Two scooters this trip--need advise please

[trampslady]

Good morning. We regularly travel with my grandmother who requires the use of either a wheelchair or scooter, and the scooter has worked great at WDW. But to be honest, we try to avoid the buses when we can as I know folks just hate it when the loading takes so long, and we (the rest of us--three adults) never board with her, but instead wait in line with everyone else. This trip my dad is coming along and he just shattered his ankle and cannot put any weight at all on the cast--scooter for him, too. That's two scooters for the five of us, and I'm just cringing at the thought of taking up so much space and time with regard to the loading of buses.

For those who regularly require the use of the lifts for wheelchairs and scooters, can you give me any etiquetee advise and/or encouragement as we get ready to face the wrath of folks upset by this situation. We will have a van with us for the trip, but it's so hard for my grandmother (and dad now!) to get in and out.

Many thanks!

 

[sanddune]

I wouldn't worry about the others. You need the scooters! The scooters are a must not a want! The others need to understand that there is a reason for a scooter. I'm sure you will wait your turn and so should they!


My family is also 5 people. I have MS and my youngest 8 yr DS has autisum. I have a scooter and he has a wheelchair. We wait our turn. Now if a bus comes and they are pretty full ,we ask the drive to call the next bus for us. The next bus normaly comes to our stop first to make sure we don't cause people to move. Hope this helps!

 

[Chuck S]

My advice, ignore them. You'll probably never see them again. Board with the rest of your party, do not wait in line and take the chance of being seperated because the bus reaches capacity. You are already taking a slight risk of being seperated if there is already one scooter or wheelchair on the bus when you load, as the usual capacity is two per bus.

 

[trampslady]

Thanks for the advise, guys. I suppose we will just suck it up and ignore the rudeness that I'm sure we will encounter. I know that both my grandma and father would much rather be among the upright, but that's just not possible. I appreciate the encouragement!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I suppose we will just suck it up and ignore the rudeness that I'm sure we will encounter.

If anyone seems to get upset, just (very sweetly) offer to give them the ECVs if they will also take all the infirmities that go with them.

 

[SueM in MN]

We've been traveling with DD who uses a wheelchair for a long time. I agree with the 'just ignore them' because that is what your option is. There are some people who will 'fuss' just because you are using the bus, even if it doesn't affect their wait or chance to get a seat.

We try to travel at non-peak times, when it is not real busy and if we are traveling at a busy time, we will sit a ways off and let one or more bus load without us. Then when we come up to load and there are only a few people in line, they know that there was not a whole long line of people that was waiting before we got there.
it doesn't happen often that there is already a wheelchair loaded on the bus, but just in case, plan ahead of time who will go first, who will go with them and where you will meet up at the park. That way, you are not scrambling for a plan when the partly full bus pulls up.

 

[ztbz]

Ok, I work in the Disney Bus Transportation Dept at Downtown Disney. Disney has three different model buses, the RTS, the Nova, and the Gillig bus (the Gillig is picture under my user name).

The RTS Bus is Disney’s oldest model bus. On the RTS Bus you have to board the bus lift backwards or back onto to the Lift then into the rear or forward slot. I usually will ask the W/C scooter drivers who would be the best driver of the two scooters party as that person should get on the bus first and will need to maneuver the W/C into the forward slot on the bus and is usually a little difficult to do.

The Nova bus is Disney’s second model bus. On this bus the guest uses a Ramp that’s bought out, the guests also have to come on backwards do to the ramp being to steep and some guests have flip over backwards when going on the bus in a forward position so Disney has decided that do to safety reason that everyone must come on backwards. However, Disney will allow guests to walk on the scooter forward as long no one rides in the scooter. (Some people prefer to load on the bus this way). As far as parking the scooter there so be no real problems as the Nova Buses have extra wide aisles so there’s plenty of room to maneuver most scooters.

The Gillig bus is Disney’s newest bus and will slowly be replacing the older RTS buses and Nova buses. The ramp on this bus folds out and is extra long so you can drive on forward or backwards. There are however some issuers with the strapping the scooter in place once on the bus. Mainly the straps on some buses are too short and the bars on some of the early model Gillig buses do not secure into the hole in the floor or clamp properly. Disney has corrected this problem on last shipment of buses that arrive in the last year (Buses that begin with 492x) and hopefully will have the other Gillig buses fix soon.

I do recommend that you don’t ride in the scooter once on the bus, in addition most of the scooter rental companies also prefer that guests do not ride in the scooter while on the bus when its moving because while the strapping system will hold in place the scooter it will not keep you from falling over or flipping the scooter in the event that the bus makes a sharp right or left turn. Some times even though I strongly suggest that everyone transfer to a seat, some guests will not do it, and I can’t make them transfer either, so Disney wants me to drive the bus much slower than normal until the bus reaches the destination. Think of it this way would you ride in a scooter in your own personal car would you ride in a regular seat or in the scooter? If you do ride in a regular seat in a car or van then you should be able to transfer to a regular seat on the bus. Also an empty scooter is much faster to get loaded, strap in and on the way to your designation.