Buses and people on scooters...

[LauraAnn630]

Another reason I didn't use a w/c when I desperately needed one.

The least we can do for people in w/cs is let them get on the bus first.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I'm telling you I should have shot those parts with a water gun! That would have made him think twice the next time!

Nah... two wrongs don't make a right and technically that could be considered assault and you could be thrown out.

 

[Chuck S]

I never understood why when a family with an ECV rider approaches a bus stop the family doesn't get in line. When the family gets to the front of the line and you know they will board the next bus the bus driver can load the EVC first and then everyone boards.

I am sure that the bus driver can look at a line and know whether a person is close enough to the front of the line to make it on. If the driver simply got off and asked the person on the EVC where their family was in line they could probably make that determination fairly accurately.

It seems to me that this would stop a lot of the bad feelings on both sides of this topic.

How would the bus driver know, just by looking, who in the line is with the wheelchair party? And are you asking the wheelchair bound person to wait alone, or with one attendant? What if there are only 3 people in the party? Should the party not wait together? How about if it is 2 adults and one small child? If one adult is in the chair, and the other adult is a caregiver, should the small child wait alone in line?

What if the bus driver estimates incorrectly, and loads the chair and then the rest of the party can not board? Or what if it turns out the rest of the party can board when they reach the bus, but the chair isn't loaded? Do they unload the bus, load the chair, and reload the bus?

 

[LauraAnn630]

Kickapoo Joie Juice Seriously, people, the REAL point here is that BUSSES SUCK!!!

I agree!

 

[Chuck S]

Seriously, people, the REAL point here is that BUSSES SUCK!!!

Yes, I'll say it. Walter Elias Disney would turn in his grave if he knew his guests were being loaded like cattle onto crowded, smelly, inefficient busses.

But the expensive alternatives to the busses (monorails, people movers or light rail to all resorts) would boost ticket prices, likely to the point most folks couldn't afford the park admission or resort fees. Since the transportation system is not a pay as you go thing, where you are charged to ride, the $$ is budgeted into resort fees and park tickets. It would cost as much or more to fix the transportation system as it would to build a new park, with a similar increase in park admission and room prices.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I think that is an excellent idea. Spend a day, a full day, in a wheelchair at Disney. Don't ever transfer to a non-wheelchair seat. Don't park the chair and walk onto a ride or restaurant or counter service diner.

Yes, spend a day in a wheelchair. A wonderful idea.

Anyway to check the IPs on some of these users? 3 posts only and already making comments designed to draw Flaming responses. There was an earlier poster like that. Me thinks maybe someone is making dummy accounts to troll this board.

 

[yitbos96bb]

But the expensive alternatives to the busses (monorails, people movers or light rail to all resorts) would boost ticket prices, likely to the point most folks couldn't afford the park admission or resort fees. Since the transportation system is not a pay as you go thing, where you are charged to ride, the $$ is budgeted into resort fees and park tickets. It would cost as much or more to fix the transportation system as it would to build a new park, with a similar increase in park admission and room prices.

I wonder if you could do a people mover or light rail with a 3rd party advertising aspect. Get third party sponsors like some of the rides have. If you could do that and make the costs similar to the busses, it might work. But yeah, too bad the other technologies are so pricy. More monorail would be awesome!

 

[Chuck S]

Anyway to check the IPs on some of these users? 3 posts only and already making comments designed to draw Flaming responses. There was an earlier poster like that. Me thinks maybe someone is making dummy accounts to troll this board.

Actually, my response was quite serious. Spending a day in a wheelchair or ECV could be an eye-opener for those that think the "perks" are all wine and roses. I've always thought the folks that design the parks should try accessing their rides in a W/C during construction while changes could still be made to access ramps and loading areas. Even when they are getting ready to remodel a ride, try accessing the existing loading areas. Then they could see where improvement could be made.

 

[Fletchmonger]

Here is something that I thought about and wanted to throw it out there.

When anyone comes on this boards talking about bringing a stroller for their 8 year old they are blasted. They are told to either- walk everyday until the trip to get the kid up to speed, take it slow on the trip with frequent breaks, take time to go back to their room, resign yourself to go at the pace of the child and don't expect to see it all but just take a leisurely trip, or any other myriad of suggestions.
Now for those people who use an ECV because they can't walk long distances wouldn't the same advice apply? Why not take a slow moving trip? Why not take frequent breaks? Why not take an afternoon break at the resort?
Why is that advice only good for a child but not an adult?

Now, I have said earlier that I do not begrudge anyone ECV or wheelchair use and if you have health problems you do what you have to. I am just not buying that every person on an ECV couldn't walk the parks. Maybe they couldn't see everything but then again neither would a family with small children. I am not picking on anyone who has genuine health problems. I am just putting another side to this out there. People are quick to flame parents of older children in strollers. Why are adults impervious to that? Just a thought.

Thank you Mouse House Momma.

