Strange question about DME

[4fordisneyworld]

I am just curious if anyone has pictures of the inside of one of the DME buses? I really prefer my kiddos to be in their booster seats but I know that is not possible with DME. Normally I rent a car but man the rates are horrible for Feb and our trip is shorter so I thought I would give DME a try! So I would like to see how the seating is if anyone might have a pic or can tell me where to see it!


Thank you!!

 

[dudspizza]

all you have to do is google "DME interior" and click on images......

This is the first one that came up... http://albums.mouseplanet.com/ContributedProcessed/dme_interior.jpg

Duds

 

[CleveRocks]

I am just curious if anyone has pictures of the inside of one of the DME buses? I really prefer my kiddos to be in their booster seats but I know that is not possible with DME. Normally I rent a car but man the rates are horrible for Feb and our trip is shorter so I thought I would give DME a try! So I would like to see how the seating is if anyone might have a pic or can tell me where to see it!


Thank you!!

Here's a photo I took when my kids were 6.5 and 4. We started taking DME when they were 5 and 2.5.

My wife is a board-certified pediatrician and I'm a therapist who treats survivors of catastrophic trauma injuries (mostly motor vehicle accidents). In other words, we know all too well what can result from accidents. And both of us have always felt perfectly confident taking our own precious children on the DME buses (and the Disney Transport buses, too). WHY?

I'll skip the physics tutorial and just say that, overall, even unrestrained occupants in a very large vehicle such as a motorcoach are safer in an accident than restrained passengers in a smaller vehicle such as a car or SUV.

 

[4fordisneyworld]

Here's a photo I took when my kids were 6.5 and 4. We started taking DME when they were 5 and 2.5.

My wife is a board-certified pediatrician and I'm a therapist who treats survivors of catastrophic trauma injuries (mostly motor vehicle accidents). In other words, we know all too well what can result from accidents. And both of us have always felt perfectly confident taking our own precious children on the DME buses (and the Disney Transport buses, too). WHY?

I'll skip the physics tutorial and just say that, overall, even unrestrained occupants in a very large vehicle such as a motorcoach are safer in an accident than restrained passengers in a smaller vehicle such as a car or SUV.

Thank you for this! I have become even more protective of my girls since my husband passed away ( almost 21 months ago ) and just check out everything before we embark upon on trying something new! I truly appreciate your input....it does make me feel better about using DME!

 

[Edd]

You can always use a car serrvice company which will provide you with the seats you need or you can bring your own seats and install them in the car service vehicle. Many families who do not want their children riding without seat belts use the service. It is not free and may run $100.00 to $130.00 for a round trip to Disney.

Car service provides you with immediate departure from Orlando International after you pick up your bags, or if you send your bags on the DME, a 15 minute faster departure from the airport. The driver will meet you at the escalator and help you, escorting you to his vehicle which is located one floor down and about 50 feet walking distance. There is no 1/2 mile hikes from the A side to the B side to catch the DME. There is a possible grocery stop if you want to pick up some brew or groceries. Driver conversation, tips and just a great feeling that you are taken to Disney in a more personal matter other than being lined up and put aboard a bus, which by the way will take you another 15 to 45 minutes longer to get there, depending on the route taken.

Your children will be put into a baby seat and you will feel the confidence your child is much safer and riding in the way he rides normallly at home. You won't have to hold them in your lap for 30 - 45 minutes or wrap a belt around its little body that you know won't help if the bus becomes involved in a serious accident. For those with children under 5 spending out a little bit of money should not be that inconvenient for the feeling that it gives.

On return the car service will pick you up 2 to 2 1/2 hours before your departure time. You make the arrangements with the driver. You won't have to leave your room at the resort 3 1/2 hours to catch the DME back to the airport. You can wait in your room for the time to arrive or in the lobby. You won't have to wait for the huge crowds outside the hotel 10 - 15 minutes before your bus arrives, in the weather, to be able to catch a seat. It is so much nicer when you walk outside the hotel and the driver greets you, escorts you to his car and you get in and head to the airport.

Car service companies can be found on the web and many of the better ones, that Disney visitors have used, are mentioned on the disboards.

 

[tjmw2727]

Thank you for this! I have become even more protective of my girls since my husband passed away ( almost 21 months ago ) and just check out everything before we embark upon on trying something new! I truly appreciate your input....it does make me feel better about using DME!

