ECV at the bus stops at the parks

[JudithM]

I have read various posts here about the "new" handicapped loading/waiting areas at the theme parks. Last week a friend and I stayed at OKW and used the WDW buses to and from the MK, EPCOT and the Studios. We both used an ECV.

Only when leaving the MK just before closing, did I encounter an "issue" with loading the ECV. I went to the area where I had always gotten onto the bus before this trip - the area designated for handicapped riders. A CM was just rearranging the area with the chains. He let me wait in the area I was used to. We had a lengthy discussion about how and why WDW is now mainstreaming everyone through the line. At EPCOT and the Studios, the "old" handicapped waiting areas were still available, and I used them.

All the bus drivers we encountered were friendly and every helpful .

 

[peemagg]

We also had an "issue" with the buses at MK. At first I didn't see where we were supposed to be (There were 2 of us on ECV's). Upon further investigation, I found that we had to go thru the line with everyone else. We were leaving at a non-busy time, so there was no issue with us getting to the pull off area for ECV's and Wheel chairs, but I could see how it could be a problem.

Every park we were at had different places for us to wait, but it wasn't to bad after we knew what to look for. If they labeled things better, though it would make it much easier.

 

[SueM in MN]

I have read various posts here about the "new" handicapped loading/waiting areas at the theme parks. Last week a friend and I stayed at OKW and used the WDW buses to and from the MK, EPCOT and the Studios. We both used an ECV.

Only when leaving the MK just before closing, did I encounter an "issue" with loading the ECV. I went to the area where I had always gotten onto the bus before this trip - the area designated for handicapped riders. A CM was just rearranging the area with the chains. He lets any me wait in the area I was used to. We had a lengthy discussion about how and why WDW is now mainstreaming everyone through the line. At EPCOT and the Studios, the "old" handicapped waiting areas were still available, and I used them.

All the bus drivers we encountered were friendly and every helpful .

I'm curious what they had to say about mainstreaming. If you don't want to discuss here, you could PM me if you feel comfortable doing that. If not, I understand.

We were at OKW in late October and it's interesting to me that you found the 'old' handicapped spots at the Studio, since the OKW bus stop there was totally blocked and the only way to go was through the regular line. So, either they changed it or they moved the OKW bus stop - the rearranging of bus stops does happen periodically.

 

[peemagg]

Sue,

What we found at the Saratoga stop at DHS was just a rope with a handicapped sign hanging on it like they use for parades. It was outside of the line and stretched between Saratoga and the Caribbean stop I believe.

 

[JudithM]

QUOTE=peemagg;44034336]What we found at the Saratoga stop at DHS was just a rope with a handicapped sign hanging on it like they use for parades. It was outside of the line and stretched between Saratoga and the Caribbean stop I believe.[/QUOTE]

Similar hanging sign at the DHS & EPCOT OKW bus stop


Sue, the CM at the MK said the change was due to people basically abusing the handicapped loading areas. I know the topic of guests using wheelchairs, scooters, whatever to get to the front of the line, etc. has been discussed here many times.

He also said if I wait in line and the seats on the bus (where the ECV would be placed) are already taken, then the bus driver has to have seats elsewhere on the bus for those guests to sit before he can consider loading an ECV. He added that the bus driver cannot ask people, already seated, to stand. I went on to tell him how difficult it would be for ECV users to put the scooter on the bus when so many people are on it and how difficult it would be for the bus driver to know a guest using a wheelchair or scooter is waiting in line.

A side note ... at the OKW Hospitality House bus stop, a gentleman was already waiting to go to EPCOT when my friend and I (both using scooters) arrived at the bus stop with our group of seven to go to EPCOT. How fortunate that an EPCOT bus arrived with room for three scooters! It was our first experience with three scooters on the bus. Even though the gentleman was there first, he let my friend and I board first since we had rental EVCs and he had a much smaller personal scooter. The bus driver said something about one in fifty new (I believe) NOVA buses can accommodate three scooters.

