Disney bus transportation etiquette rant

[MissingDisney]

DS has a condition similar to R/A that affects his feet and legs that when there is a flare up, causes severe pain. He would never agree to a wheelchair at Disney so if he's in a bout and he's reached his pain tolerance for the day, we leave. That means he's in severe pain. He's a Dis fanatic and a trooper. He looks like a strapping young healthy kid. Last visit, he and I were on the bus and the rest stayed at MK. He just couldn't take it anymore. We have a pain tolerance regime we go through. ..he's had this since he was a preschooler. On the bus I was standing, he was sitting. ...for good reason. A man talked loudly and obnoxiously the entire way to the resort about how children aren't taught to give up their seats to elderly, etc, anymore, blah, blah, blah. I realized my son was crying silently. I had never seen him cry from the pain, even when doctors said he should have been, he was crying because this jack hole was making him ashamed of his illness. Not cool. I informed him my son was raised right, is an honor student, and is respectful enough to know when to not embarrass a grown man who's making a fool out of himself in public and was willing to sacrifice his feelings for that idiot. I informed him my son had an illness and kindly offered the man more of my room. He declined.

Looks can be deceiving.

 

[ibisti]

I think what I was trying to say was it was surprising to me about the lack of awareness to offer your seat on the bus. Don't get me wrong the system in the UK is far from purfect on public transport, it's not like it's used only by "gentlemen" falling over themselves to offer a seat!
The thing is that in all of the parks and resorts every one is so courteous to each other by either saying excuse me or please, thank you, your welcome etc. it's just on the bus it seems to be forgotten. Also we love the ease of not having to drive on property, it's another little extra for us not to have to think about.

 

[jw24]

I attended university where buses were the only means of transport from campuses to campuses. Having a car often meant getting the shaft of being a heavy recipient of parking tickets. Bicycling was possible but not recommended in some cases. Anyway, I can attest to experiencing poor bus etiquette. It was worse at university than it was at Disney. First off, there were no chain link fence or solid markers for lines at the college I went to. It was a complete free for all when the bus stopped and everyone crowded around the doors of the bus and barely gave enough room for the people to get off! The biggest peeve that I saw was that often times, someone would intentionally place their bag on the seat next them so that no one would take the seat. I fully admit being guilty of doing that on several occasions but there were certain situations where I had to put my pride aside and accept the fact that a random stranger would be sitting next to me. Was it comfortable? No but I didn't want to start any quarrels or fighting so I caved in. But if there was ever one empty seat between two people, I would never take that empty seat because it would be too uncomfortable for me. I'd choose standing over taking that one empty seat 100 times out of 100.

I've learned if I really wanted to sit on the bus as opposed to stand, I shouldn't deal with the big crowd times and wait for a while if need be to getting a better chance to get an actual seat. In other words, if I can avoid boarding a crowded bus, then I should. If not, keeping a cool head and being courteous and respectful at all times is all you can really do. I understand this post was primarily about people not relinquishing their seats to people who truly deserve it. Fortunately, I did see, more often than not, people giving up seats for the elders and parents with young children on the buses at college and at Disney to an extent. And while I haven't run into a situation where I had to give up my seat to someone else, I would almost certainly give it up if someone truly needed it or asked me politely. As already mentioned, there's always a bunch of what ifs or certain situations where it would be more understandable not to give up a seat like illnesses and such.

One thing I think people need to remember is that Disney can be a physically exhausting and demanding trip for everyone but it's particularly very hard on the really young and the elders. I don't think some people realize that.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Oh no, a bus is not a bus. The cattle-car buses that move people from park to park are of the lowest tier. Disney should migrate to coach buses, but can not resist cheapo buses.

Use lots of these, problems (LOTS of them) solved!!

That is entirely unnecessary. It'd be nice to get a private Rolls Royce Phantom too, but the limit has to be drawn somewhere. Disney bus transportation is phenomenal as is. They do a great job with few exceptions.

Most of the problems that arise are due to stupid, inconsiderate, or lazy oversized people.

 

[JohnHangen]

That is entirely unnecessary. It'd be nice to get a private Rolls Royce Phantom too, but the limit has to be drawn somewhere. Disney bus transportation is phenomenal as is. They do a great job with few exceptions.

Most of the problems that arise are due to stupid, inconsiderate, or lazy oversized people.

Most of the problems arise from not having adequate bus capacity or headway times, especially at park closing times...

 

[Chef Mickey]

Most of the problems arise from not having adequate bus capacity or headway times, especially at park closing times...

