poll: busesfor wheelchairs only

[pumpkinboy]

Nope, no way. No "Seperate, but Equal"for my DS, thx. It was a BAD idea for schools, pre-Brown vs Board of Education, it's not a good idea for disabled ppl either. Thank goodness for the ADA!

Thanks Tyler for the good hard information about the policies and realities associated with the bus boarding process.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I guess it just doesn't strike me as doing it the right way at WDW when wheelchair guests get first access to transport, when others have been waiting there longer.

I'm disabled, but my disability doesn't somehow materialise each morning as I approach the bus stop.

It's with me from the moment I wake up. It takes me forever to get dressed because I can't stand up unaided. My orthopoedic boots and the braces attached to them take ages to strap on. It takes a long time to transfer to my wheelchair to avoid falling on the floor.

If it wasn't for my disability, I would be out of my room and in the parks an hour before other guests even arrive at the resort bus stop.

Just remember that the wheelchair user that arrives last and gets on first would almost certainly have been at the bus stop long before everyone else if they hadn't been disabled.

True, at park closing, I might get onto one bus earlier than if I hadn't skipped the line, but then at least it gives me longer to get undressed and back into bed at my resort.

Andrew

 

[seashoreCM]

Since the bus driver does not have enough fingers to count on let alone a math PhD, he won't do this which as far as I know is allowed both ethically and under the ADA.

If seventy two guests not in wheelchairs all get up and began heading for the bus stop from wherever (room, restaurant, bathroom, Voyage Of The Little Mermaid) (the ethical part) before one person in a wheelchair does, said 72 all queuing up for the bus first (the legal part), the driver may pick them all up with no regrets, leaving the wheelchair guest for the next bus.

PM me if you need more help understanding this.

(The View From A Wheelchair)
Many years ago, when the Washington DC subway was in its infancy, at one station there was a delay installing the elevator. No trains were permitted to stop at that station until the elevator was finished, and many passengers looked wistfully at the partly lighted spanking clean station as the train cruised right on past and then to the next station where they caught cabs or buses back or walked back to that location.

 

[Schmeck]

I understand that life is difficult for those with physical handicaps, but that doesn't make them any better or more deserving in my book. We all have different levels of abilities (just ask me to sing, you'll see how low my ability is on that) but we are all on this plant together, and having more or less in a certain area of life doesn't make you entitled to more.

Maybe I'm a closet purist of communism (not the convoluted USSR system, but the basic ideology) but the fact that it takes someone longer to get ready in the morning doesn't put them first on the bus in my book. I'm sorry that it takes some people longer, and I know how that feels, as I awaken with a migraine or bloody nose that puts me back in bed for an hour or so. Should I get to cut others in line at the bus, when I tell them I couldn't see for an hour this morning due to extreme visual distortion from a migraine, so I deserve to get on first?

I understand why WDW has the ramp-users board first, and it makes sense as it makes it easier for the bus drivers. It just doesn't fit the 'fairness' meter for me though. I know my feelings will not change the policy, and I don't really care if the policy is changed or not. I can live with mild unfairness, we all do, because life is not fair!

 

[minnie61650]

I agree with the above as well.
I believe that I am paying the same amount of money as all people in scooters, have my 2 daughters and husband with me and have to WAIT while the scooters whole family plus whom ever else is with them board the bus first even as they roll up as the bus is just arriving. ( while I have stood in line waiting for some odd minutes). I feel that there should be a system. There needs to be a limit on the amount of people that board with the person in the scooter. Sorry! I am sure some will not agree and this is very contraversal,, but on my last trip there were more scooter family members than there were non handicaped people waiting in line to board the bus..

I don't know Disney's bus policy as only mY DH joins me when we load on a bus.(The rest of my family waits patiently in the regular line with you.) Disney does have a policy that up to 5 family members may wait in an accesible area with a WC/ECV guest and the rest have to wait in the reguLar stand -by line.