I know the day we were waiting for a DHS bus at the same OKW bus stop, the first DHS bus already had a scooter, so I let my friend go first and I waited for the next DHS bus. That bus driver said she would call and let them know we needed another DHS bus. The second bus arrived in a timely manner .

We noticed more and more NOVA and Gillig buses and less and less RTS buses ! One bus driver said most RTS buses should be phased out by this summer. Time will tell ...


QUOTE=peemagg;44034336]What we found at the Saratoga stop at DHS was just a rope with a handicapped sign hanging on it like they use for parades. It was outside of the line and stretched between Saratoga and the Caribbean stop I believe.[/QUOTE]

Similar hanging sign at the DHS & EPCOT OKW bus stops ...

 

[kadesha]

ok, so I am confused by all of this. My DH will be using an ECV for this first time in May. So will he just get in the regular, twisty line? And if there are people sitting back in the area where the ECV would go what happens? We have to wait for another bus?

 

[Talking Hands]

QUOTE=peemagg;44034336]
Sue, the CM at the MK said the change was due to people basically abusing the handicapped loading areas. I know the topic of guests using wheelchairs, scooters, whatever to get to the front of the line, etc. has been discussed here many times.

He also said if I wait in line and the seats on the bus (where the ECV would be placed) are already taken, then the bus driver has to have seats elsewhere on the bus for those guests to sit before he can consider loading an ECV. He added that the bus driver cannot ask people, already seated, to stand. I went on to tell him how difficult it would be for ECV users to put the scooter on the bus when so many people are on it and how difficult it would be for the bus driver to know a guest using a wheelchair or scooter is waiting in line.

So people were abusing handicapped loading areas. How? Unless it is those who are not using wheelchairs trying to enter with the guests in a wheelchair. There is not a lot that those of us in wheelchairs can do about them except say they aren't with us.
I really object to going through a mainstream line and then being denied loading when people behind me are loaded. Sorry but to me that is discrimination.
I agree that it is difficult for a driver to see those of us in wheelchairs in line. Surrounded by normal height people we are blocked from view.
This problem of how we are being treated by transportation is the reason we will be staying off site for our trip next month for my birthday. My husband says that if he must drive me to the parks there is no reason for us to spend the extra money to stay onsite. Disney transportation has effectively taken away my independence from me. Now my husband has to go with me to the parks.

 

[JudithM]

My friend and I (both using EVCs) & our families were treated well by all the bus drivers we encountered last week at WDW. For us we were able to be independent by using the WDW buses to and from the parks and Downtown Disney.

Hope you have a nice birthday trip next month.

 

[SueM in MN]

QUOTE=peemagg;44034336]What we found at the Saratoga stop at DHS was just a rope with a handicapped sign hanging on it like they use for parades. It was outside of the line and stretched between Saratoga and the Caribbean stop I believe.

Similar hanging sign at the DHS & EPCOT OKW bus stop


Sue, the CM at the MK said the change was due to people basically abusing the handicapped loading areas. I know the topic of guests using wheelchairs, scooters, whatever to get to the front of the line, etc. has been discussed here many times.

He also said if I wait in line and the seats on the bus (where the ECV would be placed) are already taken, then the bus driver has to have seats elsewhere on the bus for those guests to sit before he can consider loading an ECV. He added that the bus driver cannot ask people, already seated, to stand. I went on to tell him how difficult it would be for ECV users to put the scooter on the bus when so many people are on it and how difficult it would be for the bus driver to know a guest using a wheelchair or scooter is waiting in line.

A side note ... at the OKW Hospitality House bus stop, a gentleman was already waiting to go to EPCOT when my friend and I (both using scooters) arrived at the bus stop with our group of seven to go to EPCOT. How fortunate that an EPCOT bus arrived with room for three scooters! It was our first experience with three scooters on the bus. Even though the gentleman was there first, he let my friend and I board first since we had rental EVCs and he had a much smaller personal scooter. The bus driver said something about one in fifty new (I believe) NOVA buses can accommodate three scooters.

