Need help for accident at MK last night....any help/suggestions on where to turn?

[Wendi]

How SAD! I have to tell you that it is very difficult to get Disney to do anything. Last January, as we where getting on Snow White a training cast member falsely started the ride throwing my 6 yr. old dd to the back of the car, 60 year old father between the car and a solid mounted post. Well, they stopped the ride appologize and basically that was it. My father had a bruised hip and my daughter needless to say will not ride Snow White. It just startled her. Well, the way it was handled was sad. We stopped several cast members asking them who to talk to, so that the incident would be noted and hopefully NEVER happen to anyone. We did NOT ask for any type of compensation and did NOT even insinuate that we wanted (they didn't offer either) anything other than to let Management know so they could address the issue. Well, after 6 people telling us that there was NO ONE to report such a thing to; we waited until we got home.
Once home we wrote a VERY NICE note to Disney about it and that is where is got nasty. We got a call from a Lawyer basically chastizing us (sorry about spelling) asking what is it that we wanted. I jumped right back with both feet and said NOTHING LADY, I just wanted to let someone know so that no one else could get hurt. Then all of a sudden she was human again. I jumped at her again and said, "How is it that after asking 6 CM's that not a one knows how to let a Manager know about a problem?" I told her that I felt this needed attention. Any way, NOTHING got done. She told me that she would forward my information and a Guest Relations CM would give me a call. They never did.

So what I am trying to say, is if they are still there - tell them to either have a POFQ Manager get the MK Manager there or go over to MK and make them get the MK Manager and tell them there that they didn't come the Disney to have this happen and ruin a $150+ dollar stroller, clothes, shoes and not to mention
part of their vacation to have a guest claims lady give them a little coupon to buy some clothes and a 1/3 of the cost of their stroller. Stand firm, it is like getting blood out of a rock just to be heard. They are the one's that are lucky that the oil was NOT hot and it could have been a lot worse. I hope this doesn't ruin their vacation, but they need to act fast. The longer they wait the less Disney is wanting to hear.

Wendi

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Just wanted to put it out there that we did not sue or threaten to sue WDW regarding our incidents. We just needed to speak with someone in charge so that our issues would be resolved. Imagine our surprise when we were asked to sign waivers and not discuss our incidents in a public forum or they would sue us! Compensation of some sort should be made regarding the OP's sister and her family, whether it be full replacement of the damaged items or free passes or both.

 

[ear_poppin]

I hope your sister sorts this out! Poor little mites.

The trouble is no one will apologise because they are scared it may prejudice a claim...guest claims will deal with this..... they are very fair and give each case due consideration...names, times, dates and photos are what is needed and the damaged items in case they should need to be examined.

Denise

 

[Sammie]

Shannon, so sorry to hear about this, hopefully someone at their resort can help them get it straightened out.

Where were they in the Magic Kingdom? I can't remember a place where you pass under a bridge and after what happened to them it might be a good area to avoid.

Good luck to them.

 

[joats]

I have never heard of a Disney inicident handled so poorly. Anytime anything even remotely unsatisfactory happened to us, they more than accomodated with little or no complaints from us in the first place.

Please keep us posted about your sisters outcome.

 

[Shannon D]

Hi Sammie
Maybe I misunderstood about it coming down from a bridge...I'll have to ask her about that...I know she mentioned a bridge but maybe it tipped over onto them while they were all walking on the bridge...? (there are a couple of bridges...one by Adventureland and a newer one that comes up behind the Christmas shop) What I do know is that my nephew was covered head to toe ...my sis said it looked as if he had been swimming in the vat.

Thanks to all for your suggestions and comments and support.
I too LOVE Disney (in an almost fanatical way) and rave about WDW and "the magic" to family and friends; therefore it is all the more upsetting to me when something "bad" happens at Disney and is then handled poorly.

I do know that they returned the stroller to my sister this afternoon. They claimed that they have cleaned it up "as good as new" when it is still quite sticky and has an odor. She says it is borderline useable at this point. Certainly not in the condition it was in when she entered the MK last night.
Anyway, she has been told by the food services management at the MK that she has gotten her vouchers, has her stroller back "good as new" (without it for over 18 hours) and that is all they are going to do for her. They did offer one day park tickets to be used today, but they already have park hoppers anyway, so they declined. All they really want is their clothing/shoes replaced with similar qualilty/style (not disney apparel) AND to be treated with a little decency instead of being treated like they did something wrong.

