TIP: Click on subject to list as thread! ANSI
echo: disney
to: BRUCE METCALF
from: WILLIAM ONUFRYK
date: 1996-05-14 23:07:00
subject: Skyway

Hi Bruce,
 BM> KB> The ONLY way, however, to board the
 BM> KB> skyTram, was to go up several
 BM> KB> dozen stairs. If Disneyland had a
 BM> KB> small elevator installed on each
 BM> KB> end (for handicapped riders and for
 BM> KB> emergencies), they would be in
 BM> KB> compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act [ADA].
 BM> If there's one thing I've learned about
 BM> the ADA, it's that nobody knows
 BM> what it takes to be in compliance until the court tells you (and
 BM> sometimes not even then). This answer
 BM> stinks for another reason: the
 BM> Skyway is a one-way trip, and you really
 BM> can't get a wheelchair into the
 BM> gondolas. So what good would elevators do?
From what I heard at about the time it was closed is similar to what Kit had 
stated earlier.  But, there was a domino effect for meeting the California 
Disablity standards.  First they would have redesign the loading area to 
allow wheelchair access, which would mean a long ramp or an elevator.  Since 
the ride is basically used for one way travel, the gondolas would have to be 
larger to accomodate the chair (at least a folded wheelchair).  Due to state 
requirements, they need minimum clearances for the gondolas while moving 
along the cable, which in short meant, bigger holes in Matterhorn.  Disney 
didn't want bigger holes in Matterhorn, so they closed the ride down instead.
Don't know how true that is, but it did sound logical, for both Disney and 
the state requirements.  Then again, the above rumor may have been spread to 
placate those guests that liked Skyway, by telling them they had a choice, 
Skyway or Matterhorn.
Have I cluttered the reasons further?
William
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