ECVS, moderate hotels, and busses.

[GoOfyInDisNEy]

Hi all. Last night my husband and I were talking about our trip in late OCT. This is our first time staying anywhere but POP. POP only has one main bus stop. When the bus pulls up, the ECVs are let on first and then the line starts to move. I'm curious to know how that works at a moderate hotel. So many of them have multiple stops. How do they get them on? Do you have to exit the bus so they can park it? We don't use them, but we have no issue at all with them and see them as needed for the people who use them. Just curious as to how the busses work with the multiple stops.

 

[minnie mum]

If a guest with an ECV is at the first stop (ie, the bus is empty) then they board first. If the guest is at a subsequent stop and the bus is partially filled so that the ECV can't be loaded, the driver will call for another bus to come directly (empty) to that stop. This is one of the reasons we like POFQ - only one stop. CBR Jamaica is also a favourite - it is usually the first stop for most routes.

 

[goofy4tink]

If a guest in any kind of assistance device (ECV, wheelchair) is waiting in the appropriate spot at the bus stop, the driver will see them. If there is space for them, he will open the rear door only. If the appropriate seat on the bus is open, the driver will assist the ECV guest onto the bus and tie down the vehicle and seat the guest. If that seat is being used, by able bodied guests, the driver is completely within his rights to ask those people to move, even if it means they have to stand, in order to accommodate the ECV guest. If the bus is too crowded to make boarding the ECV guest safe, another bus will be asked for.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

We usually stay at Caribbean Beach and stay at Trinidad North. This past trip in May there were a couple "regulars" in ECVs or wheelchairs. The ones in wheelchairs had theirs folded up as they got on, but the ECV was always boarded first unless the bus was full when it got to us. There are signs on the bus where the seats can be folded up to make room for ECV or wheelchair. One couple had a lot of difficulty every time. She couldn't drive the ECV onto the bus, so her husband did. It was a chore even for him. Sometimes I don't think people realize that they aren't as easy to maneuver as you might think! However, there seemed to be a lot of them this year.
I forget how many stop CBR has, probably 6 or 7. I should know, but other than knowing what order they're in, I never bothered to count.

 

[Cyrano]

Moving this to the disAbilities board where you will get a lot of help regarding using an ECV

 

[GoOfyInDisNEy]

No need to move. I'm not disabled, and we don't use ECVs. I was simply curious. Now that my question has been answered, you are more than welcome to delete the thread.

 

[txnana]

I will be at CBR at Christmas with my family and a good friend, the friend and I are both on Ecv's. Can someone tell me what the first bus stop is for that resort and she and I will go there in order not to inconvenience other travelers.

 

[Allison]

No need to move. I'm not disabled, and we don't use ECVs. I was simply curious. Now that my question has been answered, you are more than welcome to delete the thread.

Threads don't get deleted once they are answered.

 

[lanejudy]

I will be at CBR at Christmas with my family and a good friend, the friend and I are both on Ecv's. Can someone tell me what the first bus stop is for that resort and she and I will go there in order not to inconvenience other travelers.

To be honest, it might vary. I know I've heard others indicate that Jamaica is the first stop. But when we stayed at CBR we were in Martinique and we were the first bus.

Honestly, I wouldn't waste time riding around the internal bus just to avoid "inconveniencing" others. Depending on where your room is, you'd potentially spend as much time riding the internal bus around to the Martinique stop as it might take for another bus to be dispatched direct to your "island" stop if the the bus is too full for you to load.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mb187143]

To be honest, it might vary. I know I've heard others indicate that Jamaica is the first stop. But when we stayed at CBR we were in Martinique and we were the first bus. Honestly, I wouldn't waste time riding around the internal bus just to avoid "inconveniencing" others. Depending on where your room is, you'd potentially spend as much time riding the internal bus around to the Martinique stop as it might take for another bus to be dispatched direct to your "island" stop if the the bus is too full for you to load. Enjoy your vacation!

It depends on where the bus is coming from. When it comes in from some parks, it enters through the back entrance, and Jamaica is first. When it comes in from the front, Martinique is first. The routes vary - I can't remember which routes use which entrance off the top of my head. So, staying in either village puts you at the first stop for at least some buses. Martinique is close to the pool and the food court, but the walk to Jamaica is nice over the bridge as well.

 

[lanejudy]

Well, that makes sense! Thanks!

