the Skyliner does go down due to inclement weather, Walt Disney World dispatches buses as an alternative form of transportation. This means that, in theory, there’s no real downside to booking the Skyliner resorts, even during the months when lightning occurs most frequently.
In practice, this has not been our experience. Disney’s deployment of buses can leave something to be desired. Obviously, a whole fleet doesn’t just materialize out of thin air the second there’s a lightning delay. But it takes longer than it should and there’s often a lack of communication to guests about alternative transportation.
If you do find yourself feeling frustrated or “stranded” when the Skyliner goes down, our biggest piece of advice is to just throw in the towel and use an Uber, Lyft or Minnie Van. Speaking from experience, you can often just tell when there’s a transportation meltdown brewing. Rather than holding out hope that it’ll get better–and wasting a ton of time in the process–just call it early and spend the money on rideshare.
When it comes to tips & tricks for using the Skyliner, and the best & worst elements of the gondola system, that’s really about it. Again, we love the Skyliner and find it to be the best form of transportation at Walt Disney World…at least, within the above parameters. With that out of the way, here are some other things we enjoy about the Skyliner…
Why We Love the Skyliner
The views offered by the Skyliner are spectacular. My biggest worry seeing a lot of unpleasant backstage areas, parking lots, and nothingness. There’s some of the latter two, but there’s also no reason to be looking straight down at the ground to scope out parked cars or pathways.
Along each leg of the journey, there’s something different and engaging that will instead capture your attention. Your eye is naturally drawn all around Walt Disney World property. I’d go as far as to say the views are generally better than the monorail.
Caribbean Beach to Disney’s Hollywood Studios offers a bird’s eye view of that park, as well as EPCOT in the distance. From Pop Century and Art of Animation to Caribbean Beach, you swoop low over Hourglass Lake and have the oversized icons of the resort to each side.
The long route between EPCOT and Caribbean Beach (via Riviera) is far and away my favorite stretch of the Skyliner.
This puts you directly behind World Showcase, and it’s really cool to see the icons of each nation with Spaceship Earth in the background. Plus, you aren’t really seeing much backstage. En route to Disney’s Riviera Resort, you have the rooftops and landscaping of Caribbean Beach, and gliding over these is much cooler than expected.
The bench seating situation can be a bit awkward. If seated “normally,” your views will either be out a side window or straight forward, looking past other guests. Most guests will instead turn around and face the window against which they’re seated.
This offers better, unobstructed views. If you’re taking photos, it also allows you to put your phone or camera lens flush against the cabin glass to avoid reflections. Seating backwards and facing backwards, to have a forward-moving view, is really the way to go.
Added bonus: if you sit that way with strangers in your cabin, no crazy fellow fans will try to enlighten you about Disney secretly building a new park in Texas or rant at you about the ways Dino-Rama was secretly brilliant because of its backstory.
Motion sickness doesn’t generally seem to be an issue with the Skyliner, unless you’re traveling on a very blustery day.
On one such windy day, after several back-to-back-to-back flights, Sarah’s motion sickness was “acting up” (her words). She didn’t feel sick, but due to the way it was swinging, she might’ve felt sick if she kept riding. On another occasion, she felt this way after our cabin made an abrupt stop when arriving into a station.
So that’s something to keep in mind if you are prone to motion sickness. This is not an issue we hear often, though, and only occurred after several consecutive rides. If you spent all day riding a Walt Disney World bus driven by someone auditioning for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, you might have a similar experience, but that probably wouldn’t be a fair indictment of the bus transportation.
The character wraps are definitely a mixed bag. Seeing your favorite characters pass your cabin is neat, but you absolutely do not want to be inside a gondola with a wrap.
Views are significantly impaired, and you can totally forget about photos. The one slight positive is these cabins felt a tad cooler than unwrapped ones. With that said, you can request a cabin without a wrap in some circumstances. I do this every time there’s no one in line behind me, which is fairly often during the middle of the day.
I only ask going from Caribbean Beach to EPCOT. The other routes are so short that it doesn’t matter. We’d recommend using common sense when it comes to making–or not making–a request.
The biggest ‘controversy’ about the Disney Skyliner has been the lack of air-conditioning in the cabins. This is mostly a non-issue, and thankfully, it’s this once-hot debate has largely died down since the Skyliner opened.
The exterior glaze sufficiently reflects heat and the passive ventilation system works. It provides a cool and consistent breeze that makes the Skyliner comfortable.
Air-conditioning is usually a non-issue while riding, and no more likely to come to mind than concerns about a colossal gorilla appearing and tearing the tramway out of the sky. (A dire tragedy and something Florida has actually suffered from in the past.)
Disney’s Skyliner is more comfortable than sitting at a shaded bus stop and about on par with the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover. It’s less comfortable than the air-conditioned buses, which are like stepping into a refreshing fridge on wheels (nothing beats a bus on a hot day–nothing).
The Skyliner is a toss-up compared to the monorails. We’ve had ones where it feels like the air-conditioning is barely working–that coupled with a crowded cabin has led to some unpleasant journeys on the Highway in the Sky.
Since movement is key to passive ventilation, it can become slightly uncomfortable if there’s an unplanned stop. Most of the time, you won’t experience a stoppage longer than 3 minutes (most are 30 seconds or less).
On longer stops with the sun shining directly into the cabin and no breeze, the Skyliner cabins can become uncomfortable. We’ve had that happen a couple of times in the last 5+ years, and that’s with hundreds of rides on the Skyliner.
The audio spiel is a nice touch–but it could be “catchier.” Even several years after opening, there are no lines that have emerged like the monorail that stick out as quotable or nostalgia-worthy.
Stations are nicely designed and befitting of their surroundings. For the most part, they now look like they’ve always been there. The Caribbean Beach hub feels like a central/union station, which is fun. It also has a Joffrey’s stand with unique drinks.
Walt Disney World adds special gondola wraps for special occasions, such as back during the 50th Anniversary or to promote new movies. We also love and highly recommend doing a Skyliner food & drinks crawl as a fun no-parks day activity.
Ultimately, the “Most Magical Flight on Earth” moniker is entirely apt for the Disney Skyliner. It’s not perfect, but it’s the most efficient, predictable and reliable form of Walt Disney World transportation for ~8 months of the year.
It’s one of our favorite additions to the parks & resorts in the last decade, and would easily be #1 if Cosmic Rewind and Rise of the Resistance didn’t exist to make that a tougher choice. The Skyliner is something we enjoy so much that we routinely take it “for fun” or when Park Hopping between EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, despite walking being more efficient.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the Skyliner? Is it your favorite form of transportation at Walt Disney World, or do you think it’s overrated? Any times of year you’d avoid Skyliner resorts? Thoughts on using the Skyliner for Early Entry, rope drop, park closing, or any other times? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!