Not our best trip, but still had a great time

[jmartinez1895]

Just a short trip report and vent here. We just got home from a short 5 day 4 night trip. Our flight was great and Magical Express was wonderful. I had called ahead of time and they put a not on our ressie that we had a child with special medical needs. They really did a wonderful job of taking care of us. We stayed at POR and they too were great. Our room was not ready so we checked our carry ons with bell service and decided to head to MK.
Our youngest uses a special needs stroller and at our resort they had the box painted for wheelchairs. We got in the box and thankful there were only about 6 people waiting at the stop. The bus pulls up and opens the front door. I informed the driver that we needed the ramp ( we had been the first people to the stop and I was in no way trying to jump the line). The driver then told us that he would load the people waiting first and take care of us IF there was room. Once he gets to the back of the bus he opens the doors and just stands there and looks at us. I ask if he was going to put the ramp down and he said " Your kidding me right? Thats a stroller, you got me all the way back here for a stroller?" By this point I was getting very angry. I told him the whole thing about it being a special needs stroller and that this one was approved for transport. He keeps telling me that he does not have to use the ramp for a stroller because all stroller have to be folded. We go around and around and he finally lowers the ramp and as we are loading he said that we have to have a red tag. We tell him that we have not been to a park yet and we are going to get one as soon as he gets us there. He then said that he can not tie down the stroller. I tell him again that is approved for trasport and show him the tie down spots. He keeps saying that he is going to have to call it and that he has been a driver for 7 years and he knows a stroller when he sees one. All this was bad enough but what really made me angry was after he put the tie downs on he had the nerve to tell us that because he did not want to hold up the other guest that can follow the rules he "let" us use the handicap spot but if we want to use it again we need a paper saying the he needs a wheelchair. I asked if he was talking about a GAC band showed him the old one that we had brought back and he said no, we needed a letter from a doctor saying he had a problem because it is obvious that he does not need one. in hind sight I should have asked him to call his super and have them waiting at MK, but the kids were hungry ( we ate at 6 am before we left and it was getting near 1pm). I went to guest service and the guy we spoke to called the bus department and got our GAC. He came back and gave us contact info to write to because he said when he tried to tell the person he got what happened he was told over and over again that all stroller have to be folded and he got tried of arguing with him so he just hung up. That was the only bad bus driver we had. All the others saw us at the stops and seemed like there really cared.
We did all of the parks and had a blast. We could not meet Mickey at MK and I'm not sure if it is just poor design of the location or if we just ran into a less than helpful CM.We got fast passes and when we came back we asked how long the fast pass line was. He said it was about a 10 minute wait ( it was posted as 70 minutes for standby). We then showed him our GAC and asked if me and 2 kids could wait in the line while DH and DS waited till it was our turn because he can not be in a line like that for 10 minutes. The CM told us that if they got out of the line they could not get back in. We knew we would see Mickey at EPCOT the next day so we gave our fast passes to someone and left.
We did have a few magic moments during our trip that really made this trip special and we got to meet a lot of characters which is one of my youngest favorite things.
We had ADRs for every night and I had spoken to special dinning. At all but one location the chef came and spoke to my DH. The one buffet we ate at the chef took him and showed him all the dishes that he should avoid, she even offered to fix his plate in the back if cross contamination is an issue ( which it is not for him). The only place we had a problem was at the Garden Grill. We checked in and they asked about the allergy, once we got to our table our serve asked about the allergy. When we told her that it was pork she told us that they don;t serve pork there so we have nothing to worry about. I told her that I knew that they did not serve pork but some places season with it and asked if she could check. She said she would talk to the chef, but she was sure they dont use pork. She brought out our food and said she asked the chef and everything was fine. I should have seen the red flag, but I thought that maybe the chef did not come out because they don;t use pork at all so there was no need. After a few bites my hubby starts to feel sick and is in pain. I start picking through his plate to see what in the world could have make him sick and I find bacon in the mixed veggies. About that time the serve comes back and I tel her. She really did nto care. She just said" how about that, do you want me to bring you a fresh tray that dose not have any veg on it". I told her I wanted to see a manager, but she never got one so I went to the check in post and got one. It turns out that the chef was never told there was an allergy. My poor hubby was so sick and in a lot of pain for the rest of the night.
Even with the bad things that happened we will still be going back because of the level of care that they give to people with various needs. We will not let a few bad apples ruin our trip or our future expectations.
Thanks for letting me vent some. I also wanted to pass on what we learned from this trip.
1. Stick up for your rights.
2. Always speak to the chef if you have an allergy.
Just so that it is clear, I needed to vent about our bad points of our trip, but there were so may wonderful things that I would never be able to write about them all.

