Guest attacks Disney bus driver

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
You hit it right on the head. It amazes us in buses how guests can stand in line for a ride or attraction for an hour or more sometimes in the park but yet when it comes to waiting in line for a bus they go absolutely bonkers when they have to wait in line 20 minutes or less for one. Buses run about every 20 minutes during the day. At park exit a.k.a when the park closes we will have additional buses lined up in a queue area{ at DHS you will see them lined up in 2 rows on the other side of the fence behind load zones 1-3 along with 2 coordinators in a van doing what we call visual dispatch.} Audience control bus cast members located in the load zones along with the coordinators will ask for and then dispatch another bus into a load zone as buses are loaded Signal 72 [which stands for full bus of 72 people] and pull out. And yet that is still not fast enough for some guests. I will even give you one better. At MK we will actually double load some of the load zones at exit. One prime example is for Pop Century which is in load zone 18,and is one of our most popular and most booked resorts,it is not uncommon to constantly have 400-500 guests waiting for a bus at exit. We will double load meaning pulling in two buses side by side, and load guests. During peak park attendance times we will also use load zone 17 which is a vacant load zone, and double load it also for guests to POP. And guest will STILL complain that it is taking to long and we need more buses.

I think what guests (myself at times) don't understand is why during less crowded times, while waiting for a bus for the Poly, we'll see 5 buses for OKW before one comes for the Poly.

Another thing I didn't understand is when we stayed at the Yacht Club, did we share buses with Beach Club, Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin. One bus for over 4,000 rooms???
 

s8film40

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Do we know yet (sorry if I missed it) what exactly this guy was ed about?

It looks like from the video he was upset because the bus was full he says people pushed in front of him. My guess is he went to get on and the driver said it was full and he would have to wait for the next one. That's just what I got from watching, might be more to it.
 

ryno1982

Active Member
I think what guests (myself at times) don't understand is why during less crowded times, while waiting for a bus for the Poly, we'll see 5 buses for OKW before one comes for the Poly.

Another thing I didn't understand is when we stayed at the Yacht Club, did we share buses with Beach Club, Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin. One bus for over 4,000 rooms???

These are both excellent points that aggravate me too. The hotels you mentioned are deluxe, yet Pop Century has superior bus service.
 

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
These are both excellent points that aggravate me too. The hotels you mentioned are deluxe, yet Pop Century has superior bus service.

Absolutely.

No disrespect to the member who works for Disney's Bus System, but this is a fact. I've heard silly excuses such as "Well, at Deluxes, you have walking, boating or monorail options for transportation." What does that have to do with Pop Century having better service to Animal Kingdom, DHS, and DTD than the Grand Floridian?
 

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
I didnt know there was a park to park bus nice to know

Each park has this, except at Animal Kingdom and DHS you have to take the bus to the TTC to get to the Magic Kingdom, and from the Magic Kingdom you have to go to the TTC to catch a DHS or Animal Kingdom bus.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
LOL. A little bit of thread drift here but where exactly did this come from about bus drivers and rumors? I guess I've never asked the right questions to hear some of the little gems these guys come up with?
Disney transportation CM are somewhat infamous for spreading some of the most outlandish rumors about WDW. Some of the better ones would include the monorail going through the S&D hotel in a similar way to the Contemporary, Cinderella's castle can be quickly dissembled in case of a hurricane, etc.
 

TimNRA757

Member
Disney transportation CM are somewhat infamous for spreading some of the most outlandish rumors about WDW. Some of the better ones would include the monorail going through the S&D hotel in a similar way to the Contemporary, Cinderella's castle can be quickly dissembled in case of a hurricane, etc.
Well I better brush up since I'll be a transportation CP. ;)
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Oh! And for the poster who said something about the ACLU having a field day with it.... There was some comment as to the nationality of the guy. He'd have to be an American citizen to fall under the wing of the American Civil Liberties Union. If he is a citizen, once the full video documentation made it into their hands I doubt they'd touch it. Wrong is wrong. Straight up. Bus or no bus, baby or not, tired or not there's never a good excuse for putting your hands on another person first. Now if they put their hands on you or your children first....game on. But that's a whole other topic. :D
 

bhg469

Well-Known Member
I really wish I was there still. There is never a good reason for putting your hands on someone unless they are a threat to you or your loved ones. We were on a bus the other day and a guy was complaining that he couldnt leave his child in the stroller while the bus was moving. The whole family pretended to not speak english until 2 drivers came on to explain then suddenly he knew enough to argue and say how stupid their rules were.

