Our FIRST family trip to Disney....Update...Denied access on bus

[mcissel03]

As you all remember, I was petrified about our first family trip to Disney because of my 10 year old son's health....He has quadriplegia spastic cerebral palsy, lyme disease with lyme encephalopathy and joint involvement, and his health has been deteriorating....We went our our trip from May 24-30 and wanted to update on how things went...

We stayed at PoP Century. We were suppose to have two rooms but they gave us three as part of the "magical experience". They did have the medical fridge in the one room as we needed. The other room had such a bad smell to it and we couldn't figure it out. Finally we located the shoebox size fridge in the dresser, that was broke and moldy. We called the front desk who came up and removed it. They said they couldn't bring one in to replace it until the next morning. Once we got back from the park, they had one there, it was another medical size fridge. We figured they didn't have anymore of the other sized ones that belonged in there. UNTIL I got the bill on the day we checked out. They charged us for the replacement fridge. 10.65 (I think) a day. I called the front desk and told them what happened. She told me that they would take it off of the room charge. There would be no charge for it. Okay, no problem. Then today, I looked at our bank account, GUESS WHAT, they charged me for the fridge....So I am NOT happy when they put it in the room to replace the broken one. Other than that, the room was nice. We had a handicap room and also a connecting room.

First day we were there, we went to Magic Kingdom and I went and got and told them about Austin James and got a GAC card for him no problem, a red tag to use our jogging stroller as a wheelchair for him. We then hit the rides and shows. I have to say, EVERYONE at Magic Kingdom was excellent with the use the GAC card and the use the stroller as a wheelchair. Sometimes they did say to park the stroller but that was because they didn't see the tag and I showed them, along with the GAC card.

We didn't encounter any problems at Animal Kingdom either. At Hollywood Studios, only time was at Tower of Terror when the girl had an issue with the GAC card, but another lady was working there and looked and said "No, they can all go through".

Then, the WORSE day, a day I so wanted to cry and was fuming was on Thursday. We were going to Epcot. We were in the wheelchair line. First there. My husband was in the regular line so he could show the GAC card, showing the stroller as a wheelchair. When the bus pulled up, the guy slowed down, looked at me, and I showed him the red tag on the stroller. My husband went up and showed him the GAC card. He looked at my husband and told him "that doesn't mean anything. You are not getting on my bus." Which my husband argued, it is a stroller being used as a wheelchair, he has cerebral palsy, is sick and we have permission to use it this way and to use wheelchair entrances. The bus driver said "I don't care what it says, you are not getting on". So he refused to let us board at all. At PoP, there is this white vehicle that sits out front, almost directing the buses where to go. The next bus that pulled in, he got out, was talking to him and as soon as this bus pulled out, he was sent down to us. He got out, asked us if we were refused access on to the bus. Which we told him everything. He got on us the bus immediately, apologized over and over. As soon as we got off at Epcot, he had a supervisor there. He reported to him what happened, then we talked to him. The supervisor knew who it was and said he will "deal with him". Apparently this guy does this often. Still....I was so upset and just didn't enjoy my day at all...My thought was GREAT, what was next. Well, guess what, another problem when we left Epcot. They had ALL wheelchair access roped off, you could not get to it. We went in the regular line and my husband went up to the bus as soon as it pulled in and told him we had a wheelchair. The guy started yelling at him telling him he is in the wrong line, yadda, yadda, yadda. My husband said they have it roped off and blocked we couldn't get to that line. Another passenger came up and got on the bus driver saying there was no reason we can't get on, there is room on the bus. Finally, he let us on. Once we got off at the resort, this gentleman and his family waited for us. They kept apologizing. They said that they were there in the morning when we were denied access and were highly mad. They made a complaint when they got to Epcot that morning and they are going to do it again. It is nice when people who don't know you stand up for you.

So Epcot, was the worse time of my life....Along with the glares, comments and face making people did towards my son and us. I guess they think he was just a big kid who was lazy.

Other than that, we had a great time....

On our last day there, we were waiting to get on the bus to Magic Kingdom and I see this scooter in front of us. I happen to see the name and phone number. I pull out my cell phone and look. Compare phone numbers and say to my husband "OMG, it is the girl from the disboards!!" I am shy, so he kept going, go say hi! I finally did! I got to meet Kristi from this board We talked the entire time to MK. Loved meeting her!!!

