Dude, get up

[marivaid]

I do understand that. There's also the option of calling a cab to bring a sick infant to the doctor. I just can't imagine bringing a little infant who's barely a few weeks old outside in the freezing cold to wait for a bus for 15+ minutes.

Everyone does not have that option. For some people, $20 is a week's worth of groceries. Then the options are A/Take the bus & bring the baby to the doctor or B/Don't bring him at all.

 

[CleveRocks]

I do understand that. There's also the option of calling a cab to bring a sick infant to the doctor. I just can't imagine bringing a little infant who's barely a few weeks old outside in the freezing cold to wait for a bus for 15+ minutes.

So what if the peasants don't have bread to eat? Let them eat cake!

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

I'm sure the people who can afford to call cabs do. Unfortunately, many people in the city, due to their income level, are forced to take a sick infant on a bus when it is freezing outside. Many do not have cash in their pockets, but only food stamps and possibly bus passes provided by welfare/public assistance. I truly understand the point you were trying to make. I am only trying to convey that for the indigent, the only option, other than walking in the cold winter, is public transportation, for whatever their need may be - to go to the doctor, drop the kids off at a babysitter so the mom can go to work, etc.

I completely understand your point as well. Perhaps my perspective is a bit too idealistic. I just think that if you're barely scraping by, why are you having babies? I don't want to turn this discussion into a moral debate since this forum isn't the appropriate medium for it.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Funny how different Cultures see the same thing. I lived in Japan for three years. Spent a week learning about the country and it's people, and one of the first things we were taught is: It is generally NOT expected that ANYONE regardless of age, gender or physical limitation give up their seat for ANYONE regardless of age, gender or physical limitation. In other words: It just ain't done. Old people stood. Kindergardeners stood. pregnant women stood. Goth Teens Stood. Businessmen stood. Polite gentlemen with Blue suits and white gloves squished your butt onto the train so the doors could close.

If I stood in line for twenty minutes and was able to snag a seat, darn skippy I am going to take that seat and not feel one ounce of guilt over it. I am one of those people who are disabled but not so you could notice by just looking at me. It's gonna take me longer to do each park than most other people and I will be more worn out than most others my age at the end of the day. I am just hoping that I will be able to get back and forth without having to walk to each park as well as all over it. Because invariably when I need to sit, there won't be an open bench or seat anywhere.

A parent with a child is no more deserving of a seat than a healthy adult. said healthy adult is no more deserving of a seat than your Great Aunt Sadie with her pacemaker and O2 tank. It is never a good idea to project YOUR views of how the world should be run on somebody else.

 

[goofy4tink]

Please, keep this relevant to Disney, rather than whether or not people should be reproducing!!!! Whether or not a young mother takes her infant out into the cold has nothing to do with the discussion. Well, not unless it's one of those record breaking cold snaps in late Dec in Orlando, and that poor mom is just trying to get to Chef Mickey's on the bus from POP!!!

 

[stitchlover]

I would hate to think that anyone thinks badly of my husband. He has a horrible back. Each trip we pack the muscle relaxers and prescription pain pills because we know at some point in our 8 days on site he is going to have problems. So I have to say he doesn't give a seat on the bus up very often! When we travel it is rare to get a seat to begin with! And we certainly do not expect our 11 year old daughter, who is short and can't reach the straps, to give up her seat. If I offer to give up my seat, my DH then feels he must offer to stand in my place, which is bad for him. I guess people probably don't think too highly of us on the bus! So all I would say is keep in mind that not everyone is being a jerk.

 

[seashoreCM]

However, what irritated me to no end, was countless Mothers bringing infants onto these crammed buses, lugging strollers, diaper bags, and sometimes their other young children. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, and I 100% agree with the poster I quoted - but if you can't afford your own vehicle to safely transport your children . . Well, you know what I'm getting at.

Sorry, I disagree. Public transportation is for all. The name that one transit operator (before the days of street railways) took from a store along his route, "Omnibus", means "for all".

The trams from the gates to the main terminal at Orlando Airport have very few seats, just benches at each end. Who wants to speculate on the impact if Disney took almost all of the seats out of the buses? One thing for sure, each bus could carry a lot more people. Long ago, in a few cities, the trolleys had very few seats so more people could get on, for example the same end-benches-only cars in Budapest Hungary and cars with six seats apiece in Rome, Italy. How many healthy athletic teens would take one of just six seats on a bus?

Yet another farfetched idea. Contrasted with seats that fold up to make room for wheelchairs, buses would have seats that are folded up out of the way normally. Only if you get a Guest Assistance Pass would you get a key to unlock a seat or two for yourself and/or a child, which as I hinted before, reduces the passenger capacity. But yet another advantage, no longer limited to two wheelchairs per bus.

