MK Bus wheelchair/ECV at closing

[chaoslobster]

It's FCFS across the bus riders, not 2 queues (one for wheels, one for walkers). Loading problems occur when they don't pull wheels out of line early enough and preboard them.

If I, as a wheelchair user, got to the front of the line and was told to step aside and wait for the next bus and let walkers continue to board, I probably wouldn't move. The people behind me would also be waiting for the next bus.

From an access issue, it can also be a problem for attractions with a limited number of wheelchair accessible vehicles. It is discriminatory for wheels users to wait an excess amount of time.

I absolutely agree and yet this is how they do it the majority of the time in my experience. I've been coming every year for almost 2 decades. Almost always my scooter is told to go through the queue, when I get to the bus I can't get on because they don't let the scooter on when there's already people on the bus. I get pulled aside for the next bus, people behind me board. So I wait far longer than everyone else.

In 17 years I have NEVER been pulled out of the queue so that I could board before walkers. Very rarely I'm shunted to the side as soon as I pull up and never have to go through the regular queue, but that's maybe once in 10 bus rides. It's either I cut the line totally or I wait a lot longer than walkers. Usually the latter. I've never just been pulled out while in the queue to board first on the "fair" bus, the one that I would naturally have been on when I reached the front.

After all these years I've just sort of accepted that it's yet another way the disabled are second class citizens and that's that. I'm never in a hurry so I genuinely don't mind waiting longer, it's just the blatant unfairness stings. They want to avoid the PERCEPTION of scooters cutting the line so instead they choose the REALITY that we wait twice as long. I've stayed 12 days at the Pop for my birthday (May 30) for so many years and this has been normal every time. Pop has an insane bus queue and it is not uncommon to wait 2 or 3 buses after the one I should have been on because they take scooter out of the queue as we get to the front. Sometimes I get to front, get shunted to the side to wait and there's already 5 scooters waiting. Walkers get on immediately, I wait til 3 buses later.

 

[DisneyOma]

Pop has an insane bus queue and it is not uncommon to wait 2 or 3 buses after the one I should have been on because they take scooter out of the queue as we get to the front. Sometimes I get to front, get shunted to the side to wait and there's already 5 scooters waiting. Walkers get on immediately, I wait til 3 buses later.

I'm assuming you are talking about the queues at the parks, as the resort ones have the ramp access wait spot clearly outside the regular queue? If you are talking about the MK queue, I thought the gate to ramp area was before the front? I remember it being right after the last turn in the queue, with about a busload of people ahead of it?

 

[chaoslobster]

I'm assuming you are talking about the queues at the parks, as the resort ones have the ramp access wait spot clearly outside the regular queue? If you are talking about the MK queue, I thought the gate to ramp area was before the front? I remember it being right after the last turn in the queue, with about a busload of people ahead of it?

The closing time park queues, yes. It's never much of a wait to get a bus from Pop to MK or AK since I don't typically go out until afternoon. The problem is getting back to the resort at night when the entire park seems to be waiting for a bus to Pop or AoA.

I don't specifically recall the arrangement of the MK queue area, I only know that I've almost always been asked to take the scooter through the regular queue with everyone else, and once I make it to the front, I'm then taken aside to wait in the area with the other scooters.

It's definitely possible that the gate is like, a yard or two before the actual front of the line, but it's the same thing for all intents and purposes. I'm waiting through 90% of the regular queue and then waiting longer in the scooter area while people who were behind me get to board the bus. Sometimes entire busfuls of people who were behind me, if there were already 2 scooters waiting and I can't get on the next bus either.

As I said, from time to time I'll be told to go directly to the little scooter wait area as soon as I pull up, and in that case I never go through the regular queue at all. It's just unusual and tends to happen if I'm leaving the park early and there's not much of a bus queue. When there's a queue snaking out to Guam, they don't seem to like letting scooters cut the line -- even though we're not really cutting the line. Just that's what it looks like to the giant queue of tired, cranky people who don't realize that scooters have to board first because we can't drive a scooter into a full bus.

