My Frustration

[minijeanie]

I have posted on Transportation Board but want to vent here as well


Going to world next month rotfl: )

originally just DH& Myself watching DD in parade with your high school band

now DS has gotten permission to go as well from his LaCrosse coach
He cannot get on our flight. so he as well as his friend will be coming later on in the day.

DME will NOT ALLOW them to enter the bus because they are under 18 yrs of age. BTW, son is 16 and his friend is almost 17

I couldn't believe this!! The airline we are going on has a rule that child must be 13 yrs of age to fly alone....Yet Disney says they must be 18 yrs old to ride a bus.

hmmmmm

my DS can fly to Paris alone but cannot take a bus for 30 minutes to a resort.

what is wrong with this picture?????

So.....

at this point I have to rent a car and pick both him and his friend up.

I already talked to DME and they suggested this as the best way to go.





I just want Disney to Lighten UP!!!
OMG get with the times


anyone else run into this problem????

 

[JikoMarie]

I can understand why Disney would do this. They don't want to be legally responsible for minors. I don't think you can book a hotel room if you're under 18 either.

 

[minijeanie]

I have no problem with being in a room alone, but come on..
kids are 16 and 17

they are not youngsters. they can find the bus, sit on it and get off at their stop without any help???

answer me this

how can an airline allow a teen to get on a plane by himself and Disney will not allow that same teen to get on their bus????


I want this changed>>>>>>>

if not for me

but for all the other customers who pay top dollar and can not get service

I am paying $200 a nite for a motel room in CSR....the least I can expect is that my son can be delivered there without me having to rent a car for the evening?

I am so sorely disapointed in the way Disney has been going downhill past couple years.

Thankfully I have had many many happy times prior to all their BS

I think after this year......it is time to explore resorts outside of WDW.

kids will be adults and we will need suites

 

[donaldsgal]

It stinks that this didn't work out for your family. However, in response to your question about "how can an airline let my son fly but Disney won't let him ride a bus", I think the shortest (and perhaps least popular) answer is that, since both are private companies, both can set whatever policies they want in regards to minors.

Sounds like you're frustrated enough to patron other places. I am coming up on trip #6 and certainly haven't experienced any Disney BS as you put it (far cry from it, actually), but everyone's experiences are different. Hopefully wherever you vacation in the future meets your wants/needs. I hope you have a good trip.

ETA: I read your post on the Transportation Board. Sounds like you got some good advice (if at all feasible, I think the suggestion from a poster over there to wait at the airport for his flight to arrive sounds like a great one - avoids a trip back for you, the cost of a rental car, and it lets you all board DME together. I guess my other response would be this: if your son and his friend can navigate the complexities of the airport that you lined out, which are certainly challenging, I'm not sure why you think they can't hail a cab and ride it over. After all, that's going to be a shorter trip than the DME since that usually stops at 2 or 3 resorts in its route. To alleviate your fears (which I understand), you could ask them to call you while they are in the cab and stay on the phone with you until they arrive. Just some suggestions. I hope you find a reasonable solution and are able to use some of the suggestions you've heard from others. I also hope you can fuel your frustration into a (respectfully-worded ) letter to Disney and then let it go and feel the love for your upcoming trip. Maybe your feedback will produce an explanation you can understand. I don't know you or know if you're choosing to stay mad and be upset, but I think you've gotten a lot of great feedback on ways to make this work, so I hope you can use one of them or come up with a happy medium. Have a great time.

 

[Lynne M]

Sorry, I know it's an inconvenience for you, but I think Disney's right to do this. Not all teenagers are as mature as you feel yours are, and if someone's kids got off at the wrong resort and got lost, or injured somehow, there would be h*ll to pay.

On an airplane, the kids are in a closed environment, they can't get off at the wrong stop. The airlines have people to look out for unaccompanied minors, and make sure they get where they need to go.

It doesn't work that way on a bus. There's no one to look after the kids. I could see an excited teenager mixing up Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge, and now you have a kid wandering around the campground while their frantic parents are waiting for them at Wilderness Lodge.

Since Disney doesn't allow an unaccompanied minor to check into a room, I suspect there aren't many kids needing to travel alone on an ME bus.

 

[Skroops]

Sorry, I agree with Disney on this too. Airlines have the unaccomp's supervised the entire time either by the ground crew or the flight attendants. On the bus, there are no attendants to give them the extra safety instructions or service to make sure they get to where they are going safely. If they did have someone to help the unaccomp, it would probably equate to an extra cost like the airlines charge. ME is operated by Mears, and contracted by Disney.
Sorry about your inconvenience.

 

[Hannathy]

OP I happen to agree with you! That is crazy that they can't ride the bus themselves and join their parent at the resort. I can see not booking a room but not the riding the bus part. Disney sure doesn't mind all the minors that will be on their own at the parks all day when they have the bands come to Disney and spend all the bucks. 17 is ridiculous heck in another yr they will be wooing them to come work as CM's. Are you sure they aren't 18 hint, hint, who is going to know. If you just booked it and they got on will they really ask for ID at the bus?


Her son is not flying as an unaccompanied minor that stops when you are 13. The airline will not do anything with them, they are totally on their own just like you would be.

 

[imatoad]

One word, liability. Remember, your in sue happy USA. I work a part time job at a very large, well known clothing retailer that is very popular with kid's, teens and college kids. Recently a kid went flying down one of the aisles on those Heely's and nearly plowed right into me, I told my manager that if it ever happens I'm going into orbit and they can fire me for it. I'm waiting for some kid to get seriously hurt and then have mom and dad sue the store, and it will happen. Or worse, some kid slams into another customer. No, I agree with Disney, they're just covering their own butts.

 

[mb168]

Can you catch a taxi back to the airport and then ride the bus with them? I've not used DME so don't know how it works.

 

[simzac]

Why not ask ME if one of you can just wait at MCO til DS's plane arrives, then the 3 of you can hop on the bus together

 

[cabanafrau]

I understand how frustrating it is when you just can't get things to fall in line w/ exactly what you need, but I think it's a tad over the top to consider it lacking on Disney's side. I think Simzac's suggestion is entirely appropriate & reasonable.

I hope you get things worked out & watching DD in the parade will be a lifetime memory for all of you -- now that's something to get all excited & worked up about!

 

[Luv2Roam]

I am wondering if it is Mears, and not Disney. Only because (my understanding) is he could get a WDW resort room sans parent(s).
I am sure it all comes down to liability as someone else mentioned.