vent about WDW bus passengers

[JUJU814]

Why dont Disney have a couple of buses that go around and just pick up the scooters and their families. Pretty simple. My wife and daughter both get motion sick and have to sit in the front of the bus so they dont get sick. If the bus is filled in front we get back off and wait for the next bus. If that is full with passengers in the front we wait for another just tp have a scooter family jump on the next bus and make us wait for another. And I CAN'T beleive these people that are saying they never see big families getting on with scooters. We see it darn near EVERY day while we are there. Cars need handicap tags in the windows or on their plates to park why dont they need them on scooters to get on the bus 1st. Make it easy on everyone Disney, GET handicap buses.

Oh dear...

 

[honugirl]

Oh, I fold down the seat back! I also try to sit right next to the ECV, so I can keep an eye on people attempting to use it as their own seat (plus, okay, that way I don't need to empty the basket ). I will even advise nearby standing parents to tuck folded strollers behind it, and even hold them myself - nothing wrong with my arms. But if I'm not sitting in it with the benefit of seatbelts, nobody else is sitting on it independently either!

I did fold down the seat back and they still sat on it! Or they sat on the arm rest. There was enough people between me and the offender that it was pretty much impossible to swat them away from it. It was mainly the teenagers that were the worst offenders for some reason.

Why dont Disney have a couple of buses that go around and just pick up the scooters and their families. Pretty simple. My wife and daughter both get motion sick and have to sit in the front of the bus so they dont get sick. If the bus is filled in front we get back off and wait for the next bus. If that is full with passengers in the front we wait for another just tp have a scooter family jump on the next bus and make us wait for another. And I CAN'T beleive these people that are saying they never see big families getting on with scooters. We see it darn near EVERY day while we are there. Cars need handicap tags in the windows or on their plates to park why dont they need them on scooters to get on the bus 1st. Make it easy on everyone Disney, GET handicap buses.

Finally a idea JUJU likes Yea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And for everyone on scooters who say we can rent cars if we dont like waiting on them and their 12 family members to jump right on a bus where 100 other people have already been waiting for an hour to get on, they do rent handicap cars and vans that will take you right to the TTC and help all the bus riders out.

Wow Auger. I'm really sad for you. I guess all I really have to say about that is that karma can come back to bite you in the rear...

Most of us in ECV's (not all...) really try to be nice to others and not inconvenience people like you. I wait an extra hour+ after closing to get in line just so I don't have to deal with the crowds and buses. I highly doubt anything short of having disabled people stop going to WDW would please you. You don't have a clue what it's like on our end.

 

[JUJU814]

Finally a idea JUJU likes Yea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And for everyone on scooters who say we can rent cars if we dont like waiting on them and their 12 family members to jump right on a bus where 100 other people have already been waiting for an hour to get on, they do rent handicap cars and vans that will take you right to the TTC and help all the bus riders out.

I'm so sorry Auger..JUJU does *not* like the idea...I just couldn't believe you suggested it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Why dont Disney have a couple of buses that go around and just pick up the scooters and their families. Pretty simple.

You really think it's simple? Really? I bet you also think you're the first person to ever come up with this so-simple-it's-brilliant suggestion, right?
"A couple" of buses? There are nineteen resorts, four major theme parks, two minor theme parks, and a huge shopping/entertainment district. "A couple" of buses simply can't serve all the wheelchair/ECV Guests from all the resorts who want to go to all the different locations buses go.

My wife and daughter both get motion sick and have to sit in the front of the bus so they dont get sick. If the bus is filled in front we get back off and wait for the next bus. If that is full with passengers in the front we wait for another just tp have a scooter family jump on the next bus and make us wait for another.

Take responsibility for yourself and your family. Rent a car. What's good for the goose and all that...

And I CAN'T beleive these people that are saying they never see big families getting on with scooters. We see it darn near EVERY day while we are there.

Surely you're not calling ME a liar? Since I almost always travel solo, no, I'm NEVER with a big family. TWICE out of EVERY time - 32, by the way - that I've been to Walt Disney World have I boarded a bus in the direct company of other people. ONE time, at Pop Century, THREE of us - only HALF the number I'm 'allowed - boarded through the back door on our way to Animal Kingdom. The other time, I boarded through the back door at Downtown Disney while my TWO friends waited in line with everyone else - despite the driver telling them they could board with me. So, no, despite what you THINK you've seen, it's NOT always big parties, and most assuredly not always parties exceeding Disney's maximum allowed.

