Bus problem

[DisneyGal24]

So our bus just took out a pole going in the gate at the Contemporary! They were doing road work and had out these orange walls out at the entrance. The driver went on through and hit the orange wall all the way in and then hit a pole. Everyone is fine. Now we are stuck on the bus while they do an accident report. Cant even get off and walk to BLT until another bus comes. Luckily the bus only has about 20 people on it. This is crazy!! On the bright side...we're at Disney baby!

 

[floridaminnie]

So our bus just took out a pole going in the gate at the Contemporary! They were doing road work and had out these orange walls out at the entrance. The driver went on through and hit the orange wall all the way in and then hit a pole. Everyone is fine. Now we are stuck on the bus while they do an accident report. Cant even get off and walk to BLT until another bus comes. Luckily the bus only has about 20 people on it. This is crazy!!

Yikes! All the bus drivers just moved up in seniority!

 

[DisneyGal24]

I feel bad. He is really nice.

 

[aVASTGrl]

I was in a Disney bus accident once. Driver was speeding and had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of us. About half the passengers hit their heads HARD on the poles, including my mom and several kids. The driver kept going instead of pulling over until someone ran to the front and forced him to stop driving. I think Disney needs new training programs for these drivers

I'm glad everybody is OK on your end!!

 

[msmama]

This is a horribly tragic but hilarious disney bus accident story.

I was flying across the country when the space shuttle Columbia blew up during re-entry. I was meeting my mother there. This was back in the days before ME, when you still took the Mears SHUTTLE bus (do you see where this is going). My Mom's shuttle bus was in a minor fender bender (sat for awhile like OP but nothing serious). She gets to the hotel and everyone is talking about "The Shuttle Accident" (meaning Columbia) and she just thought it was all crazy Disney-ish.

Finally, she's getting a snack at the food court and the worker, making conversation says, "Did you hear about the shuttle?" My Mom's response? "Well yeah, I was on it!!!"

 

[joshsmom]

This is a horribly tragic but hilarious disney bus accident story.

I was flying across the country when the space shuttle Columbia blew up during re-entry. I was meeting my mother there. This was back in the days before ME, when you still took the Mears SHUTTLE bus (do you see where this is going). My Mom's shuttle bus was in a minor fender bender (sat for awhile like OP but nothing serious). She gets to the hotel and everyone is talking about "The Shuttle Accident" (meaning Columbia) and she just thought it was all crazy Disney-ish.

Finally, she's getting a snack at the food court and the worker, making conversation says, "Did you hear about the shuttle?" My Mom's response? "Well yeah, I was on it!!!"

And I bet that was one very confused CM, thinking your mom was NUTS!!

 

[tzvdmd]

I was in a Disney bus accident once. Driver was speeding and had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of us. About half the passengers hit their heads HARD on the poles, including my mom and several kids. The driver kept going instead of pulling over until someone ran to the front and forced him to stop driving. I think Disney needs new training programs for these drivers

I'm glad everybody is OK on your end!!

Training for the driver that cut him off?
Unless he was staring back at all of the passengers he wouldn't know everyone hit their heads.
The training that these drivers go through not only has to meet Disney standards but also state and federal guidelines.

 

[aVASTGrl]

Training for the driver that cut him off?
Unless he was staring back at all of the passengers he wouldn't know everyone hit their heads.
The training that these drivers go through not only has to meet Disney standards but also state and federal guidelines.

Nobody cut him off, he wasn't paying attention to the lights or the vehicle in front of him. And when the entire bus population is literally screaming at the top of their lungs for him to stop and he keeps going? I'd say there's a problem.

Honestly, some of you people...

 

[ls3015]

Some padding around them poles and seats would also be a big help in the safety dept. The buses are a very nice plus to a Disney vacation, but being on the wrong one at the wrong time would ruin a good waited for vacation, when just some padding would possibly keep someone from getting a bad headache.
I remember rideing school buses back in the 60s that had no padding around the seat backs, kids lost some teeth back then. It is sad how people have to be hurt before safety fixes are put in place.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Training for the driver that cut him off?
Unless he was staring back at all of the passengers he wouldn't know everyone hit their heads.
The training that these drivers go through not only has to meet Disney standards but also state and federal guidelines.

That doesn't mean they can't still be bad drivers. When we were at WDW over Memorial Day weekend, we had an awful driver from Pop to MK our first morning there. He kept overcompensating at every stop sign and every time another vehicle pulled in front of us by slamming on the brakes very hard, making the standees (we were a crowded bus) have to kind of hop forward each time to avoid falling over. It was so bad, when we got off at MK my DBF and I agreed if we saw him operating a bus again, we wouldn't board.

The next day, we had "crazy lady" (as DBF called her), who spent the whole drive to Epcot from Pop complaining to DBF (who was standing just behind the safety line at the front of the bus) about how difficult it is to be a bus driver at WDW and how crazy the roads in the World and the other drivers are. She blabbed pretty nonstop and spent a fair amount of time turning to face DBF rather than watching the road.

The *next* day, there was the female driver wearing a name tag with a man's name on it. I accidentally saw this because the hometown on the badge was mine (NYC). I made a friendly comment about the shared hometown, and the driver laughed and said she had forgotten her name tag so a co-worker lent her his. She said something like, "I'm just pretending to be him today as a fantasy--we can do that here at Walt Disney World."

We mostly had really good, friendly drivers, some of whom put up with amazing silliness from guests. But if we could have the above three drivers in five days in the World, it doesn't sound really surprising to me that a Mears bus operator would take a pole out.

