Just back -weird Disney bus experience

[kaytieeldr]

In that type of situation, I am not sure why dispatch could not have directed the driver back to the resort?

I bet he didn't want to admit - to anyone, but especially management - that he was lost. While I wouldn't get frightened over the experience, I'm not a teenager who probably has little experience with public transportation (I work in Boston - 'nuff said ). Going from MK to Pop one night last year, I swear the driver must have taken the scenic route through Fort Lauderdale - it seemed to take THAT long to get back to the resort!

He did a perfect 16 point turnaround

Hey, of course it was perfect - your driver apparently invented it!

 

[Disney Doll]

Sounds like his first day on the job, which isn't really a safety hazzard, just the result of a very confused driver. The bigger question is, why did your daughter feel like she was going to be killed? I'd address that one first. Sounds like a generalized fear worth talking about and something she might need some help from Mom and Dad in dealing with.

I say this with all compassion. It's a scary world. But just being on a bus that's got a confused driver shouldn't really make someone feel like death is the likely outcome. There's more to that fear than this incident might warrent, I think.

I was thinking the same thing...sounds like a bit of an over-reaction for a lost bus.

As far as making an "exchange"...with a bus full of witnesses??? I doubt it. More likely a guy who didn't want to admit he was lost or call in to the dispatcher to admit he was lost. We all know how men are with regard to asking for directions.

I have had some great bus drivers. I have had mostly very pleasant, competent bus drivers. I have had a couple who have been lousy. I have never felt my life was in danger from any of them, even the lousy ones.

When I have an "issue" at Disney, which hasn't happened often in our years of frequent visits there...I tend to handle it immediately. I don't wait until I get home to post it on the DIS and see what everyone else thinks I should do.

If this bus thing distressed me that much, I would have called the front desk of my hotel and asked for the name of the Transportation Supervisor, or whatever the person's title would be, and I would have called them with my complaint. I don't tend to "expect" compensation for negative occurrences, so that wouldn't have been an issue.

 

[inloveindisney]

Disney is pretty good about getting managers out there if there is ever a problem. We had a problem once. For the life of me I can't remember what it was though. Anyway, when we got back to the hotel, there was a manager right there waiting for us to handle anyone that was upset about the ordeal.
one other time there was this guy that was complaining the entire trip about why the bus driver took 30 minutes to return to MK to pick him up. There was a manager waiting for that guy too. I couldn't believe it. I wished I had taken a different bus and from the looks on peoples faces, I think most of my fellow travelers felt the same way. That guy obviously didn't have the disney spirit in his blood!

 

[TinkerTracy]

Yup I have one scary bus story. I was on the bus going to...MGM from the Yacht Club, and my family and I where the only ones on the bus. We where speeding...a lot and then he swerved to avoid hitting a woman and a stroller and we all went FLYING...no one was hurt...but it was bad

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

"When I have an "issue" at Disney, which hasn't happened often in our years of frequent visits there...I tend to handle it immediately. I don't wait until I get home to post it on the DIS and see what everyone else thinks I should do.

If this bus thing distressed me that much, I would have called the front desk of my hotel and asked for the name of the Transportation Supervisor, or whatever the person's title would be, and I would have called them with my complaint. I don't tend to "expect" compensation for negative occurrences, so that wouldn't have been an issue."

I agree with the OP. You should have made the complaint then and there. I know you weren't called back on your complaint, however, if persistant enough, a Disney representative would have answered you and dealt with the situation. I think it's a little late now. Sorry.

 

[Trini]

We are here now and have mostly wonderful bus drivers. However, Downtown Disney buses never come. That is my main transportation complaint so far. We have been twice, and both times we waited over 30 minutes for our bus to come. One time the bus was so full we couldnt even get on it.

Other than that we really like the disney transportation. Its easy to use and usually the lines arent bad. The bus drivers, boat drivers and monorail drivers are all very friendly.

 

[GoofyTraci]

oh man this is such a horrible story, i just can't believe that happened at disney. ANd can't imagine no one calling you or trying to talk to you about your questions or concerns. I would call and call dinsey and speak to someone. This should have never have happened and they should at least apologize. So sorry that your daughter was upset.

