Bus Transportation "that ONE driver"!

[IsaDun]

We have always used the bus transportation throughout disney property and the drivers have always been sweethearts, polite and helpful. But this trip I have never in my life witnessed such nastiness from this ONE DRIVER....My husband was a lagging behind the family due to spraining his ankle and was limping.When all of us reached the bus, we asked if the driver if he could wait a minute or so until my husband caught up (he was so close). The driver could actually see him as he wasnt far away either. But he answered, I am leaving in 15 seconds and if he is not here I am leaving! Can you imagine that???? He was not kidding as he was talking in a nasty tone. Geeze, I dont know how anyone could be working at disney and not have that magical smile. (even though the temperature at disney was in the high 90's) I wanted to complain to disney about this, but what the heck, would it change anything? No....My husband did make it to the bus just a little under the 15 secs the driver mentioned. LOL BTW the bus was not crowded like 4 people on it. Well, all I can say is "Bless that Man" cause in life he will need all the blessings he can get. Thanks for letting me vent

 

[selina4disney]

Saw one like that at DHS once. A man, his toddler and his mother got on the bus, the VERY pregnant mom had taken a child to the bathroom. It was POURING...Hurricane Wilma was moving in that night. The mom was heading to the bus...we could see her...holding the child's hand. The driver started to close the door, and the dad asked him to wait for his pregnant wife and pointed her out---and the driver said no way, and closed the door, he said since she was not there "in time", she was not getting on. The dad said "But she is 8 months pregnant and she had to take our daughter to the bathroom." Bus driver said "so she can get the next bus. I can't wait" so the dad said he'd get off and wait with her --- and the louse of a bus driver said NO he would not open the bus door to let the man off! The whole bus yelled so loud he did open the door and let her in, all the time saying how much "trouble" he was going to get in for waiting for her (about a minute tops, she got closer and closer while he was arguing he couldn't wait!) As people got off the bus they all told him what a rude man he was and he deserved it to try and leave a pregnant woman in that storm. That was the rudest behavior I ever witnessed from any Disney employee.

PS The dad told the mom the whole bus had spoken up for her and she told everyone thank you...you could see she was exhausted and soaked as we all were...poor thing!

 

[Ktharee]

Disney, like any workplace, takes complaints against employees seriously. You should have taken his name, noted the date, time and bus route and wrote a letter of complaint.

 

[dopeyone]

Saw one like that at DHS once. A man, his toddler and his mother got on the bus, the VERY pregnant mom had taken a child to the bathroom. It was POURING...Hurricane Wilma was moving in that night. The mom was heading to the bus...we could see her...holding the child's hand. The driver started to close the door, and the dad asked him to wait for his pregnant wife and pointed her out---and the driver said no way, and closed the door, he said since she was not there "in time", she was not getting on. The dad said "But she is 8 months pregnant and she had to take our daughter to the bathroom." Bus driver said "so she can get the next bus. I can't wait" so the dad said he'd get off and wait with her --- and the louse of a bus driver said NO he would not open the bus door to let the man off! The whole bus yelled so loud he did open the door and let her in, all the time saying how much "trouble" he was going to get in for waiting for her (about a minute tops, she got closer and closer while he was arguing he couldn't wait!) As people got off the bus they all told him what a rude man he was and he deserved it to try and leave a pregnant woman in that storm. That was the rudest behavior I ever witnessed from any Disney employee.

PS The dad told the mom the whole bus had spoken up for her and she told everyone thank you...you could see she was exhausted and soaked as we all were...poor thing!

What A Troll!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Disney, like any workplace, takes complaints against employees seriously. You should have taken his name, noted the date, time and bus route and wrote a letter of complaint.

I completely agree with this, but I wouldn't have waited to write a letter I would have called the transportation line from my room as soon as I got back to the resort and asked for a supervisor.

How is management going to know they have bad bus drivers unless they are reported?

 

[LockShockBarrel]

That's utterly ridiculous! I agree with the PP's, absolutely should have taken names and times and bus numbers and all that jazz. If no one says anything, there's no record that there's a problem. I get keeping to a schedule and all that, but come on, it's flippin Disney, they're not going to yell at you for helping someone out! It's not like someone was asking, "my husband is still on TSM, can we wait for him?"

