A dream trip with a very bad ending -update 1-14-10 The nightmare has begun

[dansamy]

More! More!! I want to know the ending!!

 

[MrsSpratt]

All of the details are making this super informative and very personal - all of the things I like in a trip report!

And yes, it IS easier to read! Thanks for breaking it up a bit!

Keep it coming!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

All of the detail is just great, you hooked me with your title. I can only hope that the end is not too terribles.
My daughter in law lives outside of Tulsa.

 

[Simba22]

I completely understand about staying at a Deluxe! I want to stay at AKL so badly, but I just can not justify spending that much money. Although it makes financial sense to just stay at a value, after this last trip I refuse to go back to a value! LOL I don't want to go crazy, but like you, I am cheap with everything else in life asd I "splurge" on vacation. I can't justify the deluxe resorts, but the values just give me a headache. The mods are priced fairly, you get a little more bang for your buck, and they provide a nice "grown up" feel.

I also agree with you about dining out! My favorite thing to do at WDW is EAT! LOL We have eaten at a lot of sit-down restaurants and while I won't return to a place if the food is out and out bad, I won't complain if it's not a 5-star quality meal. For example, I LOVE Nine Dragons in Epcot. Most people hate it. I also LOVE Planet Hollywood...Most people hate it. I HATED Brown Derby. The service was almost non-existent, and the food was just not worth the price we paid for it. I would rather eat at Pizza Planet than go back to the Brown Derby. Most people would think I'm out of my mind. We did, however LOVE T-Rex and it wasn't just for the experience! The food was served in huge portions and it was very, very good. We were quite pleased!

That is bizarre about the refillable mugs.... They should just be able to give you a sticker for your KTTW card or something! Rather than make you bring 4 mugs down to them, then have to sit there and pour the paper cups into the mug...that defeats the purpose of having the mug. Isn't Disney all about conservation nowadays?

PS - if you still need help with pictures, I know there is an image hosting section here on the DIS that you can use, but I prefer Photobucket.com. You upload your pictures to their site, adjust the size, trim, edit, etc, and it gives you an IMG link. You can copy and paste the link right into your TR and it will show the picture

 

[poohbear56]

Simba22,

I know what you mean about the values, the rooms are a little small and the food courts are very crowded. You didn't say if you have stayed at any of the mods, but PortOrleans Riverside is a very nice resort. I love the landscaping with the bridges and the pool is also nice. Its a very relaxing resort.

I completely agree with you about Brown Derby, I did not care for it at all.
I have not tried Nine Dragons or T-rex. What is T-rex like?

Also as far as the pics go, Yes I do need help. I uploaded them to the Walgreens site and it had a place where you could share them, which is what I tried to do. So I don't know if I just cant use that or if they have to be in a certain format. So if you can tell me what step by step what I need to do I would appreciate it.

I will try to update again soon. I am back to work, so I don't have much free time right now.

 

[isavem98]

Ok, I can't take the suspense....speed it up.

 

[poohbear56]

Ok. Sorry I am taking so long. Back to the report.

This is the fast forward version. If you want more detail feel free to ask me questions.

So that night we go to Epcot for extra magic hours until 12:30, we literally walk right on all the major rides Soarin, M to M, and Test Track. The head home for the night, about 1 AM.

Saturday Jen and I are going to go early to Ak (Extra magic hour) while everyone else sleeps in. So I set the wake up call for 6:30, I answer it and go back to sleep. I didn’t think Jen was up, well she was so she heads to Ak all by herself. I call their room about 7:30 to see if she still want to go and Joe tells me she left about 45 min ago. So I hop up shower & head out to meet her, but she loves animals so she had a nice time wondering through at a slow pace. So we do the Safari and then wonder around for a while. We go see about a table for Rain Forrest and call for everyone else to come & meet us. Then we head home for a nap.

We head to DHS for the evening and go to Indiana Jones. When they ask for volunteers, Jen raises her hand and is picked. So that was a lot of fun, she had her 5 min of fame.
We do all the major rides and shows and head home about 12:30.

