Transportation nightmare.... all week, every bus.. Touchy subject matter

[LovesTimone]

We just returned, and I have some real issues with transportation and a few vents as well.

Frist were are well seasoned at Disney transportations and know how it works, when you need to leave and know alternate route of transportations around the world. I have been coming to disney for 40 years. I have never seen this much chaos. We have always enjoyed riding the buses as my DH travels for work daily to his different office's, this give him a nice break.

Something has changed in the the transporation aspect of the world. I hope that they get it together... sooner the better.

On 2 mornings we headed for the buses to find out that they were sending other guest to our resort from DTD to catch park buses, to get back to there hotels, or where ever they were going to. There was some issue with buses at DTD people were waiting up to an hour for a bus, DH and I got standed for about 45 min. another morning at DTD, after the cast member directing the buses at our resort was putting people on the DTD bus to make breakfast adrs, at the monorail resorts. Saying that we could catch a direct bus.... which is true. But after getting there the guy directing tried to put us back on the bus to our resort to catch a MK bus to transportation station... and so forth.. What... is going on, we were a hour and 45 mins. late for breakfast, we left and hour ahead of time for our ADR.. so it took us 2 hour and 45 mins to get to breakfast, I think that this is excessive amount of time to get anywhere in the world. Mornings seemed to be the worst trying to get anywhere. So please be prepared to wait, I say this if you have small children that need to eat or someone has medical conditions where you need to eat or take medication with food. I am one of those people, so I did have a granola bar or yogurt before ever leaving the room, so that I did not fall out waiting for the buses.

Okay here's my vent..and... the touchy part, so before you blast me and I go up in flames please hear me out... I have worked with special needs children and senior adults. I have tried to approach this subject with respect.

We were waiting in line to leave Epcot one evening, we had gotten in line a little bit before they ended, but the line was all the way through the turnstile ropes. Not a problem we knew that we were going to have to wait. So there are 2 scooters and the families to go with them get on the bus and they leave, so about 10 min go by and another bus come and goes. Then 2 more scooters with family in tow arrive. Two of the children were standing near us, and the little boy says to the older girl why is grandma and grandpa in those things? the girl replies... mom said if they are in them we don't have to wait in line for rides and buses and that we can get on the bus before anyone else and get a seat.. I could not beleive my ears, well guess what happened the next bus pulled up and grandma and grandpa and the whole family got on the bus, and away they went. My point is that the person that needs the seat has one, why don't they wait in line with other guest, and take their turn? This is what I was taught and that I taught my children. That everyone waits their turn. What are those parents teaching there children? What about the parents that are standing in line holding a sleeping child they can not get on the bus with a open stroller they stand there and wait, and how is it fair that someone who has a seat to wait in line, get's to get on ahead of everyone else? and why is the whole family allowed to get one with them? Everyone of the scooters are driven on by the person sitting in it, if they are capble of driving them on the bus and all over the park .. would they able to wait in line as well? ( there should be rules for scooter in the park but that another subject) I can see if one person is needed them but 8 or ten people? We saw one family with a visiably special needs child in a wheel chair, when the bus came the mother boarded the bus with her child and sent the rest of the family to wait their turn in line to board the bus. The driver told her that the whole family could get on now she said that they where not going to "butt the line" and that they would all be on the same bus and thanked the driver for helping her.


And on to the next vent...

We were on a bus heading over to the beach club the bus was very full, and as you know that they stop at Boardwalk, Swan, Dophlin, and yatch club before reaching the beach club. We stopped at the boardwalk and there were 2 scooter to load on. In one of the seats where to scooter need to go was a woman and her daughter who was visibly special needs. The mother stated to the driver that her daughter could not stand, he just said you will have to or get off, I have to put the scooter here. Really...? We offered our seat to the woman and her daughter right away, but the woman said she (the daughter) can't climb stairs. We were sitting in the back upper part of the bus. Finally a older man and woman offered their seats to them and in turn we offer them ours seats. The point is that why would you displace one handicap person to place another one in their spot ???? To me the wheelchair symbol is not just for wheelchairs and scooter, it is for everyone that needs it. You don't have to be in a wheelchair or scooter to get a handicap sign for your car. Just some food for thought.