Ignorance is part of some peoples vacation agendas I guess.
 

zurgandfriend

Well-Known Member
How would everyone feel about a short video playing on the DME from the airport to the resorts? Nothing “heavy” just a brief spiel about, waiting in-line for transportation etiquette. They could also throw in waiting for attractions, stroller, fast pass and child switch off etiquette and procedures as well. Yes some people ignore it much like the airline saftey spiel but if one person sees it and it prevents what happened today I’d say yes.
 

steve2wdw

WDW Fan Since 1973
A bit of thread drift here, but first I want to say that good for law enforcement for making sure this twisted individual didn't get away with their completely inexcusable behavior. :sohappy::sohappy:

As a disabled vet, I'm here to tell you that on EVERY single bus ride I take, there are comments made about loading wheelchairs first. One time, I actually heard a lady telling her child that "didn't he wish he had a special chair so that he could get on before everyone else." That one still makes me laugh. I've learned that the entitlement mentality is alive and well and in fact thriving at the parks. We're annual passholders and stay at all many different resorts, from the All Stars up to and including Poly. It's the same at all of them. I'd say it's amazing how rude people are, but it's not. Unfortunately it's typical.

The one thing I've taken from this is that it's much better to laugh at people's ridiculous behavior than it is to take it personally. I don't let them ruin my or my family's vacation.

Just my 2 cents.

Once again, though, I'm glad this person got what he deserved. Thanks for the update that the bus driver was okay. In the grand scheme of things, that's what really matters. :wave:

I too, am amazed at guests behavior when it comes to the buses. What really irks me is to see young, able bodied males sitting in a seat when a woman and/or child is standing. What happened to good old fashioned courtesy? During my recent 8 night stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I sat only twice on the bus because there was always someone standing that should have been seated. Here I am, a 49 year old male, giving up my seat, while loads of older teenage and 20-something males, sat on their fat "you know what's". Parents need to teach their boys (from a young age), how to be polite and to always do the right thing.

Here's a challenge to all the able-bodied young men on the WDWMagic Forums...next time you're on a Disney bus and all the seats fill up (and you're still sitting), try offering your seat to ANY standing woman or young child, or any experienced (my way of saying "older") adult. It will make you a better person in the end, and you might actually feel good about yourself for doing the right thing.

OK....that's the end of my minor rant! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...yea Disney, for taking care of the "strangler/baby "!
 

MickeyPeace

Well-Known Member
Now address the cause of this effect

Charging him with assault, public endangerment, and ejecting him from the resort I can understand. A terrorist threat though? That's a bit ridiculous.

Thats what made me suspicious that the person is not telling the truth also, along with a few other details. He sounds doesn't sound like a professional security person.

I have to say that the Disney bus system was the low light of my last few Disney visits. Waiting forever, overcrowded busses, obese people in electric wheelchairs, bus drivers continuing to pick up people on a standing room only bus and so on.

Next time I just may rent a car to avoid the stress of the Disney bus system. The guest's behavior was totally wrong but if anything can make someone lose it in Disney, it's the bus system.
 

happymom52003

Active Member
I feel sorry for his wife and baby. If he acts that way in public over something so minor, imagine the way he acts in their home where no one else can see him.
 

Beatles_Girl

New Member
I work for bus operations and the entire incident was caught on the security cameras.Every load zone has a high def camera that sees the bus and load zone. We can actually zoom in with the cameras and read the drivers name and his hometown on his name tag on their uniform. Also in the video one of the gentleman on the bus,{I wont identify him} was one of our plain clothes security officers and was in the load zone at the time and witnessed the attack. Security was called along with the OCSO,and yes it took them a few minutes to get to him. This was because the bus was in load zone C7 which is in the charter bus lot and away from the regular Resort load zones near the entrance to Hollywood Studios. If you watch the video closely you will see flashing red and blue lights illuminating the side off the bus.When the wife saw them pull up the wife took off,and tried to hide in the crowd,and left her child with the husband. Other guests identified her to security. They were then removed from the bus and load zone and taken backstage. The gentleman was then arrested and handcuffed for assault on the driver. He is also facing charges for Terrorist threat due to the assault happening on the bus, and public endangerment. They were also ejected from the resort they were staying at,and trespassed from Walt Disney World property.They will not be returning to the Happiest Place on Earth ever again. Also everyone will be happy to hear the driver was not reprimanded for the incident,and continued with his job that evening. I actually saw and talked to him last night and he is doing fine.
Also forgot to add copy of the security tape was provided to the OCSO,they are in turn forwarding it to the state attorney for possible further charges of Felony child neglect and endangerment.

Im so happy to read this :sohappy:..rude guest should not be allowed anywhere in Disney...:fork:
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
How would everyone feel about a short video playing on the DME from the airport to the resorts? Nothing “heavy” just a brief spiel about, waiting in-line for transportation etiquette. They could also throw in waiting for attractions, stroller, fast pass and child switch off etiquette and procedures as well. Yes some people ignore it much like the airline saftey spiel but if one person sees it and it prevents what happened today I’d say yes.
Sounds like a good idea to me although I do not know how effective it would be considering only a small fraction of WDW guests take DME. Placing a video in multiple locations would be much better.

Now if they would just allow Wil Wheaton to do the videos in a similar manner to some of his semi-famous PAX "don't be a d$%^" keynotes you would have a winner.:lol:
 

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