Are the bus drivers at Disney employees of Disney or is that job subcontracted out?

[disneynewbee]

I ask because every trip we have had to Disney we have had such wonderful cast members. The only employees who seemed less than magical were a few bus drivers. Don't get me wrong it didn't affect our trip at all but it did leave me wondering if they were actually employees of Disney.

 

[mesaboy2]

I ask because every trip we have had to Disney we have had such wonderful cast members. The only employees who seemed less than magical were a few bus drivers. Don't get me wrong it didn't affect our trip at all but it did leave me wondering if they were actually employees of Disney.

They are CMs employed by Disney just as much as the other 50,000+.

 

[SamSam]

They are CMs employed by Disney just as much as the other 50,000+.

Hmmm, I heard a few years ago that they are now contracted out and are not Disney employees. They once were, but are no longer, at least that's my understanding.

 

[mesaboy2]

Hmmm, I heard a few years ago that they are now contracted out and are not Disney employees. They once were, but are no longer, at least that's my understanding.

Hmmm, now you have me doubting myself....

 

[deakam]

I was under the impression they were in fact employees of Mears Transportation and contracted to Disney. I agree that the bus drivers are the least "magical" of all the people we have encountered on our last 4 trips.

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

I agree and thought they were employees of Mears.

I also noticed this year that the CM's at the Magical Express counters are no longer Disney employees. Or maybe they are, but they have different uniforms are are NOWHERE NEAR AS FRIENDLY as they used to be. The one who helped me was actually kind of brash. They do have the Disney nametag, though.

 

[DOOM1001]

A quick google search showing a job posting seems to show they are Disney employees or at least Disney does the hiring,I've heard on these boards a lot of people talk about how being a Disney bus driver is probably a cool job,but looking at the job post,with pay starting at $10.90/hr and availability as early as 5am or as late as 5am,I don't know about that.

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

The Disney bus drivers are in fact Disney employees, you can find the position on the Disney career website. In fact they have the highest starting salary of any other hourly employee. I work for a transit bus company in a large city and thought it might be fun to drive a bus for Disney someday so I looked into it. The bus drivers that are working for Mears are the MAgical Express and Disney Cruise bus drivers.
I think the reason some of the bus drivers are less than magical sometimes is the fact that they are constantly seeing the guest at their worst. In the morning the guests are unhappy because they are in a hurry to get to the parks and buses never come fast enough to suit them and then many times the bus is loaded to the gils so people have to stand and then at night the drivers are dealing with tired cranky guests who just want to get back to their resort and have to wait in long lines on tired feet for a bus to come and again many of them have to stand the entire ride. So guess who gets to hear all the complaints, yep, the bus driver.
So give the bus driver a break, its not his/her fault there aren't enough buses to make guest happy and its not his/her fault that they have to load 70+ people on a bus designed to seat less than 40. There isn't a room full of spare drivers ready to hop in a bus and go pick up some of the 400 people waiting in line to get back to Pop Century or where ever after the park closes.

 

[Sammie]

As long as they drive safely from point A to Point B, how can they be less magical,

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

As long as they drive safely from point A to Point B, how can they be less magical,

Now that just says it all!

 

[KeeperSyd]

Oh remember about 15 years ago the bus drivers were part of the FuN! Lean left- lean right whee!!! Aruba jamaca ooh i wana take ya. Seriously disappointed when we went im2007 and thy had recorded messages.

 

[KKCannon]

I use an ECV and most of the drivers I've encountered have been extremely helpful.

 

[disneynewbee]

As long as they drive safely from point A to Point B, how can they be less magical,

As a matter of fact on our previous trip my husband was standing at the front of the bus and the driver was actually nodding off. Hubby talked to her to help keep her awake. She was nice though so this post wasn't about her. I don't expect to be entertained they are there to take us from one place to the next. I don't expect Disney trivia or even a super cheery hello. I also have never given a bus driver a hard time and am always packed and ready to load the bus when it shows up. I still have experienced them being down right rude to people. Some seem to really dislike their job and that's why I wondered if they were employees of another company and maybe were not treated as nicely by the company as Disney employees. I would agree they probably do take a lot of crap from difficult visitors but part of being professional is putting that aside and doing your job with at least a half smile on your face. I used to work at the Unemployment office so I know what it's like to serve unhappy people but I always did it with a smile and compassion.

 

[TowMater92]

I've never had a problem with any bus driver. I've had ones that drive us from point A to point B without really saying a word and I've had ones that tell jokes/sing/do trivia and make the ride more fun which is great. I've also had one bus driver that took care of people trying to cut the line when the bus pulled up and did a great job handling the rude group. I would never say that a bus drivers are less magical, they are doing their job. They don't have a job like other park employees they need to concentrate on the road and I have no problem with that.

Also the person that said they have to deal with guest at there worst is correct. No one wants to be on a bus they want to be at the park or back at there hotel. So give them a break and remember that when you think they aren't being magical enough.

 

[maxiesmom]

From what I understand they had complaints from some when the bus drivers used to play games with the guests. I can kind of see the point, their job is to drive and they need to be focused on that, not playing trivia games or leading sing alongs. Still, I do miss how fun the bus rides used to be.

I think the job is less than magical. I don't blame the drivers for having to focus on the task instead of interacting with the guests.

 

[andyman8]

Disney Transport busses are driven by Disney-employed CMs. They are hired and payed directly through Disney. No external company manages it.

On the other head, Disney's Magical Express is provided fully by Mears Transportation. The busses are provided by Mears and the drivers are employed by Mears.

 

[Magpie]

Maybe it's just because I don't drive and regularly use public transit in my own city, but I find Disney's bus drivers to be very magical.

They smile when you get on the bus! (Sometimes you might need to smile at them first, but that's hardly difficult.)

They'll tell you interesting stories if you're standing at the front of the bus. Try asking them where they come from some time!

On several occasions during our visit last week, drivers DID tell jokes and play trivia games. They sang happy birthday and happy anniversary and welcomed "princesses" on board. And even when they were quiet or didn't speak English well, they were unfailingly polite and professional.

The guests were always more of a problem than the drivers. I was a bit ticked at a family in the back of the bus, one trip, who were mocking the driver during a trivia game. My husband and I ended up calling them the "Goobers" thanks to their inability to grasp that Steve Gutenberg is an actor, it was the answer to one question, and we're all moving on now. "What'd he say?? GOOBERberg! Ha, he said GOOBER. Hyuk, hyuk! That's not a name!"

They were very special people.

 

[disneynewbee]

Sometimes I feel people don't even read

 

[disneynewbee]

Sorry that entered before I was done. Sometimes I feel people don't even read on here before they post. Or maybe they just enjoy turning peoples post into something its not. Again this is not about them not being bubbly enough or playing trivia games or about me needing to give them a break. This is about some of them being down right rude. I had plenty of great bus drivers. The reason I posted was that in comparison to other Disney employees the percentage of rude drivers is higher in my opinion. There was a driver on our last trip that was so rude that everyone in line were shaking their heads so it wasn't just my perception either.

 

[tony609]

Our drivers have always been great, at least nothing was ever done to complain about. But I always say hi, entering and try to say thank you leaving if I pass the driver.