With more and more people using electric wheelchairs, scooters and such, Disney might need to think about alternate bus style for this. I drove such a bus, not as large as disney buses, but one that was easier to load, the resident just drove on or where push on, then I could strap down the chair or scooter and the resident could still stay in the seat safely. You could still board walking residents as well. Most people that need to use wheelcahirs and scooters, don't like holding up other people it is a sense of pride and digintiy. Perhaps seperate buses for Wheelchairs, scooter and their families, or more buses running more often with more than person instead of just the driver trying to load and unload alone could be helpful. But something needs to be done to accomodate everyone.

Again, I meant no disrespect to anyone, I just think that there is a problem that needs to be address and needs to be done in now rather than later.

 

[Lynne M]

Since this isn't specifically related to Resorts, I'm going to move it over to the Transportation board.

 

[maxiesmom]

Disney will never go to seperate buses for people in scooters and wheelchairs. It would be considered a form of discrimination, as it would take much longer for those buses to load and go to the parks. Not to mention it comes off sounding as if you are segregating them from the "normal" people. Not good.

I would think as someone who works with special needs children that you would realize that just because someone is in a scooter that doesn't mean they are well rested. As far as there being some jerks on scooters who use them for the benefit of boarding the buses first, well, they are idiots and jerks. Jerks for doing what they are doing, and idiots for not realizing they are then the last to get off of the buses. And that using the scooters in the parks is not fun or easy.

As far as the special needs child being asked to move out of the seat, that is a hard one. One one hand I understand that that girl couldn't stand. But on the other, there is a sign on or by those seats stating they are for wheelchairs and scooters and that if you may have to move to accomodate one of them. If it was the last seat open I'm not sure what that family could have done differently, but I'm glad that at least someone else offered up their seat for them.

I have to disagree with you in that you think this is a huge problem. In all of my trips to WDW, I have not seen it as a big deal at all. Sure it is a bit inconvenient all around, but if I want to get to the parks without waiting, or having to worry about a seat, I drive myself or take a taxi. As far as public bus transportation goes, I think Disney does a pretty stellar job handling the amount of traffic they have.

 

[Happy 2 B Me]

I sure agree to most all the issues you stated.

Both grandparents using a scooter seems a bit over the top just for getting in rides and transportation. They could have done all that with only one grandparent using a scooter. Some times grand kids do not have an idea how hard it might be for the grandparents to get around at Disney the whole day. ( Even I who looks very healthy as if nothing is wrong medically, have neuropathy in my feet and I also do dialysis at home)

There are only 2 or 3 sports for electric wheel chairs on the busses. I do think as you that the mother and child should not have been asked to move. They did not have a wheel chair to transport (maybe they rented from disney at the park) but as is was a visable disability moving them was very rude and out of line.

Let me also say that we have waited bus after bus to get transportation after park hours. My husband is in a wheel chair. We are 4 traveling together so of course we needed to ride same bus. As the girls got older I would let them take a different bus back to resort. you know what more then not they beat us back. I think it just happened that both busses were able to take wheelchairs. When we went as i stated previous it was maybe every other bus was wheelchair accessible.

One more thing if the grandparents were just renting carts for better "service" they probably waited longer to get on rides. You do not auto go first on rides you have to wait for right seatting on the ride, which is maybe 50 seats apart and there is ususally only one per attraction. To get both on the ride would take double the time. My husband and I would wait for right boarding for attraction and the girls, as they got older, would wait in reg line. You miss half the attraction if you by pass the que areas.

Hope this gives a view what we have experienced while traveling with electric wheelchair.

Patty

 

[Jaymie]

My mothers rents a scooter from Disney because she has cirulation issues in her legs and can only walk short distances. When she first said she wanted to rent a scooter from an off site co. I was against it, simply for the bus issue. Disney always let us use a courtesy wheelchair from guest services to the bus stop, so we were good, then she was ok to get on the bus and back to the room. But we never got to the front of any lines for any attractions. So I can't imagine actually wanting to use a scooter, unless you HAD to.