I know the day we were waiting for a DHS bus at the same OKW bus stop, the first DHS bus already had a scooter, so I let my friend go first and I waited for the next DHS bus. That bus driver said she would call and let them know we needed another DHS bus. The second bus arrived in a timely manner .

We noticed more and more NOVA and Gillig buses and less and less RTS buses ! One bus driver said most RTS buses should be phased out by this summer. Time will tell ...

Either the place bus stops that OKW was assigned at Epcot and the Studio changed or they added the wheelchair area.

The Epcot OKW bus stop in October was to the right at the signs at the entrance to the bus strop area. You went all the way to the right and then the path makes a turn for the last 2 stops - the SSR bus stop and then the last was OKW. This is a picture from 2010, but the stop was the same in fall 2011.

The Studio OKW bus stop was to the right as you come to the bus area; in front of it was the handicapped parking lot. There was only one entrance into the line and a chain that stretched from the bus stop before to the end of the OKW chains, so no choice but to go into the twisty chained area.

So, something changed between when we were last there and when you were there.

 

[disney david]

i was just there for dhs they have the chained que but you could go to the front of the que their no chain that blocks the area between each stop. their was managers their talking about it and looking at the ques not sure if they was talking about the ques them selves but it seemed like they was. the stop had no one waiting just a bus with a driver fixing his mirror. he got off his bus and saw them and then decide to look busy. SO you could go from the h/c lot to the sidewalk through any stop even though it safer to use the cross walk. as i said in another post their was a guest in a wheelchair who came after the bus was loading and they was standing at the front of the que waiting for the driver to load them through the back door. they did not go through the que of have to unhook any chain to get their they had a good space in between each stop.

 

[SueM in MN]

i was just there for dhs they have the chained que but you could go to the front of the que their no chain that blocks the area between each stop. their was managers their talking about it and looking at the ques not sure if they was talking about the ques them selves but it seemed like they was. the stop had no one waiting just a bus with a driver fixing his mirror. he got off his bus and saw them and then decide to look busy. SO you could go from the h/c lot to the sidewalk through any stop even though it safer to use the cross walk. as i said in another post their was a guest in a wheelchair who came after the bus was loading and they was standing at the front of the que waiting for the driver to load them through the back door. they did not go through the que of have to unhook any chain to get their they had a good space in between each stop.

Where was the stop, though?

The stop we used had no need to use a crosswalk because it was on the same side as the park entrance. What I have seen at each park is that each stop is different. Some have pipes to make the line, some have chains, some have ropes and some have a combination of all 3 - all at the same park at different stops.

 

[disney david]

Where was the stop, though?

The stop we used had no need to use a crosswalk because it was on the same side as the park entrance. What I have seen at each park is that each stop is different. Some have pipes to make the line, some have chains, some have ropes and some have a combination of all 3 - all at the same park at different stops.

this stop didn't need a cross walk but it was next to the cross walk to the h/c lot i think it was okw. i was walking from board walk inn so from the charter lot and where they drop you off it was the first stop on the left. their was only two stops before the turn for the rest but they was separate from each other.

here a video not of the stop i saw can't till which end he at but this is what i am talking about that each stop has space for you to acess the back door with out going through the que. i know it from 2011 but it still the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hViKfB4m1Mc

 

[ttintagel]

I went on to tell him how difficult it would be for ECV users to put the scooter on the bus when so many people are on it and how difficult it would be for the bus driver to know a guest using a wheelchair or scooter is waiting in line.

It seems like it would not only be difficult, but totally unsafe!

Seriously, are the bruised feelings of the able-bodied really so vitally important that efficiency and safety have to be thrown to the wind?

