The most annoying or aggravating thing you see at WDW.....get your flames ready!

[Princess Stitch]

People who have to use wheelchairs and scooters to get around already have so many more obsticles than the rest of us to enjoying their Disney vacation. Is it really to much to ask that they be allowed to stay with their family? Why do you think that because they are in a wheelchair they somehow loose the right to be with their family?

A GAC allows for a max party size of 6, so why should a bus be different? The WC/ECV already takes up 3 seats so a party of 6 is actually taking up 9 seats. By your logic then if someone is in a grand gathering and needs a GAC we should allow them to bring an unlimited number of people with them into line so they are allowed to stay with their family?

Considering the amount of people in WC/ECV and using a GAC every day don't you think that's a pretty inefficient way of doing things, and also inconvenient to the other guests? It's not like it happens only once or twice a week..

 

[Trentmom]

Now excuse me while I waddle over to my ECV, smoke a cigarette while talking
loudly on my cellphone to someone in the next room, run over a few kids then
scream at them for not having a good time.

Good One.,.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sorry I have to agree with the previous poster poster and disagree with you. It is beyond annoying to have waited for 15-20 minutes and then have a wheelchair roll up as the bus is pulling in and get right on and take 12 people with them. Why can't they wait 15 minutes for the next bus like everyone else? That would be fair. and Why should their party be guaranteed seats, mine isn't. If there aren't enough seats we have to wait. Allow the WC and 2 people unless they are the WC's immediate family of minor children on the bus the rest wait with every one else. It is supposed to be equal not preferred.
And I do understand the WC on first for the bus but it should be after waiting not immediately.

First of all, a "party" allowed with the person using a wheelchair is defined by Disney as a total of 6 = 5 + the person with a disability. We have been at WDW many times over the past 21 years, riding the buses. Maybe we have just been 'lucky', but I have never seen a group of more that 6 (certainly not the 12 - 20 people keep talking about). My DD does use a wheelchair and sometimes, while the door is open, other guests will just use the opportunity to 'tag on' with our party (which makes it look like we have a huge party, when we actually are a party of 3-5). That has happened often enough that we now point out to the driver who is part of our party.
We do often split our party and have only DD in her wheelchair and DH with her. Besides physical disabilities, she also has anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder which will make the ride very unpleasant for everyone if her family does not get on the same bus with her.

If we know we are trying to get on the bus during a busy time, we

Here are some example of things that have happened to us:

• We are leaving a park at closing. There is already a line of people waiting, so we wait for the next bus off to the side where the driver will not see us. We watch people get into line as we are waiting.
  The bus loads and there are about 20 people waiting for the next bus. At that point, we go to the wheelchair waiting area so that the driver of the next bus would see us. (If we had waited in line the whole time, we would have been one of the first 20, so we would have gotten seats). When the bus comes, people in line grumble because they had been waiting and we got in "right away" (Never mind that we did wait, maybe just not where everyone in the line saw us) and "it's not fair; that wheelchair took up 3 seats" (Never mind that DH and I stand and that if we had waited in line instead of out side the line, we still would have gotten seats).
• Waiting at OKW to go to a park. Bus pulls up, but both wheelchair slots are full. Wait for next bus, even though there is plenty of room for guests not traveling with wheelchairs (there are even seats). We wait for the next bus, even though people who got to the stop before us get on and get seats.
• Waiting at resort for the bus. There were about 6 people waiting for the Epcot bus when we arrived at the stop, many more came later. Bus driver tried to load DD's wheelchair, but the lift would not work, so after several tries, he told us to wait for the next bus. Bus left without us (but with about 20 people who arrived at the stop after us). Next bus also had lift that didn't work. Since there were no people waiting, our bus driver and another bus driver 'fussed' with it until it did work. After we got on, driver told us that it was possible we might have the same problem when we got to Epcot (so could be trapped on the bus with lift that didn't work).
• Waiting at Epcot after the park closed. We purposely took our time getting out of the park so we would not be on one of the first buses. When we got to the stop, there were only 2 people waiting. By the time the bus arrived, there were enough to fill the bus, with a few people standing. While we were on the bus, I heard someone comment to a companion "It's not fair that people have to stand just because that wheelchair is taking up 3 seats". (Never mind that DH and I are both standing, so our party is only taking up a total of 3 seats and that we were in the first 5 to get on the bus, so having a wheelchair or not, the people who got in line after us and had to stand would have still had to stand if DD, DH and I had all walked onto the bus).
• Waiting at park to get on the bus at closing. There were already a group of people waiting for the bus when we got there. I didn't feel like listening to any comments about us getting 'special treatment' and the bus line was wide, so we entered the line with everyone else. After winding thru the waiting line, we ended up at the first turn closest to the bus and needed to wait there because there was a chain there that could be removed to let the wheelchair out of the line for loading by the bus back door. We waited together and left about 12-15 people go ahead of us when they arrived into the line. The driver saw us and told the waiting people that he needed to "load the wheelchair party first and then we'll get the rest of you onto the bus." At that point, DH and DD's 2 grandmothers (both in their mid 70s)stayed together to board. Myself, other DD, my sister and her DD joined the regular line and got on the bus thru the regular line (remember, we had left 12-15 people in ahead of us). There were still seats available when we got on, so some of us sat down. When we saw people get on who needed our seat worse than we did, we got up and offered our seats (my sister offered her seat to someone she thought was pregnant - turned out she wasn't). Everyone who was in the line got onto the bus.
  If DD's wheelchair had not been taken out of line to load first, we still would have all gotten on; it just would have taken longer because there would have been people already settled in the seats that were needed for the wheelchair and because it's much harder to load a wheelchair in the crowd.

