Disney Skyliner Weather Delays: Tips for Getting To and From Your Resort

Imagine spending a beautiful day at Disney World. The sun was shining bright, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky that morning when you hopped on board the Skyliner to spend the day at Epcot. But now it’s a little after 2:00 p.m., and you’ve managed to get soaked in a torrential downpour after exiting Frozen Ever After. There is no way you’ll make it the rest of the day without a change of clothes. An hour or two break will hopefully allow this bad weather to pass.

As you poncho up and trudge toward Epcot’s International Gateway, the only thing on your mind is getting out of these icky wet clothes. About the time you make it to the France Pavilion, it dawns on you that the Skyliner is probably not working! Sure enough, it’s at a complete standstill when it comes into view. As you approach the park’s exit, you see signage indicating the Skyliner is not operating.

a sign that says the Skyliner is down, go to the front entrance to catch a bus

If this is the case, you will need to continue to the front of the park, where bus service will be provided back to your resort. Unfortunately, it’s a long walk from the International Gateway to the Epcot’s front entrance, especially if the weather is terrible.

In our experience, we continued to the International Gateway exit and were directed to the Beach Club or Boardwalk bus stop. On those occasions, we rode a shared bus back to the Skyliner Resorts. The bus driver exited the bus and ensured everyone knew which resorts they were visiting and in what order they would be dropped off. During our last stay, here’s how it worked.

We exited the International Gateway at Epcot, and a cast member directed us to continue to Disney Beach Club.
We boarded a bus from the Beach Club to the Skyliner Resorts.
The bus driver dropped guests off at Disney’s Art of Animation and Pop Century Resort, which are in the same area.
The bus driver then stopped at Caribbean Beach, which is nearby. However, the bus only stopped at the Skyliner Station. So, from the Skyliner Station, you would have to wait on the internal bus at Caribbean Beach to get back to your resort area.
Then, the bus driver dropped the rest of us off at Disney’s Riviera Resort, which is within the same loop as Disney’s Caribbean Beach.

This situation has happened to us a couple of times. We are at Disney often, so we try to take advantage of complimentary transportation as much as possible. But if I were visiting with family and friends, we would take a Minnie Van or car service back to the resort from the Beach Club. The Skyliner Resorts are less than ten minutes away by car, and a car service can take you to your building if you’re at one of the larger resorts. (This is one of the few times I’d recommend the extra cost of taking a car service.)

If you’re near the front of Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios when the Skyliner is down, a cast member will direct you to the correct bus stop. A bus will take you back to the resort. So it’s a little more straightforward than being at the International Gateway.

If you’re at the resort and the Skyliner is down, buses are routed to pick you up at the resort bus stops.

Hopefully, you won’t have any issues during your stay. But Florida is prone to daily afternoon thunderstorms during the hotter months. While the Skyliner continues to run in rain, it will cease to operate during lightning and/or windy conditions.