The driver has to get off the bus to load an ECV (unless I'm mistaken) so they see the ECV user is within the 40 people who will fit on the bus,so at that point they pull them out of line and load them and then the remaining 38 people get on the bus. If they don't have to get of the bus then I'm wrong but I really thought they did.
And without getting into another argument, many folks using an ECV aren't really disabled in the sense many people are using the word disabled.
This doesn't make any sense. How would the driver know that he/she should get out of the bus to see if someone with an ECV/wheelchair is in line so that they can count off the 40 people
1) The driver doesn't get off the bus when loading passengers. He/She opens the door from the driver's seat and passengers start to get on. While the passengers are getting on, the driver can't see 40 people down the line to see if there is a guest with a wheelchair or ECV waiting there. The driver would have no way of knowing that someone with an ECV or wheelchair is in line "within the 40 people who will fit on the bus" (and the buses load many more than 40 people, when you consider standing room.)
2) Even if the driver could see 40 people down the line and see someone with an ECV waiting, stopping the boarding at that point still doesn't mean there would be room to safely manouver an ECV or wheelchair into place on the bus. The bus can be pretty full before it gets to the point of "within 40 people who will fit on the bus." There could still be room for 40 people who are walking to get onto the bus, but not be room for one ECV.
3) Drivers don't need to get out to load an ECV or wheelchair onto the bus. Most just close the front door to stop guest from loading and then walk inside the bus to the back door, which they open and initiate the loading process for the person with an ECV or wheelchair.
I would invite those who are complaining about wheelchairs and
ECVs loading on buses first to rent one your next trip. Then you can see how your ideas would work.
Hopefully, any "special treatment" on the bus would include some of the comments we hear at least once per trip about our DD, "It's not fair that she is taking up 3 seats people could be sitting in. They should not allow people like that to ride the buses."
And, yes, we have heard that even though we arrived at the bus stop before the people who were complaining, we would have gotten seats
anyway if we had walked up because of the number of people in front of us when we arrived at the stop
and DH and I were standing, so we did not take up any more seats than the 3 we would have gotten if we had walked on instead of rolling DD's wheelchair on.
JUJU814 said:
I could not agree with you more! I think you should need a doctor's note as well. That would tremendously cut down on the abuse. A person who is truly disabled..in any way...would have no problem bringing a note.
I have a son with "hidden" disabilities and made sure to bring a note with me last time. Obtaining the note was no big deal and just part of our trip planning.
Some people who did get doctor's notes had to pay for an office visit to get the note. There is a cost to the doctor in drafting a letter and sending it out. Whether or not they pass that cost on to the patient varies.
And, unless it changes, it is against the law in the US to be required to provide proof of disability to get accommodations.
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Disneyadore said:
A friend of us is working in disney Paris as a CM.
Last time we visited the park we had a dinner appointment with him. We visited the show he works at and afterwards we had to wait behind the scenes for him.
He had to accompany a special needs child with his family to see Mickey and Minnie after the show. It was so beauty full to see this family interact with the figures all alone without the hassle and stress of others.
The took all the time they needed and the child was glowing.
Afterwards our friend told us that we saw was a very rare happening. Only those children that are really sick or have only short time to live get this special treatment.
No so called disability or special snow flake treatment. And real disabled persons will not have a problem to bring a note,only the cheaters cry discrimination.
Hope you and your children had the best time of there life.
That kind of 'special individual meeting with Mickey" would be the same sort of treatment that children on Make a Wish trips in the US would get,
not the treatment anyone with a disability gets. So, it would be the same in the US.
There are 2 big differences in DL Paris compared to the US.
1) The US doesn't have an recognized universal card that indicates a person has a disability. This is not the case in Europe,
where the DL Paris website lists a number of official things that could be counted for disability access. It also doesn't list on the DL Paris website, but other website about DL Paris indicate that there are discounts for people with 'registered disabilities' both for admission to the park and for room charges. In the US, there are no discounts, no matter what the disability. If there were discounts, US law does allow for proof of disability.
2) DL Paris park itself has many attractions that are not accessible to people with disabilities in the regular line. In terms of access, it's about how MK and Epcot were in the early 1990s. There are special 'handicapped access' routes to many attractions in DL Paris.
The Disney Studio in Paris is accessible with Mainstream (wheelchair accessible) Lines in almost all attractions, which means guests using those lines wait in the same line with everyone else. So, little special treatment there.
Here's a link to the DL Paris Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities.
The WDW Studio and AK were built with Mainstream lines. Epcot has mostly Mainstream Lines. MK has added Mainstream Lines as attractions were added or renovated, but not all were able to be changed because of space or other reasons.
THis link to the WDW Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities lists all the attractions with Mainstream Queues.
And real disabled persons will not have a problem to bring a note,only the cheaters cry discrimination.
Many people with disabilities do not like how easily people can claim disabilities, but I would take issue with the 'real disabled persons will not have a problem to bring a note.'
It's very easy to say that if you are not disabled, but anyone who is disabled or has a loved one who is disabled knows it's not as easy in real life. Someone who wanted proof in terms of a letter from a doctor
could just forge one.
My DD is 23 and is permanently disabled. She was born with cerebral palsy, she can't walk, she can't talk, she has seizures and it gets very tiring to have to prove to people that she is disabled. About every 3 months, our insurance company needs another note or something to prove she is disabled and they should continue to pay for any of her care.
Every time they ask, it is another call to a doctor's office and about 1/2 hour of my time. It's an imposition on my family and on her doctors to have to keep proving the same things over and over and over. Since there is not any one 'proof' in the US, if proof was needed, I could have to get many different types of 'proof' for every place we go, depending on what form they use or what kind of proof they consider 'enough'. (We already do have to do that for many services that DD needs, so it's not just theoretical. Each one has their own form they require).
Since DD has never talked, I doubt that she is going to miraculously start to talk, walk, not have seizures or be able to take care of herself after this many years.
It should be obvious to anyone looking at her that she is permanently disabled - the fact that she is strapped into a wheelchair, including her feet being strapped to the footrests, that she is signing to us instead of talking and that he wheelchair has a headrest to hold her head up when she can't support it should be clear signs to people that she is disabled.
If that's not clear enough, maybe they will see us feeding her lunch. Or, maybe she will 'entertain' them by having a seizure.
That doesn't stop people from making comments though - it doesn't happen every day, but does at least once a trip. And, she may not be able to speak, but she can hear and understand.
I have not seen that, but I believe you. As an American, I agree that the law as it exists right now in the US does make it too easy to abuse the system. The majority of the people i know with true disabilities would like to see the abusers denied as well as the abuse of the system leads to the type of animosity seen in this thread.The adult passengers on a crowded resort bus not getting off their lazy you know what and giving up their seats to the small children that are standing! These people know good and well that these children cannot reach the bars! I understand that their are some adults that need to sit and those that are holding sleeping children, but my gosh people, if you are able to stand then give up your seat to a child! Ok, getting off my soapbox now and going to do laundry
so we have clothes to wear the rest of the week.
Walt would be rolling over in his grave listen to this crap 
I didn't say the strollers irriated me at all! We are an admitted famliy of oddball geeks who get a kick out of these type of things. We entertained ourselves waiting for Crush's Coaster by calculatin the load speed and figuring out why fast pass just down't work there. We love seeing alternate exits opened at peak times and seeing how much faster Disney can get everyone out of the park as needed. We love to compare the cultural differences in everything from how many kids ride in strollers to how people dress for the parks to what is included in buffets, etc. It just entertains us to see and compare various things. It is something we enjoy doing on our vacations that does not hurt anyone.
