WDW Bus Driver Experiences..

[strmtroopr96]

What is PC?? That's a new one on me.

Pop Century

 

[tinkgurl]

A few years back, we were on our way to be WL after EMH at either MGM or Epcot I can't remember. But the driver asked if any of the people on the bus were celebrating their birthday during the week. It happened to be my sister's so she yelled "I am!" The driver then asked her what her name was and then had everyone on the bus including himself sing her happy birthday. Her face just lit up and had a big smile across her face.

We've also had other wonderful bus drivers who ask us disney trivia as well.

We always say to the drivers hi when we get on the bus and say thank-you when we get off. We hope it makes their day a little, because they are driving back and forth every day!

 

[quiltymom]

We had a bus driver from WL to AK one early morning before most people were awake, who told jokes and Disney trivia the whole drive. He was the only bus driver our whole trip who did this.

But the piece of trivia I remembered most was this. He was about to retire and had started driving when the MK first opened. He said that he had driven over 1,000,000 miles just on Disney property!

 

[tinkgurl]

We had a bus driver from WL to AK one early morning before most people were awake, who told jokes and Disney trivia the whole drive. He was the only bus driver our whole trip who did this.

But the piece of trivia I remembered most was this. He was about to retire and had started driving when the MK first opened. He said that he had driven over 1,000,000 miles just on Disney property!

My family and I might have been on that bus! I remember one of our drivers telling us this! What a small world!

 

[fireman17]

On our May 2005 trip we had a great driver that made a wonderful night for on of our Disney children. We were leaving MK for the night and the kids and grownups were all tired so he started asking trivia questions. The first one he asked was "what does EPCOT stand for"? and I answered "Every Person Comes Out Tired"!! At this point he pulls over and tells me I'm out of the game and off the bus. I couldn't stop laughing at him!! He then wanted to know if anyone had a special event to share and I told him it was our son's seventh birthday, he asked his name and the whole bus sang Happy Birthday to him.
He couldn't get the smile off his face. And to this day on every birthday he tells this story to his friends..

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Pop Century

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[Luv4Disney]

We just got back Sunday! We had a bus driver who said he just graduated from bus driver training - as he drove over a curb!

 

[tinkerbellang]

First story - last April I was on a trip for Work - stayed at the YC. Taking ME from airport to YC - the bus was full of people - mostly for the convention I was going to. The driver drove by POR - made a U'e (not easy for a bus) drove back to the intersection, made a right hand turn and took us back around a different way, but we went back by POR!! I look at my co-worker and tell her - ummm we just came by here and now we're back again! Our bus driver was LOST! He said he just moved to Orlando the week before - he was by himself, no one helping him. He pulled over to the side of the road and we had to wait for another bus to come by to tell him how to get to YC! He wouldn't take the word of any of the people on the bus - who had been there before!! Luckily - we all laughed! Nothing like getting lost on a Disney Bus (I know it's not really Disney - but same thing)!

Then my husband and I went to AKL in August. We had a wonderful driver, who gave us all kinds of trivia. He had chosen to drive the bus for Disney from a high stress job. It was a really late bus ride - but he was wonderful!

Just goes to show, you just never know what you're going to get when you get on a bus!! LOL

 

[CindyT]

I love the Disney bus drivers. One year my son and I were waiting for the bus to FW from Epcot. There was a terrible thunderstorm and lightning was flashing all around, our bus was very late for some reason and we waited through 2 rounds of buses from all of the other resorts(over 45 minutes). My son, who was very young at the time, was scared out of his wits. Finally, a bus driver from the Wilderness Lodge came over and said that he was aware of how long we had been waiting and made a special trip to take us back to FW. He was so kind and thoughtful, I wish I had gotten his name so I could have written to WDW about how nice he was.

 

[bytheblood]

No stories. It has always been a good experience for us personally.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I had one who said the funniest thing when someone got on or off the bus, he'd go....

WATCH'A YOU A STEPPPPP!

he said it with this funny accent!

 

[bgdiznee]

Just two quick stories. We stayed at AKL in June 2005 and couldn't catch a break with the buses our entire stay. It just got to be a huge joke with our whole family. On one occasion we were trying to get from the AKL to AK and the driver needed to lower the bus to accomodate loading a wheel chair. Well after loading, the bus wouldn't raise back up again! The driver finally gave up and we all had to off load and wait for another bus. Then when we were trying to go from AKL to Epcot we had a driver in training and I guess she got so nervous that she took us all to AK instead of Epcot, we had to turn around and reroute to the correct park. Her trainer just kept saying " everyone has to start somewhere and she'll get better". We thought it was pretty funny but there were a few ADR holders who weren't feeling the humor. On the bright side no other trip has EVER matched this for bus troubles!