Now I'm mad about this

 

[DiszyDeanette]

When the kids finally arrived back to the room at 11:30 that night my daughter burst into tears and was completely freaked out. It seems that the bus driver got lost on the way back to Pop Century. They went all over, left Disney property, the bus driver made U-turns everywhere and at one point stopped in a dark lot by a hotel, got off the bus and went to talk to someone in a truck. He never once came on the radio to make any sort of annoucements. At the point when he got off the bus in the dark parking lot my daughter thought they were going to be killed. She was seriously upset!!

Wow, what a lousy driver. I've never heard of anything like that, what a bummer. But... your adult daughter seriously thought a whole buss full of people were going to be killed by one man when he stopped in the parking lot?

 

[mytwotinks]

Anyone who thinks that it was out of line for the op's dd to be scared is crazy! I would be terrified to be on a bus that was driving me someplace I knew it wasn't supposed to be going and not responding to all of the other riders asking where they were. I would be wondering if maybe the drivers was unstable and we have all heard stories about what an unstable person can do. People aren't usually afraid of things that happen all of the time, so it is not unnatural for the teenager to be afraid when put in an out of the ordinary situation.

I think that the op should contact Disney. Drivers should know the roads like the back of their hand before they are allowed to drive them. My dh is a paramedic/firefighter and he has to take map tests before he is allowed to work in a city. For all of you that are saying "no big deal, the driver just got turned around", would you want your ambulance driver to get lost on the way to save your life? If the guys job is to get from one place to another, he should know the way.

 

[DiszyDeanette]

Anyone who thinks that it was out of line for the op's dd to be scared is crazy!

Scared? Sure. Thinking somebody is going to kill you? When there is a whole bus full of people (alone on the bus would be a different story!) That's some extreme paranoia IMHO. Like people who don't let their kids go outside because they know somebody is just waiting to kidnap them. But hey, I wasn't there, so who knows?

 

[cleo]

It isn't a matter of being 'out of line', it's more that she has a fear that is a bit extreme (especially for a 19 year old) given the situation. I made the comment not to condemn the girl but more out of concern for such an extreme reaction. It's understandable, given the news she probably hears on tv and all around her, but it's a pretty strong reaction under the circumstances.

I just think it's something Mom and Dad might be able to help her with, and probably already are. If it were my daughter that would be the first thing I'd be concerned about. Any bus driver can get lost, any CM can do something stupid. It just seems to me the issue isn't some idiot bus driver who might have inconvenienced everyone but wasn't acting in a harmful or unsafe way, the issue is the daughter's fear that something drastic is going to happen in a very mundane (if annoying) situation.

 

[tkitty]

I was there the same days as the OP. We had some drivers that were independant companies,called in due to the heavy crowds, so who knows if this driver knew much. You would hope that Disney would have great, competent drivers, but. Most of ours were good. some took twice as long as others. We had one that stood out, though. His name was Sammie, maybe in his mid-late 60s, what a Disney driver should be. From the momment we took off, he kept us entertained. Great and not-so-great jokes , and a sing along (my grandson (4) was in heaven).

 

[cabanafrau]

tkitty, I was also going to post that this might have been in the time frame I read about from some other posters in the free dining crowd threads, and that it might have been an outside contracted driver, brought in to handle a sudden crush of guests.

Add me to the list of those a bit confused why the situation was so dramatically frightening to someone who likely lives 9+ mos of the year @ college on her own.

 

[Lorelai]

It isn't a matter of being 'out of line', it's more that she has a fear that is a bit extreme (especially for a 19 year old) given the situation. I made the comment not to condemn the girl but more out of concern for such an extreme reaction. It's understandable, given the news she probably hears on tv and all around her, but it's a pretty strong reaction under the circumstances.

I just think it's something Mom and Dad might be able to help her with, and probably already are. If it were my daughter that would be the first thing I'd be concerned about. Any bus driver can get lost, any CM can do something stupid. It just seems to me the issue isn't some idiot bus driver who might have inconvenienced everyone but wasn't acting in a harmful or unsafe way, the issue is the daughter's fear that something drastic is going to happen in a very mundane (if annoying) situation.