Sunday we all sleep in a little, my husband and I head to DHS he loves Toy Story so we want to go ride it again. It was funny the first time we rode it there was 5 of us so I rode by myself. But I told them that was ok because I could concentrate more that way and beat all of them and I did.

We really wanted to go to 50’s Primetime but there were no reservations available for the entire time Jen was there, so I knew our only chance was to get there when they opened and hope they would let us in as walk ins. So we called everyone to see if they could all get around and get there by opening, they were all hurrying but didn’t make it by opening so we were getting worried, but they finally made it. We hang out at the park for a while and then go for our afternoon nap.

Around 6 we head to Mk for the evening and they have extra magic hours until 3am
Now I love being at the parks until 3 am if you have never stayed that late, I recommend you try it, now with little kids it would be hard unless you take a late nap. But by 2 am almost everyone is gone and for me it is so great to be walking around the castle all by yourself. At Christmas time it is just so beautiful with the castle lit up and you can take all the pics you want without people walking by which is another plus. So we headed home about 3:30, but Jen had to leave Tuesday and I wanted her to get to see several of the other hotels. So we take everyone else back to the room and we go on a tour of the hotels. We head over to Pop get out walk around to see all of the icons. Then we head over to Wilderness Lodge so she can see the main building and pool area. Then we stop by Poly I wanted her to get to see the Koi, but they were gone, I never found out where they went, if anyone knows. Then we go over to Saratoga Springs, I had never seen it either, and so we walk around there for a few minutes. Then we head over to Port Orleans Riverside, it really is a very relaxing, beautiful property. By this time it is almost 7 am and she loves to fish so we went down to the fishing hole to see when they opened. By this time we are very tired since we have been up since the morning before. But the fishing place was just opening, so I figured we might as well go ahead and fish since we were already there. Now I am ok with fishing, it’s not something I am crazy about but its fun if they are biting. So anyway we get our stuff and start fishing. No bites at all, so I move around to different places, change the depth of my bobber and finally I catch a fish!
Now it is only barely bigger than a minnow, but it was a fish! Jen still has not had a bite. So I start praying for her to catch a fish. I catch 2 more and our time is up, she goes & turns in her pole but I tell her we are not leaving until she catches a fish so she comes back & I give her my pole and finally she caught a fish! I am happy and we can leave now, so we go into the food court for breakfast. Then we head to the room for a much needed nap.

Ok more soon …

 

[Simba22]

Simba22,

I know what you mean about the values, the rooms are a little small and the food courts are very crowded. You didn't say if you have stayed at any of the mods, but PortOrleans Riverside is a very nice resort. I love the landscaping with the bridges and the pool is also nice. Its a very relaxing resort.

I completely agree with you about Brown Derby, I did not care for it at all.
I have not tried Nine Dragons or T-rex. What is T-rex like?

Also as far as the pics go, Yes I do need help. I uploaded them to the Walgreens site and it had a place where you could share them, which is what I tried to do. So I don't know if I just cant use that or if they have to be in a certain format. So if you can tell me what step by step what I need to do I would appreciate it.

I will try to update again soon. I am back to work, so I don't have much free time right now.

Yes I have stayed at CBR, CSR, and POFQ. I liked them all in their own way but CSR is my favorite

T-Rex is essentially the Rainforest Cafe, but newer (i.e more updated) and with dinosaurs.

If you go to Photobucket.com, just create and account and then start uploading! You can change the picture sizes or edit them however you want. after you do that, you will see several different "links" that you can copy & paste into different venues. Choose the one that starts with

 

[poohbear56]

