DD & DS now need refrigerated medicine. What is cheap, safe way to keep it cold?

[Mom+4]

I just came back from the doctor with my 2 youngest. One has a sinus infection, the other has pneumonia, and WE LEAVE IN A WEEK! What are my options for keeping their meds refrigerated? I hate to rent a fridge at $10 per day, but am not sure ice in the ice bucket will keep medicine cold enough, but not too cold. What have all you DISers done?

 

[cart-mom]

Call your resort and tell them you need a fridge for medications. They seem to waive the fee for it when it's medically necessary.

I hope they're feeling better for the trip. Good luck.

 

[disney daft dad]

Let CRO and Check-in know asap!! If meds need to be refrigerated they usually give a fridge free of charge!!

HTH

Disney Daft Mum

Val

'97 Off Site
'01 ASMo
'02 ASMo
'03 POlynesian for my Birthday & Christmas!

 

[mrsmom]

I would call disney and tell them of your situation and they might just give you a fridge,
I took the kids last June and my ds is on growth hormone shots and his meds need to be refridgerated and i talked to special request through CRO, and i had one when i arrived for free.. I heard of some people having to pay but i would call and find out , it wouldn't hurt. Good luck and i hope the kids are feeling better!!!
Mrsmom

 

[BillSears]

If you are staying at a WDW hotel I believe they will provide a refrigerator for no charge for medications.

You might want to ask this over in the Disabilities area or just check out some old posts there. I'm not sure what documentaion is required but if you call the special needs line at (407) 939-7807 I'm sure they can help you.

 

[lucillemcg]

Your post interested me b/c I'm a student pharmacist and this often comes up--don't use an ice bucket. Some parts could freeze, which could make some meds not work once they freeze and thaw out. Keep it in a cool carrier, like the ones that keep drinks cold, and not directly next to ice during transportation and then get a fridge when you get there. We needed one for medicine one time and it was free. Hope everything works out

 

[jenanderson]

Our family stayed at the CBR in late April of this year. DS has meds that have to be kept refridgerated. I called on our reservation and asked them to note this. The CM assured me it would be free of charge since it was for a child's medication. When we got to CBR, there was no fridge. I called the front desk and one was delivered right away. I did double check because I had heard that some people get billed for it - we were not. I would assume if it is on your original reservation as no charge (which ours was), you would not be charged.

Call right away and ask them to put it on your reservation.

 

[behappy]

should you even be going to Disney? Why not stay home and be sure your kids are healthy? This is not meant to be critical, but, Disney will still be there next month, next season, next year. I think I'd be calling Disney to find out if they'd help me work out a reschedule.

Please don't take offense...this is what I would do.

 

[cindyfan]

My DD came down with strep the weekend before we left.
At the doctor on Monday......still had 102 fever.
Got the medicine and within 24 hours she was not contagious any more. She was okay to go by Wednesday.

Even the doctor said it would be okay to travel as long as she was no longer contagious!

We told them at checkin at CSR that we needed a frig for the meds.....fully expecting to pay the $10/ day fee.
But they said for medicines it was free of charge!

BTW....my DD was back to herself by Thursday and we had a great time!!!!

A week is plenty of time to get them better!
Have fun!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

Recently, people have been getting refrigerators free of charge for medical needs. I have not heard about anyone needing a letter from their doctor - I would think having a pharmacy information sheet or the bottle that says it needs refigeration would be enough.

A long, loooonnngg time ago, refrigerators were free of charge for people with medical needs. Then, lots of people sarted asking for them (some of the people didn't have medical needs, but just said they did to get the frig free of charge). At that point, WDW started charging people, even if they had a medical need and a note from their doctor or even if they had arranged it thru the Special Reservations number (the one BillSears posted).
Some people even reported the CMs arguedwith them about whether their medication needed refrigeration or not and one person psoted they were told their choices were to pay for the fridge, or keep it behind the front desk (which meant several trips to the office per day for medication). Recently, they seem to have gone back to the common sense approach.

 

[Ziggie]

I would like to offer a bit of advice on this subject.

We always get a fridge as a medical necessity and never have had a problem (knock on wood). But let me tell you what happened to someone else who was staying at WL the same time we were.

She had told the front desk she needed a fridge for medicine.. and they gave her one. She put the medicine on the little shelf inside and went off to Goodings. She came back and loaded the fridge up with sandwich fixings, soda, cheese, etc. When her express check-out bill came, she was charged for the use of the fridge.

She went to the front desk to argue but they told her that they did not believe the fridge was used for medicine. She produced the bottles, and they said that if she needed the fridge for the medicine "that's all that should have been in it".

I was surprised but I guess they have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[sha_lyn]

If driving down you might want ot get an electric cooler instead. Target has some that are like a console that fits between the seats of a van. You cna get a converter to plug it in an outlet in the room. We also have a large one from Walmart that comes with the lighter plug and the electrical adapter.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

OH that's so ridiculous. I could maybe see them going ahead and charging if the person couldn't provide some sort of proof that they did indeed have medications that needed to be refridgerated- but how STUPID is that to KNOW they have a need for the fridge for medications yet expect them not to keep anything else in it-or get charged? If it's there for the meds, why NOT also put some food in there or drinks/water/etc?

ugh

 

[meandtheguys]

When I talked with a CM recently about needing refrigeration for DH med, she told me they now have small med refrigerators, about the size of a small cooler. She stated that these are free, but if you want one big enough for groceries also, you had to pay for it. Michelle

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Another idea is to call the DR and see if he could change the medication to something that does not have to be kept cold at all. There are so many options now that chances are he could find something that would work. This would also eliminate a problem of keeping it cold in a park. If this is not possible, bite the bullet and pay for a frig if a free one is not provided. Both kids should be fine in a week! Here's to a healthy- happy trip!!


Jordan's mom

 

[Gillian]

I also would call the Dr and ask for either something that is a shorter length of time or does not need to be refrigerated. Zithromax suspension comes to mind, but of course your Dr. would know best.

It might cost a little more. I don't know what your RX insurance coverage is like.