I think your bus issues must have been a fluke, because it's been very rare that we've ever had any issue with them in our 17+ trips.

 

[maxiesmom]

OP--Keep in mind too that now Disney is recommending you give yourself 90 minutes to get to your ADRs using Disney transportation. You would have still been late on your last trip unfortunately, but for future reference.

 

[Inkmahm]

( there should be rules for scooter in the park but that another subject)

Sounds to me like you think scooters and their users need to be put in their place, somewhere that won't cause you any inconvenience.

I also just got back from WDW. I used a scooter only one day, the day we spent 13 hours in Epcot. My arthritic knees would never have made it walking that day. All other days, I suffered so that I could walk rather than have to ride a scooter. Most people will do anything they can to NOT have to ride a scooter in the parks. There aren't any advantages to using them and in some cases, your wait in line for a ride is MUCH longer. TSMM comes to mind as a great example. It would be cheaper to rent a scooter offsite and use the WDW bus system to get to the parks. I don't do that so that I don't run into people on the buses who hate scooters and the people who ride them. I'd rather pay the extra money to ride the less comfortable scooters that Disney rents.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you're going by the words of the grandkids as the whole truth, then you ran into a family with jerks in it.


The mom who left her family behind, having them get into the line, probably just didn't want to be with the family, honestly. She probably wanted some alone time with her one child. Because to split apart a family like that is just odd, to me. I mean, WHY would you want to have a family split apart, unless you, for some reason, want to be split up from the family?

If my aunt ever stops hurting herself by walking with her cane, and realizes a scooter would be better for her, I wouldn't want to send her on alone, while we stand in line and get on the next bus or even the next-next one. We are a group, why not travel as such? (unless we're all sick of each other, and that's been done during our travels...aunt and my husband (to keep her company) going off alone, or me and my cousin hanging back, etc etc)



I think that the situation where they made a special needs person move for a wheeled vehicle was never going to have a good resolution. I mean, first, how is the girl getting around if she can't stand, or can't stand for long? Second, why did they sit not just in the HA and elderly bus-seat section, but in the specific seats that move *for* scooters and wheelchairs? They shouldn't have sat there, since they *could not* stand? And third, the bus driver was just trying to put the proper person in the proper place (wheeled conveyance in the wheeled conveyance spot). No good resolution with that series of events (though I do hope the one woman doesn't sit in the seats that can be moved in the future).




Separate but equal has been tried and soundly rejected.



And they want to board scooters/wheelchairs first so that they can actually get on the bus. If they board willy nilly, by the time you get to the person in the scooter/wheelchair, the front of the bus might be full, those seats might be taken, and now you have to take time to move people around, get their feet out of the way, etc etc. It's much faster and easier for everyone if you have those on scooters/wheelchairs more visible, and to board first. (and disembark last, which you might have noticed)

 

[nkereina]

I agree with most everything as well. Didn't get a chance to read all the replies.

The bigger problem with the scooters is all the family members that come with the folks on scooters. The families of 10+ who have one relative in a scooter who all board when the bus pulls up kills me. It even states on the bus depots (at least at POR) that a max of 6 family members can board at the same time, but I've never seen that enforced. Maybe Disney should start to enforce number of people who can board with a scooter rider. Or maybe after the scooter is loaded onto the bus, allow the people in the line on, and then once there is enough standing room left for the family, allow them in. Or maybe make a separate line for scooters, and have the family wait in the regular line and then when it's their turn, have them step off to the side with the scooter to be the first ones on the next bus. Clearly there isn't one good answer to resolve this. I understand that the scooters needed to be loaded on the bus first due to logistics, but there has to be a better answer for everyone else.

 

[bookwormde]

Disney is moving to single line loading so this will hopefully solve most of these issues.

Plus the new busses will have 4 mobility device spots, so it will hopefully be rare that the have to leave part empty since they do not have room for the next person in line with a disabiity.

 

[LovesTimone]

If you're going by the words of the grandkids as the whole truth, then you ran into a family with jerks in it.