Monday - after our nap we head back to DHS, Jen still hasn’t done the Toy Story ride, so we go on it with only about a 20 min wait, which was great since at some points the stand by line was 160 min. She liked it but it wore her arm out, that is the one thing about it, if you are really trying to score it does make your arm very tired. We meet up with everyone and spend most of the rest of the day at Epcot. I had wanted to go on Spaceship Earth the last time we were there but we ran out of time, so we head over there. It is absolutely freezing outside, and the line was long but we tough it out, we hadn’t been on it since it had been updated. I never have thought it was a great ride and I still don’t think it is much better but its one of those you just kind of have to do every time you go. Like ,” It’s a Small World” I hate that ride but its one of those you just have to do, especially if you are with people who have not been before. So since it is so cold and Joe was in shorts and a Tshirt we try to do things that are inside and the line is not outside either. We hadn’t gone to the living seas so we head over there and spend quite a bit of time watching the fish and other things. I hadn’t rode the ride in a while and I thought thay had improved it. I like all of the animated things that pop up on the aquarium screeens. I think that is what they are doing on the new cruise ship with the inside rooms. They are putting digital portholes and the characters will pop up on them. I just really enjoy the Disney characters poping up where you wouldn’t expect them. After that we head to Honey I shrunk the Audience. I hadn’t gone to it in a long time either, it really is a good show although the clarity is not as good as the newer 4-D shows. I thought they really did do a great job of making it feel real. On our way to Honey I shrunk the audience they have the jumping fountains and I heard one guy ask if it is real water, I thought that was funny. Then on the way out there was another guy who was walking in between them and for some reason in jumping from one to the other it was short and just soaked this poor guy. So if any of you wonder if it is “real” water, Yes, yes it is! After that we are all cold so we head for the room and it is just as the fireworks and laser show are about to start. Since we are staying at Boardwalk we are headed toward the show which was good, because we get to see the show on our way out. FYI the exit for the Epcot resorts is at the back of Epcot. I really didn’t realize until this time how close these resorts are to Epcot. It was nice that it is within walking Distance. Along our way out near the exit we stopped to watch the show and we watched this guy come up and do one of the drawings on the ground. I hadn’t seen them before this trip. It was neat to watch him do it though, he just had what looked like a little brrom and dust pan with the liquid in it and painted a pirate Mickey on the ground, I guess it was for the next day. I am not sure what thay use, maybe a water base paint, that just fades through the day. If anyone knows anything about them let me know. I am curious. We don’t stay out too late because Jen has to pack for her flight tomorrow. So we go back to the room. The kids hang out in our room and we all hang out in J&J’s room and watch football while Jen packs. I tried to get Jen to let me call her boss and see if she could stay but she wouldn’t let me.

Tuesday- Jen’s flight is at 3 pm, she hates to fly and with all that had gone on with the guy trying to blow up the plane on Christmas Day she was extremely worried about getting there and not missing her flight. She was scheduled to be taken by magical express to the airport at 12:00. It was nice to be able to check in and get the boarding passes at the hotel so she didn’t have to deal with that at the airport. I hated not taking her ourselves though. She insisted on them taking her so it wouldn’t interupt our day, I still didn’t like it though. So we walk over to beach club for lunch we order and are waiting on our food and she decides she can’t wait for her food she has to go or she is going to miss the bus. So she just took off and left me, my husband and her husband, so we get our food and eat and she is off to the airport. Well back in Oklahoma we have had the most snow we have ever had I think. When we left they were having blizzard like conditions which is unheard of here. My mom was actually snowed in for 3-4 days and our neighbors had to come and clear our drive with a tractor before she could even get out then. So the weather is still bad and it is also bad in Texas which is where her connecting flight is. So her plane which was supposed to leave at 3 with a connecting flight with an hour layover doesn’t get out of MCO until like 5:30. She does finally make it to Dallas and due to other the planes being late the connecting plane was late so the do manage to make it out of Dallas by about 8:30. They did have to go through the de-icing process, which even if you don’t mind flying is kind of a scary thought, so she was not real happy about it, she said she just kept trying to pretend it was a ride at Disney. She finally made it home about 10:30.

Well earlier in the day I had noticed I had what I thought was an insect bite on the back of my leg. I didn’t think much about it, but by this time it was kind of hurting. Jen had brought some meds and band aids with their family so I ask her if she left them and she had. I thought it was hurting from rubbing against my jeans, so I put a band-aid on it and just want to go to sleep.

 

[sherylcin]

Wait! .....don't stop! What's on your leg?? Is this where the story turns???

Can't wait for more.

 

[poohbear56]

Wednesday- We get up; my bites seem a little better. We head to AK for the day; everyone else hadn’t been to Ak so we have the whole park to see. We go to It’s tough to be a bug, which I just really enjoy then we get fast passes for Lion King, we go to Mt Everest, we go to see the animals in Asia, then over to Africa, then to Dinosaur, we stop to get pics with some of the characters. J & J’s daughter Andi likes Eyore and he is out so we stop to see him and have some pics taken.