 

[DisneyGal24]

So our bus just took out a pole going in the gate at the Contemporary! They were doing road work and had out these orange walls out at the entrance. The driver went on through and hit the orange wall all the way in and then hit a pole. Everyone is fine. Now we are stuck on the bus while they do an accident report. Cant even get off and walk to BLT until another bus comes. Luckily the bus only has about 20 people on it. This is crazy!! On the bright side...we're at Disney baby!

We received a call from Disney last night apologizing for the incident and making sure everyone was ok. I thought that was nice. DH was hoping for a gift card or something! Lol! Just kidding! Stuff happens and glad it was minor.

 

[ParrotBill]

Done that... Was on a bus pulling into MK and driver hit something that tore the right mirror off. Nobody was hurt or in danger but we had to wait 60 minutes for responders, and interviews, before being released. No apology though.

That "shuttle" story... OMG can you imaging being the other person asking? wow!

 

[MomsGoneGoofy]

This is a horribly tragic but hilarious disney bus accident story.

I was flying across the country when the space shuttle Columbia blew up during re-entry. I was meeting my mother there. This was back in the days before ME, when you still took the Mears SHUTTLE bus (do you see where this is going). My Mom's shuttle bus was in a minor fender bender (sat for awhile like OP but nothing serious). She gets to the hotel and everyone is talking about "The Shuttle Accident" (meaning Columbia) and she just thought it was all crazy Disney-ish.

Finally, she's getting a snack at the food court and the worker, making conversation says, "Did you hear about the shuttle?" My Mom's response? "Well yeah, I was on it!!!"

 

[joelkfla]

Yikes! All the bus drivers just moved up in seniority!

Probably not, just for one accident, unless there were injuries or major damage.

The driver will most likely get "points" on his record, and spend some time with a trainer.

 

[joelkfla]

That doesn't mean they can't still be bad drivers. When we were at WDW over Memorial Day weekend, we had an awful driver from Pop to MK our first morning there. He kept overcompensating at every stop sign and every time another vehicle pulled in front of us by slamming on the brakes very hard, making the standees (we were a crowded bus) have to kind of hop forward each time to avoid falling over. It was so bad, when we got off at MK my DBF and I agreed if we saw him operating a bus again, we wouldn't board.

It may not have been the driver's fault.

All of the buses except the very oldest have "retarders", a kind of engine brake. Usually the retarder kicks in before the air brakes. On some of the newest buses, the retarder comes on very hard right from the get-go. It makes it difficult to stop smoothly, without a little kick when the bus first starts to slow down, especially when applying the brakes at somewhat higher speeds (above 35 or so).

Add to that that WDW has over 300 buses, and of course each one performs differently. Getting onto a bus with super sensitive brakes after lunch, after driving one with soft brakes all morning, it takes a few stops to get the feel.

 

[ls3015]

It may not have been the driver's fault.

All of the buses except the very oldest have "retarders", a kind of engine brake. Usually the retarder kicks in before the air brakes. On some of the newest buses, the retarder comes on very hard right from the get-go. It makes it difficult to stop smoothly, without a little kick when the bus first starts to slow down, especially when applying the brakes at somewhat higher speeds (above 35 or so).

Add to that that WDW has over 300 buses, and of course each one performs differently. Getting onto a bus with super sensitive brakes after lunch, after driving one with soft brakes all morning, it takes a few stops to get the feel.

With this type of design that is already installed on the buses this makes for
a very good reason that standing on the Disney bus should not be allowed, and a plus to install seat belts. I too ride the Disney bus and no I do not what to rent a car to get a safer ride, but I would like to get from point A to point B without being thrown though the windshield or haveing other passengers be thrown ontop of me.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

With this type of design that is already installed on the buses this makes for
a very good reason that standing on the Disney bus should not be allowed, and a plus to install seat belts. I too ride the Disney bus and no I do not what to rent a car to get a safer ride, but I would like to get from point A to point B without being thrown though the windshield or haveing other passengers be thrown ontop of me.

I don't even want to think about how long we would all wait for a bus if there was no standing allowed.

 

[maxiesmom]

With this type of design that is already installed on the buses this makes for
a very good reason that standing on the Disney bus should not be allowed, and a plus to install seat belts. I too ride the Disney bus and no I do not what to rent a car to get a safer ride, but I would like to get from point A to point B without being thrown though the windshield or haveing other passengers be thrown ontop of me.

Not ever gonna happen. Buses are way different from cars. Their sheer mass makes them safer. Plus, who would then ensure all the seat belts were used, or used properly?

If you don't want to stand on a Disney bus you can always wait for one that has open seating.

 

[ls3015]

Not ever gonna happen. Buses are way different from cars. Their sheer mass makes them safer. Plus, who would then ensure all the seat belts were used, or used properly?

If you don't want to stand on a Disney bus you can always wait for one that has open seating.

It was once said we would never make it to the moon, But we did, and many buses now have seat belts, don't ever think buses are safer, And you have your quote wrong, it is the sheer mass of a bus that makes it unsafe, They don't stop when they hit something, it will keep going till it hits something bigger, I never said I didn't want to stand on the bus, I said Disney should stop the practice.

 

[ls3015]

I don't even want to think about how long we would all wait for a bus if there was no standing allowed.

You wouldn't have to think about it, Disney would just put on more buses, No one stands on the ME bus going or coming from the MCO airport, I have never had to wait very long to board.