Magical Express Bus had no wheelchair lift

[BroganMc]

Who do you need to let know that you need a lift bus? Should I call and confirm the day before or the day of?

My concern is we don't have much time for error (our own fault admittedly) because of flight time and ADR. Flight arrives at 330 and ADR is at 540 (at our resort). Its very tight but thats the only ADR they had

That gives you 2 hrs and 10 mins to deboard, get on a ME bus, get to Disney and get off the bus for dinner. Good thing it's at your resort.

FYI: it'll take you 1 hr to drive from the airport to Disney. Extra time is added in deplaning, getting thru ME check-in, getting on an ME bus and stopping at other resorts on the way in, plus time to get off the bus. That can easily eat up 30-45 mins. Whatever you do, don't dawdle! You're giving yourself only a 25 minute buffer for mistakes.

Just give Magical Express a call and make sure they note you need a lift bus. All the years I've used ME I rarely ever have a problem getting a lift bus. Once they made a mistake and sent the wrong bus. They rerouted another within 30 minutes. Made for a little rush at the airport to check-in, but it wasn't a deal breaker. And once the lift broke on the bus before they could load me. Took an extra 20 minutes for us to figure out how to fix it. (My mechanically-inclined cousin was with me and is supremely helpful with that sort of stuff.

Usually I just make sure I note the need for the lift bus when I call to book it. Then when I'm at the airport ME check-in I confirm it. The biggest delay for me is getting off the actual plane. It takes time for them to bring my powerchair up from the baggage hold. So if my plane lands at 3:30, I'm not off it until 3:50pm.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Who do you need to let know that you need a lift bus? Should I call and confirm the day before or the day of?

My concern is we don't have much time for error (our own fault admittedly) because of flight time and ADR. Flight arrives at 330 and ADR is at 540 (at our resort). Its very tight but thats the only ADR they had

If I were in your particular circumstances, I would DEFINITELY check in at the hotel first if you are late or close to late as the hotel mgr can work wonders with the restaurant mgr at getting your ADR extended for you due to circumstances such as yours...
Then you won't have to rush so quickly to the restaurant.

I had a situation once where we arrived early (like 10am) and I got my room around 3 (which was expected) but still didn't have my luggage at 5pm. And I had put all of my toiletries in my checked baggage. Well we were going to Narcoossee's for dinner and we wanted to truly 'freshen' up including fresh clothing. We really should have had our luggage by that point and the manager agreed. I wasn't rude but when I inquired how much longer would I need to wait, we were running out of time before our reservation... The manager made a phone call, and came back and handed me a paper... she told me to take a cab to dinner compliments of them and that I would be seated whenever I arrived...not to worry about my ADR time. So they have the ability to take care of situations. And if you need to wait extra long for a 'lift bus' that isn't your fault. You did what you needed to do which was to advise them of your arrival. I'm not saying that they should be expected to have one sitting at the curb with your name on it, but disabled guests shouldn't have to wait longer...how is the fair? Otherwise, they should be willing to be accommodating and work with you on the other end and give your some leeway on your arrival to your ADR.
Good Luck and hope you have a Great Trip!!

 

[SueM in MN]

Will a pediatric tilt-in-space (nonfolding) wheelchair fit under in the cargo area or should we request a lift bus?? He can come out of the chair and sit on the bus without a problem as long as we can transport his chair. We've put his medical strollers under before but those clearly fold and his Zippie Iris doesnt.

Here is a picture of the DME lift bus cargo space.

The part of the picture to the left shows a wheelchair in the cargo space - in my family's experience, the lift buses have all come with a wheelchair stored there.

 

[SchneiderFam]

We had an issue getting a WC lift bus from the airport when we had an early morning arrival into MCO after a redeye. We'd requested a WC bus and they had it marked down, but hadn't made any provision for us. They moved as quickly as they could to get us one, but it still took time and we sat there as the adrenaline and excitement that were fueling us sloooowwwwly drained out of us over the 90 minutes it took to get a bus.

Now if we are doing a redeye, we make sure to just rent a van. It saves us from a slow start to our vacation.

 

[weetot]

You do need to call and let them know ahead of time that you will need a bus with a lift.

I'm making arrangements for our first trip to WDW and I will need a lift bus. On the way back to the airport we will need to be there at 4am. Is there a number to call in the middle of the night to confirm the lift? Or do we just call the evening before?

Sorry if this sounds dumb, I couldn't find info on this.

 

[Gracie09]

I would have it noted when you make the reservation. The day before you leave call and double check that it's there. When you check in make sure the return trip also has a lift and the night before you go, when you get your return package, call and confirm. Sound like overkill but I am anal about things

 

[weetot]

I would have it noted when you make the reservation. The day before you leave call and double check that it's there. When you check in make sure the return trip also has a lift and the night before you go, when you get your return package, call and confirm. Sound like overkill but I am anal about things

Oh no! Not overkill! I've discovered that when dealing with odd times like 4am, details can get overlooked. I'll follow your advice.