So frustrated by bus situation

[MinnieMSue]

Thanks for all that great info! Of course I'm staying at an All Stars this trip in just a few days. I'm hoping it will be ok - not much I can do. I usually leave the resort later in the morning which might help. Each All Stars has a single dedicated line for each park and in the past I haven't had issues with the bus arriving with people on it already... and used to have a CM out front to keep an eye on things. Fingers crossed some of that is still the same.

I'm only there for a week - first time back since covid - I'll drop a post here about my bus experience...which I hope will be better than what you had to deal with!

i am curious to hear what you experience since I will be staying there with someone who will need to be in wheelchair on the bus

 

[TillyMarigold]

Anyone else who has been in the past 1-2 years want to chime in with where they stayed and whether coach busses were being used at that resort/how frequently? I think until or unless Disney changes their use of inaccessible busses, using that information to choose a hotel (if possible) may be the best defense.

No coach busses at SSR in October/November--not for Magical Express, internal shuttle, nor going to the parks. I assume for the same reason as OKW.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Is this just another “Bus Drivers Story?”

This is our first time staying with DH and needing two ECV’s. We stayed at VGF and so far have used buses 4 times. Each time we were the only two ECV’s waiting. The best experience was yesterday at AK. We had just missed a GF bus, and there were people waiting for the Poly. Soon another bus stopped and the driver basically said he was an extra whose job it was to look for lines with multiple ECV’s. He dropped folks off at Poly and then us at GF.

All bus drivers have been courteous and helpful. We are now at WL and tomorrow is our EPCOT day.

 

[Groot]

i am curious to hear what you experience since I will be staying there with someone who will need to be in wheelchair on the bus

It’s gonna depend on 2 things:

1. If there’s more than 2 wheelchair/scooters in front of you.

2. How many “Loaner Buses” are in rotation to your desired destination that day. Some people have reported horror stories of waiting 3 hours just WAITING for a wheelchair friendly bus.

 

[SCDVC2000]

I don’t mean to be a complainer- it is a luxury to be a Disney at all after all- but I agree the bus system is not what it used to be. Waited 50 min for a bus from DS to Riviera— then 40 min from AK to AKL ( that one especially was shocking given proximity and fact both are AK!) Are there worker shortages? Less buses running? I hope this gets figured out soon, or that they at least being back the Minnie vans for those who would rather pay than wait

 

[SueM in MN]

I don’t mean to be a complainer- it is a luxury to be a Disney at all after all- but I agree the bus system is not what it used to be. Waited 50 min for a bus from DS to Riviera— then 40 min from AK to AKL ( that one especially was shocking given proximity and fact both are AK!) Are there worker shortages? Less buses running? I hope this gets figured out soon, or that they at least being back the Minnie vans for those who would rather pay than wait

Both are true and are (most likely) the reason for more of the large coach buses.
Those buses had mostly been used at really busy times, like opening and closing, to augment bus service in the larger resorts/those with more riding buses.
I’ve read articles that indicate there are less bus drivers available, so it makes sense from Disney’s viewpoint to bring in more of these larger capacity buses in order to ‘stretch’ their bus drivers

 

[DisneyOma]

I don’t mean to be a complainer- it is a luxury to be a Disney at all after all- but I agree the bus system is not what it used to be. Waited 50 min for a bus from DS to Riviera— then 40 min from AK to AKL ( that one especially was shocking given proximity and fact both are AK!) Are there worker shortages? Less buses running? I hope this gets figured out soon, or that they at least being back the Minnie vans for those who would rather pay than wait

DS has always had lousy bus service, IMO. That's nothing new. There is a bus driver shortage where I live (MA) so I wouldn't be surprised if that is a national trend. I don't think the Minnie Vans are coming back until this pandemic has passed, as it is too risky for those drivers to be in a closed vehicle with people who may have COVID.

 

[ttintagel]

It’s one reason why I would never stay at AKL even if I could afford it. It’s a lovely place, but I wouldn’t want to pay Deluxe rates and still have the buses be my only transportation option.

 

[Selket]

I’m here now at an all stars and zero bus issues. If a coach bus came… only twice… a Disney bus was behind it in 5 mins or less. No issues getting back from parks either. Not sure if I’ve been lucky or what but I hope I didn’t just jinx myself!

 

[SKB516]

Hello, first post here. I stayed at Pop Century last week, and my first encounter with the dreaded coaches was trying to get to Disney Springs from Pop (just prior to noon on a weekday). I had no idea about the coaches and the fact they can't take chairs/scooters, so I just sat there waiting while they piled everyone on and drove off without saying a word to me. Luckily a very nice Disney driver was nearby and noticed me and called me over to his bus that was empty after dropping people off at another stop. He actually drove just me over to Disney Springs, which was really over and beyond and I really appreciated it. The next encounter was leaving Magic Kingdom one evening. It was around 7pm, so not during the post-fireworks mass exodus, there weren't a lot of people waiting at all. They'd just loaded 2 scooters, so couldn't take my wheelchair, which I understood. But afterwards only coaches came. 4 or 5 of them in a row. I ended up going to the Art of Animation stop because I saw a Disney bus pulling up over there. Of course by the time I got there, they already had 2 scooters as well, so I couldn't get on that one either. I went back & forth between the Pop and AoA stops for nearly an hour before I finally got on an accessible Disney bus (& that wait was with only 1 chair/scooter ahead of me in line). I can't imagine how bad it would have been if I'd actually waited until after fireworks to leave.
Also, when I got ready to leave to go to MCO, the guy at the Magical Express post outside Pop told me they'd called a DME bus for me because they are also using the coaches for airport transport. They told me that even in the event that a coach had a wheelchair lift (& most don't), Disney has forbidden them from using it, so the only wat to see an accessible bus is by using a Disney bus. I understand that Disney has to move a lot of people, and in particular a high volume of people using mobility aids, but I do wish they'd be more transparent about this. I can't imagine how stressful it would be to be trying to get somewhere by a specific time, like for a dining reservation, and having to wait so long for an accessible bus. I give myself an hour or so to get where I need to go anyway, but in some cases I'd suggest giving yourself even longer now because of the bus situation.

