Keep in mind it's not because of safety it's because the spot that a stroller would take up could be used by someone in a wheelchair or an ECV to get back to their resort. The reason it isn't an issue on the monorail is that it's more spread out than a bus is with multiple doors for people to enter
If they allowed that, there would be no room for seats, since most families in Disney have a stroller, and many of the strollers are massive. It works in other places because it's a much smaller number of strollers than in Disney.
I haven’t seen an “Umbrella Stroller” at Disney in YEARS! It’s always those jogging strollers anymore.
The difference I see is that the monorail is a straight entry, no steps. A child might fall out of the stroller while exiting the bus....not good! An open stroller takes up a lot more space too.
Actually, there is a step into the monorail. Parents would just “wheelie” the stroller on. That’s why you see the CM’s bring out a ramp for wheelchairs and scooters to board. Can’t really “Pop a Wheelie” in one of those. (Unless you have a TiLite or a really nice manual like that.)
Having traveled in the past with someone who needed to use an ECV, we have experienced situations where we had to wait for three or four buses to come through before finally being able to board one (due to so many other ECVs and wheelchair users already being ahead of us at a bus stop, or already on that bus). If Disney were to allow parents with strollers to keep those strollers unfolded and take up the small amount of bus space currently reserved for ECVs/wheelchairs, the wait times would rise exponentially. I really don't believe that the majority of guests want to spend several hours standing in line waiting for a bus to get you to a park, or back to your resort at the end of the night.
Nope. It was bad enough with having to deal with the “Loaner Buses” that CAN’T TAKE wheelchairs or scooters.
There’s a woman who has made the news trying to get this done in NYC for the city bus system. Her POV is the impossibility of a lone mother taking two young kids out of their stroller plus holding the kids and the stroller to board buses. Also she said a baby can go airborne on a bus in an accident if not strapped into a seat or stroller (as well as other passengers and inatimate objects going airborne too) so she feels that holding the baby in arms is not safe. She keeps getting pushback from government because their argument is, if not strapped down, open strollers can go airborne and pose even more safety risk to all.
It’s a challenging topic.
Has anything come out of that?
One issue to consider is that ECVs/wheelchairs need space to navigate to and park in the specified locations and the driver needs to be able to access the area to tie down and release the wheelchair or ECV. Having a couple of strollers (or one big stroller) in the way would make this significantly harder.
Parking my powerchair is relatively easy- it has a small turning radius. Parking a 4 wheel ECV with a long, but legal, wheelbase is an entirely different matter.
Yes. It’s INFINITELY EASIER to park a powerchair vs. a
scooter because you don’t have a “NOSE” to worry about. Parking a scooter is akin to having to parallel park in a car.
And there needs to be more accommodation for power equipment than less. As PPs have noted, there is often a wait for one or more bus cycles. I think my personal record at Disney is 5 cycles, due to 4 wheelchairs ahead of me in line, one bus with broken equipment, and buses that already had the wheelchair spaces occupied. We waited about an hour and a half for transport.
So many people rent scooters nowadays. Was that when they were using a lot of the “Loaner Buses”?
The current busses kneel (lean to the side) to make it easier to load wheelchairs and ECVs. Dinsets busses are the same as what cities purchase.
For kneeling to work, the floor must be low. Adding underfloor storage would require a huge re-engineering effort and be pretty expensive.
Getting the right stroller out at the right destination would also likely be cumbersome, especially if 8 or 10 strollers were loaded.
There isn’t a financial return for Disney. Why would they pursue it?
The normal Disney transport buses don’t have room for this, or luggage. That’s how they get so low so fast to load all the ECVs. Compare to the bus formerly known as ME, which requires the much more complicated elevator lift to accomodate all that luggage space. It really pretty amazing how fast Disney loads all those ECVs.
The current busses kneel (lean to the side) to make it easier to load wheelchairs and ECVs. Dinsets busses are the same as what cities purchase.
For kneeling to work, the floor must be low. Adding underfloor storage would require a huge re-engineering effort and be pretty expensive.
Getting the right stroller out at the right destination would also likely be cumbersome, especially if 8 or 10 strollers were loaded.
There isn’t a financial return for Disney. Why would they pursue it?
It would be EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE to do so I think. The buses that Disney CURRENTLY USES are the GILLIG BRT. (Pictured below in the OG Paint Scheme). To upgrade to a bus with underneath storage, they would have to get the tour bus style like the MCI D45 CRT LE. Pictured below the Gillig)
I’ve used an ECV at disney. I agree when using the buses people sitting in front section close to the middle door have to scoot away in their seats or even stand and get out of the way completely to leave enough space for the ECV to get in/out of the “parallel parking” inside the bus. Then the passenger resettles in their seat.
Having to deal with strollers while getting a scooter on/off the bus would increase the difficulty of parallel parking. Tenfold if the driver has to help you. (Luckily I’m an EXPERIENCED SCOOTER DRIVER).
