Should buses be modified to take >2 scooters?

I think the root of the increase in ECV's may be related to the resorts now charging to park your vehicle where you are staying. We have friends that would rent a car and drive to the parks with their ECV. It was much quicker and easier for them, but also they were not in competition for the 2 spots available on each bus. Now that the resort parking fees have been instituted, they are no longer going to rent a car and just use Disney transportation. So if many people are doing this type of thing, that would account for an increase in ECVs using bus transportation at Disney. Not sure how they could do it, but I think Disney will need to come up with a plan to accommodate more ECVs/wheelchairs on their busses - either increase the capacity for them on the busses or send busses around more frequently.
 
I think the root of the increase in ECV's may be related to the resorts now charging to park your vehicle where you are staying. We have friends that would rent a car and drive to the parks with their ECV. It was much quicker and easier for them, but also they were not in competition for the 2 spots available on each bus. Now that the resort parking fees have been instituted, they are no longer going to rent a car and just use Disney transportation. So if many people are doing this type of thing, that would account for an increase in ECVs using bus transportation at Disney. Not sure how they could do it, but I think Disney will need to come up with a plan to accommodate more ECVs/wheelchairs on their busses - either increase the capacity for them on the busses or send busses around more frequently.
That’s a good point. Another thing I’m not sure most guests realize is that the new articulated buses have fewer seats, but can hold more passengers standing. The older style buses offered more seating than the newer Nova (red, white and gray bending) buses. This means that there are fewer seats to actually sit in and more chances to only have a standing strap on the bus. These new style buses have expanded the overall capacity of each bus, but with fewer available seats.
 
That’s a good point. Another thing I’m not sure most guests realize is that the new articulated buses have fewer seats, but can hold more passengers standing. The older style buses offered more seating than the newer Nova (red, white and gray bending) buses. This means that there are fewer seats to actually sit in and more chances to only have a standing strap on the bus. These new style buses have expanded the overall capacity of each bus, but with fewer available seats.


I remember when I first started visiting WDW the buses only had a tiny aisle to stand in, and forward facing seating on both sides. You could hold on to the backs of the seats to stand.

With the new buses if you feel you need a seat you may have to wait thru a few buses to get it. Depending on the style they seem to hold 35 seats or so? Not many.
 
I dislike going through the regular line at MK. One reason is I have other issue that make me panic when I am closed in. Second, my controller is on the left and people often hit it making the wheelchair turn. it is impractical to turn it on and of in line. Finally, by putting you in the regular line and then pulling you off at a particular spot it guarantees you will not be loaded on that bus but will wait for a second bus even if you would have gotten a seat had you not been in a mobility device. THAT IS NOT EQUAL ACCCESS! I do not mind waiting for a second bus if there are people already waiting before me but for my and your safety I do not want to wait in that standard line.

I've found that the queue after the HC gate is about a bus full of people, actually. They must have been spaced out the day you were in the queue. I've also found the queues to be very wide there - have they changed them recently?

I think the root of the increase in ECV's may be related to the resorts now charging to park your vehicle where you are staying. We have friends that would rent a car and drive to the parks with their ECV. It was much quicker and easier for them, but also they were not in competition for the 2 spots available on each bus. Now that the resort parking fees have been instituted, they are no longer going to rent a car and just use Disney transportation. So if many people are doing this type of thing, that would account for an increase in ECVs using bus transportation at Disney. Not sure how they could do it, but I think Disney will need to come up with a plan to accommodate more ECVs/wheelchairs on their busses - either increase the capacity for them on the busses or send busses around more frequently.

But they aren't charging people with HC tags to park, are they?
 
I think the reason there is a higher percentage of ECV’s on buses is because for ECV users, especially the people that don’t use ECV’s in their daily lives, it is easier to roll the ECV onto a bus than to load it into a rental vehicle.

I used the buses on one Disney trip. They just take too long. It is much faster and easier for my party to jump into a car. If I were to add an ECV to that equation, the bus would likely win out. Since they added parking to the resorts, and upped park parking fees, that may change the minds of many like me who preferred cars.

What Disney could do to lower the amount of ECVs on buses is to offer more ECV rentals at a more reasonable rates in the parks. Some folks think they might need the ECVs for the walking at the parks, and then rent them for the trip because there might not be ECVs available when they need them. If they were sure they could get one in the park if the walking was more than they could handle, they wouldn’t be ordering them from offsite in advance. Now there would still be a lot of people that know they need ECVs both in the park and in the resorts, but taking away the people who only need them in the park would probably drop the number of ECVs by quite a bit.
 


I think the reason there is a higher percentage of ECV’s on buses is because for ECV users, especially the people that don’t use ECV’s in their daily lives, it is easier to roll the ECV onto a bus than to load it into a rental vehicle.

