Disney Bus Driver on paid leave after guest altercation

[disney david]

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2010/october/162133/Disney-bus-driver-attack-shows-what-can-happen-when-guests-forget-to-pack-patience?cmpid=twitter

 

[goofy4tink]

Paid or unpaid, the sad unfortunate fact, unless something has changed at Disney, and from everything Im hearing from friends that are still over ther,it hasnt, at least not for the good, is that the driver will most likely be terminated. Disney has a fairly strict no fight rule. Even if it is proven the driver defended himself, hell most likely be fired. I dont think its right, but it prob will hapen in a few days.

When I worked in bus ops, I knew of at least 2 drivers that were in similar situations, and both lost there jobs. 1 had his arm broken by an outside charter bus driver. Even though both drivers defended themselves,from unprovoked attacks, they were terminated under the no fight rule.

I certainly hope this isn't the case. This bus driver was trying to enforce the allowable load limits on his bus. I can only imagine what would have happened if that family had been allowed to board the bus, standing over the yellow safety line and had something happen that resulted in their being injured. I have to wonder what Disney would have to say about that.

There seems to be way too much...'the guest is always right and must be kept happy' at WDW. I would love it if Disney actually enforced the rules they have, rather than allowing CMs to do what the guests want. This bus driver was trying to stay within the safety limits, had a child tossed (shoved) at him and then a man grabs him by the throat??? What the heck does Disney think he's supposed to do. The driver appeared to be out of his seat in order to prevent the boarding of more guests onto the already loaded down bus.

Sure do hope this driver doesn't lose his job. I sure don't feel like sending emails down to corporate to let them know how badly this was handled.

 

[truck1]

I just looked quick at the local news online, and 2 out of the 4, are saying OCSO was never involved. Also, all 4 are saying hes been suspended with pay pending the outcome.

 

[truck1]

I certainly hope this isn't the case. This bus driver was trying to enforce the allowable load limits on his bus. I can only imagine what would have happened if that family had been allowed to board the bus, standing over the yellow safety line and had something happen that resulted in their being injured. I have to wonder what Disney would have to say about that.

There seems to be way too much...'the guest is always right and must be kept happy' at WDW. I would love it if Disney actually enforced the rules they have, rather than allowing CMs to do what the guests want. This bus driver was trying to stay within the safety limits, had a child tossed (shoved) at him and then a man grabs him by the throat??? What the heck does Disney think he's supposed to do. The driver appeared to be out of his seat in order to prevent the boarding of more guests onto the already loaded down bus.

Sure do hope this driver doesn't lose his job. I sure don't feel like sending emails down to corporate to let them know how badly this was handled.

I hope so also, that he keeps his job.

Ill give you another great managerial moment.
When I was driving out of the MK one night, a guest came up with a red palstic wagon,claiming it was a wheel chair.
When I explained nicely to the guest that we could not safely secure the wagon, and if something happened, that not only would I be held responsible, their child most likely would be injured or worse,the guest yelled screamed hopped up and down on 1 foot, catching the attention of a manager nearby.
I explained to the manager, who also was the manager in charge of safety my concerns, and he asked as a favor for me to take, them. I told them I would but the child was not riding in the wagon, while we were moving the kid had to come out. The manager agreed, but the guest still fought us. The guests argument, was that this was there last day, and ALL of the other drivers took the wagon, without a problem. I tried to explain to them, that I valued my job and their childs life, but they would not listen to reason. In the end, I had to take the kid, in the wagon,to the Yacht Beach or the Boardwalk. I did 5 mph, all the way there,making sure that the bus never rolled, on any of the turns. The manager pretty much refused to put the kid in a van, and drive them, or have another driver take them over, thereby solving the issue. Wanna take a guess, whod have taken the fall if something happened?

 

[bumbershoot]

After watching the video and only the one video posted so far, it appears that although the driver did not attack the passenger and the passenger did attempt to grab the bus driver's neck, the bus driver also should have just stopped not moved the bus and asked for assistance once the passenger became combative whether it be verbally or physically.

I think there is too little information on this one video leading up to the incident, but when I see the bus driver push his body into the passenger, yes, that is a form of aggression, even if it is in self defense. In Disney's eyes I can see where the bus driver could have handled (again from just this limited bit of video) it a little differently.

Before watching the video when someone said he was acting in self defense I would interpret that as covering his head and eyes and attempting to flee the situation, that is not the same as what I interpret with the video.

Again, this is limited based on the one video and my personal opinion.

My dad was a Greyhound bus driver. They cannot flee a situation like that; they have to stick with the bus and the passengers. I am sure it's the same with Disney buses.

