WDW Bus Driver Experiences..

[MommySiobhan]

Share your stories..The good, bad or scary

Something I read earlier made me think of this and I wanted to share a simple action by a bus driver that made our last morning magical.

Last summer we had our very first trip to WDW. On our last morning we had a breakfast planned at Ohana's and had allowed plenty of time (So I, the planner thought). Checkout took a very looooong time and we were cutting very close to our ressie.

We were on a bus from POR (not sure where we would have had to go first,to MK I believe?) and then we were going to have to get on another bus to the Poly for our breakfast.

Our driver was so friendly with all of the passengers the whole ride, he got up to help little ones, he was talking and joking, just alot of fun. We really enjoyed him.

As we were getting off at his stop we asked him in which general direction we had to go to get a bus to the poly. He asked what time we had to be there and then proceeded to tell us we would never make it.
He told us to sit down, flipped on the Mickey Mouse sign and drove us.

We were ever so grateful. Dh tried to tip him but he wouldn't have it. He said, if anything, drop a line and let them know you had a good ride with him, which I did. He also said he admired as a dad the patience we had when half the line overtook us onto the bus when we were folding up strollers and trying to get on with with a NB, 1y/o, 3y/o & 5y/o.

Anyhow, he really made our last morning.

We also had one driver I remember who drove so fast, omg, I felt so bad for the people standing,

 

[catherines_mama]

Back in Feb 04 DD and I took our 1st vacation to Disney. On our last night we went to Fantasmic and really had a great closing to our stay. We got on the bus that night, tired and ready for bed and the bus driver was wonderful. He told jokes all the way back to POP (not a long ride) and was just very very pleasant.

I think thats the only really good story I have. I've always had good experiences but that one was most memorable.

 

[mickey0624]

This is kind of a bus story. On one of our many trips about 15 years ago, we had a bus driver on our way to EPCOT, who also had worked at EPCOT. Back then many Cast Memebers had to wear theses special EPCOT uniforms - on the bus he told us what EPCOT really stands for : Experimental Polyester Costumes Of Torture. Always thought that was pretty funny.

 

[StarLight StarBright]

After an hour wait for the bus to ASMo after Wishes one night, everyone boarded the bus, scowling, kids screaming, just wanting to get to the hotel.The Driver actually made our ride fun by singing his own version of "The wheels on the bus", which he made all of us sing along. His verses went, the babies on the bus say WHAH WHAH WHAH, and the dads on the bus say "bring my beer". To this day my DD4 sings the bus drivers version of the song!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We were on a bus from AK to CBR and the bus stalled at an intersection, I mean blocking the entire intersection,...a very full bus. Everyone was freaking out and the bus driver yelled "WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN!!" So everyone did and the bus started up.....

I think we were all just so shocked that no one spoke another word all the way back to the resort.

 

[Momelie]

I have some mobility problems, so I rarely ride the buses, but....

One memorable night, coming back from Illuminations, our bus driver and/or the bus (never figured that one out), quit. And I do mean quit!

He pulled over on the side of the road to WL, right before the guard shack, and said "the bus isn't going any further." And he got off the bus and we never saw him again!

We all thought he was going to the front of the bus to check on something mechanical, but he never came back on. Finally, one of the older guys went out to see if he could give him a hand, and he wasn't there. Two guys then went to the guard shack, and several minutes later another bus came by, from MK, and stopped and we all got on it, and went to the Lodge.

Never did figure out what happened, and its never happened since! A few people were asking questions, and I kept looking for them the rest of our time there, but I had two very tired, small children at the time and getting them down for the night was my number 1 priority, LOL.

 

[cinderkelli]

A bus driver made our night! We had gone to Narcoosee's to eat dinner and ended up having wine and staying kind of late so we were TIRED. We went to the bus stop and the bus picking us up was going to DTD where we would have to get off and catch a bus to take us to our hotel - Port Orleans French Quarter. Well, it was so late and not busy, I guess, and we were the only ones on the bus so he just took us straight to our resort! So nice of him, we were very grateful!

