I can't believe I am asking this....

[Telcogirl]

But, has anyone ever been injured on Disney Property?

We are just back from a ladies only weekend and we had an incident where our bus driver stopped short unexpectedly. I and one of my friends sustained some injuries. My friend took the worst of it and she is pretty bruised up.

Right before leaving in the ambulance for our journey to Celebration Hospital, a transportation supervisor gave me a card and said, if you need anything, call this number. That turns out to be a Claims department for WDW.

Ok, we have started that process just to get the medical bills straightened out. But, I am having a real hard time with the fact that not one person from Disney even contacted us during the rest of our stay to see of we were ok. They just put us in an ambulance and sent us on our way.

This is not the Disney way that I have ever experienced and made me fall in love and buy into DVC. Has anyone else had a similar experience and did it turn out better for you?

 

[DVCBELLE]

I have never experienced an injury on property but I agree that I think it is odd that no one contacted you to find out how you were during your stay. I have heard a lot of people talk about how they have had Disney bend over backwards for them when they were sick on property - and that wasn't even Disney's fault!

It doesn't sound like you are looking for any reimbursement but just someone to ask - how are you - I would send a letter to MS and just let them know what happened and how disappointing it was that not once did anyone from Disney check on you.

 

[crisi]

It isn't odd. Talking to you once you are in an advesarial position (i.e. you might sue) increases their risk of losing their case. Once you are there, don't expect to talk to anyone about the incident other than the claims department - when you contact them - or their attorney.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I'm sorry to hear about your mishap, and I hope no one was hurt badly. I also hope it didn't ruin your trip.

I think what you're experiencing is a typical corporate response to an incident that may involve liability on their part. Standard protocol for just about any corporation in that position is to limit contact. They want to avoid saying or doing anything that could be construed as an admission of guilt. So they'll wait and let the lawyers work things out.

 

[Telcogirl]

I'm sorry to hear about your mishap, and I hope no one was hurt badly. I also hope it didn't ruin your trip.

I think what you're experiencing is a typical corporate response to an incident that may involve liability on their part. Standard protocol for just about any corporation in that position is to limit contact. They want to avoid saying or doing anything that could be construed as an admission of guilt. So they'll wait and let the lawyers work things out.

UGH, I really don't want to go the whole attorney route. Honestly, that was the farthest thing from my mind when this all happened.

We were only there for a long weekend and this happened early Sunday morning on our way to rope drop at the MK. We spent the rest of the morning at the hospital, and then back at the resort for the rest of the day. Like I said, my friend got it pretty bad. No broken bones, just so much bruising and swelling. She was given some pain meds at the hospital, so she was out of commission for the rest of that day.

My arm was pretty swollen, so I iced it for most of the day. The next day we were all pretty sore, so we hung low and then caught the ME to airport in the afternoon. So, yeah, it kind of did ruin the rest of our trip.

I just feel like crying to have to go down this path with Claims and everything else that will go along with it.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I forgot about Lawyers since my DH is one I should have realized that they could not check on you.

I would document all of this in a letter to the claims. I would think that they should give you a ticket for your missed day in the parks.

 

[robinb]

It isn't odd. Talking to you once you are in an advesarial position (i.e. you might sue) increases their risk of losing their case. Once you are there, don't expect to talk to anyone about the incident other than the claims department - when you contact them - or their attorney.

Yes, that's exactly what's going on. If they showed any remorse or even compassion they could be sued for more than just the medical bills because it could be seen as admitting to some wrongdoing. They will pay your friend's medical bills but they will make your friend promise not to sue them for anything else.

My mother had wet, soggy ceiling tiles fall on her head in her room at the Contemporary resort. Someone let the tub above her overflow and my mom called the front desk to tell them the tiles were soggy and sagging. They did not fix them and when they finally "went" my mom was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was especially bad since she already had a previous neck injury from a car accident and the the rest of the trip was ruined with a trip to urgent care for continued headaches and neck pain. In fact, she continued to have pain from that incident for a while. Disney would only offer to pay for her urgent care bills and then ONLY is she signed off on them (I can't remember the legal term).

 

[Granny]

My daughter injured herself at WDW once and everyone was extremely helpful. And they did follow up with me, but it was clearly not something that was Disney's fault. So I agree with others that it was not a case of Disney not caring about you, but just a prudent approach that anyone (corporate or not) would take in such an instance.

We all wish we didn't have to be so concerned about litigation, but in this case I think Disney did the only thing they really could do. And they gave you contact information if you are looking for a claim to reimburse you. I think they did what they could.