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

We noticed a little "less" magic from the bus drivers during our June trip too. Where was THIS guy during our visit???????

(Picture obtained from the WDW Employment Site.)

Jennifer

 

[DisneyFed]

Saw one like that at DHS once. A man, his toddler and his mother got on the bus, the VERY pregnant mom had taken a child to the bathroom. It was POURING...Hurricane Wilma was moving in that night. The mom was heading to the bus...we could see her...holding the child's hand. The driver started to close the door, and the dad asked him to wait for his pregnant wife and pointed her out---and the driver said no way, and closed the door, he said since she was not there "in time", she was not getting on. The dad said "But she is 8 months pregnant and she had to take our daughter to the bathroom." Bus driver said "so she can get the next bus. I can't wait" so the dad said he'd get off and wait with her --- and the louse of a bus driver said NO he would not open the bus door to let the man off! The whole bus yelled so loud he did open the door and let her in, all the time saying how much "trouble" he was going to get in for waiting for her (about a minute tops, she got closer and closer while he was arguing he couldn't wait!) As people got off the bus they all told him what a rude man he was and he deserved it to try and leave a pregnant woman in that storm. That was the rudest behavior I ever witnessed from any Disney employee.

PS The dad told the mom the whole bus had spoken up for her and she told everyone thank you...you could see she was exhausted and soaked as we all were...poor thing!

Oh man it would've gotten very very very ugly with me....very very very quickly...

 

[Lucky4me]

I remember years back the bus drivers would joke and sing during the ride. On this last trip, they barely acknowledged anyone when they got on. If I didn't say hello and thank you/good bye first, there was no talking.
I was wondering if it was a new policy-no talking while driving?
I don't know, but all the drivers we had were older gentlemen and they just seemed indifferent to the guests. I'm not expecting a stage show on the bus, but a hello and goodbye isn't that much to ask for, is it?

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this over to our transportation board.

 

[dburg30]

I remember years back the bus drivers would joke and sing during the ride. On this last trip, they barely acknowledged anyone when they got on. If I didn't say hello and thank you/good bye first, there was no talking.
I was wondering if it was a new policy-no talking while driving?
I don't know, but all the drivers we had were older gentlemen and they just seemed indifferent to the guests. I'm not expecting a stage show on the bus, but a hello and goodbye isn't that much to ask for, is it?

I agree about a hello and goodbye, I also have no problem with them not talking during the driving, after all they are driving! But any driver that can SEE the person in question and someone has asked them to please wait, really shouldnt get a tude. Now if the person was barely in sight or 'they are in the bathroom, they'll be right here' sorry, those need to just have everyone wait for the next bus. I mean, if she's pregnant and taking another youngster to the bathroom, why didnt everyone stay with her in case she needed some help or something else? I'm not saying the driver was right at all, but.. I'm sure it's not like the rain was a suprise, hurricanes have the tendency to give a bit of warning about heading somewhere. So while I still think the driver acted badly, it seems like the rest of the family should have been with the 8 month pregnant mother. The OP though, that's just wrong. I've seen bus drivers wait to see if a group coming towards them is heading for that bus and if they are they almost always wait (usually you can tell as they are moving pretty quickly).

 

[agnes!]

We noticed a little "less" magic from the bus drivers during our June trip too. Where was THIS guy during our visit???????

(Picture obtained from the WDW Employment Site.)

Jennifer

He's been let go along with so many of his compatriots .

I remember years back the bus drivers would joke and sing during the ride. On this last trip, they barely acknowledged anyone when they got on. If I didn't say hello and thank you/good bye first, there was no talking.
I was wondering if it was a new policy-no talking while driving?
I don't know, but all the drivers we had were older gentlemen and they just seemed indifferent to the guests. I'm not expecting a stage show on the bus, but a hello and goodbye isn't that much to ask for, is it?