Its funny because you would think as old as we all are the characters would not be that exciting but it is still fun to have your pics taken with them. Then, AndI has the idea to get the back of the shirts I made signed by the characters, which I thought was a great idea. So that is our plan, we are going to get the shirts signed, just FYI the will not sign them if you are wearing them. So if you want shirts signed bring a sharpie and the shirt.

Anyway by now my leg is hurting I figure it is because we have walked so much, so we head home for our daily nap.


We wake up and decide to find someplace for dinner, I was tired of all the CS places, like sandwiches etc. so we decide to go over to the POP food court because they have a variety of stuff. One of my main reasons for liking POP so much was they were the only ones who had the icee machines, you could refill them yourself. So we get there and guess what, no more icee machines! I ask about them and they tell me they took them out in April. Does anyone know why???? I want the icee machines back!

So we don’t even stay there to eat, we head over to Coronado; I remember peppers was a pretty good place and has variety. This was an excellent choice for a CS place if you are on the dining plan, you do have to tip here, its kind of a combination of part self serve and part service. Good food and lots of choices. So we eat and head back to the room.

My leg is really hurting, where the bites are I finally tell my husband to go down and find out where the Urgent care places are. So he goes down & gets the brochure about the urgent care places. He also tells them at the desk that I was bitten by something. And now my son also has bumps all over his foot and leg he says they itch but don’t hurt. He is highly allergic to poison Ivy so I figure maybe he brushed up against something at AK that he is having an allergic reaction to. I give him benadryll so he can sleep. We called the urgent care places but they are all closed except for one and they say they close at midnight and they have a 3 & ½ hour wait and it is already like 11 o’clock. So I just want to take some meds and go to bed. It will be better in the morning.


Thursday- We sleep in until around noon then get ready and head to lunch over at Animal kingdom lodge CS restaurant. I had read the Zebra domes were good, so I wanted to try them. The flatbread pizza was really good and the Zebra Domes were a little different at first, but I finally came to like them. We go back to the hotel to leave our car because DHS is open until 3am and we didn’t want to have to drive that late since we could just take the boat. So we head to DHS around 7pm The Boardwalk was packed because it was New Years Eve.

There are still a few things I wanted Joe and AndI to get to see. She still hadn’t done Toy Story, they had tried to do it earlier but just as they were about to get on it stopped and they said they had to clear the building. They were given fast passes to come back when ever they wanted. So they did that then we went to the show about Walt Disney. If you have not ever gone I do recommend it. I think his life is a very good American story. Then we went to Narnia.

By this time my leg is absolutely killing me, but yes I am stubborn! I do decide however I
cannot walk around any more so the three adults head back to the room. We tell the 3
teens they can stay as long as they stay together. I figure if I soak my leg it will feel
better. It is about 11 o’clock, so I soak my leg and it does feel a little better.

We need to start packing because we are heading home in the morning, that great 19 hour drive. So we stand out on the balcony and watch all of the people, there is a band playing, everyone was having a lot of fun and it was a great view of the water and people. The band quits about 2 am and we all go to bed. And then the nightmare begins.

Stay tuned more soon…

 

[disneycruising]

 

[topdog]

Oh no! This is not good. At least you have a lot of fun at the park.

I still haven't try TSM yet. It is on my must ride list next trip.

Hope everything turns out okay in the end.

 

[poohbear56]

Friday- So we wake up get ready to leave, get the car loaded.

My leg is really hurting and swollen there is a hard place about the size of a golf ball. So now I am thinking maybe it was a spider that bit me.

My sons bumps are growing and we mention them to Joe and he says he has some bites and so does Andrea. Well come to find out Jen did too.

So that is weird, we just figure we all got bit by something in the room so we had better let Disney know that we all got bit by something so who ever stays in the room next doesn’t get bit. I had thought about going and showing the people at the desk, but we were already in the car and I really didn’t want to go back in. So we start to head home.

