What are the Current bus scooter loading ‘rules’?

[gottalovepluto]

Actually there is but the parks do whatever they want and WDW Transportation does a horrible job at making sure the drivers know what the procedure is and making sure that they follow it, which many don’t.

And yet different bus drivers give us different rules!

 

[teach22180]

This is why I pay more to rent in the parks. I wouldn't be happy if people around me were upset I was loading on a bus. I can walk to the entrance instead. It's the worry about them all being gone when I park hop that bothers me the most.

 

[xdan0920]

Just remember - for each time an ECV user gets to load without waiting in line - there’s a time where they need to wait for the next bus or 2 because the spaces were already taken. This last trip I took, I had to wait for 2 more buses to come because the ECV spaces were full of families with big strollers…no ECVs at all.

I genuinely don’t care. They should always wait. The ECV situation is completely out of control.

 

[maxiesmom]

I genuinely don’t care. They should always wait. The ECV situation is completely out of control.

If you think people are using ecvs for funzies I suggest you rent one and see how fun it is. It isn't. I miss the days when I could walk the parks. It was much simpler.

 

[xdan0920]

If you think people are using ecvs for funzies I suggest you rent one and see how fun it is. It isn't. I miss the days when I could walk the parks. It was much simpler.

Don’t care. It’s having a tremendous negative impact on the regular guest. Meanwhile, it’s the only place on earth they are so prevalent

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If you think people are using ecvs for funzies I suggest you rent one and see how fun it is. It isn't. I miss the days when I could walk the parks. It was much simpler.

FWIW though I think most of the complaints end up being just how many other people end up coming with the ECV user which for a theme park setting, and most especially WDW, is just for better or worse going to be more prevalent that there are more guests traveling within that travel group than your normal day.

It is the same with strollers and probably worse so over the years with how big and how much of a footprint the strollers can take up, being folded up can still take up quite a lot of space.

I think, and this it without me trying to cause any offense, when the conversation just gets reduced down to "well I wish I wasn't in an ECV, wheelchair, etc" it then kinda misses the ability for conversation to happen. Of course no one actually wishes mobility issues on anyone and it's very realistic that being a mobility user gives one a different perspective but how a company adopts measures to try to help everyone do matter and sometimes it can slide into one side or the other being disproportionately affected beyond reasonableness. Arguably over time I think they've tried to be more consumer friendly (and rightfully so) to ECV and wheelchair passengers.

In most of the threads on the DIS that show complaints about ECVs and buses especially it tends to be "and they had X many people with them" which the flipside to that is you don't really want to separate parties but because of the larger prevalence at WDW of ECVs and the larger prevalence of larger traveling groups...well something should be worked out such that there is a better balance on a more consistent basis (consistency seems to vary a lot here on the transportation).

Quite frankly I still think about the time at the airport more than 10 years ago we were going back from a vacation in Cape Cod with my husband's grandmother with us. She was in a wheelchair just due to her age and walking the longer distance in an airport and the airport security person at that time waived all 7 of us through the faster way due to her being in a wheelchair. There were two minors with us so I got that but outside of my mother-in-law taking her mother in the wheelchair the three of us other adults (myself, my husband and my sister-in-law) could have easily gone by ourselves. That was 7 people going through. That may or may not be an outlier number at WDW but if I were to translate that experience to WDW I can understand more people's frustrations with how buses may handle ECVs and their traveling party. At least in the complaints I've seen it's not necessarily the act of there being an ECV user especially as there are special spots for them on the bus but the amount of other people that may follow. If there are two ECVs waiting, three even it can quickly snowball to where other passengers waiting in the other line struggle should each of those have multiple other people in their traveling party waiting for them.

It's more like not every bus is going to necessarily have an ECV user but it doesn't take many traveling parties (especially larger ones) with an ECV user to create quite the backlog. It's not the ECV user themselves that is the issue (aside from in the OP if there are aggressive hostile members of their traveling party creating a problem).

 

[Simba's Mom]

If you think people are using ecvs for funzies I suggest you rent one and see how fun it is. It isn't. I miss the days when I could walk the parks. It was much simpler.

Walk? What a wonderful idea-but one step and I'd fall over. But I agree that some people use ECVs when they don't need to.

 

[maxiesmom]

I genuinely don’t care. They should always wait. The ECV situation is completely out of control.

You know what? I had started to type out a lengthy response to both you and Mackenize Click Mickelson. But the only thing really left to say is bless your hearts. I'd rather have a body that throws me challenges than be so poor of spirit that I think people who are following Disney bus rules are rude or mean or not deserving of existing. Because they may make your wait for a bus a teensy bit longer.

 

[lowlight]

Then maybe find somewhere else to vacation. To you the "situation" is out of control. To the majority of ecv users they are happy to find a place that is so inclusive to vacation.

I’ll agree with his point in the sense that the ECV situation is out of control in regards to buses, but also I’m glad that so many people can vacation at Disney World that wouldn’t be able to elsewhere due to disability. I think the logical rule is basically ECV’s wait in line, but board first once they make it to the final row as they would have made that bus anyhow. I think someone earlier mentioned this is the way it’s supposed to work, but it doesn’t. Having an ECV is an instant front of the line with your entire party, not just first loaded. I’ve missed many buses due to this, as I suspect many have. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal, but fair is fair. I suspect some of the ire is probably because ECV abuse and DAS abuse likely share a significant overlap.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You know what? I had started to type out a lengthy response to both you and Mackenize Click Mickelson. But the only thing really left to say is bless your hearts. I'd rather have a body that throws me challenges than be so poor of spirit that I think people who are following Disney bus rules are rude or mean or not deserving of existing. Because they may make your wait for a bus a teensy bit longer.