Anyway, during the ride, I still had to listen to several people talking about how it was 'not fair' that the wheelchair was loaded first and that we were taking up all those seats. Comments like that are like knives in my heart.
We try to be considerate of others and wait our turn, but to many of the people we meet, it doesn't matter. On a trip last Winter, we met up with some friends who had moved to Florida and they spent some time with us. They were amazed how much 'crap' we got from people and kept apologizing for things other people were doing.
The majority of people are nice and some are helpful, but it's the few nasty ones that we remember and keep being hurt by.

 

[Cinders Mum]

SueM,

I think the big difference here, is that you and your family are reasonable and considerate guests. Jumba's example quoted an occassion where they witnessed the same individual who sat in the ecv earlier in the day, sitting at the bar, discussing who would use the vehicle the next day .... that is totally out of order and an abuse of the system Disney put in place for genuine users.

I was injured last year and my husband had to push me around the parks in a wheelchair and it is not an easy option at all, however, I did not expect or want extra attention at all, and would take a slow hobble into HM rather than wheel into the attraction, as I was determined to only use the chair for the purposes I needed it (to get between attractions, and to work round those attractions which required me to climb stairs, as I'd injured my knee).

So where there are plenty of legitimate users of chairs and ecv's, there are less moral people who abuse the system, and that I think is what gets up peoples noses .... and as an aside yes I have seen group of more than 10 including the chair user board buses ... so it is not an urban myth

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Anyway, during the ride, I still had to listen to several people talking about how it was 'not fair' that the wheelchair was loaded first and that we were taking up all those seats. Comments like that are like knives in my heart.

Bu++heads!

I'm sorry Sue

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

So where there are plenty of legitimate users of chairs and ecv's, there are less moral people who abuse the system, and that I think is what gets up peoples noses .... and as an aside yes I have seen group of more than 10 including the chair user board buses ... so it is not an urban myth

Our last few visits have been during very busy times -- and we've also witnessed several large parties enter the bus with an ECV user. Never even thought they might be hitchhikers though (as Sue mentioned).

It's always a shame when a small percentage of people create hardships for the group as a whole...I feel this is the case concerning ECV issues.

 

[Mkrop]

to you SueM

Why do people have to be like this? I dont get it!

I am sure there are people who abuse the system and if you see the flagrant abuse and you can be sure then report it. I am not sure there is anything they can do.

But please be assured that in many cases you may not know the whole story so give the person the benefit of the doubt but if you can tell the person in the wheelchair is disabled then please people have some comapssion!

I am just sick to my stomach on some people's lack of compassion.

I mentioned my son's hyptonia (or low muscle tone) on this thread I believe, you can not tell just by looking that something is wrong (we do not have to use anything but his stroller hes 4) but I have learned not to judge bc I may not know the whole story.

Just like some rude person on another thread just this morning when I mentioned his low tone, referred to his condition as just him being flabby. I ma still tyring to calm down from that!!!! Unless you are a medical professional, you should not judge others especially on medical conditions you may not be familiar with!

 

[Jedi_Galvatron]

Bu++heads!

I'm sorry Sue

I'm sorry for their treatment of you too Sue, however, for those who DO abuse the system I wish they'd get treated worse. I know you're all going to go into the "but how do you KNOW they don't need it" line of reasoning but there are MANY times I've been to the world and seen such obvious abuse of the services that believe me there are times when you KNOW. I've seen ECV users who, like Sue, got stuck at a bus where the lift wouldn't work. Did that stop them? NO! They LIFTED the ECV onto the bus... LIFTED IT!!!!

