PSA - please give up your seat if someone needs it more

[Tigger1]

I couldn’t believe it tonight when a woman with a toddler and an infant in a front pack boarded the bus (we had been waiting at least 20 min at that point so I don’t blame her for wanting to board) and no one offered her a seat. Yes, I get it that you are tired at the end of the day, but sometimes someone else needs your seat more than you do. I was seated almost all the way in the back and managed to wave her down. Even still she could only manage to get her toddler seated (there wasn’t enough space for both) and she still had to stand the whole way back to the hotel. Do better people.

Rant over.

(Also as an aside, thank you to the person who offered me his seat on the way TO Disney Springs, even though I didn’t take it. Im going to imagine that you are just a polite person and not that I looked so haggard/old/pregnant that I needed i

 

[Tigger1]

I couldn’t believe it tonight when a woman with a toddler and an infant in a front pack boarded the bus (we had been waiting at least 20 min at that point so I don’t blame her for wanting to board) and no one offered her a seat. Yes, I get it that you are tired at the end of the day, but sometimes someone else needs your seat more than you do. I was seated almost all the way in the back and managed to wave her down. Even still she could only manage to get her toddler seated (there wasn’t enough space for both) and she still had to stand the whole way back to the hotel. Do better people.

Rant over.

(Also as an aside, thank you to the person who offered me his seat on the way TO Disney Springs, even though I didn’t take it. Im going to imagine that you are just a polite person and not that I looked so haggard/old/pregnant that I needed it.)

I will get up to give my seat to a mom or dad with a small child even when my back hurts and legs are tired. I am older than most people on the bus. Its kind of funny to watch the guilty faces of those that did not get up.

 

[bwr827]

I visit this forum looking to talk fun Disney stuff, and sometimes am disappointed that there aren’t more active conversations along those lines.

I can only laugh when the most active discussions are about bus etiquette or Grand Floridian lobby “snobbery.”

On topic: if one is able, offering your bus seat to someone who seems more in need is the kinder choice. That’s what I’m teaching my kids.

 

[seashoreCM]

(snip) the woman chose to have her toddler sit when you would have thought she would have sat and then had the toddler stand between her legs and hold onto her and her hold onto the toddler. That would have been more safe and easier for everyone.

The woman might not have thought or known or realized it would have been more safe and easier for everyone if she sat down herself and then held onto her toddler.

 

[Sparrow'sLady]

I visit this forum looking to talk fun Disney stuff, and sometimes am disappointed that there aren’t more active conversations along those lines.

I can only laugh when the most active discussions are about bus etiquette or Grand Floridian lobby “snobbery.”

On topic: if one is able, offering your bus seat to someone who seems more in need is the kinder choice. That’s what I’m teaching my kids.

The Disboards is a shadow of what it once was. At one point it was very hard to keep up with all the posts. I remember logging in and seeing so many new questions and posts each day. I believe the cost to go to Disney plays the biggest role in it, but also the censorship on this forum and people starting threads on common topics and being told "use the search". That has a way of killing conversation. :/

 

[Lewisc]

The Disboards is a shadow of what it once was. At one point it was very hard to keep up with all the posts. I remember logging in and seeing so many new questions and posts each day. I believe the cost to go to Disney plays the biggest role in it, but also the censorship on this forum and people starting threads on common topics and being told "use the search". That has a way of killing conversation. :/

Not really. Internet discussions have migrated from boards like DIS to social media sites like Facebook. Not just Disney.

Censorship on DIS isn't that strict. Many knowledgeable, helpful posters are gone. Some were banned. Same are trying to monetize their knowledge via YouTube channels. Some may not be as interested in discussing Disney.

These boards used to be a good resource for planning. Planning has changed. The question isn't getting difficult ADRs. It's now how to pay for them.

 

[jec6613]

Many knowledgeable, helpful posters are gone.

It's also an age thing, those most comfortable with discussion boards, the Gen X and early Millennials, have had their children age out of Disney or have reached peak income years so can just throw money at problems.

On topic, this thread reminds me of a Kipling poem: But to stand an' be still to the Birken'ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew

 

[atthebeachclub]

Not really. Internet discussions have migrated from boards like DIS to social media sites like Facebook. Not just Disney.

Censorship on DIS isn't that strict. Many knowledgeable, helpful posters are gone. Some were banned. Same are trying to monetize their knowledge via YouTube channels. Some may not be as interested in discussing Disney.

These boards used to be a good resource for planning. Planning has changed. The question isn't getting difficult ADRs. It's now how to pay for them.

Agree with you. Censorship here is actually much less strict than the alternatives such as facebook, and for that I am grateful as I get better info here.

I’m also disgusted by the people who refuse to stand to help others who need it when they could, or who won’t trade seats on a plane so young kids can sit with parents. It sometimes feels like society has thrown parents under the proverbial bus. I hope they are better to older or frail people than to those with young kids (but I doubt it).

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

LOL. The “invisible disability” argument was the first one on the thread. It happens every time.

Frankly, I think that young people are no longer trained to give up their bus seats to anyone. It’s simply not on their radar anymore. I am a senior auditor at a major university and I attend a university class twice per week. I take the bus to the university and back home. I am in my early 60’s and overweight, so no spring chicken and no fit elder. The bus home is usually packed with students and I have to board a standing room only bus. In the 30 or so rides back home not a single 17-22 year old offered me a seat. Not one. On one ride a seat opened up next to me and a young man blocked me and plopped down into it.

FTR, I don’t expect them to offer a seat and if they did I would probably decline. I’ve been “bus surfing” for probably as long as their parents have been alive and I can hang on just fine. Still, it’s an interesting observation that no one in 30 trips on a full bus over has ever offered a “granny” aged woman a seat. It’s just not baked in anymore to offer seats on busses.