 

[disney david]

Sorry to hear about that driver please don't let one idiot driver ruin your bus expernces he may never had to deal with a special needs stroller. They do have some bad apples but most or great I wood write them with his name and they will take dare of him. Alot of guest give the drivers a hard time when it comes to Folsom strollers so I think he thought hat was it instead of listening and and understanding what you was saying. I also think going back to him never dealing with a speacil needs stroller because he didn't understand it could be tied down. Again it no excuse he shouldnt of been an idiot and did his job. You do t need aged for the bus he didn't know what he was talking about that only for the park so you can bring the stroller in line win you. Well glad you had a good trip beside that problem and hope that it dose not Deter you from riding the Disney bus becase their are alot Of great drivers that love to do heir job and make surely have a safe trip.

 

[retired and happy]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand the white box is only for sizing the chair for bus access. It is not necessarily a place for a person in a chair to wait for the bus. We always go to a spot where the driver can see us as he/she approaches. If we have more than one chair we hold up the appropriate number of fingers to let the driver know how many spots we need. He/she will then let us know how many spaces are available and give us our option of splitting our party or waiting for the next bus. It's been several years since we have used a stroller-looking chair, but we have always had great cooperation from the drivers. Sorry one bad apple had to spoil your introduction to your trip. BTW, this year we will have a Kids Kart (with tie spots) for our new little one in addition to the two regular chairs for our teens. We'll see what kind of reception we get. At least most of the busses are now equipped for three chairs, but we will likely have to split the party occasionally as much for our convenience as anything.

 

[disney david]

Yes it for sizeing because in some case the bus can't line up because it block another bus from pulling up ie contempory. Most of the new low floor buses can handle three the few old lift buses can handle only two. Just remember that this driver dose not represent all the drivers one bad apple should not ruin the bunch. just remember the name of the driver and bus number just in case also I you have a compliant keep it in transportation that way it will be takeing care of because if you deal with guest service or got report they will call and they won't get how mad you are across to them. Their phones at the bus stops pick it up press 0 and ask to be transfers to transportation department or ask any driver who pulls up to radio for a supervisor to come to your location if you got off te bus if your still on the bus or dealing with the driver ask the. To call for a supervisor to come to talk to you.

 

[Bete]

I'm trying to be more prepared for the bus situation myself on a trip coming up next week and I do feel there are too many gray areas, here when it comes to bus transportation and handicap equipment of any kind. I'm concerned more about going from the parks to the resorts, but it can be stressful either way. At POP Century resort, there's still a special handicap zone for wheelchairs and such, but the other way around there is no longer a special line for wheelchair when you exit the parks to go back to the resort.

The allergy issue isn't a good one, either. My husband is ova vegetarian and we carefully look over all his food; it helps to look. They often add bacon to string beans everywhere we go; we live in Indiana; so this may be why this happens a lot here. Indiana is big on pork. I agree you need the chef to confirm at restaurants for allergies. I don't think you can accept the word of a waitress/waiter. Goog lesson learned for all.

Thanks for sharing your info.

 

[HowdyHeidi]

Gosh, I would definitely write disney and make a complaint about your bus experience. It is one thing for him to have misunderstood, but the way he went on and on seems very unacceptable to me!!! Especially the bit about a doctor's note. He needs more training for sure!

I'm glad you had a good trip despite that!

 

[disney david]

This is bete please don't worry about the buses I don't want you stressing Ou and it ruining your time you going to Disney to relax and have fun. The resort are no a problem because they don't have whew so you be at the curb where the driver can see you. At th park to to the curb and wait their inknow Disney says to go through the main stream but untill they put signs up they can. Enforce it unless ther a cm their telling you most drivers will tel you to just to to the curb their getting tired of the policy because it puts them in a bad situation to haveing ti tell a guest they can have to wait for the next bus. So please go have fun 99% of the drivers are great but just like any where to go they still have some that need more training. Disney better then public transportation because you get a smile and a freindly driver most of the time and get treated with respect unlike public transportation where you get drivers that give you atutide and want to fight to keep you off is Disney transportation perfect no but it the closet hint to a perfect bus transportation. Have fun enjoy a Mickey bar and let us know how it went. Like I said before just take note of the drivers name and bus number just in case.