Cars need handicap tags in the windows or on their plates to park why dont they need them on scooters to get on the bus 1st.

Handicapped parking, and HP plates/placards, are legally regulated. It's against the law to do things like park in a handicapped space without valid proof of eligibility, or even to use a plate/placard not issued to you, or to use one when the person to whom it was issued is not present in the motor vehicle.
Wheelchairs and electric CONVENIENCE vehicles are not regulated by such laws. It would be discriminatory.

Make it easy on everyone Disney, GET handicap buses

Again, discriminatory, expensive, inefficient, and, frankly, absolutely and totally asinine.

 

[kaytieeldr]

And for everyone on scooters who say we can rent cars if we dont like waiting on them and their 12 family members to jump right on a bus where 100 other people have already been waiting for an hour to get on, they do rent handicap cars and vans that will take you right to the TTC and help all the bus riders out.

How many times have you waited an hour with 100 other people in line? I remember one 'rather loud' Guest a couple of years ago, the last family in a bus line at Animal Kingdom, yelling at a bus driver across the platform that they'd "been waiting an hour and where was the #$#) bus" and on and on... Being on a ECV, I proceeded to my resort's wheelchair boarding area, next to the beginning of his resort's bus queue. I asked the couple at the front of that line how long they'd been waiting. "About twenty minutes.".

Now, maybe somebody can explain to me how the first person in line had been there for twenty minutes while the last person had been there for sixty? I'm good with math, but this one is beyond me.

Yes, there are handicapped/wheelchair/ecv-accessible vehicles for rent. They can cost upwards of $100 per day - while a standard rental, with discount codes (none ever available for handicap vans) can sometimes get the rates close to that for a WEEK. And, yes, a wheelchair can be placed in the trunk - as long as the user isn't traveling alone AND can walk a little. An ECV can go in the trunk, too, once it's broken down and IF the user can lif the individual parts over the lip of the trunk. Guests not needing mobility assistance devices to navigate parks/resorts, on the other hand, can simply get in the car and go.

 

[Disneyadore]

How about saying just "Thanks!" or "I appreciate the help" Either of those should work.

After almost 60 years of walking along the " be polite leash" this habits dies very hard.

 

[Disneyadore]

I have read this entire thread and there is one point I have not seen brought up. Unless you are staying at the Contemporary, even if you DO rent a car, there is no way you can avoid public transport if you want to go to the MK. You either have to take the ferry or the monorail. And you have the same problems there as you do with the busses.

We do rent a car but it goes into valet parking and the first time we see it again is when we leave. We choose to stay at the Grand Floridian because of the mono rail and boat transportation.
We use a minimum of bus transportation because of this "strategy".
All of our dinner reservations are either in the Grand,Contemporary,MK or Poly.
If it is to crowded we just walk back to the resort.

 

[JUJU814]

We do rent a car but it goes into valet parking and the first time we see it again is when we leave. We choose to stay at the Grand Floridian because of the mono rail and boat transportation.
We use a minimum of bus transportation because of this "strategy".
All of our dinner reservations are either in the Grand,Contemporary,MK or Poly.
If it is to crowded we just walk back to the resort.

EXACTLY!! Precisely one of the main reasons we usually stay on the monorail (this next time at Beach Club)

It is part of my "strategy" to avoid bus hassle as much as possible.

I dislike the buses in general, so if I don't want to take the buses, then the burden is on ME then to strategize so that I use them as little as possible.

 

[Schmeck]

EXACTLY!! Precisely one of the main reasons we usually stay on the monorail (this next time at Beach Club)

It is part of my "strategy" to avoid bus hassle as much as possible.

I dislike the buses in general, so if I don't want to take the buses, then the burden is on ME then to strategize so that I use them as little as possible.

Um, hate to be the one to break this to you, but Beach Club is not on the monorail...

 

[crisi]

Um, hate to be the one to break this to you, but Beach Club is not on the monorail...