 

[budbeerlady]

On our first trip in December of 2005 the bus rolled away at MK. It was the POFQ bus and we were leaving after dinner at 1900 Park Fare. The driver step off the bus and was going to the side to help with a chair and the bus rolled backwards.

We were all screaming and the bus side-swiped the bus behind it. He must of had the wheel cranked when he pulled in and it reversed its way back out to the side. Luckily no one got hurt! We had to wait a bit while they brought us another bus and investigated the accident

 

[maxiesmom]

We were at Disney the year the last Star Wars movie came out. We went in May, so we could do the opening Star Wars weekend at MGM. My family stayed at POFQ, so we got on, and got our seats. We then procceded to do the loop around POR, and man, was that bus packed! I swear, there was no way to put another person on that bus. My dad tried to offer his seat to an older lady, and there was simply no way to switch without stomping on someone else. Well, anyway, it could have been the bus ride from hades. But it wasn't. The bus driver was a nice lady with a great attitude. As soon as the bus was loaded, she had everyone start singing to make the time go faster. I believe the first song was "The wheels on the bus". So instead of having a bunch of people crabbing and complaining, she had a bus full of people singing and laughing. Great idea on her part!

 

[MarylandPizzaman]

In 2004 My wife and I took My mom her Mom both to WDW. My Mom uses a walker to get around short distances but was wheelchair bound our entire trip due to the amount of walking. My wifes Mom ended up in a wheelchair during our trip also due to the amount of walking. One night after we had been to MGM we boarded a bus back to BWV. We stopped at a few places along the way to drop people off and pick them up, then arrived at BWV 's bus station. My Mom was seatbelted into the bus and my MIL sat on a seat out of her wheelchair. The bus driver lowered the side of the bus down and proceeded to unhook my mom. She of course had to stay in her wheelchair to ride down the chairlift. Now at this time you have to picture everyone on the bus has to wait until she is unloaded and everyone at BWV has to wait to enter the bus. So all these people are waiting patiently as she is being lowered down when the bus driver asks her if she rode Tower of Terror yet, She looked at him strangely and said no of course not, I can't ride that. He then started moving the chair lift up and down MANY times saying OOOHHH its haunted now you have riden TOT. I about cried right on the spot.
She still talks about our trip and the bus driver!!!

 

[disneyfanUSA]

A few years back driver was very slilly and nice older man! I rember it was so hot so he was driving w/ the door open lol!! He also asked every1 disney trivia and questions. Then he made the whole bus sing disney songs! A very fun bus ride to our hotel!

 

[MareSINY]

In December we took a trip with the whole family to Disney. My dad always rented cars and the whole thing, staying off site in the past, so this was our "WOW" him trip. I made all the reservations, got him a scooter and booked ME. The ME bus was really late picking us up at the airport. He did a lot of complaining. The next day we were heading to DTD and the line at the poly was so long that only himself, my BIL and niece made it on. Myself, sister and other niece said we'd meet them there. When we arrived at DTD we called them to find out where they were. Turns out they were one stop ahead of us at DTD, near the McDonalds.

My dad was stuck on the bus. LOL

The lift wouldn't go down, so they couldn't get the scooter off. The bus was filled with passengers and they wouldn't let them off until they got my dad off. LOL It took about an hour before they finally got him off that bus. I thought we'd never get him back on another bus. Luckily we didn't have any other problems.

My dad passed away in January, so I'm glad we got to "WOW" him. The memories from that last trip will last me a life time.

 

[Lillypug]

We had a really bad experience leaving MGM last May. We (My mom, my dad, my 6 year old wheelchair bound son and I) were leaving the park at about 3:30 PM. It was so hot and humid that day. The bus driver had loaded and was about to take off and saw my dad and I (not seeing my mom and my son in the wheelchair) and the driver opened the door for us to hop on. I said "My son is in a wheelchair." The driver looks back into the bus, turns to me and said "We are full." and drives away. My 6 year old cried thinking we were not going to have a ride back to our hotel. I made note of the bus number and time and called Disney transportation as soon as we got back to POFQ and reported him. Within 10 minutes the manager of transportation was at our doorstep and apologized and brought treats (fastpasses, pins and stickers, and a watch) for Noah and Brady. Brady was at the hotel napping with DH while we were at MGM.