Yeah, but getting into a discussion of the OP's daughter's psyche is way off topic. She just wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience, and if so, to get some advice on where to lodge a complaint - she wasn't looking for parenting tips.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Yeah, but getting into a discussion of the OP's daughter's psyche is way off topic. She just wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience, and if so, to get some advice on where to lodge a complaint - she wasn't looking for parenting tips.

 

[JulielovesDisney]

We were there a week before you, and a bus driver was telling a family about a similar story. The driver missed a turn, so he had to go off property to turn around. Some people on the bus dialed 911, thinking something bad was happening. I guess he didn't tell them what was going on. Then he got pulled over and, if I remember correctly, escorted back to the right resort.

I can understand how your DD was scared. It does sound very frightening, especially if he pulled into a hotel and all. Thank goodness nothing happened!

 

[d.kurz]

I have a DD17 who would have been totally freaked as well. She's got an imagination that works OVERTIME, I tell you, 24/7.

One more reason to put a check in the "plus" column on renting a car!

 

[Lesley]

We had an experience when we were at Pop in June where we left the MK at closing. There were tons of people lined up for the Pop busses and the bus that eventually came for us when we reached the front of the line was an unmarked charter (like a charter motorcoach, not a disney city bus) driven by a non-uniformed driver. I'll admit this made me a bit nervous, but I reassured myself that there were plenty of CM's around that could have noted if there was an unauthorized bus taking guests away...and there is a gate to get into the MK bus area. We were fine and I'm left to assume that Disney contracts out some private busses for exit times. It would be nice if they posted this information somewhere though, before someone more paranoid than me refuses to get on a bus and raises a ruckus.

I don't think fear is an entirely unreasonable response when you consider the actions of terrorists in our own country and in others (ie. attacks on public transportation, suicide bombings). Anything *could* happen. We are warned to watch out for things that seem out of the ordinary and report them...and I don't think anyone should be surprised if a passenger would call 911 in a situation like the OP described. Had that bus we were on in June left WDW property I would have been pretty scared.

 

[seven dwarfs]

In Oct 2002 we had a bus driver take the wrong turn and was driving in the wrong direction with cars coming at us! It was so scarey. We were staying at the Boardwalk. We got off at the Swan/dolphin stop and walked. He was new and I do not know what happened. The bus was packed and I was standing along with my hubby and two year old twins. Not good. I have never had anything like this happen since.

I will say if it had been me on the bus, I would have been worried too. We live in a day and age when you just never know what is going on. I am so sorry your daughter had to go through this. It is unfortunate that we are put in the situation where we have to worry about 'bad things happing'. I hope Disney took care of this. I will say I have talked to transportaion before about buses at the campground. We waited over 1 hour for a buss. They took care of it and we never had any other issues.

 

[goofyernmost]

As a supervisor for a public transit bus service I can tell you, based on what was said, that the driver was new and got lost. Could he have handled it better, I would think so but he was probably trying NOT to panic anyone figuring that he would find his way eventually.

WDW can be daunting in the daylight, imagine trying to find your way around at night if you are not totally familiar with the layout. Remember that these drivers must learn ALL the routes, not just the one you happen to be on. If your new, just like everyone of you when you started a new job, your nervous and confused and if you miss a turn, in this case, you can be up Reedy Creek without a paddle.

I cannot believe that anyone would jump to the conclusion that that he was "exchanging" anything when he stopped and asked a trucker for directions. What a quantum leap that is.

The fact that a supervisor met them when they finally arrived at the destination proves that he was in contact with dispatch and they were trying their best to get him back on track without causing a panic. After he got his bearings, if he ever did, he should have made an announcement that he had made a wrong turn and they were back on track. Just because they didn't hear any conversation with dispatch doesn't mean it didn't happen. Buses are loud and people are even louder.

Shame on those of you that called for him to be terminated. I sure hope the people that trained you had a little more sympathy for someone making an honest mistake then you have. You would not believe how many times a day I hear that demand. Almost all the time it was for some minor insignificant thing that hardly warrented a talking too, much less being fired.

Driving a vehicle that size, in heavy traffic with a load of loud passengers, with the interior lights glaring in the windshield is not an easy task. I challenge any of you to try it before you pass judgement. Those guys have a huge task to do and a very responsible one at that. They have a special license and are subject to random drug tests and yearly physicals to keep that license. I would trust my life to any one of them, anytime.