Claudia Kellenberger
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 2,212
I have had 18 solo Disney vacations, but this one was an absolute nightmare. My arrival day was Wednesday, Dec 2nd. My flight was good, and my visit at the Studios was good. I planned on sleeping late the next morning and then arriving at MVMCP promptly at 4:00. All good, so far. Thursday the 3rd, was light rain almost all day. During MVMCP it started raining a little harder and I broke down and bought a poncho. After the wonderful fireworks, and the usual stampede of people out of the park, I decided to head for Splash Mountain. After all, I am already wearing a poncho.
As I was walking to Splash Mountain, right about in the area of Pecos Bill's, I slipped on something extremely slippery on the smooth pavement. I fell pretty hard. The pain was so great that I almost vomited on the spot. Some kind strangers helped me get up and into some chair. My skinny ankle was now the size and shape of a baseball. As I looked back, I saw that the slippery substance on the pavement was ice cream. CM's got me to the first aid station in the Magic Kingdom. From there, I was transported to Celebration emergency room, via ambulance. From there, I was admitted to the hospital for three nights. My foot was actually broken. My beloved solo vacation was trashed. Not only was I in the hospital in Florida, but my entire family was in New York. No one could bring me fresh clothes or even my toothbrush. I had the choice to use a hospital gown, but my clothes were actually more comfortable. So I stayed in the same clothes, and slept in the same clothes for three nights.
I was hooked up to an IV, and a heart monitor, and had lots of blood work anticipating possible surgery on my foot. The orthopedic surgeon took a full day to get to my case, but, thankfully, it did not need surgery. Although it was broken, the bone was not displaced, so it should heal on it's own. Disney was kind enough to give me a voucher for a cab ride back to my resort. ( POR )
It was too difficult to try to arrange a Southwest flight back home, and arrange Magical Express, and the return of the wheelchair I rented from a private company, and coordinate it all, so I kept the same flight schedule back home. My vacation was from Wednesday to Wednesday, and I got hurt on Thursday, so I only used one day of my 7 day park pass. I also was in the hospital on the night of DISAPALOSA. Let me tell you - I was miserable.
Back at POR, I used the wheelchair to get to breakfast in the food court, and dinner at Boatwright's. Many kind strangers saw that I was struggling to get up the hilly paths around POR and offered me a push. Other than meal times, I stayed in my room watching TV.
Disney gave me a late check out of 1:00 because it was extremely difficult to pack up all of my stuff, while trying to keep one very painful foot off the floor. I used my brand new walker to move about the room. I was able to buy the walker at the Celebration Hospital Pharmacy department.
Back home, my Husband was arranging all the plans for help at the airports in Orlando and Albany. I had wheelchairs at both airports, and someone else pushing them.
Now that I am home, I will have even more tests on my black and blue foot and leg, and I may be somewhat disabled for about 4 months until the bone heals itself.
Although a solo Disney vacation is truly wonderful, there are lots of complications if you get hurt while vacationing alone.
As I was walking to Splash Mountain, right about in the area of Pecos Bill's, I slipped on something extremely slippery on the smooth pavement. I fell pretty hard. The pain was so great that I almost vomited on the spot. Some kind strangers helped me get up and into some chair. My skinny ankle was now the size and shape of a baseball. As I looked back, I saw that the slippery substance on the pavement was ice cream. CM's got me to the first aid station in the Magic Kingdom. From there, I was transported to Celebration emergency room, via ambulance. From there, I was admitted to the hospital for three nights. My foot was actually broken. My beloved solo vacation was trashed. Not only was I in the hospital in Florida, but my entire family was in New York. No one could bring me fresh clothes or even my toothbrush. I had the choice to use a hospital gown, but my clothes were actually more comfortable. So I stayed in the same clothes, and slept in the same clothes for three nights.
I was hooked up to an IV, and a heart monitor, and had lots of blood work anticipating possible surgery on my foot. The orthopedic surgeon took a full day to get to my case, but, thankfully, it did not need surgery. Although it was broken, the bone was not displaced, so it should heal on it's own. Disney was kind enough to give me a voucher for a cab ride back to my resort. ( POR )
It was too difficult to try to arrange a Southwest flight back home, and arrange Magical Express, and the return of the wheelchair I rented from a private company, and coordinate it all, so I kept the same flight schedule back home. My vacation was from Wednesday to Wednesday, and I got hurt on Thursday, so I only used one day of my 7 day park pass. I also was in the hospital on the night of DISAPALOSA. Let me tell you - I was miserable.
Back at POR, I used the wheelchair to get to breakfast in the food court, and dinner at Boatwright's. Many kind strangers saw that I was struggling to get up the hilly paths around POR and offered me a push. Other than meal times, I stayed in my room watching TV.
Disney gave me a late check out of 1:00 because it was extremely difficult to pack up all of my stuff, while trying to keep one very painful foot off the floor. I used my brand new walker to move about the room. I was able to buy the walker at the Celebration Hospital Pharmacy department.
Back home, my Husband was arranging all the plans for help at the airports in Orlando and Albany. I had wheelchairs at both airports, and someone else pushing them.
Now that I am home, I will have even more tests on my black and blue foot and leg, and I may be somewhat disabled for about 4 months until the bone heals itself.
Although a solo Disney vacation is truly wonderful, there are lots of complications if you get hurt while vacationing alone.
Sending many good vibes and hoping that you are recovered very soon and can plan a replacement trip back down!
Look at the bright side - you don't need to go through that! I am 4 months post op as of yesterday and I am just starting to walk with the help of only one crutch. As people have said before me - do not skimp on physical therapy! Even if it may feel painful at times, it will be even more painful later on if you don't do PT. There'll be ups and there'll be downs and it'll be a load road to recovery. Go your own pace - however fast or slow that is. You know your body the best. 