I think since the pre-recorded spiels came along, that the bus-drivers don't have the motivation to interact with guests the same way they used to, the buses are no longer their own personal 'stage'. The spiels are running practically the whole time the bus is in motion, the only time you hear the drivers is when you get on & when you get off(maybe).

Plus it's possible some big-mouth complained about the corny jokes or a sing-along and management decided to make it a policy to not allow 'performing' by the bus-drivers.

agnes!

 

[Hannathy]

I agree about a hello and goodbye, I also have no problem with them not talking during the driving, after all they are driving! But any driver that can SEE the person in question and someone has asked them to please wait, really shouldnt get a tude. Now if the person was barely in sight or 'they are in the bathroom, they'll be right here' sorry, those need to just have everyone wait for the next bus. I mean, if she's pregnant and taking another youngster to the bathroom, why didnt everyone stay with her in case she needed some help or something else? I'm not saying the driver was right at all, but.. I'm sure it's not like the rain was a suprise, hurricanes have the tendency to give a bit of warning about heading somewhere. So while I still think the driver acted badly, it seems like the rest of the family should have been with the 8 month pregnant mother. The OP though, that's just wrong. I've seen bus drivers wait to see if a group coming towards them is heading for that bus and if they are they almost always wait (usually you can tell as they are moving pretty quickly).

I happen to agree with this. I am also wondering why the very pregnant Mom was taking the child to the BR? Couldn't someone else do it because at 8 months it is pretty hard to maneuver in those stalls let alone with another child. Dad should have done it while Mom made her way to the bus and they could have caught up to her easier than her catch up to them, or all wait together.

And to all who say they should wait... I hope you aren't also complaining on another thread about how late the buses are. Because an extra minute or two at every stop really starts to add up quickly.

 

[crashbb]

And to all who say they should wait... I hope you aren't also complaining on another thread about how late the buses are. Because an extra minute or two at every stop really starts to add up quickly.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

The drivers are going to get flack, no matter what they do.

 

[zulemara]

I do not condone the way the bus driver handled the situation, especially the one who would not let the husband off the bus. However, I must play devil's advocate and present a scenario I have been involved in.


I was on the red route(WL to MK) and the fireworks had recently gone off. It was a hard close, meaning fireworks=park exit at the same time. A guy came down the dock with one or two kids. The kids got on the boat and the guy stayed on the dock and explained to me(I was deckhand on the cruiser) that his wife forgot the camera at the restaurant and "she'll be right back." Being inexperienced at the time, I conferred with the pilot(it is ultimately his call) and he foolishly agreed to wait for the wife. 2 minutes...a mere 2 minutes later, his wife came running and got on the boat without so much as a thank you for waiting for her. That 2 minutes ultimately gave time for the launch(other boat on the route) to catch up to us, ultimately meaning the people at MK were waiting over 20 minutes for a boat because our cycle was thrown off. Additionally, there were low water levels at the time, so west angle was shutdown and the gold, green, and red routes were all sharing the dock at MK. Thus even after we got there, we had to wait for a dock.

Waiting for 2 minutes meant A) the people on the boat were upset that we were waiting and B) there were 120+ very unhappy people on the dock by the time we docked unloaded, and started loading. I took a lot of heat as the deckhand from those people on the dock.

In a slightly less extreme case, I point out the ferry boat cycles. Our rule is keep your party together. If someone is slow, wait for them. Don't send kids or the more physically able people ahead to hold the boat. Why? because when there is a gap, we need to GO, not wait. Waiting for that extra person can mean that 5 other people suddenly catch up, then some huge wave comes(because generally crowds do come in waves) and now we're stuck while the other ferry is already halfway across the lake.

Again, I DO NOT condone the way the bus driver handled the incident. However, I see the bus drivers point of view. When it's time to go, it's time to go. There is a reason, one way or another, for that decision.

A little tip though - the 15 sec thing is usually a way to give time, yet make people hurry, but without running. It's a very delicate balance

edit: thinking back on that first story, I think us waiting on the wife ended up causing us to get caught by lightshow and that's what caused the wait time at the dock to be so long. After that, whenever I've been driving and I know lightshow is going to be in the waterbridge soon, I will tell the deckhand to go even if there are people running down the dock that we could have waited for. It's rare that I have to do it, but I always look at the big picture.

