Driving at Disney World

[PrinceOfSka]

I agree 100% - although I feel I am a very safe driver, some cast members just scare the bejesus out of me on the road... I live 8 minutes from MGM doing the speed limit and hitting the green lights - but those 8 to 10 minutes are the scariest minutes of my day! Its the bloody Florida drivers too... I swear this place has the worst drivers in the country, closely followed by New Yorkers. My favorite are the jeff gordon wannabes that need to cut people off just to be first in line at the red light. I also think this area breeds bad drivers because the damn yellow lights are fifteen seconds long - most places they are three to five. We have all heard the phrase "yellow means speed up" well down here it means you have ten seconds to speed up.... reduce those lights to normal times, and after about a year of horrible accidents we should be seeing much better driving lol.

Back to CMs - has anyone seen the cast parking lots lately? you have to weave through the lanes as people can not seem to park even if their life depended on it... Probably my least favorite are honking SUV monstrosity / Ford F350 super trucks - the rear ends on those things almost reach the other side of the aisle. Why in God's name do you need such a truck down here? I come from the snow belt, so I understand the need for some of these gas guzzlers - but for pete's sake we live in a plowed over tropical jungle, one with very few dirt roads, no elevations, no snow, no real hazards. There is no need for gigantic pick up trucks or SUVs built like troop transports. not to mention the gas money one saves by driving a car or even a minivan. Ok Rant off.

[felinefan]

It's an ego thing, that's why people need those Hummers and stuff. We have them all over here in SoCal, and they are royal pains! They should bring back station wagons, they way we had them when I was growing up. We had a Mercury station wagon when I was a kid, and since we werre my parents and five kids, we had room to sit. In what we called "the back-back", you could fold up the floor to reveal more seats, each seating two kids comfortably; we used this wagon on camping trips to Yosemite, King's Canyon and other places, including a cross-country drive to and from my grandparents' house in Pennsylvania. We had a cooler, tent, and a Coleman lantern and campstove for when we used campgrounds--we had most of our gear, except the cooler, in the carrier attached to the roof rack. Of course back then, gas was like twenty-five cents a gallon, and it probably only got 15mpg, but we loved that station wagon.
I don't know why people have such big egos that they have to drive "trophy" cars like SUVs; must be because most of these people were born in the 80s, when parents were being encouraged to "raise their child's self-esteem". Now we have a nation of overgrown spoiled brats as a result. As a Baby Boomer, I strongly disagree that my generation is "self-centered". How self-centered is it that we pushed for peace, ecology, recycling, and generally made people care more deeply about the less fortunate, as well as promoting the rights of women, minorities and the handicapped? Please define "self-centered"; frankly I think those who say Boomers are self-centered are guilty of same, but since they were raised that they can do no wrong--that raised self-esteem bit again--they choose to blame the generation that raised them instead of taking responsibility.

Anyone else want the soapbox? I'm done.

[WildGrits]

Big Wallaby, could a camera be placed at the front of your bus like they have in police vehicles? They are pointed to the front so they see what you see.......It sounds like an accident is inevitable, would clear you in these instances...ie:slamming on your brakes to avoid another vehicle,guest bangs head on object....

And then they could take all the footage that they get and turn it into a new simulator ride.

But what to call it? :shrug:

[Shorty82]

Hey now, felinefan, not all of us '80s children are like that. My grandparents had a station wagon when my brother and I were kids and I liked that thing. Around 1995 they got rid of it for a minivan, which is mine now.

While I do like all the space in the van I would like something smaller that gets better mileage.

My grandmother has a newer van now but she needs it to fit the family when we go places.

My aunt has a midsize 4WD SUV. It is a good size for her (can't fit two big dogs plus two adults and a kid in a car) though she didn't really need the 4WD, she's never used it except maybe once.

My uncle (aunt's brother) has a pretty new Tahoe or something like that. Now that thing is to big. 4WD, 3 rows of seats, a mile and a half long and really wide. The damn thing is HUGE. It's like climbing into a semi or something. I'm pretty tall so in most vehicles I have to put the seat all the way back to drive but not in my uncle's. All the way back and I would have to stretch for the pedals. No other vehicle is like that for me. He does tow heavy loads sometimes but a smaller SUV would have worked just as well for that and still be big enough. I do have to admit though it was nice for the trip down to WDW back in July. The four of us (aunt, uncle, 9 year old cousin, and I) had room to stretch out and for all of our luggage (and junk on the return trip). Plenty of room for going places around the area even with my brother and SIL in there too, without unfolding the rear seats.

[hobie16]

I've got a Volvo V70 T5 wagon. This bad boy is a Q-ship that's designed for Autobaun cruzin'. One day some punk in a rice rocket wanted to race. I toasted him but forgot the dog was in the back seat.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/180 ... 177b_o.jpg

[DisneyMom]

And then they could take all the footage that they get and turn it into a new simulator ride.