The mom who left her family behind, having them get into the line, probably just didn't want to be with the family, honestly. She probably wanted some alone time with her one child. Because to split apart a family like that is just odd, to me. I mean, WHY would you want to have a family split apart, unless you, for some reason, want to be split up from the family? Maybe I ws not clear, she and her child load the bus and then she sent the rest of the family to get in line and board the bus, behind people that were are all ready waiting in line. They were all on the same bus with us.


If my aunt ever stops hurting herself by walking with her cane, and realizes a scooter would be better for her, I wouldn't want to send her on alone, while we stand in line and get on the next bus or even the next-next one. We are a group, why not travel as such? (unless we're all sick of each other, and that's been done during our travels...aunt and my husband (to keep her company) going off alone, or me and my cousin hanging back, etc etc)



I think that the situation where they made a special needs person move for a wheeled vehicle was never going to have a good resolution. I mean, first, how is the girl getting around if she can't stand, or can't stand for long? Second, why did they sit not just in the HA and elderly bus-seat section, but in the specific seats that move *for* scooters and wheelchairs? They shouldn't have sat there, since they *could not* stand? And third, the bus driver was just trying to put the proper person in the proper place (wheeled conveyance in the wheeled conveyance spot). No good resolution with that series of events (though I do hope the one woman doesn't sit in the seats that can be moved in the future). The wheelchair symbol is meant for all handicap or people who have special needs. That why I could not understand why they would make them move. My mom looks perfectly fine, but has serious heart issue, she has a handicap sticker for her car.The young women could stand, but I think balance was an issue on the moving bus, and possible they were getting a wheelchair at the resort.



Separate but equal has been tried and soundly rejected.



And they want to board scooters/wheelchairs first so that they can actually get on the bus. If they board willy nilly, by the time you get to the person in the scooter/wheelchair, the front of the bus might be full, those seats might be taken, and now you have to take time to move people around, get their feet out of the way, etc etc. It's much faster and easier for everyone if you have those on scooters/wheelchairs more visible, and to board first. (and disembark last, which you might have noticed)

-

 

[joelkfla]

On 2 mornings we headed for the buses to find out that they were sending other guest to our resort from DTD to catch park buses, to get back to there hotels, or where ever they were going to. There was some issue with buses at DTD people were waiting up to an hour for a bus, DH and I got standed for about 45 min. another morning at DTD, after the cast member directing the buses at our resort was putting people on the DTD bus to make breakfast adrs, at the monorail resorts. Saying that we could catch a direct bus.... which is true. But after getting there the guy directing tried to put us back on the bus to our resort to catch a MK bus to transportation station.

You didn't say what resort you were at. I'm assuming it was PO.

Management has decided that guests going from DTD to a park or distant resort in the a.m. should be directed to PO to change buses. If you think this is a bad decision, you should write to Guest Relations.

The cm who directed you to take a bus to DTD to catch a bus to a monorail resort was wrong. Bus service from DTD to resorts not near DTD is very limited in the morning. That cm should have directed you to MK, or a park near your resort. The cm apparently was inadequately trained. Again, you may want to bring this to the attention of GR.

Maybe Disney should start to enforce number of people who can board with a scooter rider.

It's up to the bus driver to enforce it. All they can do is ask the party to split up. If the party makes a fuss, all they can do is hold the bus and call for a manager. Then the entire bus may be waiting half an hour for a manager, who may let the entire party on anyway. And if the entire party has been waiting with the wheelchair, because there is no sign telling them to split up, or they didn't see the sign, or just ignored it, how can you undo what's been done and insert them where they would have been in the queue? As they say, you need to choose your battles.

Or maybe after the scooter is loaded onto the bus, allow the people in the line on, and then once there is enough standing room left for the family, allow them in.

That is exactly what is supposed to happen, depending upon how the queue is set up. At locations where there is no queue, or wheelchairs wait outside the queue, the driver has no choice but to assume the wheelchairs were there first.

Plus the new busses will have 4 mobility device spots, so it will hopefully be rare that the have to leave part empty since they do not have room for the next person in line with a disabiity.