 

[Telcogirl]

My mother had wet, soggy ceiling tiles fall on her head in her room at the Contemporary resort. Someone let the tub above her overflow and my mom called the front desk to tell them the tiles were soggy and sagging. They did not fix them and when they finally "went" my mom was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was especially bad since she already had a previous neck injury from a car accident and the the rest of the trip was ruined with a trip to urgent care for continued headaches and neck pain. In fact, she continued to have pain from that incident for a while. Disney would only offer to pay for her urgent care bills and then ONLY is she signed off on them (I can't remember the legal term).

robinb - Did this experience diminish your feelings for vacationing at WDW? I ask this because I am usually planning our next vacation back before we are even at the Orlando airport.

This time, I just had a pit in my stomach and was so upset that my friend was hurting and nobody seemed to care.

At the very minimun, if we do go back, I wil be factoring in a rental car.

 

[robinb]

robinb - Did this experience diminish your feelings for vacationing at WDW? I ask this because I am usually planning our next vacation back before we are even at the Orlando airport.

This time, I just had a pit in my stomach and was so upset that my friend was hurting and nobody seemed to care.

At the very minimun, if we do go back, I wil be factoring in a rental car.

Yes, it did a little. It was rather jarring to realize in the middle of your fantasy vacation that Disney is not all pixie dust and magic, but a big corporation that covers it's bottom line. Not that I (or you) shouldn't expect it to, but when CMs are so helpful and nice everywhere else over the little minor things and then you suddenly feel ignored and abandoned over something big ... well that does change the way you feel about Disney. I think the biggest difference for me is that I can now never forget that Disney is a company that will look out for it's best interests first and foremost.

 

[5forDiz]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune & hope everyone is on the mend.

Yes it would have been a nice courtesy extended on Disney's part, a call to check on things but they did provide you with what you needed to contact them & did say to call them if you needed anything. Now it doesn't rank up there with warm & fuzzy moments but in this litigious world we live in giving you a means to contact them regarding this matter is probably far more than most vacation destinations or hotels would have done. Maybe because it was transportation related this is standard procedure ( no further contact ) ; perhaps if the mishap occurred at your resort there would have been a call to your room by the front desk personnel to inquiry how everyone was feeling. Maybe write to WDW Guest Services, jmho it would seem they'd be best in a position to address things; it doesn't seem that DVC or MS would be the place to direct a letter.

Best wishes

 

[Telcogirl]

but they did provide you with what you needed to contact them & did say to call them if you needed anything. :

Yes, this is technically true. But they did not mention that it was the Claims department and they certainly didn't mention that the office is only open from Monday-Friday. The incident occurred on a Sunday morning. I honestly did not look at the card to see what it read until we got back to the resort and needed to speak to someone about getting some prescriptions filled.

perhaps if the mishap occurred at your resort there would have been a call to your room by the front desk personnel to inquiry how everyone was feeling. :

Actually the incident happened on the grounds of the resort. We were about to exit the Boardwalk and the bus driver said the gate suddenly started to come down so he had to slam on the brakes.

Maybe I am naive, but I honestly expected the resort to have been notified that they had guests returning from being treated at ER as a result of an incident on their property.

it doesn't seem that DVC or MS would be the place to direct a letter.

Best wishes

Thank you. I agree that Guest Services will be my starting point. I posted under the DVC forum because I was staying at a DVC resort and I wasn't sure where else to post. Plus, I was wondering if any other members had ever gone through this type of experience and how they felt about their DVC membership afterwards.

I really do appreciate everyone's well wishes.

 

[JimMIA]

In the grand scheme of things, I would not have been upset if I'd received the same treatment.

The most important thing to me would have been that nobody was seriously injured. Once I got past that, the rest would be just details.

The most important thing the Disney employees could have done in this situation was to ensure that you got to a hospital promptly to be checked out -- and they did that.

You certainly have every right to complain if you were disappointed in the treatment you received, but I sure wouldn't let something like this alter my opinion of Disney or my DVC membership.

 

[mikron2]

My sister in-law triped in a hole at a golf cart path/walkway at HH at night (poor lighting) and over a two year period lost 50% use of her arm and Disney never called until lawyers got involved.

 

[Twinprincesses]

I understand why they have not called. Not Disney but my friends son fell out of a cart at Target and busted his mouth bad. She had to take him to the emergency dental office. Ithink Target was willing to pay the medical bills but my friend declined since she was only out the $20 copay.