Not really in my extensive experience...I've been to Disney 75 times or more and never felt like the biggest issue was adequate bus capacity. The inconsiderate guests are 10x more annoying than waiting for abother bus.

Frankly, I feel Disney does a phenomenal job getting people to and from parks.

 

[JohnHangen]

Not really in my extensive experience...I've been to Disney 75 times or more and never felt like the biggest issue was adequate bus capacity. The inconsiderate guests are 10x more annoying than waiting for abother bus.

Frankly, I feel Disney does a phenomenal job getting people to and from parks.

I haven't been as many times as you by a country mile, but I think the bus service is very lacking, especially at key times when they really should have much more capacity in the system. I'm not the only one, I've heard plenty of grumbling from other passengers standing in kiosks for inordinate wait times, especially during park closings. But we can agree to disagree, it's the Disney way

 

[Chef Mickey]

I haven't been as many times as you by a country mile, but I think the bus service is very lacking, especially at key times when they really should have much more capacity in the system. I'm not the only one, I've heard plenty of grumbling from other passengers standing in kiosks for inordinate wait times, especially during park closings. But we can agree to disagree, it's the Disney way

We can disagree, but it puzzles me anyone can say the bus service is severely lacking. I just don't see it that way. The service is excellent and consistently on time. The amount of people moved and coordination is pretty amazing.

I'd argue the grumbling people are the ones I mentioned that make the experience much worse than the wait time itself. Honestly, I have realistic expectations. If 500 people are trying to leave, I don't expect instantaneous transportation to my resort and to also get a seat on the bus.

Disney is a big operation and though some would say it's overpriced and you pay for bus service, I'd argue it's still a great service included with your admission.

 

[emcclay]

I always make sure my mom has a seat on the bus because she has Fibromyalgia. After she saw the ease of driving to the parks we opt for that and use the busses only if we plan on drinking.

 

[Tinkeroo]

we've given up seats in the past, and this last trip we've made sure our 18yr daughter kept her seat (she's since had knee surgery which will help massively) but in all the years we've been going to WDW (since our kid was 13mnths old) when we've been waiting for a bus and it's standing room only and either she's needed the seat, or I've needed to sit down with her cos she was sleeping on me (waaaay back in the day) We wait for the next bus. That too is an option. if a seat is that important to you, you will be prepared to wait for the next one.

 

[Doug Means]

I wonder, at park closing times, what's the longest time ur on the bus, once u get on?

The last 5 visits I've stay at either AoA or an all-star resort. Even the night we were at the MK we were on the bus straight back to the resort, no sharing with other resorts. These are far away from the MK and it was only about a 15 min ride.

The line waiting for the bus was very long and took longer than the ride, and there really isn't anywhere to sit except on the ground. Most stand during the wait. I would say though the busses arrived in a manner that was sufficient.

 

[betty rose]

When we stayed on property last year, there was an empty seat between myself and another woman. There were no people standing , so my husband sat down next to me. The woman on the other side of him got super mad and huffed, "Well, if you're going to sit on me..!" and stormed off to stand on the other side of the bus. It made no sense. She was petite, he's average sized. Nobody was encroaching on anyone else's space. It was early evening on the way to the parks and she was just seething with rage that he'd dared to take the empty seat.

It was terribly awkward.

Sorry you encountered that person. Many people seem to think they have ownership of bus seats. I don't get it either.

 

[jloucks]

That is entirely unnecessary. It'd be nice to get a private Rolls Royce Phantom too, but the limit has to be drawn somewhere. Disney bus transportation is phenomenal as is. They do a great job with few exceptions.

Most of the problems that arise are due to stupid, inconsiderate, or lazy oversized people.

While I agree with you that the problems are caused by people, I also assert that we aren't going to be able to fix people directly. ...which leaves us exploring other options. One way to make people chillax is to lower the stress of their environment. These coaches I propose are not "Rolls Royces". They are standard coach buses. They are the same luxury level as the on site hotels. The same luxury level and the Disney airport coaches. The same luxury level as the airlines. My point is that the busses currently used are not up to the same standards of the rest of the experience and exacerbate peoples bad behavior.

Coach busses seat more people, don't make you stand with your crotch in peoples faces, and are not inner city public transportation quality.

This...

or this...

 

[jloucks]

We can disagree, but it puzzles me anyone can say the bus service is severely lacking. I just don't see it that way. The service is excellent and consistently on time. The amount of people moved and coordination is pretty amazing.

I'd argue the grumbling people are the ones I mentioned that make the experience much worse than the wait time itself. Honestly, I have realistic expectations. If 500 people are trying to leave, I don't expect instantaneous transportation to my resort and to also get a seat on the bus.