 

[Fletchmonger]

I think everyone is missing the point. A person with a legitimate disabillity deserves some extra help, especially if traveling with others with affliction or the elderly, and yes I believe the designers should take some consideration while constructing or renovating attrations.

However, if your are over weight, obese, lazy, each cheek hangs over the seat of the scooter, abused smoking with the oxygen tank attached, never took care of yourself, don't exercise or just plain cant put down the snickers bar..............
BACK OF THE LINE!

Thank you and have a Disney Day!

 

[crashbb]

I think everyone is missing the point. A person with a legitimate disabillity deserves some extra help, especially if traveling with others with affliction or the elderly, and yes I believe the designers should take some consideration while constructing or renovating attrations.

However, if your are over weight, obese, lazy, each cheek hangs over the seat of the scooter, abused smoking with the oxygen tank attached, never took care of yourself, don't exercise or just plain cant put down the snickers bar..............
BACK OF THE LINE!

Thank you and have a Disney Day!

And you can, 100% accurately, differentiate between these two groups, just by looking, how???

 

[bavaria]

I don't know why I am bothering to reply to some of the posts here, but here goes...

My aunt was diagnosed with MS at age 20. She became completely paralyzed within a year; she was about 5 foot 11 inches and weighed less than 100lbs. She died after 10 years in a long term care home.

One of my best friends was diagnosed with MS in her 20's. She has been fortunate to be in many drug trials and hasn't had many of the worse symptoms. She is about 5 foot 10 inches and has gained about 75lbs over past 3 years. Most of that is due to the meds; some from I suspect depression and some from the fact that she simply isn't as able be as mobile as she would like.

Sadly I don't possess the unique DIS medical degree which allows one to diagnose and prescribe treatment for others at a glance.

 

[livndisney]

I think everyone is missing the point. A person with a legitimate disabillity deserves some extra help, especially if traveling with others with affliction or the elderly, and yes I believe the designers should take some consideration while constructing or renovating attrations.

However, if your are over weight, obese, lazy, each cheek hangs over the seat of the scooter, abused smoking with the oxygen tank attached, never took care of yourself, don't exercise or just plain cant put down the snickers bar..............
BACK OF THE LINE!

Thank you and have a Disney Day!

You may be missing the point. Quite a few "disability" side effects are weight gain. If you can't walk, "jogging" is not possible to keep the weight off. Steriods (prescribed for many conditions) can CAUSE weight gain. And to my knowledge those who "abused smoking" don't wear signs saying that on their oxygen tank-so you have no idea HOW they got the condition. Oxygen helps other conditions besides smoking.

 

[SLK1]

Disney has obviously gotten complaints from their guests regarding wheelchair access/scooter access...not necessarily for busses and transportation, but at least as far as lines go. Most new rides have lines that allow a wheelchair/ECV to go right through them rather than go through an exit and seemingly "to the front of the line". However, that isn't really true at all...my son had broken his foot last year so was in a wheelchair and while we did enter through the exit, we did wait just as long as anyone else. I believe the CM's are more aware of loading people on right away, to give the appearance of people having to wait rather than get right on. It was definitely a flawed system before. I always thought the wheelchair person and one other person could wait at the designated spot and the rest of the party (assuming there are two or more) wait in the line and when they make it to the front, everyone loads together.

Anyway, it seems that Disney is working to make it better. As for transportation, not sure there is anything that can be done.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Nah... two wrongs don't make a right and technically that could be considered assault and you could be thrown out.

Give me a break. It was a joke.

And you can, 100% accurately, differentiate between these two groups, just by looking, how???

Nobody is saying you can differentiate anything. They are simply stating frustration at the people who don't really have a medical condition other than being lazy etc.

My guess would be, the 8 year old does not have a medical condition and the adult needing the ECV does.

Like another person said- the busses suck! If you don't like Disney's policy tell Disney! If you feel the person in the ECV is being "given" something more than you by boarding the bus first, write to Disney INSIST they create a bus that holds more than 2 ECVS (to level the playing field). Make them create a bus that ONLY holds 2 "able body" people and the rest ECV's. That is equal right?

What makes you think the adult has a medical condition? People on this very thread have stated that they have a friend that gets the ECV because she doesn't want to walk. I don't believe every person has a medical condition that uses one. Sorry but I don't. If you can't walk all day long then take breaks etc. Not being able to walk all over because you don't have the stamina etc. is not a medical condition. Now before anyone starts flaming I am not talking about people who do have conditions like MS and the like that make walking very difficult. I am talking about couch potatoes. Of course there is no real way to monitor that but it is something that does occur and it occurs probably more than you think. So the same way they tell a parent that they should get their kid moving and not exercising is child abuse etc. is the same way the couch potatoes should get moving. It is the same thing.

