Anyone who has taken small children to Walt Disney World knows that getting onto a ride isn't always the hardest part of the vacation.
Sometimes, it's simply getting everyone from the hotel to the park.
That process could become a little more complicated for families staying at several popular Disney World resorts in January 2027.
The Disney Skyliner is scheduled to close from January 24 through January 30 for annual maintenance. During that period, guests at Disney's Pop Century Resort, Disney's Art of Animation Resort, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, and Disney's Riviera Resort won't have their usual Skyliner service to EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Disney will provide complimentary buses instead.
For plenty of guests, that's a reasonable substitute. For parents traveling with babies and toddlers, however, losing the Skyliner can change more than their transportation route.
Parents With Strollers Could Feel This Closure More
Families with young children often have a lot attached to one stroller.
There's the diaper bag. Then come the drinks, snacks, extra clothes, sunscreen, toys, and whatever else the kids needed that morning.
The stroller essentially becomes the family's mobile storage unit.
That's one reason the Skyliner can be such a useful perk.
Many single strollers and tandem double strollers with seats positioned front-to-back can board the Skyliner without being collapsed. Wide side-by-side double strollers may need to be folded.
When a stroller can remain open, parents don't have to completely reorganize everything just to board transportation.
A child can remain seated while Mom or Dad rolls the stroller directly into the gondola.
That simplicity matters after several days in the parks.
Buses Can Add Another Job for Parents
The situation changes when families rely on Disney buses.
Strollers generally must be folded before boarding. Suddenly, everything stored in and around that stroller becomes something the family needs to manage.
Parents have to get the kids out, remove anything preventing the stroller from folding, collapse it, and then carry everything aboard.
During the morning, that might simply be annoying.
After a long park day, it can be much worse.
Picture a four-year-old asleep in a stroller after fireworks. Mom or Dad is already carrying shopping bags and a diaper bag. Another child needs someone to hold their hand.
Now the sleeping child needs to come out of the stroller so it can be folded.
It's one of those seemingly small Disney World inconveniences that can feel much bigger when you're actually experiencing it.
The Skyliner can help families avoid that routine.
Is a Skyliner Resort Still Worth It?
That's a question each family will need to answer differently.
There are still plenty of reasons to choose Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, or Riviera during the closure. The resorts don't suddenly lose their pools, restaurants, rooms, theming, or other amenities.
But the Skyliner is unquestionably an important part of the experience for many guests choosing those hotels.
If you're specifically paying to stay somewhere because you want convenient transportation to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, knowing that the Skyliner won't operate during your entire vacation could change your decision.
Families could instead compare resorts offering other convenient transportation options.
Some Disney hotels provide boat transportation. Others put guests within walking distance of a theme park. Families planning to spend considerable time at Magic Kingdom may place more value on staying closer to that park instead.
Price will obviously matter, too. Switching resorts simply to avoid folding a stroller probably won't make sense if doing so adds hundreds or thousands of dollars to the vacation.
But it's still worth including transportation in the conversation.
One Small Change Can Have a Big Impact
Disney's Skyliner closure only lasts one week.
For parents arriving January 24 and leaving January 30, however, that's potentially their entire vacation.
A family could go from using the Skyliner every morning and evening to relying heavily on buses.
Parents visiting Disney World with young children already have their hands full. They're keeping track of children while carrying diaper bags, drinks, snacks, souvenirs, and everything else a family needs for a full park day.
Adding a folded stroller to their arms doesn't exactly make things easier.
That's why families with babies and toddlers may want to pay particularly close attention to this closure before selecting a hotel.
The Skyliner isn't just a fun gondola ride through the sky. For parents whose stroller can roll directly aboard, it's a practical perk that can remove one frustrating step from the beginning and end of every park day.
And when you're spending a week navigating Disney World with little kids, removing even one headache can make a surprisingly big difference.
