Magical Express and ECV yesterday

[clkelley]

Hubby, son and friends used Magical Express yesterday with his ECV.

Since he can transfer, they stored the ECV under the bus instead of waiting on a bus with a lift.

From this and other reports I've read it sounds like they are trying to avoid using the lifts unless absolutely necessary.

Carol

 

[BillSears]

Since he can transfer, they stored the ECV under the bus instead of waiting on a bus with a lift.

Sounds like your trip down went very smoothly.

I do have a question though. To me a transfer is switching from one seat to another without standing or walking involved. How did he manage this without a lift? I'm thinking about using the Magical Express sometime and was curious how this would work.

 

[clkelley]

My apologies. My DH is mobile. He uses the ECV for the long distances through the airports and the parks at WDW. He has terrible knees and just had total knee replacement surgery in one knee in March. In another year, he will probably have the other knee done and will work on getting rid of the ECV completely.

He goes through his daily life without the ECV, it stays parked in the garage most of the time.

He can board ride vehicles, buses, planes, etc. on his own power.

That's what I meant by transferring. If just sliding over to a seat is all a guest can do, then I expect DME will call for a bus with a lift.

Carol

 

[BillSears]

Thanks for the reply.

We all use different terms for different things. I was just checking to see how it was done.

 

[pugdog]

I would say that if you need the lift to get in the bus then WHY transfer. That is why they have those buses. 2/3s of the buses have lifts so the wait would not be that long I would think.
I don't think that DME is " not trying" to use the lifts it's just the drivers who are being lazy and don't want to use the lifts if they don't have to.

 

[clkelley]

pugdog, I suspect you are right, it is the drivers, not "DME". It is probably much easier for the driver and less time consuming to just lift the folded ECV into the luggage bay than go with the lift.

Carol

 

[RaySharpton]

When I was at OKW waiting for a MK bus, I saw everyone standing around the Magical Express bus trying to figure out how to make the lift...lift.

The lift was located on the side, near the rear. Since these buses are much, much taller than the regular WDW buses, the lift was only used for this purpose and not for regular boarding.

It looked like a very heavy duty, and complicated piece of equipment.

I don't think that the bus driver knew how to use the new lift.

The had about ten WDW people out their trying to figure it out. A lot of administration people from the look of the ties.

I think that they would have been happy just to close the lift back into the bus. It was sitting solidly on the brick pavement. I could see them fold and unfold the drive on part, but the heavy metal part that did the lifting would not move from the pavement.

There was a line of seven WDW regular buses behind this bus waiting to pick up and drop off.

I felt so sorry for the person having to wait in the wheelchair, because she was receiving those eyes from from several people.

I drove up next to her to keep the family company until the other buses drove around to the parking lot to load/unload. I wished her luck and a safe trip.

When I go back that night, I saw the traditional WDW yellow curtain and poles surrounding the same area of the pavement where the lift was.

I wonder if they tried to drive the bus out of the way with the lift down.

The repair to the brick pavement took about five days.

They set up a tent in the parking lot and made that the pickup/dropoff point until the pavement was repaired.

I go the distinct impression that the bus driver did not know how to operate the lift.

But neither did any one else at the time.

I'm sure that they have all been instructed on how to use it now.

I have never seen a lift on a bus like that before. It looks like it might lift you about ten feet off of the ground.

I'd be curious to hear anyone else's experience with the lift on that particular bus.

I don't have to use it since I drive to WDW.

Sincerely, Ray

 

[SueM in MN]

I have never seen a lift on a bus like that before. It looks like it might lift you about ten feet off of the ground.

I'd be curious to hear anyone else's experience with the lift on that particular bus.

I don't have to use it since I drive to WDW.

Sincerely, Ray

I'm not so sure I want to see the lift closer than your post. It sounds sort of scary.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I worked as a "greeter" for ME at one of the resorts one day. The ME drivers had to use the lift on a few occasions, and the lifts seemed to be operating correctly. It also seemed to be relatively simple to use, if I absolutely HAD to, I could PROBABLY figure out how to operate it.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Hmm, interesting what you posted about what you saw (about the lift). Our last trip when leaving GF we had to wait a long time for our DME bus -but one that supposedly wasn't ours (who knows? maybe that's why ours was over an hour late- because this one really was ours?) was stuck there the entire time.
It was like you described... and it was stuck right there on the curb. Well maybe a little different than you described- this one couldn't go all the way down because they were a little too far from the curb but just close enough for it to get stuck. Problem being that no one knew how to get it back UP if it didn't go all the way DOWN. Apparently if it doesn't go all the way down- they can't get it to go back up. It couldn't go down because it was hitting the curb right on the edge of the lift that went down. It was stuck. I don't know how they fixed it but I wonder if they also finally resorted to driving with it that way and tearing up the curb in the process. They said they couldn't get the bus to drive with the lift out like that though... they said it wouldn't do go at all with the lift out like that. ??

Interesting so many problems with the lifts on these buses. They need to train them better! (I say that because the driver in our case obviously parked just a little too close... or not close enough. The lift was just barely about an inch on the edge stuck on the curb)
Sounds like they aren't parking properly or those buses aren't set up right with the lifts like the regular onsite Disney buses are. Like maybe the lifts go further down than the sidewalk/curbs are? And if it can't go all the way down- they can't get it to go back up. LIke it has to cycle all the way down before it will go up again?

 

[SueM in MN]

Sounds like they aren't parking properly or those buses aren't set up right with the lifts like the regular onsite Disney buses are. Like maybe the lifts go further down than the sidewalk/curbs are? And if it can't go all the way down- they can't get it to go back up. LIke it has to cycle all the way down before it will go up again?

Based on years of experience with DD riding lift equipped school buses, I would guess this is the case. One of the problems with lifts is that there are many things that can go wrong with them. In our experience, if the lift can't complete the cycle for some reason or another, it gets stuck. And, if it's stuck open, the bus usually has interlocks of some type for safety that prevent it from being driven. So, you are stuck where you are. One time on the school bus, DD was stuck partway up when the lift stopped working. The driver thought she was going to have to call for assistance, but finally did get it to go.
Those buses sound very large and it may be hard for the driver to jusdge just where the lift will deploy. Also, if the parking postition relative to the curb is different for those buses, the drivers might have to "unlearn" things they already know about positioning the bus relative to the curb. It's going to be a learning process.
Besides avoiding using the ramp, the drivers might be trying to "save" the wheelchair tiedown spots on the bus for people who can't transfer. They do that on rides at the parks, so I could see why they would try to do the same for the buses. If someone can get out of their wheelchair or ecv and walk onto the bus, that leaves the wheelchair spot available for someone showing up who can't.