I think she knows that - that's why she said generally. But the Epcot resorts also limit bus exposure - you can walk to the Studios or Epcot. And if you really want, walk to the Monorail to get to MK (we usually take the monorail back, walk through Epcot, catch one attraction on the way back to the hotel, or maybe grab a fastpass or a pastry in France. Its a longish walk, but we make it worth our while.). So its only a bus to the AK or MK in the mornings. We often cab to MK in the mornings, and find AK in the mornings not an issue - and in the afternoon, will catch our resort bus back, or an Epcot or DHS bus back and walk.

 

[JUJU814]

Um, hate to be the one to break this to you, but Beach Club is not on the monorail...

Oh I know...I meant we * usually* stay on the monorail. This next time we're at Beach Club ..so we can walk to Epcot and take the boat to HS. We always stay on the monorail when I have ds with me. Just easier.

Oh man..can you imagine? booking a resort thinking it's on the monorail and then getting there to find out it's not? LOL

 

[JUJU814]

I think she knows that - that's why she said generally. But the Epcot resorts also limit bus exposure - you can walk to the Studios or Epcot. And if you really want, walk to the Monorail to get to MK (we usually take the monorail back, walk through Epcot, catch one attraction on the way back to the hotel, or maybe grab a fastpass or a pastry in France. Its a longish walk, but we make it worth our while.). So its only a bus to the AK or MK in the mornings. We often cab to MK in the mornings, and find AK in the mornings not an issue - and in the afternoon, will catch our resort bus back, or an Epcot or DHS bus back and walk.

If you cab to MK, where do they drop you off? actuall MK or TTC? If it's actually MK, I'll totally do that!!!

I like the idea of monorail to Epcot and walk through Epcot to get to the resort.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Katieeldr, I guess if someone is telling me that you dont see bus lines of a 100 people or people on scooters jumping in line constantly then I guess i am calling them a liar. Ive been to Disney 15 times in the last 5 years and see it almost EVERY day. I go usually in the off season and cant even imagine what it would be like in prime time. I have 3 handicaped people in my family and have adopted 6 kids 3 of which are Bi-racial so im not even the closest thing to being descriatory. Im just saying being on a scooter dont make it right to jump lines. 2 of the handicaped kids in my family are permanently in wheelchairs and we send him or her on the bus with their moms and the rest of us wait like we are supposed to. Stop all the whining about being on scooters and just be fair to all the other people that have been waiting.

Oh, please. You don't know a THING about me. Never mind that YOU'RE the one constantly whining because you perceive needing to wait longer in line (what about those times at park closing when additional buses pull up next to your resort's bus? The ECV/wheelchair Guest CAN'T board that bus, no matter HOW long they've been waiting, and YES, it DOES happen - I've seen THREE buses for Pop Century all boarding at once).

Once again - I do NOT bring twenty, or ten, or even the allowed five, or most of the time even ONE additional Guest with me through the back door of the bus; but you don't NOTICE the MANY Guests like me because we don't prove your complaints.

If you "usually" go in the off-season, you must therefore sometimes go in the 'on' season - so you would notice (not just imagine) what "it" would be like in prime time.

Florida law, common sense, and SIMPLE LOGISTICS make it NECESSARY for the ECV (again, they're NOT scooters - a scooter is a toy or a two-wheeled motor vehicle) or wheelchair to board a public transit vehicle FIRST - before anyone's feet are at risk of being run over or before anyone sits in the seats that ultimately need to be vacated so the ECV or wheelchair can be tied down - and the additional seats that need to be vacated so any transferring Guest can ride the bus safely.

You may not feel you're being discriminatory (assuming that's what descriatory means?) but your IDEAS and SUGGESTIONS are. There are all kinds of discrimination, and segregating people by their abilities and handicaps and expecting them to use different (inferior/less frequent/etc) transportation than everyone else IS discrimination.

2 of the handicaped kids in my family are permanently in wheelchairs and we send him or her on the bus with their moms and the rest of us wait like we are supposed to.

