To celebrate my recent college graduation my boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Walt Disney World. Having never been to Disney World before, I was ecstatic! When I arrived at Disney I was presented with a large pin that said “I’m Celebrating My College Graduation!” I wore this pin with pride as I rushed out to catch the next bus to Epcot.

When the bus arrived the driver opened the front doors and shouted “Hang on, I’ve got to get the wheelchair on the bus.” This irked me a little as I am a person, not a wheelchair, but I was so excited to be in Disney that I let it go for the moment. Soon the driver came to the back door and opened the ramp so that I could get on the bus. He strapped down my chair and then asked, “Do you need the seatbelt?” I replied, “No thanks.” The driver then turned to my boyfriend and asked, “Does she need a seatbelt?” There was no way I was going to let this go. I immediately (and sharply) told him, “Excuse me! You talk to me!” He smiled, said, “Okay,” and then went to the front of the bus. Before I even arrived at my first theme park on my first day in Disney I had already been offended, twice. I thought I was a college graduate very capable of making decisions and speaking for myself, but the bus driver apparently thought I was just a wheelchair unable to make my own decisions.

As it turns out, although this was the first time, it would not be the only time that I would have issues with a bus driver at Disney World.
I quickly learned that taking the bus was the worst part of being in Disney World. I loved the parks and I loved my hotel, but I hated taking the bus to get from the parks to my hotel or vice versa.

Don’t get me wrong, some of the bus drivers were very pleasant, but none of them followed a “standard procedure.” Some bus drivers would ask me, “Would you like to wear the seatbelt?” On another occasion, one driver said, “You don’t need a seatbelt, do you?” However, most bus drivers would simply just try to strap the seatbelt around me without saying a word. When I informed these drivers that I did not need or want the seatbelt, they would insist that all Disney bus drivers must force all wheelchair users to wear seatbelts. I would inform them that mandating me to use a seatbelt was not a federal regulation, and in fact, constitutes discrimination since no other passengers were required to wear a seat belt. In fact, seat belts were not even provided as an option for other passengers.

After informing the bus drivers of these facts, many of them would tell me that they just needed to call dispatch to make sure it was okay because they did not want to get in trouble. I told them that I understood and that I was not trying to get anyone in trouble. After calling dispatch, most of the drivers would then tell me that everything was okay. On one occasion a bus driver began swearing at me and actually refused to let me off the bus when we arrived at my hotel. I had to wait on the bus for twenty minutes until a Disney transportation supervisor came to diffuse the situation.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Disney, but the transportation was completely unpleasant. As it turns out, even the “happiest place on Earth” has problems with accessible transportation.