 

[carseatmommy]

We had problems with foods when we thought our son had a dairy allergy. We would go to family events and ask if things had dairy....and they'd say no, list the ingredients...and say something like milk or butter....but no dairy!

So really--the server may not have realized that bacon was pork. People don't seem to realize where their food from these days.

Susan

 

[jmartinez1895]

So really--the server may not have realized that bacon was pork. People don't seem to realize where their food from these days.

Susan

I had that same thought. We once ate at a local place and we told them about the pork because the plate myt hubby ordered comes with a side of ham. When they brought it out we told the woman that he could not eat the side and to please take it away and she said " no, this is ham not pork"

 

[AJKMOM]

I had that same thought. We once ate at a local place and we told them about the pork because the plate myt hubby ordered comes with a side of ham. When they brought it out we told the woman that he could not eat the side and to please take it away and she said " no, this is ham not pork"

"this is ham not pork" really, someone said that? Guess you can't fix stupid.

 

[seashoreCM]

I had that same thought. We once ate at a local place and we told them about the pork because the plate myt hubby ordered comes with a side of ham. When they brought it out we told the woman that he could not eat the side and to please take it away and she said " no, this is ham not pork"

Very sad but in some states, once the food is brought out, even if not touched, it cannot be taken back. It has to stay on the table or be taken to the dirty dishes and waste cart. Hopefully someone else in your party could have eaten it or taken it home.

 

[seashoreCM]

Just a short trip report and vent here. We just got home from a short 5 day 4 night trip. Our flight was great and Magical Express was wonderful. I had called ahead of time and they put a not on our ressie that we had a child with special medical needs. They really did a wonderful job of taking care of us. We stayed at POR and they too were great. Our room was not ready so we checked our carry ons with bell service and decided to head to MK.
Our youngest uses a special needs stroller and at our resort they had the box painted for wheelchairs. We got in the box and thankful there were only about 6 people waiting at the stop. The bus pulls up and opens the front door. I informed the driver that we needed the ramp ( we had been the first people to the stop and I was in no way trying to jump the line). The driver then told us that he would load the people waiting first and take care of us IF there was room. Once he gets to the back of the bus he opens the doors and just stands there and looks at us. I ask if he was going to put the ramp down and he said " Your kidding me right? Thats a stroller, you got me all the way back here for a stroller?" By this point I was getting very angry. I told him the whole thing about it being a special needs stroller and that this one was approved for transport. He keeps telling me that he does not have to use the ramp for a stroller because all stroller have to be folded. We go around and around and he finally lowers the ramp and as we are loading he said that we have to have a red tag. We tell him that we have not been to a park yet and we are going to get one as soon as he gets us there. He then said that he can not tie down the stroller. I tell him again that is approved for trasport and show him the tie down spots. He keeps saying that he is going to have to call it and that he has been a driver for 7 years and he knows a stroller when he sees one. All this was bad enough but what really made me angry was after he put the tie downs on he had the nerve to tell us that because he did not want to hold up the other guest that can follow the rules he "let" us use the handicap spot but if we want to use it again we need a paper saying the he needs a wheelchair. I asked if he was talking about a GAC band showed him the old one that we had brought back and he said no, we needed a letter from a doctor saying he had a problem because it is obvious that he does not need one. in hind sight I should have asked him to call his super and have them waiting at MK, but the kids were hungry ( we ate at 6 am before we left and it was getting near 1pm). I went to guest service and the guy we spoke to called the bus department and got our GAC. He came back and gave us contact info to write to because he said when he tried to tell the person he got what happened he was told over and over again that all stroller have to be folded and he got tried of arguing with him so he just hung up. That was the only bad bus driver we had. All the others saw us at the stops and seemed like there really cared.
We did all of the parks and had a blast. We could not meet Mickey at MK and I'm not sure if it is just poor design of the location or if we just ran into a less than helpful CM.We got fast passes and when we came back we asked how long the fast pass line was. He said it was about a 10 minute wait ( it was posted as 70 minutes for standby). We then showed him our GAC and asked if me and 2 kids could wait in the line while DH and DS waited till it was our turn because he can not be in a line like that for 10 minutes. The CM told us that if they got out of the line they could not get back in. We knew we would see Mickey at EPCOT the next day so we gave our fast passes to someone and left.
We did have a few magic moments during our trip that really made this trip special and we got to meet a lot of characters which is one of my youngest favorite things.
We had ADRs for every night and I had spoken to special dinning. At all but one location the chef came and spoke to my DH. The one buffet we ate at the chef took him and showed him all the dishes that he should avoid, she even offered to fix his plate in the back if cross contamination is an issue ( which it is not for him). The only place we had a problem was at the Garden Grill. We checked in and they asked about the allergy, once we got to our table our serve asked about the allergy. When we told her that it was pork she told us that they don;t serve pork there so we have nothing to worry about. I told her that I knew that they did not serve pork but some places season with it and asked if she could check. She said she would talk to the chef, but she was sure they dont use pork. She brought out our food and said she asked the chef and everything was fine. I should have seen the red flag, but I thought that maybe the chef did not come out because they don;t use pork at all so there was no need. After a few bites my hubby starts to feel sick and is in pain. I start picking through his plate to see what in the world could have make him sick and I find bacon in the mixed veggies. About that time the serve comes back and I tel her. She really did nto care. She just said" how about that, do you want me to bring you a fresh tray that dose not have any veg on it". I told her I wanted to see a manager, but she never got one so I went to the check in post and got one. It turns out that the chef was never told there was an allergy. My poor hubby was so sick and in a lot of pain for the rest of the night.
Even with the bad things that happened we will still be going back because of the level of care that they give to people with various needs. We will not let a few bad apples ruin our trip or our future expectations.
Thanks for letting me vent some. I also wanted to pass on what we learned from this trip.