 

[ttintagel]

I understand that Disney has to move a lot of people, and in particular a high volume of people using mobility aids, but I do wish they'd be more transparent about this.

My feeling is, if you can’t afford to do business the right way, then you can’t afford to be in that business. It’s not like they’re some small-town Mom and Pop operating on a razor-thin profit margin. When they have an issue, they HAVE money to throw at it.

 

[DisneyOma]

My feeling is, if you can’t afford to do business the right way, then you can’t afford to be in that business. It’s not like they’re some small-town Mom and Pop operating on a razor-thin profit margin. When they have an issue, they HAVE money to throw at it.

Throwing money at whom? There is a shortage of bus drivers in my region (MA) and I'm wondering if that is a national issue, perhaps? If so, there's no one to throw the money at. Perhaps Disney shouldn't use Mears, but is there another bus company that would use Disney buses (if there are enough - are there enough accessible buses? Can they get more with the backlog of parts needed for vehicles now?) or a company that has a fleet of accessible buses? My guess is the bus drivers are being used to get kids to school, not drive people around on vacation. They had to call in the national guard to drive the school buses in Boston. And I bet they have a pile of broken buses they can't fix due to the shortage of parts.

 

[Selket]

I'm back from my trip to AS Movies and no major issues. I did wait for a bus after watching Harmonious at Epcot but so did a ton of others (not in scooters). The bus people were great and actually were using two stops - one to load wheelchairs and then the bus went to the 2nd stop just ahead to pick up everyone else. Maybe one coach bus came in the mix but went to the 2nd stop and got people while we were loading. I waited awhile one morning just for any bus... there was just not a bus... but that has happened on other trips also.

I did see coach busses at busy times but I think the one time one pulled up it loaded folks and there was a regular Disney bus setting right behind it waiting for it to move on.

 

[ttintagel]

Throwing money at whom? There is a shortage of bus drivers in my region (MA) and I'm wondering if that is a national issue, perhaps? If so, there's no one to throw the money at. Perhaps Disney shouldn't use Mears, but is there another bus company that would use Disney buses (if there are enough - are there enough accessible buses? Can they get more with the backlog of parts needed for vehicles now?) or a company that has a fleet of accessible buses? My guess is the bus drivers are being used to get kids to school, not drive people around on vacation. They had to call in the national guard to drive the school buses in Boston. And I bet they have a pile of broken buses they can't fix due to the shortage of parts.

Somebody’s driving those inaccessible buses. Why would they need to hire new drivers? And I have a hard time believing that all their accessible buses just fell irreparably apart one day.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

Somebody’s driving those inaccessible buses. Why would they need to hire new drivers? And I have a hard time believing that all their accessible buses just fell irreparably apart one day.

The people driving those inaccessible buses aren't Disney employees, that's the thing. They're employed by other bus companies and are only licensed/trained on coach-style buses. The bus companies never had accessible buses to begin with. Disney contracted with their company to provide buses and drivers.

 

[DisneyOma]

Somebody’s driving those inaccessible buses. Why would they need to hire new drivers? And I have a hard time believing that all their accessible buses just fell irreparably apart one day.

I'm sorry I didn't explain it - by accessible buses, I mean the standard ones WDW uses, the regular fleet that is able to load 2-3 mobility devices. I don't see Disney maintaining/repairing them during the shutdown and slow reopening. And then when they are needed, the parts shortage makes it difficult to maintain/repair them.

Disney would need to hire new drivers because so many of them were laid off during the pandemic, right? And many places are finding it hard to get bus drivers - look at the Boston situation, where the national guard was called in and a bunch of guards got 7D licenses, etc. I know our district still has a bus driver shortage. They are practically begging people to get a 7D at least.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Our school district started out in August needing 100 more drivers. By October we needed even more. Some quit and some died of Covid19. Bus driver shortages are a serious issue all over

 

[Goodbye22]

The bus situation has always been tricky. If I was the first in line and the sign was not what it should be I just would ask the driver if he was going to where I wanted. Even if I was not the first in line and the bus was going somewhere else I would ask the driver when the bus was coming that I wanted. Actually when it comes down to it you are at their mercy however short or long you wait.

 

[Firepath]

I wouldn't feel bad if people have to move. I'd gladly trade my disability for their lost seat. I had another guest, when my wheelchair wouldn't fit, tell me to just fold it up and walk on. I told her that if I could do that, I wouldn't be disabled!

 

[fabfemmeboy]

I wouldn't feel bad if people have to move. I'd gladly trade my disability for their lost seat. I had another guest, when my wheelchair wouldn't fit, tell me to just fold it up and walk on. I told her that if I could do that, I wouldn't be disabled!

I mean, some people can do that - there are ambulatory wheelchair users, and I am often among them, but there's definitely an assumption at Disney that anyone with a mobility aid "doesn't really need it" for every-day use, only for long walks.