Thanks for reading about our journey! If I knew how to post pictures, I would lol!

 

[peemagg]

Sorry you had such a bad time at EPCOT! If that driver does that all the time, then he doesn't need to be driving the buses. Maybe he needs to stand in the unemployment line for a while to get an attitude adjustment.

Sounded like most of the rest of the trip went well though.

Are you calling Disney and getting that charge reversed? I would also call and dispute the charge with your bank or credit card.

 

[bookwormde]

It is a shame no one at the bus stop had a video fo the bus drivers actions.

bookwormde

 

[Schmeck]

OP - your post has me confused - you got two medical need refrigerators? Was there a need for two? If you didn't need/request two, perhaps that is why you were charged for one of them? I'm thinking that if you didn't need the second one, it should have been returned that day to the front desk?

Glad to hear the the bus problem was taken seriously - hopefully it will be taken care of. One part about getting on a bus with a child in a stroller is the fact that very few strollers are designed to be used as transport on busses. They don't have safe tie-down spots. If the driver thought your child was not going to be safe staying in his stroller, he should have made it clear that you could board from the back ramp, but the child would have to be held/put in a seat, and the stroller folded like all the others. Sounds like the bus driver just went ballistic instead - hope he got reprimanded and follows correct procedure from now on.

 

[kirstenb1]

Man, that whole bus episode has my blood boiling!! I'm glad the rest of the trip went well, and you had a good time!!

 

[Schmeck]

I try not to let reports on the internet 'get my blood boiling' as we are only privy to one person's view of an incident. Not saying the OP is making this up, just that we are only given one person's perspective and it has been shown that there are usually at least two sides to every tale.

I've witnessed too many incidents at work, and read the follow-up reports by staff, to believe just one person's take on a situation.

To the OP - I'm not trying to say that what you've posted isn't how you felt about certain situations - your feelings are your own, and they are neither right nor wrong. I've just seen too many people get all worked up by things posted on the internet, lynch mobs practically gathering at the pass, when all we've read is one person's take on a situation. I'm glad to hear that it seems Disney took your complaints seriously.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sorry to hear you had some bad experiences.

Officially, the GACs are only for use in the 4 theme parks (MK, Epcot, Disney Studio and AK) at attractions. Un-officially, most bus drivers understand that someone with a GAC for using a stroller as a wheelchair needs assistance and will handle that stroller the same as a wheelchair.

Most of the bus drivers are good, but there are some bad eggs. Sometimes it's because they have a 'power complex' and just like bossing people around.
I am convinced that some are lazy.
In your case, the driver did see the GAC card and sticker; hard to say which reason he was nasty; just that he was.
Some of the same drivers that are nasty to people using strollers as wheelchairs act the same way to people with recognizable wheelchairs, so it possibly was not the stroller he was reacting to. He may have just had a chip on his shoulder against anyone with a disability.
We have run into some of those drivers - they ignore DD's wheelchair (we've even had other GUESTS telling the driver at the front door that there is a wheelchair to load and the driver still ignores us).

At any rate, that is why we keep the resort and transportation phone number programmed into one of our cell phones (there is more about how to report a 'bad egg' or transporation problem in the disABILITIES FAQs thread). MOST of the drivers we have encountered at WDW have been wonderful, but the few who were not do stand out and it leaves a bad feeling that lasts.

For the refrigerator issue, sometimes they do make mistakes. You should check with your bank on how to dispute a charge (I'm assuming since you said 'bank' that you meant you used a bank card for the charges) and also send a letter to WDW to dispute the charge.
I am also a little confused about the number of refrigerators - was there small medical one that was moldy and ichy that was replaced with a new one and also a larger refrigerator?
Or just the one moldy medical refrigerator that was replaced with a clean one??
If this refrigerator

medical fridge in the one room as we needed.

was a larger, dorm size one, that may have been the one they were charging you for since that is the size they usually provide for rent. Once they provided a 'new' small one, they may have considered the small one as the medical-no-charge one and charged for the other one.
Definately a misunderstanding - so make sure it's clear in your correspondence with them. The other thing that may have caused some confusion is the number of rooms - they may have put the charge onto one of the rooms, but taken it off of another.
Anyway, you should be able to sort it out.

