• Passengers had to be rescued from Disney World’s new “Skyliner” aerial gondola Saturday night after the cable car system experienced “unexpected downtime.”
  • Disney said it’s investigating the cause of the incident, which happened in the Skyliner’s first week of operation.
  • Videos and photos posted to social media show crews using cranes and ladders to retrieve people from the cabins high above Disney World.
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Disney World’s newest transportation system, the “Skyliner” gondola, hit a speed bump in its very first week of operations.

Guests had to be rescued from the aerial cable car Saturday night after one of its routes experienced “unexpected downtime,” the company said. Photos and videos shared on social media showed crews rescuing trapped passengers from the gondola cabins.

One rescued passenger said on Facebook that their gondola cabin had to wait more than three hours to be rescue, but that Disney handled the situation professionally and quickly.

"I will say Disney had dozens of cast members waiting for us when we made it back to the station," Casey Hill said in the "Disney World Junkies" group. "Guest relations gave each person a 100 dollar gift card and 2 park hopper tickets to come back. They had taxi comps ready and available."

Disney did not say if there were any injuries or provide any details as to the cause of the service interruption. Other photos showed a backup of gondolas at the Riviera Resort station, one of four resorts connected by the new system, which opened on September 29.

"One of the three Disney Skyliner routes experienced an unexpected downtime Saturday evening," the company said in a statement, according to News13. "As a result, the Skyliner will be closed while we look into the details surrounding this downtime. We apologize for this situation, and we are working with each guest individually regarding impacts to their visit with us."

The new Skyliner is similar to an aerial tram called the Skyway that existed in the Magic Kingdom park from 1977 to 1999. Its six miles of cable connect four resort hotels and two theme parks inside the Disney World complex near Orlando, Florida. Other whimsical transportation options in the park include a monorail - which has experienced its own fair share of issues recently - boats, buses, and more. Disney World operates one of the largest private transportation systems in the United States.