New buses coming in early 2024 - ECV restrictions

[SueM in MN]

I haven't seen anything about the new buses lately - have they completely replaced the older ones and have there been any other issues with scooters or wheelchair loading/unloading? I haven't been there since they were first introduced so never tried using them.

I haven't heard anything new, but it could be that not many people have ridden them yet to report.
According to Wikipedia, Disney World has 486 buses in their fleet.
If I remember correctly, the number of new buses with the new securement devices was less than 100; I think in the low 90s.

 

[Yinn]

I haven't seen anything about the new buses lately - have they completely replaced the older ones and have there been any other issues with scooters or wheelchair loading/unloading? I haven't been there since they were first introduced so never tried using them.

The older ones are still in circulation as of early September. My last trip ended up about 2/3 of them were still the older busses.

Also to report back, the ATTO Sport fits into the new machines without any issues. I actually had more issues with the old busses when they couldn’t find a good way to latch it. They didn’t like latching it onto the wheel arms and weren’t too happy with just a single tether point. I was asked to get off the scooter the majority of the time and sit in a seat.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I had the unfortunate chance to be on one of those. Getting the scooter on and positioned correctly was a challenge for me. And then the seat belt hit me right on my neck. So I rode the bus with a hand under the seatbelt. It was so uncomfortable and I didn't feel safe at all.
I talked with the bus driver for a minute and told him how much I disliked the new bus for the scooters and he said he didn't like it either.
I hated it and promptly sent an email to guest relations. I never did get a response.

 

[KPeterso]

We rode a couple of those in September with my Mom. She was not a fan and despite me explaining it to her, she did not understand. And would not listen to the driver the first time we had to have her back into the spot. Finally had me get on and tell her to let the driver park it. There was at least one time we were told the Pride Go-Go was too small for that spot, but it was put there by other drivers, so who knows? We did have several times that despite it being a new bus that she was in the regular tie down spot since we were the only ECV or wheelchair loaded. My mom was also not a fan of riding backwards.

 

[tzvdmd]

I haven't heard anything new, but it could be that not many people have ridden them yet to report.
According to Wikipedia, Disney World has 486 buses in their fleet.
If I remember correctly, the number of new buses with the new securement devices was less than 100; I think in the low 90s.

That is a really high number. Disney did add 98 buses to the fleet but also removed some of the older buses. I believe the number is actually around 250.

 

[tzvdmd]

I had the unfortunate chance to be on one of those. Getting the scooter on and positioned correctly was a challenge for me. And then the seat belt hit me right on my neck. So I rode the bus with a hand under the seatbelt. It was so uncomfortable and I didn't feel safe at all.
I talked with the bus driver for a minute and told him how much I disliked the new bus for the scooters and he said he didn't like it either.
I hated it and promptly sent an email to guest relations. I never did get a response.

We are trained and told by management that the driver is supposed to load the scooters on the new buses that require backing. Unfortunately you experienced a lazy or misinformed driver. Also you can refuse the seatbelt if it is uncomfortable.

 

[elvispursley]

We had 2 of the newer buses in our trip last month. The first bus we used was the night of our MNSSHP. The bus driver was a complete hot mess. It really didn’t help that English wasn’t her first language and no one on that bus could understand anything she was telling people to do. We lucked out and had the spot on the bus with regular tie downs. She totally forgot to unload someone and ignored the hollering to let her know she needed to unload one of the ECVs.

The 2nd bus the driver was awesome. He asked my mom to not sit on her scooter, saying he felt it was safer for her not to. He loaded and unloaded her scooter like a pro.

 

[aleria24]

I Have done some reading but am still unsure. Will a Maxima fit on these new buses? They are my preferred scooter to rent so I am hoping so. I can use a smaller scooter, but I am MUCH less comfortable and have to watch the battery.