 

[SueM in MN]

this stop didn't need a cross walk but it was next to the cross walk to the h/c lot i think it was okw. i was walking from board walk inn so from the charter lot and where they drop you off it was the first stop on the left. their was only two stops before the turn for the rest but they was separate from each other.

here a video not of the stop i saw can't till which end he at but this is what i am talking about that each stop has space for you to acess the back door with out going through the que. i know it from 2011 but it still the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hViKfB4m1Mc

The spot you describe is not the same spot we got on in October 2011.

I know for sure that there was no way in except the 'regulalr' entrance and no way out except at the the very front of the line. We had purposely left the park before Fantasmic let out so that we would get to the bus stop before the crowd. My family was waiting at the stop all alone for about 10 minutes before anyone else arrived, so we had lots of time to look around.
Each stop even at the same park is a little different, so it is very possible that one stop may have a handicapped boarding area marked and others not.

 

[disney david]

The spot you describe is not the same spot we got on in October 2011.

I know for sure that there was no way in except the 'regulalr' entrance and no way out except at the the very front of the line. We had purposely left the park before Fantasmic let out so that we would get to the bus stop before the crowd. My family was waiting at the stop all alone for about 10 minutes before anyone else arrived, so we had lots of time to look around.
Each stop even at the same park is a little different, so it is very possible that one stop may have a handicapped boarding area marked and others not.

Yes may be since these two stops I saw was in between te cross walks to the h/c lot but there was no sign saying where to go if you in a ecv. So that why I think guest are still going around front to the back door and waiting for the bus to pull up.


On a side not final for to ride on a bus that can take three wheelchairs I think it was a newer gillig because it had alot of safety signs up plus newer signs saying these seats are for wheelchairs and they have the tue downs under these seats in English and Spanish. And over all seats on the before the stairs saying please give up these seas or the elderly and guest with disabilities in English and spanish. I now they always had signs but never noticed so many each window would have one about giving up the seats on the bottom an the wheelchair one on the bottom of the window that can take wheelchairs.

 

[SueM in MN]

I think they are adding those signs to the newer buses. This picture is from late in September 2011.

 

[disney david]

I think they are adding those signs to the newer buses. This picture is from late in September 2011.

yes sue they was the signs on the bottom of the window and the other sign asking guest to give up their seats.

 

[SueM in MN]

yes sue they was the signs on the bottom of the window and the other sign asking guest to give up their seats.

Yes.
I had trouble taking pictures of the other signs because they were clear like these.

 

[North of Mouse]

I wanted to get an idea how people that use wheel chairs view Disney transportation, so decided to read this thread. Seems like all the other threads to me. Some have issues, some don't, in all the transportation threads I've read - doesn't sound like discrimination to me - just a normal day in the parks at Disney I've never seen people in wheel chairs have to wait unless there are too many at one time to fit on the special areas of buses, mostly at opening or closing times. EVERYBODY gets a little (well, a lot, sometimes) frustrated then. There are some that have NO patience and complain loudly while the majority accept what's available and realize the bus driver can do just so much and no more. What I can say that NOBODY likes, and is totally understandable, is when the bus is nearly full and a wheel chair/scooter comes up and they load it making the people in those seats move when there are no more seats available - now, that is reverse discrimination and really upsets everyone. If I were the scooter user, I'd do the right thing and say, no, I'll wait for the next bus Just trying to understand both sides - because there ARE always two sides to the story

 

[dclfun]

I would never want someone to move that is already seated, unless there were other seats still available. If they want to board more ambulatory Guests who are willing to stand, then I have no problem with waiting for the next bus since I will be "seated". There IS a true problem, IMO, with going through the regular queue line with a w/c or ECV, for me at least. I will have no problem if family is with me to protect my medical equipment but if I'm by myself, I will approach the bus transportation window for assistance. I had someone stand their child on my ventilator in the past and kids who are being held can easily kick it. I'm not about to compromise my safety or my life by following Disney's new rules.