Honestly if it was me, I personally would understand what happened was just an accident. If I only had a $20 copay I would not be concerned about it but if it was more I might file a claim and just ask for my medical bills. I also know they have to be careful in what is said due to a lawsuit.

 

[ToddyLu]

In 2004 my FIL was on his last trip to Disney with our family. He had a very large open wound on his lower back that had been there through the course of his Cancer Tx. They rented an ECV for the trip and when getting on the bus to head back to CS, the bus driver lifted him up in the scooter and the lift caught the back of his chair...causing the back of the scooter chair to flip up and hit him low in his back across his wound....hard.

Because of the location of the wound he could not show the bus driver how much that hurt and why. He just looked like a guy in a scooter. I think the driver checked on them secured the chair, didn't say anything and got them back to the resort. My FIL was a Chevron exec and called the CS manager to explain what happened as soon as they got back to the room. He had three peolpe show up in the room and when he showed them his wound.....and how much it hurt to have been hit there....well he was treated courteouslyl, and a new scooter was waiting on him from the ECV company the next day. They really couldn't fix the situation, it was an accident. They assurred him that they would check into the incident. Which is all he wanted.

The sad part about this all was he had kept the wound covered...only my MIL, DH (their oldest son) and me (actually a certified wound care nurse--God has a weird way sometimes) had seen the wound. We were not staying in the same hotel. So my BIL (youngest son) was there and witnessed the unveiling of the wound...which was heart wrenching.

But alas we were up with the sun the next morning and meeting in Epcot and had a joyous last vist with FIL before losing him the following year. I am sure accidents happen all the time and I agree with you that a simple phone call to make sure you had all the information would have been nice without admitting guilt.

 

[ddoconnell]

I am so sorry for your bad experience. I had a problem at WDW but it was in a park. I fainted in line for Splash Mountain and had to be taken out by ambulance. My DH went with me while my DD went back to the resort with MIL and FIL. We were staying at VWL and they sent a car to the hospital to take us back to the resort as well as checked on me later that day and later that week.

I think the previous posters are correct that you are a victim of our over litigious society...I would contact MS because the resort should have at least checked on you, that would not have been admitting any blame. But as far as your claim, unfortunately you will have to deal with corporate to get that cleared up. Good luck!

 

[disney ny]

I am so sorry this happened to you but don't think it should make you think differently about the company. They are getting sued right and left (we read about it all the time on these boards) for things that are accidents. Yes accidents. People seem to think anymore that an accident of any kind, especially at Disney, is a meal ticket. Someone posted that they were disenchanted to see that Disney is a company that looks out for itself first but they have to do that! There are CRAZY people suing them all the time for ridiculous things and unfortunately those wackos have made it so Disney can't even check up on someone anymore without that being grounds for a lawsuit. I realize this is not the case with you at all but just want to you to really think about why they acted the way they did. They have to protect themselves or the entire company will go down one of these days because someone stepped in gum and then fell and hit their head or something else ridiculous.

 

[castleri]

My DD was on her way to the restroom area at the Dance Trax place in pleasure Island when she slipped on beer someone spilled and fell hitting her head on the stair. It was bleeding and one of the CMs gave her a bar towel to hold against it while another one told her she had to leave as the club was closing for the night. She ended up with a hearing loss and continues to have some balance problems at times. At the time she didn't report it to the resort and ended up losing the use of a day or so of her park tickets due to being too dizzy to stand up. YES she should have gone to an emergency room but was afraid they would shave her head to put in stitches and she was supposed to be in a wedding the following week. After she got home she wrote to someone at Disney and expressed her concern that this was not the best way to treat someone who was injured and that the reason she had been there in the first place was to attend a seminar put on by Disney about customer service and maybe they needed to retrain some of their own employees. She said she felt at the very least the cast member should have filled out some form of accident report and hoped that they would pay closer attention to spilled liquids in the future. They contacted her and did send her two one day tickets and have an open file with regard to her coinsurance payments that she incurred when she got home. They have not yet paid them but apparently there is a four year time frame to settle the claim. My daughter was not even looking for that, just for them to do a better job of dealing with a situation than telling a bleeding customer they had to leave because the club was closing without even offering to help them find medical attention.

 

[Friendofpluto]

I work in the medical field. Showing compassion is not the same as taking fault. Usually if individuals feel they are treated with respect they are less likely to have additional negative feelings. Someone from management of the resort or transport should have called to see how you are doing and reinforced options fir calling with addional questions. Sorry you were left hanging as you were.