Stupid Guest Tricks

I see fellinefan's post as a total meltdown after one too many days working with Knott's on the trains. In her meltdown she got a bit jumbled and obviously did not mean to insult or attack disabled guests.

I have spent too much time in parks as well as elsewhere to know about us fat people who use ECVs as a way to avoid exercise and to get special treatment. I force myself to keep going even when I am crying tired and worn out from the pain. Some people who are morbidly obese demand to go where they should not. They seem to not understand that ECVs and other things have a load limit and that lifts may not be able to handle their weight.

I seen the disabled who are loaded down with enough supplies to man an army. Those SGs fail to understand that elevators, hallways, rides, doorways, paths, elevators, busses, etc have a limited height and/or width. They fail to understand that they cause problems when they take up and extra foot or two of space in a crowd. They are few in number but stick out like a sore thumb.

I give you a big hug and a box of chocolates, Main Streeter. I find that the best people I have met in this world were mentally disable. I have had few problems with disabled guests and it is a pleasure interact with them. The ones you see in public are the ones who despite limitations keep going on with life. It is people like that disabled pin trader who make all other disabled people get a bad reputation.

I now return the soap box to whomever and will leave with happy thoughts of my long gone disabled pin trading friends.

There are only two times I don't like people in chairs; when they are using it as a sympathy card, only to easily transfer into ride vehicles and such. The other ones that bug me are the ones like the couple the other night, who are using it because they can't hold their own very heavy weight, and have no idea how to drive the thing. I'm talking people for whom getting to the bus is a challenge, and for whom wide open spaces even present obstacles that they will proceed to hit. Then, when they finally do make it to my bus, they come up the ramp on two wheels, with one hanging off. I tell them to stop and try it again, but they just keep coming. Then, when they realize they are climbing the door, they back off the ramp. Once they do finally make it up the ramp, they proceed to try to widen the bus by half a foot or so, not realizing that if they actually turned the wheel they could move, much like on a bicycle. Then, there are others who will nose into the space and leave it there, transfer to whatever seat they want, and I then have to move the scooter (something I'm not supposed to do, but I prefer it becaus then I can place it where I need it to safely tie it down).


If I could have my way, you would need to pass a proficiency test before bringing rental ECV's onto the buses. People do so much damage to the buses with them, you wouldn't believe it.

Big Wallaby wrote:If I could have my way, you would need to pass a proficiency test before bringing rental ECV's onto the buses. People do so much damage to the buses with them, you wouldn't believe it.

Agreed. The first test is backing up a ramp. Then the parallel parking test and lastly the driving down the ramp and stopping test. Only if you pass those three are you allowed to bring your rental ECV in the bus.

Today, I had an EVC where it took him 10 minutes to get it on the bus and then when getting off the bus, he drove it into and under the queue railing at MK breaking off his key in the process.


Now, before we are attacked for ECV bashing (It's a joke,ubderstood by the folks on this board, Brand X board would have 50 posts attacking me for my lack of compassion for ECV users)

I did have a couple in matching ECV's the other day and they were great. They both could drive, were extremely cooperative and understanding. They would have got all the time they needed and then some but were on and in position in about 45 seconds. Man were they good.

Mad TV had a character named Steward and he had to do things himself. It was a man pretending to be a boy. I think of him when I meet people who have to do things themselves even if they are incompetent.

I would fail the test because I am very good at driving vans, trucks, and motorhomes but I seem to forget how to drive when I plop my fat butt into an ECV. I have fallen asleep driving one, hit numerous walls, but never hit anyone on purpose. I been run over by an ECV and it was not fun.


I hope people understand that it is maybe 10 to 25 people out of thousands of disabled guests in the park and that these rants are about people who will not ask for help, will not learn how to use an ECV, and who do not respect the needs of other guests. They are the same people who run people down with strollers, I think, and take up two parking spaces in the parking lot just so their car will not get dinged.

Churchy is right, as usual :)

It is not the majority of the ECV guests that are the problem but it seems that when you get 1 SG in an ECV, they attract all the others in the park.

Those who are genuine and need help are not those who I rant about. I will help those guests load their ECV's. It's the the fonies are on their own and you can tell who they are.

I agree with both Churchy and Cranbiz. I've had the people who are approaching the ramp and tell me ahead of time that they are really bad at this. I am very understanding when that happens, because at least they realize it. At that point I talk them through it, very slowly, and I can usually get them in there without hitting anything (and again, sometimes I will adjust things for them), but then give them all the credit when they say they did it better than ever before. Those people, it might take ten minutes to get them loaded, but for them I am perfectly willing to take whatever time it takes.

For me, it's the ones that I tell them to do something after seeing that they're having a hard time: I tell them to turn left so they can make it and then they stay straight and then hit the bus... at the front door where the ramp is nowhere to be found. It's when they can't follow my directions and start puttting themselves and others in danger that I don't like.

Nice discussions about ECV's, the disabled that I care for every day would appreciate it! :)

If I might be less creative with my suggestion for the complainer that was originally described....

Please grant their wish to receive something for free, give their whole family fastpasses to It's a Small World. After loading them onto their special ride, turn up the volume, and midway through the ride, stop it and make the announcement about the ride being temporarily stopped. Then turn the music back on, and go to lunch......

Lucystorm wrote:Then turn the music back on, and go to lunch......

...close the park, come back tomorrow and see if they waded to the dock yet , keep them for a week and see what they come down with.

Lucystorm you are mean which is good. I would put them on splash mountain and leave them there.

Tell them that they can be the first persons to stand in line and wait for the opening of the 5th gate (at WDW), Beatly Kingdom.

Tell them that they can stand in line and wait for the Harry Potter ride to open at MGM.