I would not have been upset if the driver had said he would call for another bus, not to mention the bus was not completely full. What a hard lesson it was that day for a 6 year old. Ever since that incident, I am always leary when approaching a bus, worrying about what they will say. We have 9 days until our next trip and hope we don't have that incident again.

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.

 

[jcmc]

O.K. here's an ugly one.......it was mid day, about two years ago and we were leaving the Animal Kingdom for our afternoon break. We boarded the bus, about six people total, and had the ride from *#@"!!!!! ! The bus driver who was up in years, began to drift form left to right and then get really close to the car in front of us, then drift back, all the time speeding up then slowing down ..... to top it off, we also notice him closing his eyes like he was falling asleep. My husband tried talking to him to keep him awake. Luckly, we made it back to our hotel safely! The first thing I did was to go to the front desk and reported him. They actually made a call in front of me and repoted the incident.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

This Dec. we left EPCOT and got on the Bus at about 8pm and headed back to the AKL as we are doing so the driver pull into the AK, the passengers on the Bus are all looking at each other (the AK closes at 5) its now about 820p there are maybe 10 cars in the lot and he pulls into the bus depot and there is a family of 4 standing there he pulls up they ask if he is headed to the GF he says "no sorry" and then pulls away .

A.) Why were going to a park that closed 3 hrs ago
B.) How long had that family been there?
C.) Why didn't they get on the bus anyway did they think another one was coming????

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

On a nicer note... we had 2 great bus drivers last year. One guy picked us up after a late EMH at MK and from the moment we left the bus stop, he had us all engaged in a Disney trivia quiz, he got some kids to hand out Mickey stickers to the adults who answered correctly.

Another guy also driving from MK had everyone participate in a singsing one night on a very packed bus, very late, it was much better than standing there trying not to fall asleep.

 

[handicap18]

Just about all the bus rides I've had thus far have been very uneventfull. The only one that stands out is one on the way back to ASMo from MK in Dec '05. The bus was packed and it was late. It may have been after a MVMCP I don't recall exactly. But the bus driver was great. The whole way back he was doing Disney trivia. Asking all kinds of questions. Certainly made for a more pleasant ride back. Kept the grumbling down.

 

[LErin26]

I had just completed the Disney Triathlon last September and we were on a bus from FW to POR. These weren't "Disney" buses, so I dont' know if this counts. Anyway, everyone got off at POR but since we were staying at POFQ the bus driver took us over there with out us even asking. What a treat after 3.5 hours of "tri-ing" in the sun!

 

[strmtroopr96]

A couple bus stories to share:

We usually have great drivers but there was one on our 2002 trip that was really nice. I think I was heading back to POR from Downtown Disney and it was late. He asked trivia questions the whole way back and even had prizes (coupons for the DTD McD's). LOL

But we have also had some odd bus trips. Two of these happened on my May 2005 trip. One was when we were headed back to MGM from PC for a dinner ressie and running close to the time. We ended up with a bus that was on its last leg. LOL It was overheating, no AC, and could only put put along. It took FOREVER to get to MGM, and I'm not sure how we made it up any elevated roads. The bus was so hot and stuffy and barely moving along.

The other time on that trip, our bus driver got totally lost. I think we were going from PC to AK but our driver ended up in the backstage areas of Coronado Springs! Never did find out a reason.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

A couple bus stories to share:

We usually have great drivers but there was one on our 2002 trip that was really nice. I think I was heading back to POR from Downtown Disney and it was late. He asked trivia questions the whole way back and even had prizes (coupons for the DTD McD's). LOL

But we have also had some odd bus trips. Two of these happened on my May 2005 trip. One was when we were headed back to MGM from PC for a dinner ressie and running close to the time. We ended up with a bus that was on its last leg. LOL It was overheating, no AC, and could only put put along. It took FOREVER to get to MGM, and I'm not sure how we made it up any elevated roads. The bus was so hot and stuffy and barely moving along.

The other time on that trip, our bus driver got totally lost. I think we were going from PC to AK but our driver ended up in the backstage areas of Coronado Springs! Never did find out a reason.

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