A bit off topic, If and only if you feel that this lady should not have brought her kids on the bus, then I do not feel that the government should require that she spend money to retain the privilege of operating her own vehicle regardless of condition. However I would much prefer to see more buses and trolleys nationwide, including improvements to bus service at Disney.

 

[WillCAD]

Sorry, I disagree. Public transportation is for all. The name that one transit operator (before the days of street railways) took from a store along his route, "Omnibus", means "for all".

Just because something is provided freely, either by the government or by Disney, doesn't mean that it's safe or smart for everybody to use it.

Disney busses are certainly provided for anybody who wants to use them, and I don't dispute that anybody at WDW has the same right to access the busses as anybody else, but that doesn't mean it's smart or safe to get on with toddlers if there are no seats available. In point of fact, seatbelts and safety seats are required by law in ALL cars and trucks for infants and toddlers (for a darn good reason), yet these things are not only unavailable on a bus, they are not usable even if you bring your own.

I've always thought it was a travesty that in this age of safety and security, of multiple airbags and a 3-point seatbelt per passenger in almost every car and truck, that there are no seatbelts on either public busses or school busses.

So while I might take the chance of getting on an SRO bus myself, there is no way I would EVER get on an SRO bus with an infant or toddler.

 

[fla4fun]

Just a few words. It was not a packed bus. We were the only ones standing. We did just get on last. I could not have known that there would be no room for me. Only about 10 people got on before me, but people from another resort were already boarded.

We've run into this situation a few times. With the tinted windows on the buses, it's sometimes hard to see during the day whether the bus was packed or if there were still seats available. You don't always know for sure when you start boarding a bus whether you'll be standing or sitting.

Also, once you've boarded the bus, and determined that you will be standing, it's not always that easy to get back off the bus again, especially if people are boarding behind you. It's easier in the newer buses with the wider aisles in the front, but the older buses were awful to try to turn around and leave. On those, once you board, you're pretty much stuck.

I would agree with the posters that say if you know the bus is filled to standing room only, and you want to sit, wait for the next bus. It's just that you don't always know in advance, especially when boarding in daylight, on a bus that's already picked up people elsewhere (so you had no line to gauge the occupancy by).

 

[the Fidge]

I wish the buses would have a little sign saying full till they empty soome seats so that way it would prevent the folks from finding out oppps there are no seats AFTER they get on.

I know that is a crazy idea but I like it!

 

[disneyjunkie]

I haven't checked in for a few days...Wow. Seem to have started some arguments. Sorry 'bout that.

Just a few words. It was not a packed bus. We were the only ones standing. We did just get on last. I could not have known that there would be no room for me. Only about 10 people got on before me, but people from another resort were already boarded. One man took up two seats. I did not EXPECT anyone to get up for me, and I don't think I came across as whining in my original post. That was not what I wanted. I guess I am just used to the gentlepeople in my family (myself included) who would always get up and offer a seat for someone more in need. That's all.

Why didn't you ask the man taking up two seats to move over? That way you could have sat down with the baby.

Slightly off-topic, I took public transportation everyday to college. 2 different buses, crammed to the brim with students and people who lived in the area. I mostly stood because I didn't want to take away a seat from the elderly or someone trying to carry a child. Those are just my personal manners.

However, what irritated me to no end, was countless Mothers bringing infants onto these crammed buses, lugging strollers, diaper bags, and sometimes their other young children. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, and I 100% agree with the poster I quoted - but if you can't afford your own vehicle to safely transport your children . . Well, you know what I'm getting at.

This would occur in the peak of NJ winter, where I had a scraf wrapped tightly around my face, earmuffs and a hat. And here you have a parent standing outside in the freezing cold, with an infant bundled in their arms, dragging them onto a bus. I always said a prayer for people who did that..

Just because you see people riding the bus or train, doesn’t mean they don't own a car.

People use public transportation because it's cheaper and more convenient than driving. (At least it is here)

Let's say you have to take your child to the doctor during the week. Finding a parking space can be a nightmare. Parking in a lot can be expensive. NYC has alternate side of the street parking. If you park on the wrong side of the street, you run the risk of getting a ticket. If you're willing to take the risk, you will have to keep running outside to see if a space has opened up on the correct side of the street. If there's a meter, you have to keep running out to feed the meter.

Is easier to just bundle everyone up and hop on the bus or the train.

 

[rbork]

How about having more kid's sit in their parents laps? We have often without much thought taken DS's 6 and 8 onto our laps or had them share a seat. Now instead of taking up 4 seats on a getting full bus- we take 3 or even better 2 seats.
If we (all 4 ) are crammed into 2 seats- We generally readily only give up our seats to the elderly or an obviously disabled person.