*****I am not picking on anyone who is overweight. Just making a comparison between kids in a stroller and adults in an ecv.*******

 

[SueM in MN]

Disney has obviously gotten complaints from their guests regarding wheelchair access/scooter access...not necessarily for busses and transportation, but at least as far as lines go. Most new rides have lines that allow a wheelchair/ECV to go right through them rather than go through an exit and seemingly "to the front of the line". However, that isn't really true at all...my son had broken his foot last year so was in a wheelchair and while we did enter through the exit, we did wait just as long as anyone else. I believe the CM's are more aware of loading people on right away, to give the appearance of people having to wait rather than get right on. It was definitely a flawed system before. I always thought the wheelchair person and one other person could wait at the designated spot and the rest of the party (assuming there are two or more) wait in the line and when they make it to the front, everyone loads together.

Anyway, it seems that Disney is working to make it better. As for transportation, not sure there is anything that can be done.

they did not change things due to complaints from other guests.

They changed things due to the ADA saying they had to make things accessable for people with disabilities. When MK and Epcot were built, the lines were designed to 'deliver' a contious line of guests walking into the boarding area, load those guests on the ride and then unload them and send them out of the ride area in an effecient way. Guests with mobility or other special needs were. An exception to this because the 'normal' way of boarding, loading and unloading guests did not work for them. For some attractions that meant having them board somewhere else so that their assistive device is at the exit or so their path avoids stairways and turnstles

There are many attractions that are not accessible at all. When the newer parks (AK and the Studio) were built, they did take these 'exceptions' into account and most of the attractions are accessible to people with special needs in the same line as everyone else. This WAS part of the ADA and people with disabilities asking for the right to be treated like everyone else, not due to complaints from able bodied people.
These types of lines are called Mainstream Lines. AM and the Studio were built with almost all Mainstream Lines. MK and Epcot had Mainstream lines/access added to attractions as possible when new attractions were added and old ones renovated.
And for the person who thought it was great to use a wheelchair and have a reserved spot - many of those spots are in the back roe. You get no choice of where you will sit. Most of the time to can only have one membr of your party sit with you. And, we have gotten to many shows when all the wheelchair spots are taken , but there is still time and space for people who ate able to walk in to go to they show. So, go ahead, like Chuck suggested try an ECV and then come back and say how much youlike it. We've had lots of posts from people who were the worst complaineds and came back and apologized once they actually had a chance to see first hand what they were talking about.

 

[Chuck S]

What makes you think the adult has a medical condition? *

I would venture to guess that the actual percentage of folks spending big bucks to rent a scooter just because they "don't want to walk" is quite low, compared to all the folks that use scooters in the parks. Likely in the single digits. Most times there is an underlying medical condition or medication causing someone to be obese. And you can't tell by looking. What makes you think the adult DOESN'T have a medical condition? The fact that they can walk short distances to board rides? You say you are not talking about those with medical conditions, how do you know who has one or not?

For instance, I have permanent nerve damage from a rattlesnake bite. Sometimes, not often, I fall for no apparent reason. Ramps are killers. Stairs are actually OK. Standing for long periods causes swelling and pain in that foot and aggravates the condition. If I eventually get to the point that I need an ECV to see the parks, will you judge me to be a middle-aged couch potato avoiding walking?

I also can't stand on the busses, since the foot goes numb, it can't do the subtle weigh shifting required to maintain balance on the moving platform, many would judge me as simply rude for not offering my seat.

 

[webshark3]

My MIL has bad knees, overweight, etc. Our 1st day, she tried to walk and not use a ECV.

On day one, she did manage to walk from the MK front gate to the entrance of Adventureland. She sat down, completely out of breath and in pain and asked "So how much larger is Disneyworld?"

The next day we had a ECV waitng for her at the hotel.

It wouldn't suprise me a bit that more and more "typically abled bodied people" take advantage of ECVs. Disney kids are growing up and taking their parents/grandparents, etc. An entire aging generation is out there vacationing with their family at Disney, that didn't exist in the 70s-90s. Most of whom can walk and garden and work, but Epcot may be too much. WDW is large, hot and usually set to agressive schedules.

 

[webshark3]

My MIL has bad knees, overweight, etc. Our 1st day, she tried to walk and not use a ECV.

On day one, she did manage to walk from the MK front gate to the entrance of Adventureland. She sat down, completely out of breath and in pain and asked "So how much larger is Disneyworld?"

The next day we had a ECV waiting for her at the hotel.

It wouldn't surprise me a bit that more and more "typically abled bodied people" take advantage of ECVs. Disney kids are growing up and taking their parents/grandparents, etc. An entire aging generation is out there vacationing with their family at Disney, that didn't exist in the 70s-90s. Most of whom can walk and garden and work, but Epcot may be too much. WDW is large, hot and usually set to aggressive schedules.

 

[mjkacmom]

This is why we ended up renting my dad one in the parks, even though it was more expensive. There is no way he could manage a day walking in the parks, due to being overweight, very out of shape, with arthritis, but he is cabable of walking to the busses, and walking to the gates. Therefore, I didn't want the hassle of having him get on and off the busses. I'm guessing that the majority of people who deal with this hassle do so because they need to.