I showed the youtube to my husband, who is a black belt in TKD and has been involved in other self-defense martial arts...he cannot see a thing wrong with what the bus driver did. It's almost comical, watching the passenger be denied hit after hit, the driver just doing the self-defence arm-comes-down-to-brush-away-the-bad-guy's-arm thing over and over.


"the bus driver also should have just stopped not moved the bus and asked for assistance once the passenger became combative whether it be verbally or physically."

He didn't drive away, and plenty of other people were asking for assistance FOR him. And you do see someone in a reflective vest come onto the bus and they are talking to (what appears to be) her.

As for the plain clothes person...after watching that video several times with the sound OFF (so I'm not influenced by what the females filming it are saying), I don't think the plain clothes person was ON the bus, but rather near it.

If the driver gets in trouble, the world has lost their minds... The driver was fabulous in that situation!

Then again, my dad quit Greyhound once they stopped backing up their drivers. Dad was known to put drunks off on the side of the highway, if they couldn't keep to themselves. He didn't mind someone who was inebriated, but the moment they impinged on the comfort of others, they were OFF that bus. And once GH dumped its union, they stopped supporting their drivers, and the excellence was gone...he retired shortly after.

 

[ILoveMyGirls]

it's not the driver's fault for goodness sake. i hope he does not get fired.

 

[iuki]

On another forum, it was reported that besides the amateur video, the entire incident was recorded on a hi-def security camera and law enforcement not only arrested the tourist for assault, but also for a "terrorist threat" (public place, etc.). Disney purportedly ejected him and his family from the hotel in which they were staying, and they have been banned for life from WDW (I'm not sure if DL was included in the banning )
The driver was NOT penalized.

I certainly hope that's true. I had heard on WFTV (Channel 9) that no one was pressing charges. They also said the bus driver was calling another bus to come and pick up the people who were still waiting when the guest attacked the bus driver. The bus drivers fill the buses as much as they can. So, when they say that there is no room - there really is no room!

If someone has a problem with a bus driver, you take the driver's name and report it to Guest Relations - you don't attack the driver! You will occasionally find a rude bus driver, but most drivers are really very nice and helpful. That guest was totally out of line, and I hope that the news was wrong and that Disney will prosecute the guest.

iuki

 

[Magicbus]

And you do see someone in a reflective vest come onto the bus and they are talking to her.

She is just another driver doing crowd control. They've referred to her as security, but she is not.

I don't think the plain clothes person was ON the bus, but rather near it.

That's news to me if there are plain clothes security on the buses.

I've also read that at every bus stop there are super duper surveilance cameras that can zoom in close enough to read name tags, that's ridiculous about reading the name tags.

 

[SunnyP4Disney]

She is just another driver doing crowd control. They've referred to her as security, but she is not.


That's news to me if there are plain clothes security on the buses.

I've also read that at every bus stop there are super duper surveilance cameras that can zoom in close enough to read name tags, that's ridiculous.

Magicbus, can I ask a question? I was the person who reviewed all the footage from the mass transit system I worked for and have been curious about cameras on the Disney buses. Are there cameras on them? Usually we have a camera that would point directly toward the front door so if the fight had been on one of our buses, the whole thing would have been caught on tape.

 

[brernick]

It's the talk of the world!

After watching the video it doesn't look good for the driver. It looks like he is defending himself, but then throws a few punches.

He may be union. That would be on his side.

 

[Uncleromulus]

How else WOULD he go about defending himself?
Lie down on the floor and whimper?? Smile??

It will be a SAD day at WDW if this man loses his job. In fact, it should be a wake-up call to repeal that "no fight" policy.

 

[goofy4tink]

So, I'm watching our news this morning, an ABC affiliate...they are reporting about the bus incident. The reporter comes to the end of her spiel, saying...the guest came at the him, the employee put his hands around his neck. Now, to me that sounds as if she was saying the driver tried to choke the guest. Really??? Not even close. I"m sure she just misspoke but now, there are going to be thousands of New Englanders who are going to say 'Well, I saw on the news this morning that the driver tried to choke that guest.' Drives me nuts.

 

[MEGADAN]

This is such a disturbing topic. The Bus Driver didn't do anything wrong he was following procedure and he was defending himself. Put yourself in his shoes, or better yet what if it was your husband, father or brother. Would you think that it is acceptable for him to be choked or to take a punch because of the job's "no fight" policy.
It drives me crazy when I see CMs not enforce policy on the bus or in the park. I'm glad he held his ground. From the video, I blame the guest 150%. They should have gotten off that bus and waiting for the next one. If they didn't want to wait or couldn't wait because of the baby they could have hailed a cab.