FWIW, I’ve only ever had the opposite experience. I’m from NYC and rode the subway multiple times a day throughout my pregnancy. The only group that EVER offered me a seat were young teenage boys. No one else. Once I watched a man in his mid-thirties offer his seat to another man of a similar age carrying several pizzas but completely overlooked my 8-month pregnant stomach. In short - I don’t think it’s a generational issue as much as some would have you believe.

 

[georgina]

I’m also disgusted by the people who refuse to stand to help others who need it when they could, or who won’t trade seats on a plane so young kids can sit with parents. It sometimes feels like society has thrown parents under the proverbial bus. I hope they are better to older or frail people than to those with young kids (but I doubt it).

Ooh, a whole 'nuther topic! Why don't those parents and young kids have seats together in the first place?

 

[atthebeachclub]

Ooh, a whole 'nuther topic! Why don't those parents and young kids have seats together in the first place?

Yes. Why aren’t children under a certain age automatically seated with parents or guardians? It’s a safety risk.

 

[robinb]

Yes. Why aren’t children under a certain age automatically seated with parents or guardians? It’s a safety risk.

Such a rule was proposed by the President back in August.

 

[Griffin11]

I think in these situations you can really only know you own ability to stand. If I am sitting on public transportation and I am able to stand ... I do so once there are only a few seats left (assuming there are other people still getting on of course!) and it's none of my business who takes the seat I vacated. Invisible disabilities are one thing, but maybe someone has just overextended themselves or isn't used to public transportation so can't keep their balance.

I do think it's courteous to stand if you don't need to sit, but judging who needs a seat more than you is impossible. So just get up.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Such a rule was proposed by the President back in August.

Yes; it is a good idea.

 

[eticketplease]

What I see the OP ‘judging’ (your words not mine - I see no judging - just disappointment) is that no one in a whole bus load offered help by offering their seat..
And I am disabled…I know I would not be in a position to help other than I stay on my ECV so I won’t be taking up a seat on the bus.

I have to say I have no issues with you on the bus with your ECV as that certainly assists you in navigating the magic and it should be made available to you however I have to point out that you are actually taking up more than one seat on the bus. Unless the buses have changed don't they flip up seats to allow for the ECV's to then get locked into place? Sorry usually on the monorail and drive to the other parks/DS so it is quite possible that you aren't taking up a seat but that is how I remember the busses.

 

[Genie+]

It is kinda funny that someone is ranting about having to give up their seat because nobody else did. Upset that they were the one that had to give up their seat. Mad that somebody else didn’t do it.

 

[robinb]

I have to say I have no issues with you on the bus with your ECV as that certainly assists you in navigating the magic and it should be made available to you however I have to point out that you are actually taking up more than one seat on the bus. Unless the buses have changed don't they flip up seats to allow for the ECV's to then get locked into place? Sorry usually on the monorail and drive to the other parks/DS so it is quite possible that you aren't taking up a seat but that is how I remember the busses.

I believe they are speaking of the common practice of some ECV riders who park their scooter and then GET OFF and sit in a seat, thereby using THREE seats. I too use an ECV at WDW (my bad knee can't take 10 miles of walking) and I also stay onboard and let the bus driver buckle me in. I've been told that it's OK that I get off and sit but I usually don't if there are many people waiting to board and I know every seat will be filled. My DH boards with me and sits near me and will stand if someone needs a seat more than he does.

 

[eticketplease]

I believe they are speaking of the common practice of some ECV riders who park their scooter and then GET OFF and sit in a seat, thereby using THREE seats. I too use an ECV at WDW (my bad knee can't take 10 miles of walking) and I also stay onboard and let the bus driver buckle me in. I've been told that it's OK that I get off and sit but I usually don't if there are many people waiting to board and I know every seat will be filled. My DH boards with me and sits near me and will stand if someone needs a seat more than he does.

Thanks that makes perfect sense. I didn't realize people would get off their ECV's to grab a regular bus seat as well. I always learn something on the boards!

 

[disneyseniors]

So is your point that because the mom made a different decision I shouldn’t have given up my seat in the first place? How is that not infantilizing the woman by presuming that we know what is best for her? Should i have demanded it back?

I took 16 6th grade Scouts on the NYC subway back in September and at least 5 of them went flying despite repeated warnings to hang on. As a former New Yorker, even on my worst days I’m not that bad.

It's not "infantalizing" someone to offer a seat. All you have to do is ask if they would like a seat? That's all. She (or he) will say yes thank you or no, I don't thank you anyway. Very simple.

I am almost always offered a seat on a Disney bus. I must look like I really need it, and I have one of those hidden diseases. I don't get upset if on a rare occasion I am not offered a seat. I do the best I can. I've had this disease forever, and have learned how to cope even if it is not comfortable. Going to Disney entails a lot of walking and standing, so I take frequent rests and go back to the room in the mid day. I also take pain pills which only help the pain but don't get rid of it. I go being aware of all of this and handle it as I can, like we all do.

 

[TCRAIG]

I have to say I have no issues with you on the bus with your ECV as that certainly assists you in navigating the magic and it should be made available to you however I have to point out that you are actually taking up more than one seat on the bus. Unless the buses have changed don't they flip up seats to allow for the ECV's to then get locked into place? Sorry usually on the monorail and drive to the other parks/DS so it is quite possible that you aren't taking up a seat but that is how I remember the busses.

That is true - my ECV takes up seat space…there are some newer busses that have a different ECV setup but even in those, I’ve only used the space where the seats move up…I only take a bus if there’s no other (free) transportation option. I do split stays (4 days at Beach Club or Boardwalk Villas and then 4 days at either BLT or Grand Floridian or Poly Villas) so I mostly just scoot into the parks.