Also, I'm all for equal rights, so if the ECV guest has family with them then sure, one or two should be allowed onto the bus immediately with them to keep them safe, help load them, etc. But the rest of the able bodied family should be made to wait in line like everyone else unless they are minors. EQUAL rights not EXTRA rights. You're all proabbbly right, groups of 20 or so lets say are rare, but even a group of 6 (like mentioned above) takes 9 or 10 seats as the ECV takes 3. Also, it peeves me off when the ECV users family are all like 7-10 years old but refuse to give their seats up to the elderly, etc. Your family has someone whith a disability but you have no compassion for others who might have issues???

 

[lynn71092]

The thing that aggarvates me is when I get to an attraction and there are other people in front of me. Don't they know how special I am. I shouldn't have to wait. I could be in and out of the park in two hours if it weren't for those other people making me wait. Also, at least half of those people are minors. I can't believe they let underage people in the parks.

 

[allyphoe]

And no matter what you know about character, don't tell the kids or brag about it in line when the character steps off to "get some honey", because then they feel like they're not real and you can hit and beat up without actually hurting them. When it really can hurt a lot.

When my DD4 last saw Tigger, she was very, um, enthusiastic about running over to Tigger. Poor Tigger was standing up (I notice a lot of characters crouch down a bit when smaller kids approach) and I suspect she hit him about crotch level. She certainly didn't mean to hurt him, and he didn't give any sign I could see that he was hurt, but I sure winced.

When we walked away, she said to me, "Tigger isn't real. He's a person in a Tigger suit." When questioned, she said that Pooh and all the other characters were real, and it was just Tigger that was a person in a suit. So I wondered if Tigger had said something when she ran into him.

 

[Taqwus]

When my DD4 last saw Tigger, she was very, um, enthusiastic about running over to Tigger. Poor Tigger was standing up (I notice a lot of characters crouch down a bit when smaller kids approach) and I suspect she hit him about crotch level. She certainly didn't mean to hurt him, and he didn't give any sign I could see that he was hurt, but I sure winced.

When we walked away, she said to me, "Tigger isn't real. He's a person in a Tigger suit." When questioned, she said that Pooh and all the other characters were real, and it was just Tigger that was a person in a suit. So I wondered if Tigger had said something when she ran into him.

From what I understand a majority of the characters are played by females, not sure about Tiger or some of the bigger ones. If it was a guy he probably did say something, I know my niece and nephew have done that to me and I let out a few nice words at times

 

[crzy4mickey]

We were in line for Pooh I think and a family with a child in a wc came up to get in line. The CM told them to step to the side for the wc entrance. SO they did. It was a mom, dad, and 2 children one being in a wc. You could easliy tell there was something wrong with the child physically and mentally. Not just a kid sitting in a wc because they were lazy or trying to get "ahead". The mom was so excited because it was the childs favorite ride. She was getting him all pumped up for the ride and he was smiling from ear to ear. I heard more comments in line from adults...why should they get treated special...they shouldn't be allowed to all board at the same time etc. I was in shock! Here I was (and they were) standing with my 2 healthy children thinking how could you even be so cruel! Is it fair that child is confinded to a wc?? My DD6 at the time asked me what was wrong with the little boy. I said loudly...I don't know honey but be thankful for your blessings. The guy next to me with his 2 healthy children turned 3 shades of red. DUH! Now lets argue whats fair!

And don't even get me going about people using handicapped bathrooms that shouldn't be!

 

[kakiegirl]

Agreed!
Parents who yell at kids for not wanting to ride a certain ride (what, your 6 year old DOESN'T want to ride tower of terror? Neither do I...)

Amen, this past trip we were getting on Pirates of the Carribbean and a little boy about 6 behind us who was screaming not to get on, I'm not talking about hesitant I mean terrified. His mother tried convincing him it wasn't scary and then threating that if he didn't ride this they would not ride anything else the rest of the day. I understand she knows her child better than me and what would or would not scare him, but as luck would have it they got on our boat and we had to spend half the ride listening to him cry loudly before he finally calmed down. I wish parents who do that to their children would be a little more considerate and think of other people. Thanks to her I don't think anyone really enjoyed the ride. I know the child did not, we did not, and I don't see how the mother could have.

 

[mom-2-3]

We were in line for Pooh I think and a family with a child in a wc came up to get in line. The CM told them to step to the side for the wc entrance. SO they did. It was a mom, dad, and 2 children one being in a wc. You could easliy tell there was something wrong with the child physically and mentally. Not just a kid sitting in a wc because they were lazy or trying to get "ahead". The mom was so excited because it was the childs favorite ride. She was getting him all pumped up for the ride and he was smiling from ear to ear. I heard more comments in line from adults...why should they get treated special...they shouldn't be allowed to all board at the same time etc. I was in shock! Here I was (and they were) standing with my 2 healthy children thinking how could you even be so cruel! Is it fair that child is confinded to a wc?? My DD6 at the time asked me what was wrong with the little boy. I said loudly...I don't know honey but be thankful for your blessings. The guy next to me with his 2 healthy children turned 3 shades of red. DUH! Now lets argue whats fair!QUOTE]