Disney is a big operation and though some would say it's overpriced and you pay for bus service, I'd argue it's still a great service included with your admission.

It all depends on how you define success.

If the number of people moved equals success, then yes, success!

However, if the satisfaction of the people being moved measures success, well then that is a different thing. In my experience the bus experience at closing has in EVERY SINGLE INCIDENT been unpleasant and stressful. This is anomalous with the overall experience.

Experiences...

Flight in to Orlando - Nice clean airplane. Upgraded seats. Plenty of room. A-
Disney Bus to WDW - Coach bus. Nice clean roomy seats. Everybody sits down. Entertainment on screen. A
Hotel Room - Super clean and themeed. A
Bus from Hotel to park - Some lines and waits generally about 15 minutes. Cheap busses. Busses a little crowded but energy level high so standing easy. People in good mood overall. C+
Bus from park to hotel at closing - Long waits, tiny busses, exhausted people, jam packed, smelly, standing room only, pressed up against people Tokyo subway style. Fussing, fueding, cutting, cussing, Wth WDW?!. D-

See better what I mean by jarring variation on luxury experience? It just keeps sliding downhill.

 

[jloucks]

They have actually used rent-a-coach busses on property the last few months at peak times --- they are SO SLOW -- everyone has to pile in, find a seat, and then exit through the front door -- besides having seats with material covers that can easily be ruined, they are SO SLOW that people threw fits on the couple occasions we had to use them -- some people that had experienced them waited for the NEXT bus, knowing they would still get back to their resorts and out of the busses faster before the coaches unloaded...

We had one of those! I had the complete opposite experience tho. I LOVED it. ZERO issues. Well..ok..on issue...the TV screens weren't showing Disney stuff because not a Disney coach.

 

[KCheatle]

I remember having to hold my sleeping 3-year-old on the bus one night back to Pop Century (not a short trip from MK), unable to hold a rail because I was holding a sleeping child, and nearly falling and dropping her while all around me were people who could have let me sit. Trust, me I eye-balled everyone of them, trying to think of any reason why it was okay to make me stand as these were perfectly fine, healthy people who got off the bus and walked just fine back to their rooms. Absolutely no reason they couldn't have given up a chair. It was infuriating. Now, it's the first thing we do now on the buses - my entire family stands if that bus is packed. Disney really should have reminder signs on the bus to give up a chair to people in need.

 

[jloucks]

I remember having to hold my sleeping 3-year-old on the bus one night back to Pop Century (not a short trip from MK), unable to hold a rail because I was holding a sleeping child, and nearly falling and dropping her while all around me were people who could have let me sit. Trust, me I eye-balled everyone of them, trying to think of any reason why it was okay to make me stand as these were perfectly fine, healthy people who got off the bus and walked just fine back to their rooms. Absolutely no reason they couldn't have given up a chair. It was infuriating. Now, it's the first thing we do now on the buses - my entire family stands if that bus is packed. Disney really should have reminder signs on the bus to give up a chair to people in need.

While I agree with you in spirit, I still maintain it is wrong to blame people. This is a WDW end-of-day cluster fudge that they could fix, but don't. ...because why should they?

Peoples manners and thoughts get corrupted after a long day filled with rude people. While you logically think "they should get up for me and my sleeping child", they are thinking "she should have left earlier, i'm not getting up because she overdid it". fwiw I would have gotten up. ...but not if I saw you eye-roll me or anybody.

 

[Courtney6682]

Trust, me I eye-balled everyone of them, trying to think of any reason why it was okay to make me stand as these were perfectly fine, healthy people who got off the bus and walked just fine back to their rooms. Absolutely no reason they couldn't have given up a chair. It was infuriating.

As you should have! Those peole were clearly raised by wolves! Had my husband and I been on that bus...we would have offered you our seats and said...''please take our seats, I can't believe no one else thought to offer you one''! As we eye-balled them with you!

 

[WDW_Jon]

Many different cases here that probably all have some merit but the plain and simple thing is to treat other people on the buses the way you'd expect to be treated and most would cope...

I appreciate there is plenty of people who'll never think like that but you won't change that by changing the buses or putting up signs I'm afraid

 

[jloucks]

Many different cases here that probably all have some merit but the plain and simple thing is to treat other people on the buses the way you'd expect to be treated and most would cope...

I appreciate there is plenty of people who'll never think like that but you won't change that by changing the buses or putting up signs I'm afraid

Signs no, I agree, but changing the environment absolutely changes behavior.