At ages 5 and 7 I would have no issues letting my daughters ride in the DME coach bus. In fact as a single parent myself the thing I love about Disney is the ease of transporation and not having to drive in a strange place. We use DME and Disney transportation almost exclusively although I do buget a few extra $ for the occasional cab trip to/from resorts.

My condolences on the loss of your husband . I recently lost my dear husband as well; its been 13 months for us.

 

[Edd]

And you know as much as I appreciate you, Cleve, I completely disagree that an unrestrained child in a bus is safer than a restrained child in a regular vehicular. Not many children travel on the highway busses, except at the DME. Even grownups are not as safe witnessed by all the bus accidents across the USA and Europe these past few years. The only way they may be safe is because not as many busses and passengers have been involved in accidents as other vehicles. When a bus, that is a highway bus, is in an accident there are some very bad injuries and death.

 

[helenk]

I am just curious if anyone has pictures of the inside of one of the DME buses? I really prefer my kiddos to be in their booster seats but I know that is not possible with DME. Normally I rent a car but man the rates are horrible for Feb and our trip is shorter so I thought I would give DME a try! So I would like to see how the seating is if anyone might have a pic or can tell me where to see it!


Thank you!!

While I understand your concern with the ME buses, you will still have to rely on the Disney buses once you are at your resort. Those buses still travel on the highway too.
Using a town car service as Edd has posted will not change the fact that your children will have to ride a bus at some point if you do not have a rental car.
That said, in June I took my son and his family, including my grand daughter who was 14 months old at the time, and we felt perfectly safe in the buses. My son uses Public transportation at home so felt no different using the bus sytem in Disney.

 

[Hannathy]

And Edd in all fairness I think it should be noted that with your glowing report of a car service that you do own/are employed by a car service.
Think possibly you are a bit biased?

In this over lawyered world we live in if there was any significant danger to riding in a bus without seat belts do you really think Disney would be doing it?

There are million or bus rides taken daily around the world and exactly how many deaths and injuries do you hear of. And in places that use mass transit kids are on busses on the highway daily.

 

[CleveRocks]

I should add that we've had our kids on buses on highways since before we ever took them to Disney World. We are frequent day-trippers to New York City. I don't mind the driving there as much as the parking, so we often go to the Atlantic City bus station and take the bus to and from Manhattan.

It's more than 100 miles of highway Garden State Parkway between here and NYC. On the Parkway, going 65 mph makes it seem like you're standing still. So our kids were veterans of motorcoaches long before they were veterans of DME. I'm happier riding with my kids on the bus than I am driving them in my SUV. Just my choice.

 

[Edd]

Disney employees are not driving the DME busses as they are owned by Mears transportation with Mears drivers. The DME drivers go thru no training by Disney.

The DME busses travel at 70 miles per hour for about 25 minutes of the trip with a driver fleet that has an driver average age of 2 years old as bus drivers. The bus transportation on Disney travels at the most 35 miles per hour on the property and has Disney employees which the average age is probably better than 10 years, I certainly would feel much safer riding a bus on the Disney property. In other words their drivers are much more experienced driving busses than the Mears driven DME busses. If the truth were known many of the Mears experienced drivers are driving the DCL.

Of course I am biased because many of my car service friends can give the visitors of Disney much better service than the DME provides as I stated on the previous post. It is up to you the visitor to decide that if you consider the walking you have to do, the time you waste waiting for the bus transportation between the airport and WDW, the safety you may be adding to your vacation by using babyseats, and the chance to get to some local advice or tips from the driver who wants to take care of your every need, you might think the free transportation you get from Disney is actually more costly. Many times I have seen people waiting for busses returning to the airport for over 40 minutes.

There are many posters on these boards that have ridden with me and other drivers and they can speak to the private service that I and others like me have provided visitors to WDW. They usually return as they see the convenience that is provided.

Thank you for letting everyone know that I am a car service driver. You have done me a favor.

 

[goofy4tink]

Edd.....I have to disagree with one thing. I have yet to be in a DME bus that has traveled at 70 mph..ever. Maybe 60, and usually lower. I do like to sit up front so I can see the speedometer!!
Yes, there are going to be those guests that are more comfortable with a car service. I've used them many times in the past and will again in the future.

BUT.....I will NOT have this car service with car seats vs buses with flying children argument again!! If families are on the DME bus, they are going to have to be on the WDW park/resort buses. And those are the buses that are going to be in an accident!! With the way tourists drive around WDW proper, it's amazing to me that more buses don't get run into. I have had a very small percentage of less than good bus drivers onsite. And the same for the DME drivers.