Would you mind explaining this? HOW do you send these four people on the bus while the rest of you wait in line (noting that "like we are supposed to" is YOUR determination, NOT Disney's, given that Disney allows the wheelchair/ECV Guest to be directly accompanied by up to FIVE members of their party)?
Do they stand back from the marked area until the rest of you board the bus, forcing the bus driver to stop loading, close the door, load them through the back, tie them down, retract the ramp/lift, go back to the front of the bus, open the door, continue boarding passengers?
Do they board the bus when it first arrives no matter where you are in line, and meet up with you later?
Do they refuse to board the bus until they estimate you'll be on the same bus, then signal the driver they want to get on that bus?
If it's one or three, how do they handle later-arriving Guests in wheelchairs/ecvs?

Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[Ava]

Florida law, common sense, and SIMPLE LOGISTICS make it NECESSARY for the ECV (again, they're NOT scooters - a scooter is a toy or a two-wheeled motor vehicle) or wheelchair to board a public transit vehicle FIRST - before anyone's feet are at risk of being run over or before anyone sits in the seats that ultimately need to be vacated so the ECV or wheelchair can be tied down - and the additional seats that need to be vacated so any transferring Guest can ride the bus safely.

You may not feel you're being discriminatory (assuming that's what descriatory means?) but your IDEAS and SUGGESTIONS are. There are all kinds of discrimination, and segregating people by their abilities and handicaps and expecting them to use different (inferior/less frequent/etc) transportation than everyone else IS discrimination.

Well said. I am not handicapped, nor are any of my travel companions, but I really don't understand why people begrudge wheelchair or ECV users their right to board a bus first for safety reasons. I would much rather have to wait for the next bus than require the use of a wheelchair or ECV to get around WDW. I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be to tour the World in a wheelchair or ECV than by walking. Even in my daily life, it is much more difficult to get around when I'm pushing DD in her stroller than when I'm just walking - I imagine navigating the World in an ECV to be like that x100.

All of the able-bodied people grumbling about wheelchair/ECV users & their parties "jumping the line" at bus stops should just relax and be thankful that everyone in their party is able to walk.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Well said. I am not handicapped, nor are any of my travel companions, but I really don't understand why people begrudge wheelchair or ECV users their right to board a bus first for safety reasons. I would much rather have to wait for the next bus than require the use of a wheelchair or ECV to get around WDW. I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be to tour the World in a wheelchair or ECV than by walking. Even in my daily life, it is much more difficult to get around when I'm pushing DD in her stroller than when I'm just walking - I imagine navigating the World in an ECV to be like that x100.

All of the able-bodied people grumbling about wheelchair/ECV users & their parties "jumping the line" at bus stops should just relax and be thankful that everyone in their party is able to walk.

It doesn't bother me at all to see ECV users and their parties board first. I know there are many times in a day where it is difficult for ECV users to maneuver (bus loading doesn't look like a walk in the park). I think to myself, there but for the grace of G-d go I.

I am bothered by able bodied people that sneak from nearby bushes into the front of the bus lines by pushing their kids through the bus doors and then follow them. And the line osmosis thing that so many do. People see a line and rather than get in it, they join the sides of the line and squish their way in. It's no fun and kind of dangerous. I'm surprised someone hasn't gotten hurt (falling) with these crazy tactics.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Post, delete, repeat.... Okay it is out of my system, carry-on!

 

[scuba]

Disney has the transportation RIGHT, or the most "right" to incorporate the most guests from every walk of life. Able-bodied folks get frustrated with ECVs, and I would suppose that ECV riders get frustrated with even having to use a ECV.

I tried to carry this ECVS shouldn't get on the bus first torch just a few weeks ago, I have been invited to spend some time with a ECV user in October and still plan to. I have also said I will be an advocate for the ECVs from now on.

Disney has the transportation right. If we put the ECV riders in line, Or even their families. We start loading a bus and the line is running smoothly and then the ECV or the family of the ECV rider is next in line and the folks that would have loaded after the ECV would be complaining. I also felt a couple of weeks ago that having different buses to go around and pick up the ECVs was the answer. Disney would have to have a fleet of buses, new buses they would have to purchase, purchase with money they had to generate by RAISING ticket prices. I cannot make Disney buy enough buses for this function, suppose disney bought say 4 buses for this function, ECV riders would wait for hours for transportation.......what gives me the right? ECV riders pay the same admission I do. Disney has an obligation if they are going to make ECV riders pay the same admission I do, then they must provide equal methods of transportation.

