Originally Posted By mousermerf From the parks blog... <a href="http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/04/statement-from-president-of-walt-disney-world-on-bus-incident/" target="_blank">http://disneyparks.disney.go.c...ncident/</a> I suggest since they disabled comments and since the only form of feedback for the blog is the "Rating" and Meg left out wording that someone died on property despite the fact that it was indeed true, very very true, that the rating of that blog bit needs to sink like a stone. The only bit of feedback they're going to see.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer I'm glad that they are putting these things out in the open...but it certainly is odd and depressing that Disney has to talk about these things.
Originally Posted By mousermerf If they want to issue a press release, issue a press release - they have channels for that. The blog usually allows feedback and nothing has stopped them from moderating the feedback before - heck they don't allow it post before they moderate it. Also, Meg's choice to not mention it was a death is, in my opinion, a poor choice.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << If they want to issue a press release, issue a press release - they have channels for that. >> Press statements are getting less and less coverage these days. There isn't a modern corporation out there that isn't using some sort of blog, twitter, or other new media method to get its message out. Fundamentally, what is the difference between a blog posting and a press release? They are both methods of communicating information to a broad audience.
Originally Posted By mousermerf I stated exactly what the usual difference is above - they nullified that usual difference they so they could have complete control and they should be dinged for doing so.
Originally Posted By mousermerf You're just making your usual excuses for everything they do protecting their image like you always do.
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer I'm more concerned with the fact that there have been two significant accidents involving WDW busses in the last couple of weeks. WDW has a problem, and they need to address that quickly. How they announce it to the public is their choice but I do agree with merf, if they are going to put it on a blog where, in the past they have allowed comments, they better allow comments now. Changing that policy just shows that they are running scared and doing nothing more than damage control. Now a question. It is my understanding that the busses are through Mears Transportation. If that is true, are the drivers hired by Mears or by WDW?
Originally Posted By -em Regular Disney Transport busses are not through Mears just Magical Express + Cruise Line etc and as far as I know they are hired/managed etc by Mears. As for this being a "problem" I don't know if I'd group this incident in with the other 2 previous ones as from what I've read this was of no fault of the Bus Driver/Transportation except being in the wrong place at the wrong time (unless it is found the bus was speeding/weaving/etc)as it could have easily been a big RV or even a smaller car there at the wrong time... The other 2 need a much stronger look at as both were the fault of a driver. I think sadly that a lot has to do with the current set of drivers and how many were hired out of "desperation" vs hand picked (If you need 10 and you had 200 applicants vs if you need 10 and you had 40 applicants)
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy ^^ According to the news reports, the driver in the most recent incident had been with transportation and driving busses for over 20 years.
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer I understand that at this point it was not the fault of the driver. But it was still a WDW bus and people, being people, will do everything they can to blame WDW. It's unfortunate that there have been so many incidents lately, and whether they are the fault of WDW or not, it is putting WDW in a bad position.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost WDW has had one major and one minor bus accident in the last couple of weeks. Let's keep it in perspective. WDW is a city within a resort. It has as much traffic as any moderately sized city and way less accidents then said cities. It isn't a matter of defending Disney, it is an actual fact that everyone one attempts to ignore when they do not understand the law of averages and the fact that these are machines operated by human beings that are expected to multi-task while negotiating a huge vehicle. If the drivers don't say something clever, jokes or trivia, then the riders are upset because they are not doing the "show". If they do and something happens then they have a problem that for some reason they think that Disney is immune from. Give it a rest, please. We do not know the circumstances of the accident, tragic as it is. Everyone is about to break a leg jumping to conclusions.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I think Meg's statement was very weak (although rest assured it went thru Legal, Zenia and quite likely Bob Iger himself). The child died and Disney apparently didn't feel the need to mention it. Again, I'm not casting 'blame' on anyone for the tragedy. I'm also not willing to jump to a conclusion that the driver was blameless either. Did he see the kid even on the sidewalk? Should he have been aware he was there? Was he traveling at a safe speed? Was he too close to the sidewalk? Did he startle the kid, who probably doesn't bike near big buses at home? Who knows? But all of those are very fair questions to be asking. For those who question why people might jump to conclusions regarding Disney being at fault here, I'd just state the obvious. How often did Disney have serious incidents in transport 20 years ago vs. 2010? They may have nothing in common whatsoever. Maybe it's just a run of bad luck, but it is very fair to wonder/ask/question at a time like this. No, it doesn't bring this child back. But anyone who has been on Disney buses in the past decade (or more) has likely had a few near misses (I have). And there are often smaller incidents that don't make it to the media because either they don't involve serious injuries or guests or just aren't considered serious enough. Whether or not anything could have been done to prevent this horrific incident, doesn't mean there aren't things that could be done to improve safety in general.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "How often did Disney have serious incidents in transport 20 years ago vs. 2010?" To keep things in perspective again here, how much bigger is WDW transportation now than it was 20 years ago? They've added another park, beefed up one of the ones that was pretty weak at the beginning, and added literally tens of thousands of hotel rooms, almost all of which create guests who rely solely on WDW transportation during their stay. Accidents may be occurring more frequently today, but I wouldn't blame it entirely on the quality. There's a huge quantity factor to consider in this debate.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> The child died and Disney apparently didn't feel the need to mention it. << Don't you just love corporate speak? If they can't use the words... "new" "magical" "immersive" "original" "back by guest demand" ...then they're at a loss. That Crofton statement tells you everything you need to know about the Walt Disney Company's current mentality.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 just a quick drop in to point out the family is saying that Disney's driver was at fault and that the FHP report is incorrect ... the story is in both the O-Sentinel and SP Times and likey all over by now. But apparently this area often has vehicles going off the road ... again, there's a family facing an unimaginable tragedy and maybe this is just a natural lashing out. ... and possibly maybe the driver was at fault or partially at fault for this. I don't know. I just wish like hell this kid was alive.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer ^ You just got that off the news, huh? Saw it too. Pretty sure that you can hear the 911 caller say the kid went into the bus when he looked back... Such, such a shame.
