My long night home from EPCOT, those darn double loading buses and the EPCOT boat...

[Schmeck]

Depending on the wind direction, weather, etc, having too much weight in one section of a boat can also cause it to swamp and/or capsize and sink. Very scary thought for people who cannot swim, or get out of the cabin!

 

[Friendly Frog]

Please correct me, but didn't the transportation manager change after the monorail accident? Perhaps part of the new policy is based on new management views? Maybe a cc should be included to whom ever is over the transportation manager?

1.)The new mainstream line is inefficient at best.
2.) Buses should never double load.

They should wait an extra 5 mins to pull into the space so that all can load equally. It is not like 3 or 4 buses are backed up to a spot. Sorry, but I think that at times bus drivers choose to time it so that they can double load and not have to deal with tie downs.

You can sure tell the difference between good drivers and those who don't want to help. The good ones are real hero's in my book. I know that is is a hard job with lots of bending.

 

[bookwormde]

Double loading has been addressed with the WDW disability folks and the manager at EPCOT specifically. Both were very responsive and issue appeared to be resolved.
If we are seeing it begin to happen again the please post the specifics so I can address it again.
Like anything new, mainstream loading will take time to get the bugs worked out. My perception is that it works great if you have a proactive bus driver who wants to facilitate the process, on the other hand if you have a bus driver for whom it is too much "trouble" to help and move proficiently then it does not.

 

[franandaj]

1.)The new mainstream line is inefficient at best.
2.) Buses should never double load.

Like anything new, mainstream loading will take time to get the bugs worked out. My perception is that it works great if you have a proactive bus driver who wants to facilitate the process, on the other hand if you have a bus driver for whom it is too much "trouble" to help and move proficiently then it does not.

Can someone explain what "mainstream loading" means and when it was implemented? I haven't been to WDW in a year and will be going back in a little over a month. Someone mentioned to me that they have changed the ECV loading policies and recently and I'd like to know before we go.

Thanks!

 

[SueM in MN]

Can someone explain what "mainstream loading" means and when it was implemented? I haven't been to WDW in a year and will be going back in a little over a month. Someone mentioned to me that they have changed the ECV loading policies and recently and I'd like to know before we go.

Thanks!

Mainstream loading is having all guests wait in the same line. They made the waiting lines for the buses wider so that they would be wheelchair/ECV accessible.
They started converting lines about 2 to 2 1/2 yrs ago at the parks, but not at the resorts. Not all the park bus stops are the same - some removed the wheelchair/ECV marked 'gates' where guests with those waited and the only exit from the line was when guests reach the front of the line.
Others have everyone enter the line and have a 'gate' partway thru the line for guests with wheelchairs and ECVs. Still others have a marked spot.

There has been no written information from Disney at how to deal with the buses, so there has been a lot of confusion about what to do.