I am absolutely miserable, I am running a fever, and cannot find a comfortable way to sit; the bite is on the back of my thigh. So I am taking as much pain med as I can without hurting me. I try putting ice on it, nothing really helps. Then I get sick at my stomach and start throwing up. I ask for a bag just in time. I am trying to throw up quietly and keep the smell in the bag. I don’t want to stop I just want to get home. Joe has a very weak stomach so when I throw up my husband tries to distract him by turning the radio up and talking to him. So the whole ride home goes from me throwing up to crying in a never ending circle.

Yes they all tried to get me to go to the hospital. I didn’t want to end up in the hospital in Florida. Everyone had to be back to work and it would have been out of our insurance network.

I just wanted to be home, I promised I would go as soon as we got home. We have a friend who is a paramedic, my leg was getting worse by the hour. So they called him when we were about 1/2 way home. He strongly encouraged me to stop and go, but I knew it couldn’t have been a brown recluse because their bite eats the flesh away and it wasn’t like that. It was like a large knot and growing. It was the worst pain I have ever been in.But I just wanted to make it home. By the time we got to Tulsa I wanted the hospital, so we went straight there, my mom had called & told them we were on the way & they would need to get me in ASAP.

Jen met us out there so Joe could take all the kids & go home. My leg was now red and swollen about 2/3 of the way around. The hard place was about the size of a grapefruit and I was miserable. The Dr said it needed to be lanced, they gave me Morphine and cut it open and packed it. He told me to come back the next day to have it checked.

I don’t even really remember the ride home from the hospital. But we went back Sunday to have it checked and it was still getting worse and hurt. So he said it needs to be cut open more. I was in so much pain there was no way I could let him he had the nurse give me a shot of Demerol and then 10 mg of morphine. It finally eased up. He came back in and said I needed to be admitted so a surgeon could do it. At that point I did not care I just told him whatever needed to be done to fix it.

So they admitted me Sunday night and the surgeon looked at it the next day. Now I was on a lot of pain medication. I had never had surgery before this. But I could have sworn the doctor told me he was going to filet my leg.So every time I told someone he said that they said, “That’s not what he said.” So Tuesday he did the surgery. What they had to do was cut a hole about 3 inches deep and 6 inches long. It has to be packed twice a day and will take 6-8 weeks to heal. So I was in the hospital until Thursday evening and still in bed most of the weekend. I am now back to work, we have a small family business, so I didn’t really have a choice. It still hurts and my husband has the fun job of packing it twice a day. I have pics if anyone wants to see.

Joe took AndI to the urgent care; hers were not quite as bad as mine. The doctor there said it looked like (are you ready for it) bed bug bites.

Now I don’t know about you, but I have always heard the saying don’t let the bed bugs bite. But I never knew they were REAL!

So after I became somewhat coherent, I started doing research on bed bugs. They are creepy little things and there is even a bed bug registry you can go online and check for reports of bites at any hotel you plan on staying in.

Yes, the Boardwalk has reports of them, so we called Disney and they are investigating. They will get back to us.

Andi also ended up having to have hers lanced and was hospitalized for a few days. Jen was able to get by with just antibiotics. They are both doing better.


None of the guys had as bad of a reaction as we did. I don’t know what the difference is.
If anyone has any info please let me know.

So the incision on my leg looks like a shark’s mouth. It was funny I had to go back to the surgeon yesterday and as soon as he looked at it he said it looks like a sharks mouth. I said yes that is what we said too. I also asked him if he had told me that he was going to filet my leg. He said yes that’s what I said. He said with most surgeries the incision is closed but with this it has to heal from the inside out, so I never close it. He explained that he forgets that some people don’t really understand that so by saying filet it they will understand it will be left open. He said it looks good as long as it looks like raw hamburger meat, it is good. I also have a 30 day supply of antibiotics, that hopefully will do more good than harm The pharmacist scared me when we got them filled because it is such a high dose and for so long.

