Do they still have nova busses which are lower to the ground for boarding scooters?

[freemore]

Hi Everyone, Two years ago my husband and I rented scooters and loved the nova buses that sort of swished down in order to board scooters and wheelchairs easier. Do they still have these. They were wonderful. Is it possible to order one from the Wilderness Lodge
Thanks. Freemore

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Not only that, but they are replacing the oldest, lift equipped buses with Novas.

 

[SueM in MN]

Quite a few of the buses are the kneeling buses, but you could still come across one of the other kind.
As Cheshire Figment mentioned, the oldest buses are being replaced with the kneeling buses.

 

[freemore]

Thanks so much, the buses were great and the scooters we rented were so easy to get on the buses. We couldn't go to Disney without the scooters!
Freemore

 

[terri01p]

I fell in love with these busses whenever we were there, I wish they were all like that .

 

[flsunshine66]

Can you believe .... I called special services today and was told they never heard of Nova buses..... they even called someone over in transportation... they too never heard of them. I don't understand how this could happen. I was told they make no special arrangements for groups of handicap people in regard to keeping them together and taking them to the parks. I read somewhere in one of the discussions that you could call ahead and let them be aware of multiple handicaps and family needed transportation as a group, and they would make sure to send the appropriate bus for you. I just spent 2 hours on the phone with them, and they knew nothing that would help with this. We are a family of 16 and have 3 handicap members. Does anyone know who or where we could get some answers and help? Thanks we are looking forward to this trip so much. We just want things to go as smooth as possible.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You might want to go over to the Transportation Board and/or send a PM to Chip 'n Dale Express. Tyler, who is one of the moderators on that forum has spent quite a few years as a bus driver at WDW. I think he is not as driver any more, but he know the procedures and also who to contact.

And Special Services is basically specialized reservations people.

 

[flsunshine66]

Thank You... I'll try that.

 

[SueM in MN]

Can you believe .... I called special services today and was told they never heard of Nova buses..... they even called someone over in transportation... they too never heard of them. I don't understand how this could happen. I was told they make no special arrangements for groups of handicap people in regard to keeping them together and taking them to the parks. I read somewhere in one of the discussions that you could call ahead and let them be aware of multiple handicaps and family needed transportation as a group, and they would make sure to send the appropriate bus for you. I just spent 2 hours on the phone with them, and they knew nothing that would help with this. We are a family of 16 and have 3 handicap members. Does anyone know who or where we could get some answers and help? Thanks we are looking forward to this trip so much. We just want things to go as smooth as possible.

Special Services probably does not know anything about the buses. They know about the resorts and rooms, but not about transportation. To them (and probably to the people they talked with in Transportation) a bus is just a bus.

One thing you may not be aware of is that the Nova buses are just one of the types of buses that are part of the WDW Transportation System. Each bus can hold up to 2 wheelchairs or ECVs. I am assuming that you have 3 wheelchairs in your party, so if you want the people with wheelchairs to travel together, you will not all fit on one regular bus.
There are special accessible buses that will hold up to 5 wheelchairs/ECVs, but they don't run on a regular route. You need to request one of those buses.

There is more information about buses in the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

To request a special bus from your resort, look for a button on the phone labeled "Transportation" that is pre-programmed to call WDW Transportation. If you don't see that button, use the button to call Guest Relations or the front desk. They can help you to get a bus that will hold more wheelchairs.
Many resorts have a Concierge desk by the front desk of the resort (where you check in). The Concierge will also be able to help you.

 

[freemore]

You might also post this on the Parks strategies site because it has a lot more people responding to questions on that site with people who might have a lot more experience about the buses and they might be able to give you their experiences than on this board. We are going in 10 days and I will give you a report on our bus experience when we get back....when are you going? We stayed at the wilderness lodge and had no trouble getting a Nova bus that held two wheel chairs or two scooters at a time but the third person in your party would have to wait until the next bus. I don't know anything about getting a special bus for a party like yours. And as I said, we would talk directly with the bus drivers when they pulled up and ask them to send a Nova bus if there wasn't a nova bus there and they were happy to do it. We were very happy with the overall experience of renting the ecv's and boarding the busses in 2004. The people who had to wait for us to get on the bus first were very nice also, and the bus drivers were very nice.
Freemore

 

[SueM in MN]

You might also post this on the Parks strategies site because it has a lot more people responding to questions on that site with people who might have a lot more experience about the buses and they might be able to give you their experiences than on this board.

I would probably not post on the Theme Parks Board or Transportation Board regarding bus questions about wheelchairs or ECVs. Many questions about wheelchairs/ECVs and buses on those boards degenerate into many page rants about 'special treatment' for people with wheelchairs or ECVs.

Many of the people that respond on this board have lots of experience using buses with either wheelchairs or ECVs, and in most cases, people who spend a lot of time on this board are the ones with experience who respond to wheelchair/ECV questions on those other boards.

I would suggest a PM to Chip 'n Dale Express (Tyler), as Cheshire Figment mentioned. As far as i know, Tyler is working at POP at the front desk, but he worked for a long time in Transportation and has a wealth of knowledge about the buses.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

As I understand the situation, as each of the older 'lift' equipped buses reaches the end of its working life, it is replaced by the newer ramp equipped kneeling low floor buses. Disney bought one batch of 'Nova' buses initially, but now purchases a different design called the 'Gillig'. Novas and Gilligs are low floor buses and have ramps instead of lifts as did the original Disney bus fleet.

When I last visited Disney in September '06, I would estimate that about 10% -15% of the fleet were low floor & equipped with ramps. That said, I don't think there is any special difficulty loading onto the older buses with an ECV, it's just a bit slower.

Andrew

 

[flsunshine66]

Thanks Everyone, I went to the transportation page... but hesitated to start a thread there too. I'll just pm Chip & Dale Express when i find his post. Actually I'm just got so much information from you all that I'm going with yous. We will be there March 3 thru 10th.... and will mostly take the boat with my ecv and wing it. lol. Except for the early morning Character Breakfasts... we really don't invision any problems getting everyone around together. We are all staying at Ft. Wilderness Cabins... so far 18 of us.

Thanks again .... hope you all have a wonderful time too.