I have not heard that new buses will have 4 spaces. All buses added since 2009 have 3 spaces, and AFAIK that is the plan going forward. However, 2 of the spaces on new buses will be equipped with an improved securement system, which should reduce the load time. There are also plans to gradually retrofit that system onto newer existing buses.

A bus that is not full should never leave able-bodied guests behind just because there is no room for another wheelchair. The wheelchair guest should be advised that another bus will be in shortly, while other guests continue to load.

 

[goofy4tink]

A few thoughts and observations. I was at WDW last week, into this week. I didn't get to DTD this time around. So, I can't really speak to DTD issues. BUT.....since the OP hasn't shared their resort with us, there really is no way to answer their issues. IF they were at POR/FQ, then yes, the CMs tend to send many people there, from DTD, to get park buses. There has even been signage to this effect. But really??? You can also take the boat. I just can't imagine why anyone would park at DTD in order to avoid parking fees and then take upwards of 90 mins to get to a park....that's just nutty. Not saying it doesn't happen. Just saying that I don't think it's all that prevelant. And the same goes for those staying at SSR. There have been complaints about DTD parkers using SSR as a stepping off point to get to parks.
So...if I were parking at DTD and wanting to get to, say, MK??? I would take the bus to the CR. Simple. Want to get to Epcot or DHS??? Bus to BC or BW. AK??? Bus to AKL. But, that's just me.

Now, those ECVs on the bus??? Well, they have to be loaded first. It's the law..plain and simple. And there is signage on those seats where an ECV would be placed, telling guests that sit there that they may be asked to move if an ECV needs that space. So, the driver did nothing wrong. I seldom sit in those seats.....and that would be the reason why. The signage is very obvious...hard to miss it.

Is there abuse? Of course there is. And those parents/grandparents (obviously the parents learned how to behave from the grandparents!!!) are now teaching the kids how to misbehave. And there is nothing you can do about that. People will always try to find ways to beat the system...I just hope and pray that karma comes along and bites them all in the proverbial behind.

And as far as the mother who loaded her child onto the bus, and then told the rest of the family to board via the mass line??? Does anyone really think that the mom wanted to just spend alone time with her child?? Or that she didn't want to be with her family so she made them board in the regular line??? Man people....someone does what everyone here says someone should do, and you come along and chastise them for it and make assumptions?? I would imagine that mother was doing the right thing...she got on with her disabled child while the other, fit members of the family were told to board with the other guests...they were on the same bus, so no big deal.

 

[mb187143]

And as far as the mother who loaded her child onto the bus, and then told the rest of the family to board via the mass line??? Does anyone really think that the mom wanted to just spend alone time with her child?? Or that she didn't want to be with her family so she made them board in the regular line??? Man people....someone does what everyone here says someone should do, and you come along and chastise them for it and make assumptions?? I would imagine that mother was doing the right thing...she got on with her disabled child while the other, fit members of the family were told to board with the other guests...they were on the same bus, so no big deal.

Whenever i see someone comment about something like this, my response is typically the same as yours - and then I thought about it last week, and i realized that part of this difference is that it never would occur to me to try to board a bus with a large group, because even when I've been to WDW as part of a group (family vacations, senior week, etc.), we rarely stayed together all day, every day, so we wouldn't have all been at the bus stop together anyway. When we do bring Grandma and she's in her scooter, one or both of my parents may go with her, but even if we leave at the same time, my natural reaction is to give them a wave and get in the back of the line if we need to separate. It doesnt mean that i don't want to be with my parents or my grandmother, but i hardly think possibly ending up on a separate bus equates to me not wanting to be near my family - i just don't need to be on the same bus with my grandmother and parents at the expense of those who have been waiting longer when i'll see them in the next hour or so back at the resort or wherever we're going, if we were even planning on seeing each other at all.

For people who vacation like I do, I can see where you would get frustrated that someone traveling as part of a group expects to load all together when one person has a wheelchair or ECV - BUT, if I was traveling in a group where it was expected that we all stay together and leave together, I guess I can see where the thought process comes from. Now there are signs at the resorts about parties of 6 or less and all that, and i've only very recently seen that be enforced, and even then it was once out of many times taking the bus, but I at least understand the thought process.