Thank you, we just returned from WDW with DD11, DS5 w/Down syndrome & DS2, this was our 3rd trip w/ DS5 and we have had a GAC each time, this was the busiest time we have ever gone. I wish we didn't have to use the GAC, the previous trips it was mostly to use his stroller as a wheelchair to save my back, since he was not walking yet. But this time, things bothered him more sensory wise, he had a meltdown our first day getting on Small World (we went throught the "regular" line with everyone else), so DH just walked across the boat and waited for the rest of us. We tried a couple other things and he was just really out of sorts. So the next day we started using the GAC at the lines, only one time per ride to be considerate of the others and not abusive. We want him to get to the point where this stuff isn't such and issue, but right now a laugh can set him off. Anyway, what I want to say is that I would stand in line everyday not to have to worry about such things.

 

[crzy4mickey]

QUOTE]

Anyway, what I want to say is that I would stand in line everyday not to have to worry about such things.[/QUOTE]

AMEN! Some people just don't get it. I have a nephew who is deaf. So of course when he was little and as he would sign to me he would make noises too. People would stare at him and tell their kids he was retarted! I would say right to them #1 he is deaf not retarted and #2 the word is not retarted its mentally challenged!

 

[Pirate Me]

When parents take really long with their cameras and videos taking photos of their kids, while people behind them are waiting. It gets really annoying sometimes!

 

[bettyann29]

there are many.. but the one thing that sticks out to me is when me and DH go by ourselves with no kids and I want a picture with a character and parents blantantly tell their kids to go in front of me after I have been in line like everyone else.. I wait just as everyone else should and I expect to not have adults tell their kids to cut because Im an adult.. I just think its rude.. many times I dont say anything until it gets to the point where its constant then I do say something to the effect of "I was in line, Im next." I know kids will be kids and they are excited to see the characters, but what I encounter is the parents pushing them along.. When I go with my kids they wait in line just like everyone else..

sorry to vent.. its just a pet peeve.. Can you tell?

 

[CindyBella]

Alright, flame if you wish but there are so many adults that come to WDW without kids and act so annoyed with all the kids "acting up"....or what I call having a great time!! If you get bumped into, or hit with a sword please try and control your anger and remember WDW is FOR KIDS!! So what if a 3 year old hits you with his light up sword?? Move on!-I highly doubt that he meant it!! If a child keeps bumping into you in line, please keep your feet to yourself and do not step on the said child's toes....on purpose...to teach him a lesson.
I love WDW with my kids. When they are older, DH and I will not go on our own. I like Mickey but I love MAUI even more!!

 

[bettyann29]

Just thought of something else.. on our trip last month.. DH and DD9 went to get something to eat in a counter service place in MK and I sat at the table so we would have a place to eat.. we had 4 chairs at our table.. I turned my head to keep an eye out for them and turned around and a girl had come over and taken one of the chairs.. now I didnt say anything because we only needed 3 so it was no problem.. I turned back to look out for DH and DD and out of the corner of my eye I saw her back at our table to get another chair!! I looked at her and said " I need that chair thank you".. not rudely as it probably sounds but couldnt help think it wouldnt have hurt for that person to ask.. they had no clue how many people were in my party as they came in after us.. I just know if it had been me, I would have politely asked if I had an extra chair and would not have just assumed.. It just blows me away sometimes how rude people are.. I choose to treat people the way I want to be treated ..

 

[bettyann29]

Alright, flame if you wish but there are so many adults that come to WDW without kids and act so annoyed with all the kids "acting up"....or what I call having a great time!! If you get bumped into, or hit with a sword please try and control your anger and remember WDW is FOR KIDS!! So what if a 3 year old hits you with his light up sword?? Move on!-I highly doubt that he meant it!! If a child keeps bumping into you in line, please keep your feet to yourself and do not step on the said child's toes....on purpose...to teach him a lesson.
I love WDW with my kids. When they are older, DH and I will not go on our own. I like Mickey but I love MAUI even more!!

sorry but I dont agree.. WDW is not just for kids.. its for anyone who chooses to go.. I go on adult only trips and I go with my kids but I go because I enjoy it.. the little things that kids do, do not bother me in the least.. its when the parents are putting them up to it when it rubs me the wrong way.. kids will be kids and they should be.. I cant imagine an adult stepping on a childs toes to teach them a lesson but I can certainly see one doing it.. makes no sense to me, thats just cruel.. there are many things that adults do that rub me the wrong way too ...

I go on many other vacations that are adults only also.. but I go back to WDW because I love it..