Wheelchair Transfer to WDW Bus Proceedure

[StitchInCT]

My mother requires a wheelchair but can walk steps onto and into a bus. She does not like using the little elevator. We haven't been to Disney in several years and we heard years ago they had changed how people in wheelchairs load onto the bus vs non disabled people. Can anyone please give me some information on how my mother, who can transfer and walk onto the bus and I can fold and carry wheelchair, will load onto the bus? Do we enter the front side door or the middle one? Do we load on before non disabled or after people have loaded and hope there's room? And any other information you can give will be extremely helpful.

Thank you so very much for any advice and information you can give me!

Jason

 

[bethymouse]

Just stay at the front ( most bus stops have a place where wheelchair/handicapped folks wait). They load them on first. You can just fold the wheelchair up, and then she can have a seat in one of the wheelchair sections. You will probably enter together with your party in the "middle" of the bus, not the front. Good luck. Have fun!

 

[anchorman314]

On our last trip (October 2015), one member of our group used a wheelchair just as you are describing. She used it to get around the entire property, but was able to transfer out of it into buses, boats, and ride vehicles. What we did was we just waited in the regular bus lines. At the parks, that meant we waited in the corrals instead of the handicapped waiting area. At the resort, we just waited at the bus stop with the rest of the crowd instead of in the designated space. When it came time to get on the bus, she walked on (with minimal assistance), and then one of us just folded up the wheelchair and wheeled it on. The bus drivers never had any issue with this. Depending on how busy the bus was, we would either stash the folded chair in one of the little crevices, of one of us would hold it steady in front of us.

 

[Monty]

Make use of the wheelchair/scooter access area, they board you first and she'll be able to find a seat. If you wait in the regular line, it's quite possible that there will be no available seating when you board. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that anyone will volunteer to give your mother a seat.

 

[KikoKea]

When we visited 2 years ago with our elderly moms, who rode in WCs but can walk, we were allowed on first and we folded the WCs. If your mom is tired or does not want to get out of the WC, she can board via the ramp in her WC and the WC will be strapped/clamped in place before others are allowed to board. Not sure if this is still the same. There is a WC waiting spot for each bus, near the head of the line.

BTW, we had foam cushions for our moms and plastic ponchos that we used to cover them and the WCs when it rained. While in the Tiki Room show, it was cloudy, so we tossed the ponchos over the WCs and kept them from getting wet. And, we bought WC backpacks from Amazon for about $10 that held tons of stuff and could be slipped off easily when folding the chairs.

 

[IMFearless]

The advantage of waiting in a designated area is also one of guest safety, both for your party and others.

It will give you the opportunity to get on board while the bus is still empty, get the wheelchair safely stored (the driver may wish to restrain the empty wheelchair to prevent it moving on the journey - I have seen this happen)

It's far easier to do all of this before the bus is full of passengers.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Position yourself in the w/c area when you arrive at the bus area. If there is a CM present they will direct you to the proper spot to wait. Dont have any worries. Weve never encountered a Disney bus driver that wasnt pleasant, helpful, respectful and accommodating to us. ( DW is w/c bound.) As they pull up to the stops, they are on the watch for anyone in a w/c and get you serviced before everyone else.