I used the buses on one Disney trip. They just take too long. It is much faster and easier for my party to jump into a car. If I were to add an ECV to that equation, the bus would likely win out. Since they added parking to the resorts, and upped park parking fees, that may change the minds of many like me who preferred cars.

What Disney could do to lower the amount of ECVs on buses is to offer more ECV rentals at a more reasonable rates in the parks. Some folks think they might need the ECVs for the walking at the parks, and then rent them for the trip because there might not be ECVs available when they need them. If they were sure they could get one in the park if the walking was more than they could handle, they wouldn’t be ordering them from offsite in advance. Now there would still be a lot of people that know they need ECVs both in the park and in the resorts, but taking away the people who only need them in the park would probably drop the number of ECVs by quite a bit.

That is a very good point. Many do say that they can not walk the parks but are OK in their regular life. IDK why they do not have more to rent out. Maybe they don't want to go through the cost and hassle and storage issues.
 
Again they are supposed to move to a bus seat. The only one being rude here is you.
MaxisMom in my case I do remain in my powered wheelchair as it has a seatbelt and I insist on the second seatbelt as it makes it more secure. I am not using a scooter. My husband if he is bringing a scooter will transfer as it is not as stable.
 
I think the root of the increase in ECV's may be related to the resorts now charging to park your vehicle where you are staying. We have friends that would rent a car and drive to the parks with their ECV. It was much quicker and easier for them, but also they were not in competition for the 2 spots available on each bus. Now that the resort parking fees have been instituted, they are no longer going to rent a car and just use Disney transportation. So if many people are doing this type of thing, that would account for an increase in ECVs using bus transportation at Disney. Not sure how they could do it, but I think Disney will need to come up with a plan to accommodate more ECVs/wheelchairs on their busses - either increase the capacity for them on the busses or send busses around more frequently.
I don't think this has too much of an effect, as those with disabled placards are exempt from paying for parking and most of those who don't have the placards wouldn't have been driving with an ECV in their vehicle anyway. Yes, there will be a few, but not many.
 
That is a very good point. Many do say that they can not walk the parks but are OK in their regular life. IDK why they do not have more to rent out. Maybe they don't want to go through the cost and hassle and storage issues.
Because it is far more profitable to have outside companies do this and pay Disney money to get into the parks when ECVs need to be changed out, drop off and pick up at bell services, etc.
 
Very often I find that people tend to crowd into every space in those lines and have no problem jumping in front of a wheelchair. I have been hit and my chair has been damaged by people using it to push themselves in front.

And yes if you have a handicapped plate parking is complementary at the resorts. Despite the hassles at times we prefer the buses over loading and unloading the chair from the lift multiple times per day

recently?
I've found that the queue after the HC gate is about a bus full of people, actually. They must have been spaced out the day you were in the queue. I've also found the queues to be very wide there - have they changed them recently?



But they aren't charging people with HC tags to park, are they?
 
My mom and I just got back from our first ever Disney trip. My mom rented an ECV. She received a double lung transplant and tires easily. At home she doesn't use any sort of mobility device but we rented a scooter for our trip and I am so glad we did. Doing everyday errands at home is way less demanding than a whole day of walking at Disney.

I think people are not understanding how difficult it can be to navigate one of those ECVs onto a bus. It is very tight and hard to maneuver. Like I said my mom is not used to driving a scooter, this past week was her first time. Every time she went onto a bus she asked the bus driver to help her park it. They just stood in front and steered it themselves. The Disney bus driver who does this daily had to drive the scooter halfway up the isle to get it parked right and he does this all the time! I couldn't imagine how he would have been able to do that if it was filled with legs and folded up strollers.

Also, for the most part, my mom stayed in her scooter and they buckled her in but there were also times where a bus driver told her she needed to move to a regular seat. Not sure why, but we did as we were told.

Doing Disney with an ECV was stressful and we waited way longer than able-bodied people for buses. Many times a bus pulled up and all the people not in scooters piled on and we waited and waited and waited. It happened multiple times but we just kept smiling.

I think we all need to remember that majority of people in wheelchairs and ECVs would love the ability to walk and be device free and envy those who can stand on the bus and maneuver the crowds. :)
 
That is not true. I just back from a 2 week trip and saw many people stay in their ECV seats and the driver belted them in. Of course you can get out if you want but if the bus is packed it would be a courteous thing to do to stay in your ECV and leave that seat for others. And just because I don't have an entitled attitude thinking that just because someone has issues(news flash, most of us do) that the world should cater to them and that those people should also not be considerate of others, that I am rude. It is rude to inconvenience others and society in general. Look at the Japanese culture, they are very considerate of others and help those who need it but everyone does what they can do to not be a burden on others. Your problem is not everyone else's problem. I am very considerate of others and have many times given up my seat, held open doors, let others pass me, etc. Much more then I have ever witnessed from others. But I don't believe that someone should expect this kind of behavior. I take exception with some of the attitudes that just because they are or have a family member that has illness/disability/medical issues, that they somehow deserve better treatment because "their life is hard enough". Which is sentiment they you see on these forums a lot as an justification of why they need better accommodations. The fact of the matter is that WDW is busy, there are hundreds of thousands of people there at any given time. You will need to wait for the second bus sometimes. This is not limited to those in mobility devices.
I was at Disney with my friend that he just recovers from a broken foot ( she also has a bad hip and was using an ECV for this) we got on full bus so she stayed in the ECV bus mad a hard turn he ECV started to tip she put her bad foot down to stop her self from tipping over re broke her foot. So for some they do not stay in the ECV for safety lucky we were headed home and she took some OTC pain meds.
 