1. Stick up for your rights.
2. Always speak to the chef if you have an allergy.
Just so that it is clear, I needed to vent about our bad points of our trip, but there were so may wonderful things that I would never be able to write about them all.[/QUOTE]
Can the resort issue the red "stroller is a wheelchair" tag?

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Very sad but in some states, once the food is brought out, even if not touched, it cannot be taken back. It has to stay on the table or be taken to the dirty dishes and waste cart. Hopefully someone else in your party could have eaten it or taken it home.

I think most states have this as a law, however, it's not an excuse for the waitress not fixing the problem that the restaurant caused when already being told not to bring it out. Even if it then had to get thrown out, it's the waitresses fault, not the family's and they're perfectly within their rights to ask to have it removed. What if it had been something where the person was sensitive enough that just having it on the table would have made him sick?

 

[Piper]

1. Stick up for your rights.
2. Always speak to the chef if you have an allergy.
Just so that it is clear, I needed to vent about our bad points of our trip, but there were so may wonderful things that I would never be able to write about them all.

Can the resort issue the red "stroller is a wheelchair" tag?[/QUOTE]

The resort cannot give those out--you must go to guest services in the park. I make that my mission on arrival day--go to guest services outside of a park and get my GAC. I take along my old one and know my needs so that I can explain them to the person issuing the tag. I've never had a problem getting what I need. I usually go to either the MK or HS. Then I hit one of the resorts nearby for dinner! Naturally, which park I use is determined by where I have dinner ressies!

 

[Deesknee]

I'm happy the majority of your vacation was pleasant. But, I am sorry you ran into an uneducated bus driver and ignorant waitress. I do think it is important you write clarifying your situation to Disney in writing. I would hope Disney would have meetings to re-educate the cm's of important complaints they receive from their guests.
Before becoming disabled myself, I was very ignorant to many issues that special needs require. Including invisible diseases, which ironically is one of which I have. I wish I could clue in the entire world of all the "little" things that most non-challenged people are not aware of. Maybe part of some of these companies training should be to have the employees function completely in a wheelchair for a day. Or other simulated disability experiences.

 

[POOHsie]

It doesn't surprise me that the server didn't know the bacon in the veg was pork. As PP said, her server didn't know ham was pork. Just to protect yourselves, in the future you should say to the server that DH's allergy is to pork, ham, and bacon, even just a little thrown in with the veg. I wouldn't leave anything to chance. Sorry your DH got sick, it was so avoidable.