 

[YayHeyNoWay]

If a guest in any kind of assistance device (ECV, wheelchair) is waiting in the appropriate spot at the bus stop, the driver will see them. If there is space for them, he will open the rear door only. If the appropriate seat on the bus is open, the driver will assist the ECV guest onto the bus and tie down the vehicle and seat the guest. If that seat is being used, by able bodied guests, the driver is completely within his rights to ask those people to move, even if it means they have to stand, in order to accommodate the ECV guest. If the bus is too crowded to make boarding the ECV guest safe, another bus will be asked for.

That is interesting that you said "the driver is completely within his rights to ask those people to move, even if it means they have to stand, in order to accommodate". I was dismayed that that is not the experience we had on our last trip.

I posted this in another area, but feel it is worth it to repeat here:

FYI, on our last trip, my daughter uses a wheelchair. We were at the bus stop at [Port Orleans Riverside] resort, waiting for a park bus (not DME). An almost full bus pulled up to the stop, and the bus driver said there is no room for her & her wheelchair on the bus, we have to wait for the next one.

I looked inside, saw people sitting in ALL the wheelchair spots, the ones where the chairs fold up for a wheelchair or down to sit in. [No wheelchairs, just passengers sitting on all the fold-down seats.]

There is a sign right above [those seats] that says people must give up their seats for wheelchair guests, but the bus driver said it's optional! :-/

Nice passengers ended up offering to get up, but can you believe the driver said that? I would have argued if I needed to.

I just wanted to post this somewhere more centrally, so other people know about it. I mean, if the sign says it, the bus driver should have the people get up, right?

 

[Toffeewoffy]

That is bad! We only had one time when some people were told to move when the driver made ready to let the ramp down so DD and I could get on. But there were plenty of other seats for them to sit on: it's just that the ECV user has to sit in the seats nearest their ECV.

Most buses came into us first (Martinique). I think the only time we found people already on were going to DTD and going to back to MK in the evening. In the morning the buses definitely stopped at us first.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is the actual text from the applicable law (my bold)

"(j)(1) When an individual with a disability enters a vehicle, and because of a disability, the individual needs to sit in a seat or occupy a wheelchair securement location, the entity shall ask the following persons to move in order to allow the individual with a disability to occupy the seat or securement location:

(i) Individuals, except other individuals with a disability or elderly persons, sitting in a location designated as priority seating for elderly and handicapped persons (or other seat as necessary);

(ii) Individuals sitting in or a fold-down or other movable seat in a wheelchair securement location.

(2) This requirement applies to light rail, rapid rail, and commuter rail systems only to the extent practicable.

(3) The entity is not required to enforce the request that other passengers move from priority seating areas or wheelchair securement locations.

(4) In all signage designating priority seating areas for elderly persons and persons with disabilities, or designating wheelchair securement areas, the entity shall include language informing persons sitting in these locations that they should comply with requests by transit provider personnel to vacate their seats to make room for an individual with a disability. This requirement applies to all fixed route vehicles when they are acquired by the entity or to new or replacement signage in the entity's existing fixed route vehicles."

This is a link to the law:
http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-id...ext&node=49:1.0.1.1.27&idno=49#se49.1.37_1167

It is DOT 49 CFR SECTION 37.167 (j)

So, they are required to ask, but are not required to make people get up or move.
And, there are times they won't ask - one would be when the bus is so full that there are people standing and even if the securement spots were vacant, the wheelchair/ECV could not safely get there and have space for the driver to tie it down.
Another would be if the spot closest to the door already has an ECV in it and another would not be able to get by to get to the spot closer to the front.
Those things don't happen that often, but they do happen.

If the driver is not able to take the wheelchair, the dispatcher is supposed to be notified so another bus can be sent to pick up the guest using a mobility device.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is a picture of a resort bus stop sign.

This one is from OKW, but all the resort bus stops have them. The signs all have the same text, but are themed to the resort they are at.

This is the sign above the wheelchair securement area on the buses.

Some have a little different text and may just say that there are wheelchair securement spots under the bench.

 

[YayHeyNoWay]

Thank you so much for clarifying this, Sue! I don't wish to rehash this here, but I did elongate a discussion about this in another thread (called "Wheelchair on bus and in line")

While I understand that the driver cannot force a passenger to move, he did not even bother to ask. As it turned out, the passengers overheard the situation and kindly offered to move, and we were able to board. So, if he were to ask, they would have moved. But he did not ask.

There were no other mobility devices on board. The people who moved were not mobility impaired. The bus was almost full, but NOT packed. (They can really pack them on when they want to, so many people standing crammed in, but this was not the case)

Basically, I was really taken aback that he did not even ask! It's not anarchy on a bus, the sign is there for a reason and the driver is in charge of at least attempting to enforce it, even though I know logically there is only so much he can do to enforce it.

Thank you.