This has been my experience for many many years of Disney. I'm always there during the same two weeks every year, so maybe the bus queues are handled differently at different times, maybe depending on the crowd situation? I go during GayDays and for my birthday May 30, so I'm usually there over Memorial Day weekend.

It depends on the specific Cast Member handling the bus queue, too. It's common to get yelled at by the bus queue CM for doing the exact same thing I was told to do the night before by a different CM. Well, not yelled at, it's Disney-- call it "sternly spoken to in an annoyed tone by a stressed out CM informing me that I either should or should not be in the regular queue, even though I was told the opposite just last night"

 

[Evita_W]

The closing time park queues, yes. It's never much of a wait to get a bus from Pop to MK or AK since I don't typically go out until afternoon. The problem is getting back to the resort at night when the entire park seems to be waiting for a bus to Pop or AoA.

I don't specifically recall the arrangement of the MK queue area, I only know that I've almost always been asked to take the scooter through the regular queue with everyone else, and once I make it to the front, I'm then taken aside to wait in the area with the other scooters.

It's definitely possible that the gate is like, a yard or two before the actual front of the line, but it's the same thing for all intents and purposes. I'm waiting through 90% of the regular queue and then waiting longer in the scooter area while people who were behind me get to board the bus. Sometimes entire busfuls of people who were behind me, if there were already 2 scooters waiting and I can't get on the next bus either.

As I said, from time to time I'll be told to go directly to the little scooter wait area as soon as I pull up, and in that case I never go through the regular queue at all. It's just unusual and tends to happen if I'm leaving the park early and there's not much of a bus queue. When there's a queue snaking out to Guam, they don't seem to like letting scooters cut the line -- even though we're not really cutting the line. Just that's what it looks like to the giant queue of tired, cranky people who don't realize that scooters have to board first because we can't drive a scooter into a full bus.

This has been my experience for many many years of Disney. I'm always there during the same two weeks every year, so maybe the bus queues are handled differently at different times, maybe depending on the crowd situation? I go during GayDays and for my birthday May 30, so I'm usually there over Memorial Day weekend.

It depends on the specific Cast Member handling the bus queue, too. It's common to get yelled at by the bus queue CM for doing the exact same thing I was told to do the night before by a different CM. Well, not yelled at, it's Disney-- call it "sternly spoken to in an annoyed tone by a stressed out CM informing me that I either should or should not be in the regular queue, even though I was told the opposite just last night"

Yep, DH has been yelled at for not bypassing the queue and then the next night yelled at for bypassing the same length queue. One night, one CM said not to bypass the queue and the bus driver somehow saw him before he got into the queue and refused to board anyone until DH was brought on board. So, it is all over the place, consistency would also be good.

 

[Groot]

The worst/most confusing line is the EPCOT lines. At first it seems like you have to weave your way through the line until the pull out point, but all you had to do was go to the side or something.

 

[elvispursley]

Maybe it also has something to do with the time of year/day you're queuing up? Last Sep. we never had to join the regular queue and always went directly off to the side to wait. Only once did we have to wait (at Epcot) because there were 2 ECVs already waiting. The bus driver immediately radioed for another bus and apologized profusely (no need for that). But I think years ago when my grandfather went with us (this was 15 years ago), we were directed into the regular queue when it was extremely busy.

 

[chaoslobster]

Yep, DH has been yelled at for not bypassing the queue and then the next night yelled at for bypassing the same length queue. One night, one CM said not to bypass the queue and the bus driver somehow saw him before he got into the queue and refused to board anyone until DH was brought on board. So, it is all over the place, consistency would also be good.

The fun part is that you ALSO get yelled at if you drive up and then go find the nearest CM to ask what you should do. They act like you're astoundingly stupid for not psychically intuiting which queue this specific person wants scooters in. It's just guaranteed to not be the one they wanted last night at the same park, same time, same queue.

Honestly, It's not my fault you're cranky (the CM) because you got assigned to bus queue duty and it's awful. Just tell me what you want and I'll do it, I'm at Disney World and you're not ruining my night no matter how rudely you address me.