So my message is this: tell anyone & everyone about bed bugs. Do the research yourself and if you are bit go to the front desk immediately and insist on being moved. Any hotel and even hospital can get bed bugs. Unfortunately Disney is not exempt. I wish the front desk had offered to check our room or move us when my husband told them I was bit by something. We just never thought bed bugs, and I am not a complainer anyway. I don’t complain at restaurants about bad food or service, unless it is extreme. I just figure most people are doing the best they can or they are just having a bad day. I just want to believe for the most part people are good and anyone can have a bad day. So I didn’t want to blame Disney for the bites, especially when I only knew about mine. Now when I found out about everyone else’s, it did bother me that when my husband told them about mine they didn’t put more effort into finding out if there was something in our room. I do sort of have Disney up on this pedestal, thinking they will only do the right thing as far as taking care of their guests. Over the years I have always had that experience, so thinking they left us in a room where there were bugs would have never entered my mind. Even now I keep trying to think maybe the desk person was new and didn’t know what to do. I just keep trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

After researching all the info on bed bugs I think all hotels should have a warning in the room about bed bugs. I bet more people are bit than realize what it is. When we got home there was an article in our newspaper about bed bugs making a comeback in the USA. Hotels know it, but it is something they don’t want known. To me the way to solve the problem is not to act like it doesn’t exist. I think they need to educate the public.

So that is my mission, I would not want anyone going through all we have when it can be avoided.

I will update when we hear from Disney. From what I have read their general response seems to deny they have them. But we didn’t even leave Disney property so we will see what happens.

And the final bad thing. My husband loves his hot tub. He has a very physically demanding job so it is very relaxing to him. So after the horrific ride home, the hospital then getting me home, he just wanted to get into the hot tub and relax.
Well I mentioned that we had horrible weather while we were gone. The power never really went out, but it did flash, which was enough to trip the breaker. So he goes out to get in the hot tub and most of the water is gone with the exception of about 1/3 of it that was frozen at the bottom. It was a bad day.

But I am alive; I was beginning to wonder there for a while. So it started as the trip of our dreams but ended in a nightmare. Gradually, I am beginning to relive the good parts. I truly lost the first 8 days of this year because of all the pain and pain medication. I really couldn’t even remember the trip itself.

Through writing this and reliving it, it has brought back a lot of the good memories and helped to fade the bad.

I did have to ask Jen to help me remember certain parts though. I told her to log on and post any details I left out. I don’t know if she will or not though.

So remember “Don’t let the Bed Bugs Bite”

Educate yourself and everyone you know!

 

[loveysbydesign]

OMG..I am so sorry your trip turned into a nightmare. I have read about bed bugs here before on the DIS, but I HAD NO IDEA A BEDBUG BITE COULD DO THAT TO SOMEONE!
I hope you are all better now!

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Thank you for writing this. I would never have thought that bedbugs were could be so bad- always thought they were tiny bites. I'll be on the lookout next time we stay at a hotel.

 

[ShannonMB]

Wow! Thanks for the warning! I read another report recently where a lady found bedbugs in her room, but I think they were staying just offsite. EEEWWWWW! Your bite and what they had to do to you is just AWFUL, I'm SO SORRY for you!!!! And I think it's very creepy of your surgeon to call it "fileting" your leg (JMHO!). I'm glad you're on the mend, though.

I will make SURE to always look for bedbugs from now on when I stay at ANY hotel (like you said, they can be anywhere -- even the nicest 5 star resort)! They say to look at the seams of the mattress and up by the headboard to find them. I hope I never find any -- JUST SOOOO GROSS!!!!

 

[hucifer]

Yikes! What a horrible ordeal! I'm glad you did contact Disney, they need to know these things.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Good Lord! That is simply awful! You poor thing. I'm so glad you made Disney aware, that is sooooo not acceptable. Is there any way you could file a complaint with Disney? Goodness, you had to have surgery due to those little critters in your room. I'd be livid. I have the creeps right now just thinking of bedbugs! I will be inspecting our room at Disney with a fine tooth comb! Thanks for relating your story so we can be on the lookout. Feel better!

 

[OhMari]

Yikes.
I got bit on the ferry by bugs when we went from POR to DtD.
Luckily I didn't experience what happened to you.

I wonder if the hospital has to do a follow up with this. Seems wierd that dog bites have to be reported, it should be the same with bug bites, when it is this extreme.