But what to call it? :shrug:

Big Wallaby's Wild Ride? :p:

[Rob562]

And then they could take all the footage that they get and turn it into a new simulator ride.

But what to call it? :shrug:

Bussin' :D:

You need an airhorn, like the kind they have on semi's. My dad, a mechanic with a great sense of humor had one! We went on a trip to Wisconsin and Florida back in the 1970's and he put the airhorn on our Monte Carlo! It was rich to see the expressions on idiot drivers he would *honk* at and then pass. They would be expecting some bigass semi and here comes a guy and his wife and kids in a Monte Carlo! LOLOLOL! He only used used it on the really dumbass drivers out in the wide open spaces on the Interstates. Woke em up! :bugeyes: LOLOLOL!

Almost like the monorail fan who mounted a monorail horn to their Taurus... (They're quite loud...)


As for my SUV, up here in the (soon to be) frigid New England, I drive a Mazda Tribute (essentially a Ford Escape). It's not too small, not too big, it's just right. And it can get me out of a snowbank with minimal effort when the snowplow buries me in. On solo highway trips I push 25MPG. (Its one downfall is that MPG drops off noticably with the increased weight of additional passengers)
My friend drove his big honkin' Ford pickup out to Ohio when we took a road trip to Cedar Point this spring. It was the only vehicle of ours that would fit 5 people (and their luggage in the covered bed) comfortably.


-Rob

[leftcoaster]

Lesee, a couple of points (when do we get the multi-quote feature?)

Most people have SUVs because they have realized that they feel safer driving a vehicle that is higher off the ground, so that they can see better.

My SIL has a Suburban. Why? Well, they have a 2.5 year old, and 6 month old twins. The Suburban is the only vehicle that that will fit three car seats, two strollers, 2 diaper bags, two adults, etc etc. So that is why they have a Suburban.

I drive a 2000 S-10 Blazer. Yes, it's 4X4, and yes, I go off-road with it. I also live in NJ, where we can get hit with snow. I also pull a small trailer with it at times. My wife has a 2003 Trailblazer. Unfortunately, it's the XLT model, but we bought it used (can't afford new), and that was the best available for the money at the time. We couldn't wait because her vehicle was undriveable (transmission failure).

I think you have the wrong decade felinefan. I think it's the 90s kids you are referring to. I was a child of the 80s. My brother and I didn't have much growing up. And now, we both realize what sacrifices both of our parents made to raise us.

A pet peeve of mine is people who have no idea how to park, especially handicapped drivers, who have parking spots twice as big as normal spots, and they insist on taking up that entire spot. Just because you are handicapped, doesn't not mean that you can park practically sideways in a handicapped parking spot. Those blue crossed lines are there are a reason. Your vehicle goes in that square box, and the crossed lines are for a wheelchair or for a ramp for a wheelchair.

But I have a solution for non-handicapped people who can't park. I push their passenger mirror back towards the front of the car. Not just the mirror, but the whole mirror assembly. :mad: :twisted: That way they have to get out of the vehicle to fix it.

Driving on WDW property: We usually stay off site, so we rent a car. We've been there enough times that I don't need a map. For the most part the signage is pretty good. However, there are a few places where better signage would be better (remember, this is coming from someone who KNOWS where they are going). I do the speed limit at all times, and am always on the defensive. I agree. There is no reason to speed, nor to weave in and out of traffic in order to be the first one to the parking lot toll plaza. We've never seen an accident, but we have seen many many close calls. I'm happy that the OCSD is patrolling World Drive and other parts of WDW property. If they are speeding, give them tickets! :)

[Main Streeter]

I have a very witty friend who always tell me; "You never park the truck/car.
You simply abandon it." :D: :D: In K Lot I "do" park inside the lines.

[Cranbiz]

I have seen sooo many idiot drivers on property, it actually makes me homesick for Boston!

I thought that us Boston drivers were bad, not so.

I was working with Wallaby at PI Sunday night and can attest to what he saw. It was one of the worst nights ever! Let's add to that the moron who crossed three lanes of heavy traffic at the last moment to make the turn onto Bonnet Creek to go to Port Orleans. How do I know he went to PO, I was going to the FW Outpost and he cut me off twice! Once at BVD and Bonnet Creek and once at FQ.

Then I had the driver who was driving the wrong way at PI. The buses enter the loadzone area at PI and then swing around to exit at the light by the Hess station, the exit is a one way road that parallels the loadzones and is divided off from the H lot. In comes this jeep at approx 30mph and out comes my bus at approx 10mph. What does Cranbiz do? I keep going, making the jeep back up all the way (probably in fear of his life because I was not stopping).

Another notable was the CM who was going 60 thru the Cast Lot at PI, then thru the bus parking area (as we are bringing buses in for the night), out to Team Disney and almost hits the bus coordinator there, turns on 2 wheels out Team Disney onto BVD, blows the redlight and boogies down BVD. Unfortunately for him, there was an OC sheriff there (who saw eveything) and he was busted big time!