 

[DisGirlAllie]

Some good ones and some bad ones happend. I will just say that once we were standing and the bus driver was driving REALLY fast! You should have seen my dad! His hand was on my back and would not let me fall on the people around us. Then I crashed when we got into the room. (Literraly) I tripped over and umbrella!

 

[Kdog]

My Dh and I had a great driver this past Dec. Linette, the bus driver, picked us up one late night at the Boardwalk to take us to DTD. When she found out that we were going to DTD to catch a bus to our resort (POP), she took us directly to our resort and was warm and friendly the whole way. We wanted to tip her, but she wouldn't accept it. This was my DH's second trip to WDW, and the first trip to WDW was not a positive experience for him (heat, crowds, overwhelmingly new vacation experience, etc) However, Linette's kindness and excellent service really impressed him, and I think it was one of the magical moments of the second trip that really caused him to fall in love with WDW (Thank you, Linette!)

I edited this post to add that this late night was December 25th, so Linette went out of her way to help us even after the crowded, busy, and crazy day she must have had with the Christmas Day crowds.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

In 1992 we went to HDDR for the first time(9:30 show). We were staying off property and had spent the day at Epcot, so we were parked there. Took the bus to HDDR. Afterward, we were told to get on this one bus. After making his rounds, we were still on the bus. He asked which resort we were at, and we told him we were parked at Epcot. He asked if we were in a hurry(never), so he gave us a 45 minute tour through backstage roads and told us stories. We had a great time with him. Must have been 1:15 when we got to our car.

 

[SunKat]

For the most part, we've had wonderful bus drivers during our trips. However....since you asked, here are the good, the bad, and the ugly!

The Good: On a bus heading back to CBR from the MK after a long day in the parks we had the best driver ever. He started asking the kids on the bus to raise their hand if they'd had a birthday in the last month. Then he asked everyone on the bus to sing Happy Birthday to them. Then he asked what kids had a birthday within the last three months, and we all sang to them. My dd10 thought she'd be left out, but then he asked who had celebrated their b'day in the last six months and we sang once again. Every kid on the bus felt special and all the adults were having fun too. He made all the kids on the bus "honarary bus drivers", gave them certificates and then let them sit in the drivers seat with his bus driver cap on their heads while each parent took a picture of their child. A little bit of Disney magic!

The Bad: We were once in an accident on a Disney bus. The driver was making a tight left hand turn and smashed right into a car. No one was hurt (except the car!) but we all had to get on a different bus. It took an hour and a half for that journey from the MK to the Beach Club.

The Ugly: Returning from Pleasure Island one night years ago, there were a bunch of, how should I put this nicely...drunk...passengers. They were bad mouthing the bus driver and really being nasty. My husband and I were the last ones off the bus at the Beach Club. As we were stepping off the bus, the driver said to my husband, "I heard what you said." My DH said, 'excuse me?" and the driver proceeded to blame my hubby for stuff that one of the other passengers said. The driver insisted my husband was the culprit. When we explained what the guilty guys looked like, the driver still didn't believe us. So, we told him we were reporting him and we did. The driver was really obnoxious, like he wanted to get off the bus and fight my husband.

Geesh, this was a long post.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

In May 1998 when my family and I were going from Downtown Disney to the Contemporary, our bus driver got on the microphone and must have said this to another Disney bus driver or a car (could not tell because we were sitting at the back and the lights were turned off) "pardon me sir do you have any Grey poupon?" The whole bus was just started to laugh because that happened right out of the blue.

 

[Spaceship Earthfan]

We've had the bus drivers who get the whole bus to sing (usually it's a small world, and so that's why I've purposely memorized all the verses just so I can sing along with the other fanatics who sing the whole thing too). I tend to prefer the quieter rides, tho, especially in the middle of the days, as I like to just look out the window and take everything in!

 

[princesskelz]

We were on our way to one of the waterparks with our friends and the bus driver couldnt have been better he was soooo funny. At first it was casual conversation with the bus driver then he got the whole bus involved. He said were going to sing some songs now!! We sung songs like Grimm Grining Ghosts and Winnie the Pooh. Then he asked who knows the Haunting song? Nobody responded!! What nobody knows this song!! He started singing Its A Small World and the whole bus was cracking up . Then asking us what EPCOT stands for. Every Person Comes Out Tired or Every Purse Comes Out Thinner!! lol. Didnt catch his name but if he remembers us Kuddos to him for making our day a little more magical!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

FTR- I did not report the man expecting treats for the kids. I wanted that driver reprimanded or even fired. Behavior like that is completely unacceptable.

Just so you know - it's extremely possible that the two wheelchair tie-down spots were occupied, even if the entire bus wasn't. And most likely the bus driver didn't say he'd call for another bus because one would be along in about twenty minutes. As far as I know (which doesn't mean I know everything) standard procedure doesn't include calling for a backup bus in the middle of the afternoon.