Glad to hear you did have some good times along with the challenges.

 

[mcissel03]

We had a medical size fridge as we needed in room number 1. Room number 2, had one of those "shoebox" size fridges that was already in the room (in the dresser). That was moldy and broken. Room number 2 stank because of it. They came immediately and removed the fridge that was broken in room #2 and said that they could not replace it until the next morning. This is a replacement for the one that is always in the room. The next morning when we got back from the parks, room #2 did have a replacement fridge, but it was another medical size fridge. We called the front desk, this was the only size and we were told there was no charge.

WDW did contact me back today regarding this and will be crediting me back the money within the next 3-10 days.

Regarding the situation on the bus or "tale"....The jogging stroller was used all week and was anchored down everytime, never had an issue. This person was lazy, pure lazy. What happened is what happened and I shared my story, frustration and anger as to what he did. We think we know why he didn't want to get up and let him in. I didn't ask for anyone to form a lynch mob.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Still confused The shoebox size fridge IS the medical fridge. If the handicap-accessible room comes with a fridge (confused on this as well), that's the fridge you should have gotten at no cost - whether it was the one already in the one room, or the shoebox size stinky one that they replaced in the morning. I'm confused as to which room was which.

At any rate, if/since you needed a refrigerator for medical reasons, whichever one you got was indeed at no cost, as per resort policy. The second fridge you got - whether it was the one IN the first room when you arrived, or whether it was the one you were brought the next day to replace the stinky shoebox sized one in the other room - is the one for which you were legitimately charged. Pop Century rooms don't come with refrigerators, they can be rented for $10 per day plus tax.
==
I've run into the same 'wheelchair boarding roped off' issue at Epcot. I, and another wheelchair party, got in the lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng (two boarding queues linked together!) standard line, with the intent of letting the driver know when we got to the door that, obviously , we needed to board through the back door.

Two other parties looped up around the whole line, cut off where everyone was boarding, and got in line in the wheelchair boarding line.

Well, I have NO trouble expressing myself - to the right people. When I got to the front of the line, instead of boarding the bus, I requested a supervisor... I explained what happened, and let my feelings be known But I didn't stop there. I also talked to a resort supevisor, and she had a transportation manager call me in the morning. I was angry - not at the people who, effectively, cut the line; not at myself or the other party who chose to get in line; not at the bus driver... but at the entire set-up.

 

[kaytieeldr]

ng the situation on the bus or "tale"....The jogging stroller was used all week and was anchored down everytime, never had an issue. This person was lazy, pure lazy.

You're being WAY too nice. He wasn't lazy. He was disgustingly rude and, frankly, discriminatory.

 

[mcissel03]

Still confused The shoebox size fridge IS the medical fridge. If the handicap-accessible room comes with a fridge (confused on this as well), that's the fridge you should have gotten at no cost - whether it was the one already in the one room, or the shoebox size stinky one that they replaced in the morning. I'm confused as to which room was which.

At any rate, if/since you needed a refrigerator for medical reasons, whichever one you got was indeed at no cost, as per resort policy. The second fridge you got - whether it was the one IN the first room when you arrived, or whether it was the one you were brought the next day to replace the stinky shoebox sized one in the other room - is the one for which you were legitimately charged. Pop Century rooms don't come with refrigerators, they can be rented for $10 per day plus tax.
==

LOL! I am now confused on the size of the refrigerators. The handicap room had the fridge already in it (in the dresser) and that is the one that was replaced because it was broke and moldy. They replaced that with the next size up, (it was black), because they didn't have the "shoebox" size fridge to put back in the dresser. They charged us for this fridge, even though they replaced it with a larger one by their own choice because the smaller one was broken and didn't have one to replace it.

The non-handicap room, was the room they put the medical fridge in and it was in the room when we got back from the park the night we checked in. At least this is what we where told was the medical size fridge. We were not charged for this one.

Oh, I got a headache with fridges, too complicated explaining it lol!

I am just very happy that they got back to me today and are refunding the money.