 

[MOmousefan]

I had a very impatient driver on my last trip. We were trying to leave DHS and he was yelling in a very un-disney voice. But when I consider all of the great drivers I had during my visit, one bad driver stood out. I did not let it ruin my day.
Some of my best experiences have on the busrides to and from the Parks and it is because of the drivers. The OPs experience was unfortunate and the driver should have been reported. It's nice how the bus riders stood up to the rude driver.
Have a better time next trip.

 

[truck1]

I remember years back the bus drivers would joke and sing during the ride. On this last trip, they barely acknowledged anyone when they got on. If I didn't say hello and thank you/good bye first, there was no talking.
I was wondering if it was a new policy-no talking while driving?
I don't know, but all the drivers we had were older gentlemen and they just seemed indifferent to the guests. I'm not expecting a stage show on the bus, but a hello and goodbye isn't that much to ask for, is it?

I agree about a hello and goodbye, I also have no problem with them not talking during the driving, after all they are driving! But any driver that can SEE the person in question and someone has asked them to please wait, really shouldnt get a tude. Now if the person was barely in sight or 'they are in the bathroom, they'll be right here' sorry, those need to just have everyone wait for the next bus. I mean, if she's pregnant and taking another youngster to the bathroom, why didnt everyone stay with her in case she needed some help or something else? I'm not saying the driver was right at all, but.. I'm sure it's not like the rain was a suprise, hurricanes have the tendency to give a bit of warning about heading somewhere. So while I still think the driver acted badly, it seems like the rest of the family should have been with the 8 month pregnant mother. The OP though, that's just wrong. I've seen bus drivers wait to see if a group coming towards them is heading for that bus and if they are they almost always wait (usually you can tell as they are moving pretty quickly).

He's been let go along with so many of his compatriots .



I think since the pre-recorded spiels came along, that the bus-drivers don't have the motivation to interact with guests the same way they used to, the buses are no longer their own personal 'stage'. The spiels are running practically the whole time the bus is in motion, the only time you hear the drivers is when you get on & when you get off(maybe).

Plus it's possible some big-mouth complained about the corny jokes or a sing-along and management decided to make it a policy to not allow 'performing' by the bus-drivers.

agnes!

I was on one of those drivers that used to have a spiel that started from the time that the doors closed to the time we hit the last stop.( I was usually on an All Star bus out of PI if I wasnt driving a Superbus)

Theres 2 schools of thought to this scenario. (Keep in mind I can multi task, and not everyone can)

First, is that its great great guest service, which is what they (mgmnt) were pushing at the time. At the very least you were expected to greet each and every guest ( I cant remember how many times I was shopped.Mgmnt will find out what you do and dont do) and tell everyone where the bus was going.

Second is that it is very dangerous, distraction etc.Some drivers have taken it a little too far in not saying anything.Even sitting still.Some (have seen this and now refuse to ride Disney transport from on, unless I recognize the driver) cant even speak english clearly. Last time I looked, it was a state law for a CDL to drive.(Still have my class a cdl. Thanks Disney)

Doubt there is any middle ground, hence the recorded spiels.I have yet to hear one, but I dont doubt they are onboard.

As far as not waiting on a guest that you can see,there is no excuse, especially if its raining, person is hurt, etc.Its common courtesy, something that seems to be lacking alot in the world today imho.



Word of advice. There is a log book on each and evey Disney Transport Bus. If there is any issue at all, good or bad, all you need is the bus number, which is on every corner now, (Back right on the bus, front left near the headlights, and on each front window, left and right side) the time,(as close as possible) and location, and mngmnt will know whom the driver is. Of course its better if you had there name, but thats not always possible.

 

[manning]

Disney, like any workplace, takes complaints against employees seriously. You should have taken his name, noted the date, time and bus route and wrote a letter of complaint.

If you can't get the name take down the bus number and time. They now use gps to track the bus. With that they will be able to identify the driver.