 

[fran99999]

I use an ECV. I go with my family. If there were WC only busses U and I know Disney would make them oncall only. That would mean I would have to call prior to going anywhere. Maybe an hour maybe a day, oh and dont forget disneys 15 min before rule. So if I wanted to take a bus at 10 I would have to be at the stop by 9:30-9:45. Who could/would want to do this. My family takes up a small amount of the bus I sit in the EVC to take up one less seat. I am lucky I can move to another seat (some can not). If that is the case then why not have a bus for those carriges that take up ALL THAT room and those kids that each sit in their own seat when they could all squish into one or sit on parents lap. I have 10 kids almost all grown. If by some miracle we could all go to disney at the same time. I would want all of them with me at one time or another. I also, on very good days, use a cane and rent a scooter at the parks. I have had people give me the evil eye when I go to the front of the line when my DH and DS get to the front of the line while I sit on one of the benches. I have also gotten up to the line and had the bus full, I have to sit. I then tell the people behind us to go as I must sit. I wait for the next bus.

Can U imagine all those KIDS at Disney. Taking up valuable space, getting in our (adults) way, stopping in AWE just to stare at a character.

 

[waltfan1957]

I've frequently explained the WDW policy to those that need to use the lift on buses, actually! Some people have tried to navigate the narrow queues, not seeing the HC logo at one side.[/QUOTE]

thats nice of you to explain to others, the trouble is if you are not hc you never see the logo also when there is no logo present the people in wheelchairs are told where to wait, this is not line jumping just doing what we have been told

 

[Schmeck]

Valuable space? I think your family would have a great time (all 12 of you!) Aat WDW together. You'd be like your own mini-tour group! No one's 'space' is any more valuable than anyone else's, if you've paid to go to WDW, then you are equally deserving of 'space', be it at the parks or on Diseny transportation. Should all 12 of you get to board the bus before anyone else? I would think Disney policy would say yes, even for such a large group. It would be courteous to wait for the next bus if you've arrived when there is already a long, full busload-sized line (you'd probably have to anyways, since there would most likely be a queue for the ramp as well!).

 

[minnie61650]

Well, technically the law is worded so that if the passenger in the wheelchair cannot board, no one else can. So, technically speaking, you can board the entire bus, save a tiny spot for the wheelchair, and then board the guest with the wheelchair.

However, in real life, this is not practical. Hence why it's done as it is.

Tyler,This is so true. I can't begin to to imagine how much longer it would take to load a n ECV if the bus was full"save a tiny spot" for the WC/EVC. an EVC especially needs room to maneuver.First I need to back unto the lift,then back off rhe lift,then pull forwaed to strighten the EVC out before I back into the tiedown area. It would be much more difficult asking people to back up and give more space and harder for the bus drivers to get down on your knees and get the straps out to tie the EVC down.
I understand some guests feel we in WC/EVC are getting preferred treatment
because we are loaded frist. They just don't understand that without being loaded first we might not be able to load at all. Also the able bodied guests are much safer waiting in line till the EVC is ties down. I would hate to think of an EVC with a stuck accelerator and a full bus full of guests.

Also Tyler, I would like to thank you and all the other Disney bus drivers for the fine job you do and the patiece and kindess you share with all the guests.

 

[pugdog]

I can't believe some of the self centered people here. On one hand you say you understand why the ECV/WC are loaded first but then out of the other side of your mouth you say is pisses you off. Lets just open both doors and let everyone run or roll on and see what happens. Whats wrong with a few brusies from being pushed down or broken ankles form being rolled over. After all we are all equal and should be treated that way right. Never mind what makes sense and causes the least amount of injury to others. Me first and d*** all the others.
Should a large group be able to load in the back with the ECV/WC at the same time? NO. Should a small group? Yes.
Believe me DW and I have waited for the next bus to be loaded on if we just get there as one pulls in. And have no problems with it.
Maybe to please everyone we need buses for every different ethnic group and one for drunks and anyone that wears a Goofy hat. That way everyone will be happy. ug:

 

[WillCAD]

Maybe to please everyone we need buses for every different ethnic group and one for drunks and anyone that wears a Goofy hat. That way everyone will be happy. ug:

HEY! How come the Goofy Hat bus is older than the drunk bus?! That's not fair! Goofy Hats deserve the same busses as the drunks! End Hatpartied Now!

I understand some guests feel we in WC/ECV are getting preferred treatment because we are loaded frist.

Maybe some dense people feel that way, but I sure don't. I understand that it's a simple safety issue; trying to load an ECV onto a bus that's already full put those already on the bus at risk for bumps, bruises, squashed toes, etc. as the ECV squeezes its way into those tight little tie-down areas. I prefer to stay the heck out of the way till the ECVs are secured.