I will update if there is any happy news to share.
Hopefully Disney will at least reconsider how they transport huge vats of popcorn oil "on stage" amongst "the guests."

 

[NUHuskies#1]

Guest Claims is the best place to go in my opinion as the previous poster alerted to. In the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and my local newspaper three years ago, there was an article about the Wide World of Sports sponsoring the Special Olympics for people who had had organ transplants while we were staying there. I actually remember them waiting in line at check in at the ASSp. Needless to say, many of the participants and their families came down with food poisoning that was traced to diced tomatoes. It was very dangerous for many of the victims because many had been on immune deficiency drugs and I think two were seriously hospitalized. I am pretty sure it was handled through the claims department. I would do like the other poster said- replace the items that were damaged , keep the receipts and send them the bill!

best wishes for your sis and family!

 

[fam4jc]

Thias is totally an unacceptable story! Your poor sister and her family! Why don't we all email Disney our thoughts about his incident? Someone posted an email address on the first page of this thread. I think if Disney gets a few hundred emails about the "popcorn oil incident in MK" they may decide to do something tangible about it!

I feel so bad for that poor family! Spend all that money on a magical vacation and wham.... accidents happen, but I bet if they had been treated with dignity and compassion from the start from the "suits" she would have been calling her sister laughing about it!

We should help the Disney brass get a clue!

 

[PixieDustBuster]

You should indeed speak to the Manager at this resort immediately. Your stroller should be replaced and so should your shoes. See if you can find the receipts from the purchase of the items and present them to the resort.

 

[dimoe]

So glad to read it wasnt hot oil. When I was reading I thought oh no. IT still is not okay and she shoudl be compensated.
Best of LUck
Diane

 

[Shannon D]

That's exactly right, if they would have handled it with some dignity and compassion, we would have been laughing about it! She has a great sense of humor and is NOT a difficult or demanding person.

My sis even said, "there we were, dripping with oil, people pointing and gawking and saying, "you better sue disney for that!" and she said it took her a minute to come to her senses and even realize what had happened...then she looked down at her son and he is coated, but still lickin away at his lollipop!" and she chuckled about it, but she said she felt like a freak show.

When she telephoned me last night to tell me what had happened (while sitting in the food manager's office) I had assumed that she would be taken care of......I envisioned that they would be bringing her some clothes to change into, somewhere there in 'the offices' with privacy and comfort and then I assumed they would have been whisked away in a private car or disney transport van and escorted directly to their hotel room. I also assumed she would have had some sort of comparable NEW stroller delivered to her room along with her laundered clothes (although I'm sure the oil has completely ruined them) first thing this morning, maybe even with some flowers and a breakfast voucher to apologize for the discomfort and inconvenience of the situation???!!
To me, that would just be a common sense/decency way to have handled their mistake/accident.

I was really surprised when I spoke with her today. NEVER imagined she would have been made to fend for herself in the shops to acquire 'replacement' clothing and then wait for a bus while still saturated with the oil. I mean, how stupid of Disney...she said there was a puddle of oil around them on the bus. That could have easily injured other guests!!!

And yes, I agree, accidents can and do happen, but the way she described how this big and wide vat was perched on this pulley thing (with no sides) was definitely an accident waiting to happen.

I will remain optimistic and still have faith that the claims department will assist them with the financial aspect (replacing clothing/shoes/stroller) but the less than friendly way things have been handled thus far has been really unfortunate.

 

[CanadaPT]

I'm really surprised about this. Disney does such a great job of looking after their guests, but like some posters have said, there are a SMALL few that don't.
For instance, look at what Disney has done for other guests who simply lost something:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=570424

 

[StephMK]

Wow, that is just amazing & appalling at how they handled that!!! Thankfully it was not hot oil. As a former insurance agent, that is a huge liability issue & the very first thing I thought of reading your post. I just can't get over that they would let your sister & her family walk around dripping in oil. Besides the common sense Disney should have had to immediately make them more comfortable, it is a continued potential liability if they are dripping oil. What if one of them or someone else slipped, fell down stairs, etc.

