So frustrated by bus situation

[fabfemmeboy]

We've been here since Thursday and are staying for 3 weeks (I know! Awesome, right?). However, the bus situation is worse than I've ever seen it before. Not only are a solid 1/3 of buses the coach-type that can't accommodate a wheelchair (and refuse to even acknowledge our existence, call for another bus, or ask if we can transfer and put the chair underneath even though they put the strollers under there), but last night FOUR separate Disney buses stopped at our stop, let people off, and flat-out ignored us while people with giant strollers stood in the wheelchair spaces. Didn't acknowledge us, ask where we were going, nothing - just drove off. We waited about 28 minutes total, and the bus breakdown was as follows:

* 5 coach busses. One driver even came down to unload the largest stroller I've ever seen from the luggage area, kept looking in our direction, and never said a word to us. (BTW, my chair goes in the luggage area on DME, so it's not like they can't put the chair there for liability reasons!)​

* 4 accessible Disney busses that stopped to unload/load passengers, did not so much as acknowledge us, didn't have any chairs onboard, and had space for the people onboard plus a chair but a few people currently onboard would have needed to stand.​

* 2 accessible Disney busses that stopped and asked where we were going, but it wasn't to our location (very normal)​

* And finally the bus we took.​

I've had issues getting back from the parks a couple days as well because of the coach busses.

I have rarely been so frustrated as I was last night, and I've taken public transit with my chair for years! I really don't want to feel like this for the next 2.5 weeks, so: suggestions as to who I contact about the situation?

 

[Simba's Mom]

OMG, that's terrible! Fortunately, when I was there this summer, I only encountered 3 coach buses in 9 days. But I DID encounter 2 buses which each had 2 bus drivers, one regular and one in training. The trainee helped me load my ECV, then tied me down, while the "regular" watched and gave little comments ("Good!", "Don't forget-"). Sounds like things didn't work out too well.

 

[SueM in MN]

What resort are you staying at?
We just got back Saturday from a 3 week stay at OKW. Because of the tight turns and way the bus stops are laid out, OKW only uses the ‘regular’ WDW buses. We didn’t have any bus Issues, but I can see the bus situation at some of the other resorts are much different.

 

[TillyMarigold]

I am sorry to hear. We got back a week ago from 10 days at SSR and the bus situation was abysmal (waited 45-60 minutes or more and/or for the 3rd or 4th bus to have space at least once per day), but never encountered any non-Disney busses (probably the same reason as Sue mentioned) or people occupying the wheelchair spots. Very few drivers were anything less than completely helpful.

I strongly recommend that everyone who finds this thread in the future make sure 407-WDW-RIDE is saved in their contacts. I called them a LOT, usually after the first bus without space came and went from my stop, unless the driver said they knew there was another bus right behind, and always if a second bus was full. And also any time the wait exceeded 30 minutes (unless the transportation sign showed one would be there in the next 5-10 minutes, of course).

 

[robinb]

That does sound very frustrating. One thing you can do is politely kick the stroller people out of the wheelchair spot. “Excuse me, I think I’m supposed to wait in that box so the bus driver can see me.” I would also call that RIDE number mentioned above and ask if they can load wheelchairs in coach type busses. They may have a policy that forbids it and at least you wouldn’t stew about drivers not asking if you can transfer. Lastly, I always read the destination on the bus and wave at the driver as they pull up to let them know that is the bus that I need. Maybe you and your family can work as a team to make sure you get on the earliest possible bus. With three weeks you’ll have plenty of practice! I’m so jealous.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is a link to a post on the disABILITIES FAQs thread about bus travel at WDW

The first part is general, but the last part is some suggestions for reporting any questions or concerns.
If you are back in your WDW resort room, you can use the Transportation button on the room phone.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

What resort are you staying at?
We just got back Saturday from a 3 week stay at OKW. Because of the tight turns and way the bus stops are laid out, OKW only uses the ‘regular’ WDW buses. We didn’t have any bus Issues, but I can see the bus situation at some of the other resorts are much different.

We're at CSR. We stayed here last year and didn't have any problems with the buses, but this has been an ongoing issue over the past week.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

That does sound very frustrating. One thing you can do is politely kick the stroller people out of the wheelchair spot. “Excuse me, I think I’m supposed to wait in that box so the bus driver can see me.” I would also call that RIDE number mentioned above and ask if they can load wheelchairs in coach type busses. They may have a policy that forbids it and at least you wouldn’t stew about drivers not asking if you can transfer. Lastly, I always read the destination on the bus and wave at the driver as they pull up to let them know that is the bus that I need. Maybe you and your family can work as a team to make sure you get on the earliest possible bus. With three weeks you’ll have plenty of practice! I’m so jealous.

We do politely kick the stroller people out if they're in the wheelchair box. These were people on-board in the wheelchair spots.
I've also seen a lot of buses that have problems with their displays and say "refilling my pixie dust" even if they're not going on break. If the bus lists my destination on it, I wave them down; if it lists a destination that's not mine, I shake my head and sometimes scooch the chair back a bit to let them know I don't need to board (a habit from my local public buses). Even so, many do still stop and check that I don't need them to load me.

 

[BillSears]

The bus service is getting worse and worse at WDW. I had many of those issues in May. I stayed at Pop Century and gave up on the buses half way through my 2 week trip. I had driven down and took my car to MK and AK. Since I was at Pop the Skyliner worked for EPCOT and DHS.