I wonder if there could ever be a disability only (+family members?) bus for ECVs that go to all or a bundle of resorts vs just having two spots on every specific bus. Or maybe not instead of but in addition to - as a supplement during busy times?
That would be NICE!
But staying on topic another issue w strollers on bus is we generally aren’t seeing single umbrella strollers but a lot of double side by side strollers. Those are about 29” wide. So over two feet wide… there’s just not enough space unless it’s an off peak empty bus. And even then…. It’s a lot of space needed for a couple of those.
Yeah, strollers are getting just as WIDE as 90% of wheelchairs and scooters on the market today.
Back in 90's, if a stroller was needed in the parks it could be rented at the front of the park. If moving to another park the stroller was returned and a receipt given so another stroller could be obtained at the next park at no additional cost. When we returned in the late 90's we were stunned to see strollers being taken onto the buses.
I guess people were getting tired of those ugly blue metal strollers.
It’s the same reason they strap in wheelchairs, which aren’t that different from strollers, just bigger. They’re a big hazard when they throw on the brakes and the chair goes flying.
You can get a stroller as wheelchair tag from Disney that they might honor, if you’re using a stroller instead of a wheelchair. But they’d have to load it like an ECV and strap it down. They even block the wheelchairs on the skyliner with blocks. If you can fold your wheelchair and the rider is mobile, you can board like a stroller on a bus.
A regular stroller does not have tie down hooks or bars. A regular stroller would buckle with the force of a bus in an accident. Only things they can tie down are special strollers and wheelchairs and scooters that have tie down capability built in. Stroller as wheelchair is only for lines unless it is a specially made stroller with appropriate tie down capabilities.
Most of the higher end Powerchairs (Quickie, Quantum, Permie, etc.), most MEDICAL STROLLERS (Like the one pictured below) and Manuals (TiLite, Quickie, Motion Composites, Ki Mobility, etc.) have the Tie Down as an Option.
It’s the same reason they strap in wheelchairs, which aren’t that different from strollers, just bigger. They’re a big hazard when they throw on the brakes and the chair goes flying.
not gonna happen. the tie down spots are for mobility devices, not strollers. And they tie down wheeled conveyances for a reason.
Yep. A fully loaded Quantum, Permie, or Quickie with ALL the powered seat features (Posterior Tilt, Recline, Seat Lift, Electric Legs, and on some models, Anterior Tilt, and/or a Fully Standing Feature) can EASILY WEIGH MORE THAN 450 POUNDS! (and this is NOT COUNTING THE PERSON USING THE POWERCHAIR!)
Wheeeeeeeeeeee little Timmy is a football! Forget dreams of being a quarterback, he's getting there early!
I hate strollers. I used mine sparingly and mostly had my child use their legs.
Lil’ Timmy’s going places.
Not to the NFL, but places…
Most people aren't sensible, most people are rude. Most people don't have the courtesy to offer their seats to a mother, a senior, a veteran, or someone who just looks beaten down and exhausted. I won't be cast as a villain for suggesting that people should be kinder to one another.
Sooooooo true. Especially when the person has a hidden disability or a disability that TRADITIONALLY RESULTS in the use of a wheelchair, but they didn’t get that version.
I’ve got to disagree with you on this one. I use a quad cane and a power chair in public. In my experience, I don’t think Most people are rude, most people are just not paying attention, busy in their own head. For example, around me some people immediately hold open doors, etc. Other people suddenly appear startled by my struggle and then quickly try to help, and still others mumble “sorry” when they realize I got the door open and they didn’t offer any help.
It’s rare when people are outright rude. They are just not paying attention to the world around them. And disability just makes some people uncomfortable. Maybe
people are more thoughtless than rude.
Yeah, I was previously a cane-only user before I UPGRADED to my POWERCHAIR under my OWN DISCRETION. It always felt like people would IGNORE either the CANE, my LIMP, or, in most cases, BOTH.
And technology doesn't help all of this. Get your faces out of your phones people!
PREACH, BROTHER, PREACH!
Folks not giving up their seats at Disney is almost a given. I have rarely seen it happen. I have been traveling regularly (4-6 weeks a year) to Disney with my disabled adult son, clearly disabled, for last 16 years. I think maybe 2 or 3 times someone offered a seat to him and then I stand right in front of him but usually it would be me wrapping my arms around him and clutching a pole hoping we don't go flying. It has gotten more difficult so now we just wait for the next bus, if we even use the bus. I found it easier to just drive to the parks other than MK.
I’ve never seen it happen. Especially after having to stand for >20 minutes at a bus stop (I really wish that they would put BENCHES, AND NOT THOSE DUMB “LEANING BENCHES” at the park bus stops.) The not giving up a seat was so bad that I (who is at EXTREME RISK OF FALLING) was forced to STAND on the bus WHILE IT WAS MOVING.
I don't understand when strollers got soooooo huge. 30 years ago at disney we use an unbrella stroller.
Today they have cable and AC.
Soon…