 

[joncorr3]

We rented a car in November. It was the best $86 we ever spent. We will never rely on those buses again, just for this reason.

 

[PatMcDuck]

My son is special needs, age 22 now, and uses a Convaid Chair at WDW. It is a large heavy chair. I have to fold it up and carry it into the bus, he will not stay in it for the bus lift (too scary for him, he has Downs and Autism, and orthopedic and balance issues). that chair, folded up, is still very large and heavy. Too heavy for me to carry myself, plus help DS up and down the bus steps.

If DH is not on the trip, I drive to all the parks. I just can't deal with the buses at WDW. I rent a mid size SUV and can manage to get the chair in the back. Yes, it costs me $$ but saves me so much time, and stress.

Next trip we will be at BLT, which is a DREAM, to walk to MK with him in his chair, and we will drive to the other parks. (driving to MK is a nightmare, I cannot get that chair into the trams)

Just my .02, I drive more and it makes things easier.......

 

[bumbershoot]

Maybe I ws not clear, she and her child load the bus and then she sent the rest of the family to get in line and board the bus, behind people that were are all ready waiting in line. They were all on the same bus with us.

She got lucky, or took the time to count the number of people in line, then. Because her family members could very well have ended up on a bus or two behind her. We haven't yet gone at very busy times, but I've seen bus lines long enough that if one person got on at the beginning and sent the family off to get in line, the family wouldn't have gotten on the same bus.

And as far as the mother who loaded her child onto the bus, and then told the rest of the family to board via the mass line??? Does anyone really think that the mom wanted to just spend alone time with her child?? Or that she didn't want to be with her family so she made them board in the regular line??? Man people....someone does what everyone here says someone should do, and you come along and chastise them for it and make assumptions?? I would imagine that mother was doing the right thing...she got on with her disabled child while the other, fit members of the family were told to board with the other guests...they were on the same bus, so no big deal.

Well, yes, I do think that maybe she just wanted it to be the two of them. Why would I suggest it in writing if I didn't think it?

I do NOT think it's doing the right thing, that's the issue, if they actually want to be together. I think that if a family wants to travel together, they should travel together, and shouldn't be split up. And if that means waiting for a bus so the whole family can get on if there are no mobility issues, or if that means letting the entire traveling group on with someone in a wheelchair/scooter, then that's what should be done.

So if I see a family splitting apart like that, yes I do think that they simply don't want to be together right then.

 

[disney david]

My son is special needs, age 22 now, and uses a Convaid Chair at WDW. It is a large heavy chair. I have to fold it up and carry it into the bus, he will not stay in it for the bus lift (too scary for him, he has Downs and Autism, and orthopedic and balance issues). that chair, folded up, is still very large and heavy. Too heavy for me to carry myself, plus help DS up and down the bus steps.

If DH is not on the trip, I drive to all the parks. I just can't deal with the buses at WDW. I rent a mid size SUV and can manage to get the chair in the back. Yes, it costs me $$ but saves me so much time, and stress.

Next trip we will be at BLT, which is a DREAM, to walk to MK with him in his chair, and we will drive to the other parks. (driving to MK is a nightmare, I cannot get that chair into the trams)

Just my .02, I drive more and it makes things easier.......

They have new buses that have ramps no lifts so maybe that will be better for him they also have no steps to enter or exit the bus.

 

[PatMcDuck]

They have new buses that have ramps no lifts so maybe that will be better for him they also have no steps to enter or exit the bus.

That might work; I could even get him on the bus and still fold up the chair to save a spot for a wheelchair or scooter. Thanks for that information.

 

[disney david]

That might work; I could even get him on the bus and still fold up the chair to save a spot for a wheelchair or scooter. Thanks for that information.

Even if it just for mk because the buses drop you off right in front so that will be easier then the tram and monorail. The two new low floor buses are made by nova which made their lift style bus and the gillig the new buses are now starting to out number the old buses they have in use.