The thing about judging people is you have to be careful that you know their entire situation before you do so. Personally I've been battling plantar fasciitis since May, it's been quite painful and limited me in what I could do in September when I could visit for a few days. To the point that my CM friend offered to get me a wheelchair for the two days if I felt I really needed it. I do daily exercises, wear inserts, have switched up my workout plans and then deal on and off with knee pain. You and I don't share the same opinion and your "bless your heart" statement is exactly to the T the same sentiment as the poster who said they didn't care. It does not indeed make you look better on the moral high ground by putting in your own rude remark.

It's also exactly the problem with having conversations, if you aren't willing to entertain someone else's perspective why are they supposed to entertain yours..discourse in looking at it in less of a black and white situation would certainly go a long way than someone saying they don't care and someone's rebuttal is bless your heart. Neither are holding compassion which I do believe was what was spoken about in earlier posts. Also of notation you took a personal attack on people when no one took one on you, comments were not done as a personal slight against you personally and yet you opted to take personal slights against others.

 

[TCRAIG]

I genuinely don’t care. They should always wait. The ECV situation is completely out of control.

Sorry - I don’t understand your response. All I am saying is that ECV riders don’t always get priority loading on Disney buses…sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t for various reasons and sometimes ECV riders need to wait for multiple buses to come and go before there’s room. I’ve had both happen to me and either way - it’s not something I get all worked up about. In instances where I’m first in line and they’re 2 more ECV riders behind me who are traveling together, I’ll let them load and wait for the next bus. I travel alone so there’s no big group that gets to load with me.

 

[lowlight]

Personally I've been battling plantar fasciitis since May, it's been quite painful and limited me in what I could do in September when I could visit for a few days. To the point that my CM friend offered to get me a wheelchair for the two days if I felt I really needed it. I do daily exercises, wear inserts, have switched up my workout plans and then deal on and off with knee pain.

Sorry, off topic I know, but as someone who battled this for years, the only thing that worked for me was prednisone to even be able to do the exercises, and then thousands of calf raises using a foam block. I still have knee pain from favoring one leg for so long, and I'm a very active person. The PF came out of nowhere, 1/10 do not recommend.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sorry, off topic I know, but as someone who battled this for years, the only thing that worked for me was prednisone to even be able to do the exercises, and then thousands of calf raises using a foam block. I still have knee pain from favoring one leg for so long, and I'm a very active person. The PF came out of nowhere, 1/10 do not recommend.

Yeah sorry continuing for a moment on the off topic here. I'm sorry to hear you've been also dealing with this. Just like you I also have issues with favoring one leg due to knee pain. Although my knee pain is a lot better, like tremendously better than a few years ago, I do think my body compensates when that knee starts acting up (like right now when there are aches and pains alerts in my area). Come to think of it my knee pain is in the right knee and my plantar is in only on my left foot. That cannot be a coincidence I feel.

It hit me so suddenly to. I felt it in Monte Carlo which was our disembarking of our cruise in early April we flew back to the U.S. the next day and eventually back home It hurt then but I didn't know what it was and it went mostly away within a few days of getting home. That was until May where it must have been just walking normally caused a huge resurgence it was awful to try and walk.

The calf raises have helped, so has big toe exercises as well as other toe movements like bending your toes or putting your fingers through each of your toes which always feels weird to me. I was for about 3 years working out barefoot but have switched to shoes with an insert inside.

I live in slippers and realized my existing ones can't cut it so a few months back I got ones that have arch support (like actual ones not memory foam arch support) but those were hard to find that didn't cost $45-$60. I took those new slippers with me when we went on vacation in September in my suitcase because I knew I needed something in the hotel rooms.

What helped the most with me was 1) wearing the inserts in my shoes (which I use Dr. Scholl's ones specific to the plantar) which I now have IDK 6 or so for each of the shoes I wear although some shoes I haven't attempted to try yet as they can't handle the insert. 2) The biggest for pain relief outside of that was Dr. Scholl's Sleeves. It allowed the inflammation to get down which allowed the exercises to be able to be done better. I don't rely on the sleeve much anymore but it was instrumental in allowing the foot to get some relief


Also Epsom salt soaks helped too.

I still have lingering issues and some days are bad but I can say it's better than it was back in the spring. I'm just always so dang nervous of doing something to make it be so bad again that I'm overly cautious at times of my activities. Inclines seem to be the main issue for me and probably were the catalyst. Steps aren't nearly as bad unless my knee is acting up then *throws hands in the air*

The horror thought of surgery is one I'd like to not deal with if I don't have to. I've heard people doing the shots like you have done well before that however. Luckily when we were at the parks in September we took a good rest in the Morocco pavilion in the old AP lounge (I forget what it's called) and I took out that arch support sleeve pictured above and wore it for a bit while we rested.

Again sorry you're dealing with it as well