Tie downs on buses?

[dntd]

My dd's stroller has tie downs for buses, I was wondering if anyone knows what type of system disney has. Last time I went we used a umbrella stroller, I should have got a disability pass as the bus driver made me carry my DD who at the time had major mobility problems on and a folded up stroller, not fun. I don't remember if they even tie the chairs down. She can walk but get's tired faster.

 

[SueM in MN]

My dd's stroller has tie downs for buses, I was wondering if anyone knows what type of system disney has.

This is a picture of my daughter’s manual wheelchair in the tie down on the WDW bus.

The actual tiedown straps are made by Q’straint and hook onto the frame of the wheelchair if there are not built in tiedown securement locations.
Some posters recently have seen a new securement product called the Q’POD on some buses.

If a wheelchair or stroller is not tied down, the person using it will need to get out and sit on a bus seat. The wheelchair or stroller will need to be folded and held out of the way.
Since your daughter now has a special needs stroller with built in tiedown attachment points, you will be able to have her stay in it and have it tied down for travel on the bus.

Last time I went we used a umbrella stroller, I should have got a disability pass as the bus driver made me carry my DD who at the time had major mobility problems on and a folded up stroller, not fun. I don't remember if they even tie the chairs down. She can walk but get's tired faster.

With a Guest Assistance Card (GAC) or a sticker that allowed you to use your stroller as a wheelchair, most bus drivers will let guests board through the back door using the lift or ramp. Without one of those things, the driver has no way to know which children have special needs and would get many parents who want to board that way and leave their child in the stroller without any special needs.

Even if you had a Guest Assistance Card or a sticker, you would have still needed to take your daughter out of the stroller and folded it on the bus.
The frames of regular strollers are not made for the stresses placed on the frame by attaching the tiedowns to the frame; that can result in damage to the stroller or even a child getting hurt if in the stroller in an accident or sudden stop.

Many special needs strollers look very much like regular strollers at first glance, so if there is any chance that your daughter’s may get mistaken for a regular stroller, I would suggest you still get a GAC or sticker (there is more information about GACs in post #6 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread - you can get there by following the link in my signature).

 

[dntd]

Thank you I'm getting her a sticker for sure this trip as the local bus drivers sometimes have a hard time figuring it out even though is has a card on the back to say it's a bus safe chair.

 

[SueM in MN]

Another thing that is helpful -
tie some bright colored ribbons or put some bright colored tape on the safe tiedown spots. That makes it really easy for the bus drivers to see and easy for you (you can tell the drivers "You can attach the hooks where ever you see the --------- colored ribbon.")

My daughter's manual wheelchair doesn't have built in tiedown spots, but I have determined where it is safe to attach and marked those spots. Her power wheelchair does have built in spots, but they are black and can kind of blend in, so it's still helpful for those to be marked. Even I have problems seeing them sometimes in our van and I know where they are.

 

[dntd]

Thankyou for the tip, I'll have to get some ribbon

 

[idchafee]

All the tiedowns I've experienced on Disney buses are little more than straps with hooks on the end that are anchored to the floor with ratchet systems. I can get the seat up and my mom strapped down inside of a minute and a half. Hell, if I had the key to the ramp I could have her up the ramp and strapped down before the driver made it back. I always have her unstrapped by the time the driver is ready to lower the ramp. The straps are a snap to use, in the 38 years I've been around people in wheelchairs (my mom had polio way before I was born) I've used a whole crapload of accessibility aids and WDW by far as the most user friendly.

Having said that, my mom's chair doesn't have any special tiedown areas. I just hook the hook on somewhere that isn't the axle or the crossbrace in the back, and the foot platform stem up front, tighten the ratchet and we're off. I've never had to deal with an adaptive stroller.