 

[LMC]

All I can say is OMG! I think that driver just didn't want to load a chair and strap it down and take it back off. We were there during the same time period and DH was in a scooter for this trip. We got to the bus line at a park and there was not a WC line access so we just que up with everyone else. I didn't expect to get on the bus first it was no big deal to us to wait. BUT, the driver gets out (and everyone rushes the bus, it was funny watching him fight them off) and tells DH to come around; like it's that easy when you are in a que! and he loads DH first. It was nice but like I said it was not a necessary step for us that day we could have waited. The only problem I have is when DS (special needs) is worn down from the trip and the lines are long. Sorry you had that experience and I hope the driver that did pick you up made sure they knew the name of the driver.

 

[ForAandA]

I am so sorry to hear that you had a bad bus experience! That really makes my blood boil. On the advice of the wonderful people here on the boards, I programmed the transportation number in my cell phone. I was so worried about a problem with the busses. Not necessarily the monorail or boats, those were great.

We only had to use the number once. We were leaving DTD one night. It was late, and the lines were long. We were the first ones at the bus stop for Wilderness Lodge. After about a 10 minute wait, the line was very long. Regardless, people were very nice, and knew that we were their first.

Well, the bus driver that evening had other plans. He let everyone on the bus, even though people were telling him that we were there first! Of course, the bus filled up quickly. The bus driver tells me: "Do you want to ask people to get off the bus for your chair?" Man, was I MAD!!!

One call to transportation, and another bus was there before the first one left! The driver was "spoken to" . We could of had that bus to ourselves if we wanted. That would of been wrong. DH feels otherwise

 

[kaytieeldr]

I am just very happy that they got back to me today and are refunding the money.

That's good - but if I'm understanding everything clearly (and there's a REALLY good chance I'm not), it appears you got one refrigerator by request for medical reasons at no cost, and a second refrigerator for which you were legitimately charged but for which you're now getting reimbursed?

 

[clanmcculloch]

Here's how I'm understanding what happened with the fridge. She requested a medical fridge. When she arrived in the rooms, there was a fridge in room A that she was told was the medical fridge. She then noticed a smell in room B that turned out to be a medical fridge in the handicap room inside a cabinet in the dresser (I believe these are standard?). She called to report the smelly fridge to get it removed. When it was removed, another was put in its place. She did not request a second fridge but this is what the folks at the resort provided. If she had requested the second fridge then absolutely she should be charged (unless she had enough medication to require 2 fridges) but if she only requested one fridge for medication then I agree that she should have been reimbursed. It's not a legitimate charge if it wasn't requested.

 

[SueM in MN]

We had a medical size fridge as we needed in room number 1. Room number 2, had one of those "shoebox" size fridges that was already in the room (in the dresser). That was moldy and broken. Room number 2 stank because of it. They came immediately and removed the fridge that was broken in room #2 and said that they could not replace it until the next morning. This is a replacement for the one that is always in the room. The next morning when we got back from the parks, room #2 did have a replacement fridge, but it was another medical size fridge. We called the front desk, this was the only size and we were told there was no charge.

WDW did contact me back today regarding this and will be crediting me back the money within the next 3-10 days.

Regarding the situation on the bus or "tale"....The jogging stroller was used all week and was anchored down everytime, never had an issue. This person was lazy, pure lazy. What happened is what happened and I shared my story, frustration and anger as to what he did. We think we know why he didn't want to get up and let him in. I didn't ask for anyone to form a lynch mob.

Just a reminder for readers - a stroller or special needs stroller should only be strapped down if it is designed to be strapped down. The owner's manual or literature for the stroller will use terms like "transport ready" or that it has a "transport option."
Special needs strollers that are transport ready have a frame that is strengthened/designed for transport and have either specific places marked on the frame or loops bolted on or built into the frame for attaching the tiedown straps.

Strapping down a stroller that was not designed for transport could result in damage to the stroller (I know of someone who found that out the hard way - the frame got bent and the stroller was not usable). A child riding in a non-transport ready stroller is at risk of injury in an accident or sudden stop.

Special needs strollers that are not transport ready can be loaded on the back ramp or lift with the child sitting in it, but once the stroller is on the bus, it needs to be folded and the child move to a bus seat, the same as any other stroller. It is Federal Law for all strollers to be folded on the bus.
Sometimes bus drivers will allow a special needs stroller to be tied down, but it should not be unless it is designed for that.