Disney Depresses Me.

[teentoddlermom]

It's so hard, we really place a lot of expectations on Disney, so when things go wrong it is amplified. We've been lucky with no sickness on vacation.
I can tell you, both my kids were allergy/asthma kids, with hospital visits and continuous inhalers needed for a few years, but this seemed to overall bump up their immunity. Now that they are older, they seem to never catch colds, we've thrown away the compressor, haven't thrown up in years...Maybe this will happen for you!

 

[horsegirl]

I really like what you said lil grumpy!

Gosh, this is a bummer, but I hope you can reframe it for yourself and say "Our illness at Disney was Depressing". It could have happened anywhere. I have certainly had trips go terribly, once while in Europe. So I sort of understand your disappointment. I hope you can scrape the money to go again, and I am sorry it was such a huge bummer for you and the babies......

 

[jjplus3]

Thanks for all the well-wishers - and my sympathy to all those who also got sick (especially for the boy who broke his ankle - that must have been awful!). I was so bummed out about our trip when I wrote this that I didn't even want to get automatic replies sent to my email address, so I just now read the rest of the responses. I'm still hoping for a return trip someday, but we'll have to see how things go. I think I will send a copy of this post to someone at Disney - maybe a Princess will send a birthday card to my youngest daughter, who is now turning 4 in just a few weeks. She's been doing better, but she still gets sick a lot, and is sick now, as a matter of fact (I think we should definitely avoid trips in the fall!).

 

[alfredromero1975]

I second the "ugh" feeling and can definitely understand how you feel.

 

[NMAmy]

Oh, jeez, I feel so badly for you and your family. DD always seems to come down with a cold when we're at WDW but nothing like you're describing. We have always been able to help her feel better with OTC medicine and by not touring commando-style.

I met a very nice man in the laundry room at the Dolphin last February. He had come down for a conference and his wife and baby dd had joined him. The baby came down with a horrible virus (throwing up and a very high fever) and the doctors had strongly recommended they not go home until her fever had gone down. They'd spent the entire vacation stuck in the room at the Dolphin and even had to extend their stay until the fever came down.

I hope that you're able to make a return visit. Try not to focus on what your kids have missed but rather on what they'll be able to do and enjoy on the next visit.

 

[blue_river]

I am so sorry that your trip turned into a disaster.


I can just imagine your disappointment. Try not to let other people's happy experiences depress you.

I bet the next time you go (if you can) you'll have a great time

Maybe try going in late summer when the kiddies are healthier?

 

[jjplus3]

I took the advice of one of the people that replied to my original message, and sent a copy of my post to Disney Customer Service. Within a day (and on a Saturday) I received a response that they'd do their best to send something out to the birthday girl and her siblings (this was in November). The kids never got anything so I figured that the Disney rep was well-intentioned but just forgot. However, last week I heard from the folks at Disney again, and it turns out that they've mailed some pictures (and a birthday button) to us. Better late than never! I'm really looking forward to Annie getting it - she'll be thrilled. She brought up the trip again last week - she remembers staying in the hotel and that her aunt bought her a stuffed Mickey. We also watched our video last week, and half of the time Annie was in the picture she was being carried and had her head down, sick (but the other half of the time when she was feeling better she was just thrilled to see everything). I'm glad she has good memories of her stay, though she was just 3 years old at the time, and I hope she remembers it forever!

 

[klmall]

So sorry to hear about all of your illnesses and bad luck! It really takes a toll on your family and tests your spirit! Out of our 9 or so Disney trips my DH has ended up sick with a cold or respiratory virus at least 4 times. We've visited the clinics etc. too many times and now he automatically brings a prescription to take if symptoms show up. DS got sick at least 2x also!

I agree with the advice to write Disney and do take another trip and do something different! Stay somewhere else and just go for it!

Hugs and best wishes for the future!

 

[connorsmom911]

Just another one adding my sympathies to you and your family. I can feel some of your pain. Connor's first trip to Disney was a last minute trip to join my sister at her nursing convention at Coronado Springs resort. It was supposed to be a picture perfect trip with my parents, my sister and our family. It started with the stress of hurricane Jeanne shutting down Orlando and we were strung along pretty much until the last minute finding out if we would even get there. Luckily we were the second plane back into Orlando. But the weather nearly killed us...the heat and humidity was almost too much to bear. Dh was the first to falter...he ended up getting heat stroke not once but twice during the trip. Then on our second night, Connor got sick with a stomach bug. He had never been sick before other than a cold, so I was totally unprepared. That bug slowly made it's way through the rest of us (except my dad...who knew) not once, but twice. We all got it down there and then again once we were home. We only managed to get to ride Buzz Lightyear with Connor. Fantasyland was a write-off due to the heat and line-ups, and he slept through Haunted Mansion.

At least this was before the DDP, otherwise we would have lost a lot of money. We didn't eat a whole lot once everyone started getting sick. Our life went downhill after we got home (see my trip report for a little history on that) but we did manage to get some great pictures, great memories and slowly the bad memories start to fade.

I second the idea to go back. Even though we really couldn't afford it, it was the trip of a lifetime for us, perfect for Connor and saved our marriage.
But I'll tell you, I carried hand sanitizer and wipes everywhere. Before I let anyone touch anything, I wiped down every surface in the room...door handles, faucets, remote, phone, tv buttons, hands before we touched food, everything! We did all the rides that Connor could go on, some twice. You don't need a long trip...our great trip was only 3 nights/4 days. We had early mornings, late nights and a big break for swims/naps each afternoon. But I think one of the best things I did was set my frame of mind to not have high expectations. The focus was on having fun, seeing a few key attractions and enjoying our time together. Don't get me wrong, I did have commando game plans, ADR's, and a binder full of information compiled, but I pretty much kept it in my back pocket and in my head. We went with the flow and by Connor's schedule and took a ton of pictures.

Watch the sales, especially spring and fall, and if you can fly Southwest or another discount airline, you might find you can just squeeze in a quick trip. Focus on the priceless memories of your trip, and eventually the bad memories will fade.