 

[aubriee]

Wow, I just showed this to my husband. We just got back from WDW late last night. That guy in the green shirt looks just like a guy we had a run in with at the bus queue one night at Magic Kingdom. My husband swears it was him. He was trying to cut in line, but we refused to let him past. He said he had a baby and since we were just two adults he got priority boarding and we should have to wait. We told him to back off and he wasn't getting through. He tried to get in my face trying to make me back down, when both my husband and a very large man in front of us (about 6'5" and 300lbs) informed him that having a kid at WDW didn't make you special and sure didn't give you a front of the line pass. He finally backed off, but only after cursing out everyone around us. This happened last Tuesday night and our incident with the guy at MK was on Sunday night. A few days later we were on another bus and heard a woman talking about the guy getting in a fight with a WDW bus driver over not be allowed on a full bus and that he had used the same arguement, that he had a child so should get priority boarding. She was on that bus when the altercation occurred and said the guy went off like a maniac and was completely in the wrong and all the driver did was protect himself. She said that he even demanded the bus driver kick off people who didn't have kids, just so he could board. He just kept insisting that people with kids got priority boarding. We told her about our guy at MK and we all wondered if it was the same idiot. Sure sounds and looks like it!

 

[disney david]

Wow, I just showed this to my husband. We just got back from WDW late last night. That guy in the green shirt looks just like a guy we had a run in with at the bus queue one night at Magic Kingdom. My husband swears it was him. He was trying to cut in line, but we refused to let him past. He said he had a baby and since we were just two adults he got priority boarding and we should have to wait. We told him to back off and he wasn't getting through. He tried to get in my face trying to make me back down, when both my husband and a very large man in front of us (about 6'5" and 300lbs) informed him that having a kid at WDW didn't make you special and sure didn't give you a front of the line pass. He finally backed off, but only after cursing out everyone around us. This happened last Tuesday night. A few days later we were on another bus and heard a woman talking about the guy getting in a fight with a WDW bus driver over not be allowed on a full bus and that he had used the same arguement, that he had a child so should get priority boarding. She was on that bus when the altercation occurred and said the guy went off like a maniac and was completely in the wrong and all the driver did was protect himself. She said that he even demanded the bus driver kick off people who didn't have kids, just so he could board. He just kept insisting that people with kids got priority boarding. We told her about our guy at MK and we all wondered if it was the same idiot. Sure sounds and looks like it!

This idiot was a coward he had problem at mk and did that with your husband and the other man but didnt touch them but went after the bus driver. The bus driver look to be much taller then him but he figured the bus driver wouldn't do anything in fear of losing his job. This is why disney need to increase securty at the bus stops at park closing mybe this will get the ocso to do more then just give tickets but to patroll around the bus stops. Just because you have kids is no reason to cut in line and start a fight every one will get on the bus. mybe you wont have a seat but i sure their be someone who would be nice a give a seat if needed. It sad disney had the chance to stop him at mk and mybe he wouldnt of done that at dhs. I am sure this idiot though he was boarding a plane because of he fact that he think they get first dibs at boarding.

 

[DLB]

This really ruins the magic for everyone. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth. You have to be prepared to wait in lines even if you are exhausted with a baby. Some people should just not go if they can't handle it and are going to ruin it for others. This makes me nervous for my upcoming trip to WDW.. I would hate to encounter such a mean spirited person.

 

[andrews_dad]

Notice how packed that bus was in October off-season. Park close at 9 or what?

 

[guitarob]

This really ruins the magic for everyone. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth. You have to be prepared to wait in lines even if you are exhausted with a baby. Some people should just not go if they can't handle it and are going to ruin it for others. This makes me nervous for my upcoming trip to WDW.. I would hate to encounter such a mean spirited person.

I wouldn't worry yourself over this. You will have a great trip. The chances of running into a situation like this are slim, and in all the years I have been going I've never seen anything like this.

Even if I did, it wouldn't ruin my trip. I would never let someone have that power over me. People like this will be dealt with by the proper authorities and are pretty much just going to be laughed at by me. I find their over reactions and misplaced anger amusing. Not that I find the result amusing, an assault is never funny. I'm just of the attitude that morons like this exist, and should be paid as little attention as possible.

I understand the others on the bus were inconvenienced, and that is a shame. In the end it's not worth getting upset over, and it's certainly nothing to worry over.

Have a great trip! No worries!

 

[heatherwillmom]

Is it just me or did anyone else get the urge to punch the guest for the driver? Maybe just use a little pepper spray from my purse? The driver needed some back-up.

 

[cm8]

Notice how packed that bus was in October off-season. Park close at 9 or what?

, wow it was packed for off season