There is little accomplished by saying that those riding the buses are putting their children in danger. That is just plain wrong. It's funny but the only time I have been in any kind of motor vehicle accident in WDW was in a towncar. We got rearended, by a Floridian...nutty old lady decided we weren't leaving the toll booth fast enough. Never happened on a bus!

Historically, buses are quite safe. Yes, they do make national headlines when a driver gets sleepy and is driving in an area they are not familier with and then they miss a curve and end up rolling over an embankment. But...those situations are few and far between.

 

[helenk]

Edd.....I have to disagree with one thing. I have yet to be in a DME bus that has traveled at 70 mph..ever. Maybe 60, and usually lower. I do like to sit up front so I can see the speedometer!!

Boy do I agree with you!! Some of those drivers have got to be the slowest bus drivers in the country. In all my trips that I have been able to sit up front I have never had a bus driver go over 60.
They just take their time, it almost gets frustrating sometimes because I want to get where I'm going and they are just chillin along

 

[Edd]

I can pull right up next to them and time them. I know they are governed to do no more than 70, but they push the 70. The speed limit on 417 is 65 and the troopers give everyone 10 miles. So they are really not breaking any speed limit. There are approximately 150 DME busses on the road everyday and many of you ride on the bus 2 times each visit, plus many riders cannot see the speedometer. I can't see why you telling me they don't go over 60 is credible. I have had many DME busses pass me when I was doing 65 - 70 mph.

I think Di knows me enough to know I don't exaggerate.

There is a difference in the off-Disney and the on-Disney bus service. The four most notable are the speed limits, the education, the longevity of the drivers and experience of the drivers who are hired and trained by Disney to drive their busses on the property.

Car service still has many advantages over the DME. The one disadvantage is that car service is not free.

 

[Hannathy]

Car service still has many advantages over the DME. The one disadvantage is that car service is not free.

And that is a BIG DISADVANTAGE!!!! For the price of car service I can stay another night easily actually probably 2 extra nights if you do both ways.

And another advantage which I think is the most important and magical of all is my luggage magically appears in my room with out me ever touching it again after I check it. That is what I think is the real magic in magic express!

 

[Edd]

Luggage can appear magically in your room whether you use car service, rental car or the DME. As long as it arrives into MCO aboard an airline. Of course there are those who don't trust the luggage part of the DME and choose to pick up and carry their luggage with them.

I would say the cost of car service can get you one more night, not two, at Disney unless you know of a Disney hotel that charges $50.00 to $75.00 per night.

 

[Hannathy]

Luggage can appear magically in your room whether you use car service, rental car or the DME. As long as it arrives into MCO aboard an airline.

My understanding is technically you aren't supposed to do this and if they want to clamp down on it they can and that would be just my luck!

 

[goofy4tink]

I can pull right up next to them and time them. I know they are governed to do no more than 70, but they push the 70. The speed limit on 417 is 65 and the troopers give everyone 10 miles. So they are really not breaking any speed limit. There are approximately 150 DME busses on the road everyday and many of you ride on the bus 2 times each visit, plus many riders cannot see the speedometer. I can't see why you telling me they don't go over 60 is credible. I have had many DME busses pass me when I was doing 65 - 70 mph.

I think Di knows me enough to know I don't exaggerate.

There is a difference in the off-Disney and the on-Disney bus service. The four most notable are the speed limits, the education, the longevity of the drivers and experience of the drivers who are hired and trained by Disney to drive their busses on the property.

Car service still has many advantages over the DME. The one disadvantage is that car service is not free.

No, you don't tend to exaggerate, but.....I knows whats I knows. And every time I have been in a DME bus, they have driven relatively slowly. In fact, I have been in plenty of towncars that sped past them.
I will continue to recommend DME to those who are interested and want an unbiased recommendation. I have had my issues with DME. But I have also had issues with car services as well. Nothing is going to be perfect, all the time.
And there are going to be those who DME is not a viable options...for one reason or another. But, safety of their children shouldn't be a huge concern. And nothing anyone says is going to sway me from that position.

 

[goofy4tink]

My understanding is technically you aren't supposed to do this and if they want to clamp down on it they can and that would be just my luck!

Well....while Disney tells you that you have to ride the bus in order to get your bags delivered, it really isn't true. Many people have done this with no ill effects. But, as you say...that could change at any time. It probably won't, but it could.

 

[Edd]

The same statement also says you have to use the luggage feature to ride the DME bus unless I don't understand English well enough. There are more passegers carrying their own luggage to the bus.