 

[SueM in MN]

The « Refilling My Pixiedust » display usually means the bus is only dropping people off. Sometimes, the bus is going back to the bus barns and sometimes after dropping guests off, it’s going to another resort to do pickups.

It‘s always been an issue at times with some of the larger resorts using those big tour type buses during busier times, especially beginning and end of day. Currently, those buses are being used more because each bus holds more people, meaning they can transport more with fewer drivers.
Not sure when things will improve

 

[Narcoossee11]

Not what you want to hear but , this trip will be rough.
Expect at least a hour wait each trip. There is just not enough buses and drivers.
Maybe research vans, ride share.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

The « Refilling My Pixiedust » display usually means the bus is only dropping people off. Sometimes, the bus is going back to the bus barns and sometimes after dropping guests off, it’s going to another resort to do pickups.

It‘s always been an issue at times with some of the larger resorts using those big tour type buses during busier times, especially beginning and end of day. Currently, those buses are being used more because each bus holds more people, meaning they can transport more with fewer drivers.
Not sure when things will improve

I assumed that was what the display meant, but it's not proven to be the case. I've also seen a lot of drivers forgetting to switch their displays as they get to the resort, etc. so I assume that's part of it.

It won't improve until or unless they're held accountable for the lack of accessibility, I suspect. It's really frustrating, in part because not having to worry about driving/lyft is the only advantage to being on-property these days.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

Not what you want to hear but , this trip will be rough.
Expect at least a hour wait each trip. There is just not enough buses and drivers.
Maybe research vans, ride share.

The waits haven't been any worse than usual for ambulatory people, just chairs.

 

[SueM in MN]

I assumed that was what the display meant, but it's not proven to be the case. I've also seen a lot of drivers forgetting to switch their displays as they get to the resort, etc. so I assume that's part of it.

It won't improve until or unless they're held accountable for the lack of accessibility, I suspect. It's really frustrating, in part because not having to worry about driving/lyft is the only advantage to being on-property these days.

We were at the 3rd OKW bus stop and heard the explanation multiple times when the bus driver dropped guests off, but had to tell people waiting why no one was being picked up.
I’m sure there are some drivers who forgot to change it - from what we heard, some drivers were working long shifts or split shifts.

 

[KPeterso]

I can tell you the AKL stop at Hollywood Studios is a common drop off stop (it is the closest to the parks). We had to wait through several drop off buses there in September a couple different days. Most drivers did let us know that they were just dropping off and a bus would be there for us soon. They all had the Refilling their Pixie Dust on the front.

Honestly, we overall had really good bus service in September. A couple kind of questionable moments, but overall good. I did get annoyed at AK (going to AKL) when a bus was full and already had 2 wheelchairs or scooters on it. The driver did still load a ton more able bodied on the bus. And then knowing that 2 handicap parties were left behind (us with a scooter and a family with a child in a wheelchair), the next bus was a coach bus that could not even take us. So almost 2 buses full of able bodied people left before one came that could take us. I was not annoyed on the initial that we could not get on as it had the 2 wheelchair spots already taken, but that it was not thought out to send a bus that could take us the next time. I was more annoyed that they sent a coach bus knowing that they had at least 2 handicap parties left behind when it could have been solved by sending a Disney bus for us and a coach bus to a stop where no handicap were waiting. Just seems like a logical solution to me.

 

[SueM in MN]

I can tell you the AKL stop at Hollywood Studios is a common drop off stop (it is the closest to the parks). We had to wait through several drop off buses there in September a couple different days. Most drivers did let us know that they were just dropping off and a bus would be there for us soon. They all had the Refilling their Pixie Dust on the front.

Forgot about that situation. We were almost never dropped off at a park at the same spot we would be picked up at.

 

[Groot]

I really wish that they took people who rent/own their own mobility devices into account when they contracted out to the “Loaner” buses so that at least half of them were accessible.

 

[bluecruiser]

In the last week and a half at WDW, I've only seen one coach bus that had no ramp/lift. This was after 1AM at the Magic Kingdom (after hours Christmas party end time), and there were two scooters including me waiting for transport back to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Fortunately a cast member stopped by to let us know she had called another bus to come since she saw we were waiting. That bus showed up without too much of a wait.

Transportation hasn't been too bad for me this trip. Only a few occasions where I had to wait for a second bus. Waiting times were no more than 20 minutes.

It does make me wonder if Disney staffs bus transportation different for deluxes vs. moderates or value resorts, due to the OP's experiences being so different from mine.

One thing that was different this trip is that more bus drivers wanted to help me park on the bus - no, really they wanted to take control and guide the ECV into position. I'm a fairly proficient ECV parker on buses thanks to much practice, but if the driver wanted to take over I let them.

Also, drivers were more accepting of my wish to transfer to a regular bus seat rather than stay on the ECV. There seemed to be more understanding that it's safer not to sit on a heavy scooter that's only locked down at the bottom.

 

[BillSears]

In the last week and a half at WDW, I've only seen one coach bus that had no ramp/lift.

They were using the wheelchair lift on the coach buses? I thought they wouldn't load a wheelchair/ECV on those even if it had a lift.

 

[bluecruiser]

They were using the wheelchair lift on the coach buses? I thought they wouldn't load a wheelchair/ECV on those even if it had a lift.

Sorry I should have said that differently - I meant I only saw one coach bus. Every other bus I've used is a regular Disney bus with the ramp setup to load ECV's and WC's.