That's fine if someone does not feel safe. They should not tip over if they are properly secured. Maybe they need a different/better method of securing the ECV or chair if this happening. After all anyone on the bus can get hurt if the ECV is becoming loose during the ride.
Sure, they should not too over. But gravity is a funny thing. It has surprising laws and properties.

The ECV does/will not "come loose". It will simply fall over sideways, given its already higher center of gravity combined with that of the ECV user. The base is tied down securely at or near the bottom. This cannot be true of the passenger
 
Because it is far more profitable to have outside companies do this and pay Disney money to get into the parks when ECVs need to be changed out, drop off and pick up at bell services, etc.
It is infinitely more reasonable to expect that any mobility rental employer living in Central Florida already possesses an Annual Pass (either anyway by choice because they visit the parks, or provided by the employer.) According to Sue, there is no payment involved in becoming or being a Featured Provider.
 
Both of my sons use wheelchairs in the parks due to congenital heart problems. However, they can walk up the few steps onto the buses. I get somewhat annoyed when we are told to go in the scooter entrance before everybody else loads, and then take on our folded wheelchairs when it would actually be faster for everybody if we could take our sons and folded wheelchairs in the front entrance of the buses. We sit with the wheelchairs folded up by our feet and don't take up any space other than what a typical family with a stroller would have.

My DH has used a WC on about 6 trips and we always go through the front door. Just roll it in like a stroller. He is one that is healthy enough for grocery store walking but not disney park walking.

Could be we go at a less busy time, so perhaps not so much an issue with loading.
 
I don't think this has too much of an effect, as those with disabled placards are exempt from paying for parking and most of those who don't have the placards wouldn't have been driving with an ECV in their vehicle anyway. Yes, there will be a few, but not many.
Just gonna throw this out there we always drive to Disney, have a HC placard and a large scooter on a carrier on the back of our SUV.
Yet despite that, half the time that we have parked at a park (especially EPCOT), we get sent to the overflow HC parking area where there are long single, nose to tail parking spots despite half (or more) empty traditional HC spots with area to drop the ramp and unload the scooter. I have written to Disney about this and have gotten platitudes and "sorry it wasn't as magical as you expected" but it does not change. They make us stop,hold up all traffic while we unload the scooter in the travel lane, retract the ramp and then pull into the parking spot and repeat in reverse when we leave.
While HC spots that will accommodate dropping the ramp sit empty! We get there earlier than my DH would like to ensure we get a HC spot, but for nothing.
Given that choice, we will opt for the bus more than we would otherwise, increasing the ECV load for the buses.
 
Just gonna throw this out there we always drive to Disney, have a HC placard and a large scooter on a carrier on the back of our SUV.
Yet despite that, half the time that we have parked at a park (especially EPCOT), we get sent to the overflow HC parking area where there are long single, nose to tail parking spots despite half (or more) empty traditional HC spots with area to drop the ramp and unload the scooter. I have written to Disney about this and have gotten platitudes and "sorry it wasn't as magical as you expected" but it does not change. They make us stop,hold up all traffic while we unload the scooter in the travel lane, retract the ramp and then pull into the parking spot and repeat in reverse when we leave.
While HC spots that will accommodate dropping the ramp sit empty! We get there earlier than my DH would like to ensure we get a HC spot, but for nothing.
Given that choice, we will opt for the bus more than we would otherwise, increasing the ECV load for the buses.

Do you tell the CM directing you that you need side door of the van access to drop the ramp?
 
When the ECV user is unable to transfer off of the ECV on the bus, are s/he and the ECV belted in securely enough that, even though the ECV might tip a little, neither the user nor the seat would not move very far or fall over?

I would expect that if the bus took a corner or a roundabout too fast and a passenger was injured, the bus company (here, Disney) would be liable for medical costs. But the jury would be out regarding liability if, on a ride in the park a guest reflexively grabbed a bar or strap to steady him/herself and re-broke his/her arm in a cast.

For traditional HC spaces with side pads, would not for every other car the pad would be on the wrong side for unloading unless the driver made a loop the loop and came up the exiting aisle the wrong way to enter the space with the pad on the correct side? Or make a 3 point turn (probably ending up as a 5 point turn) to back into the space?
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