It is more efficient to load the ECV first, it takes more time and after loading an ECV and their family then able-bodied can load easier as well. It is also much easier for able bodied folks to manuever around ECVs then ECVs to manuever around folks standing on the bus.

Disney didn't just throw this transportation system together in one day, My guess it has been studied and evaluated by folks for years, My guess is they researched mass transportation that has worked well overseas for years. I had a real change of heart about a week ago. I used to get frustrated about the ECV riders getting special treatment, I used to think that they negatively affected the outcome of my vacation......what the hell gave me the right? For all of the folks feeling as though they have somehow been wronged by getting on a bus after a ECV, once at a resort and you are either inside the park of handing your pass to the admissions attendant, look behind you and in most instances the Disney driver hasn't even lowered the bus in preperation of unloading the ECV.

Lastly, and more importantly to me, I would hope that all of you would remember the smiles and the laughs, the messy faces after eating a mickey ice cream far longer that the alleged frustration one might feel after an ECV rider boarded a bus before you. I have had a change in heart and I am thankful that I don't have to use special assist lifts, I am thankful I can board a bus after an ECV. I am also thankful that in the event I find myself in an ECV that I can rely on Disney that I can share the experiences with my able-bodied family members.

 

[honugirl]

Katieeldr, I guess if someone is telling me that you dont see bus lines of a 100 people or people on scooters jumping in line constantly then I guess i am calling them a liar. Ive been to Disney 15 times in the last 5 years and see it almost EVERY day. I go usually in the off season and cant even imagine what it would be like in prime time. I have 3 handicaped people in my family and have adopted 6 kids 3 of which are Bi-racial so im not even the closest thing to being descriatory. Im just saying being on a scooter dont make it right to jump lines. 2 of the handicaped kids in my family are permanently in wheelchairs and we send him or her on the bus with their moms and the rest of us wait like we are supposed to. Stop all the whining about being on scooters and just be fair to all the other people that have been waiting.

Um, I'm a little confused. So it's OK for your 2 handicapped kids to go ahead and get on the buses, but another handicapped person on an ECV should have to wait? We're both in the same situation. Either both of us board the current Disney way or none of us board the current Disney way.

 

[Disneyadore]

Florida law, common sense, and SIMPLE LOGISTICS make it NECESSARY for the ECV (again, they're NOT scooters - a scooter is a toy or a two-wheeled motor vehicle) or wheelchair to board a public transit vehicle FIRST - before anyone's feet are at risk of being run over or before anyone sits in the seats that ultimately need to be vacated so the ECV or wheelchair can be tied down - and the additional seats that need to be vacated so any transferring Guest can ride the bus safely.


Enquiring minds want to know.

Well this inquiring mind has a question
In Disney it is obviously that empty buses can load the scooters first.
As this seems to be a law in Florida how is this working on the regular bus lines?

Suppose a bus is almost fully loaded and half way the route is a ECV waiting.Does everyone has to leave the bus and than the EVC gets on board?
The EVC takes three places ,the scooter owner has three people accompanier him so six people that were already boarded have to wait for the next bus or is the EVC the "looser" in this case?
And before you shoot me down I really have no idea. In my country no public buses can't load a wheelchair or an EVC.
Handicapped persons get private payed transportation from door to door.

 

[scuba]

One other thing, I used to carry this flag, the flag that read......ECV riders and their family of #XXX. In all of my time of irrational, ignorant, single-mindeness frustration with ECV riders I cannot ever remember a time where an ECV rider had with them more than, say? 4, maybe 5 but NEVER ever was it more than 5.

I frequently perpetuated this wife's tale/urban legend of bands of 20-40 family members and their rouge ECV rider, I cannot even keep my family of 4 on the same page let alone for my very extended family of 20. I'm not even certain I want to go to Disney and expect 20 family members to be on the same page let alone being at a bus stop at XXXX time........

please, everyone do yourselves a favor, before posting, do what myself and our family did, down load your digital photos and video onto your computer and watch your hopefully able-bodied children, healthy families run around, wided eyed at parades and fireworks. Then ask yourselves, is it really worth it to post online your frustration with loading an ECV before YOUR family. If you still feel the desire to post....then you have greater a disability then the ECV riders you complain about.