We were behind a woman in a local restaurant & she slipped on a butter wrapper. The hostess frantically apologized & RAN to get a manager. The woman left but my rambling point is that those type of incidents are usually taken pretty seriously. They at least need an incident report in case someone does realize an injury later & seeks compensation.

And like the one poster said, oil is very dangerous to inhale - assuming baby oil is similar to popcorn.

She needs to contact that dept. At the very least, they should get the stroller full replaced, along w/full costs of their clothes. Still amazed they did so little to make things right.

Let us know what happens!

 

[seashoreCM]

They got new outfits and lots of fast passes. A lot of kids would find a Disney outfit to be a good deal after shoes were added.

In addition, a coupl'a nights at the resort comped would be fitting to make up for the the costs of shoes and a new stroller. Together with being allowed to help themselves to a stroller whenever they want when visiting the parks.

A complimentary PS for the whole family anyone?

Ask.

There are some limitations on what could be done. No cast member could be expected to use his personal car to escort the family and then have to clean it up. Rather Disney ended up sacrificing a bus which undoubtedly had to go out of service after that trip to be cleaned. Commandeering an empty bus just for that family would have been desirable for quarantine purposes and benefit other guests.

There are no suitable locations for the kids to clean up in the Magic Kingdom park. Kids can't be taken into the Utilidors because cast members' dressing areas are down there and the Disney magic would be spoiled forever. .

Meanwhile cleaning up in the park has the disadvantage of your not being able to leisurely choose new clothes but rather the CM's have to bring you some and the size might not be right.

Better to go back to the resort, clean up thorougly and change. (I trust the kids have something else to wear.) Then come back to the gift shops.

I don't think the oil is hazardous. It is eaten with the popcorn.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Suggested starting point for the dollar amount of compensation would be twice the replacement cost of the damaged items treating each item separately. For those items (clothing etc) replaced immediately with a modest item at a Disney gift shop, the price tag should not apply, the new item is an even swap for the damaged item.

 

[jctwizzer]

"[a VAT of popcorn oil that was on a wobbly transport was spilled over from a bridge on TOP of them, "

kinda late getting in on this, but this is totally contradictory to my observations of difficult situations being handled at WDW. And I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly where oil would be spilling over a bridge. It would help me understand better if you could describe the location of the bridge, and why they were under it...thanks!

 

[keddy]

1

 

[Tamickey]

So glad to know it wasn't hot oil. I had to catch my breath when I thought it was. We never know how we'll react to these situations. I'd like to think I'd yell a lot and not move until I got someone interested in fixing the situation. Making them walk around like that is horrible. I hope someone gets in gear and makes some sort of amends.

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by keddy
What has happened to Disney? About 25 years ago when I was a child, I was at WDW with my family. I got a really bad ear infection and had to be taken to the hospital. Disney had one of their buses take us to the nearest hospital, wait for us while we were there and take us back to the resort. I was just there recently and things just did not seem the same way that I had remebered them. I remember all the CM's being so happy. Maybe, I was just a kid and that just my perception of the world. But does anyone else agree that CM's are not they same as they used to be?

Eisner World happened.

 

[Baloo]

Eisner World happened

AMEN!!!!

I can not believe how badly your sister was treated! I really believe she needs to talk to more people while she's at WDW.Guest Claims sounds good and if no one answers there go to the resort manager and the MK manager.Let Disney know this is unacceptable customer service.More people have to complain and let the "big wigs" know we Guests are sick of the slacking that is happening at our favorite place on earth.

This just makes me sick,those poor little ones and then your sister riding on that bus in oil! I kept thinking someone else could have gotten hurt from that!

Tell her to talk,talk,TALK... until she gets the compensation they ARE due! You said she has a good sense of humor so I hope this makes y'all smile....ya know the saying : "The SQUEEKY wheel gets the grease!" Well tell her to be the squeeky wheel!!

I hope they finish their vacation out as a magical time.

Keep us posted!

 

[Shannon D]

jctwizzer:
Not quite sure what you are getting at.
As stated in later post, I myself am not entirely clear as to exactly where this happened. My sisters family wasn't anywhere they weren't supposed to be if that is what you were suggesting...AND they weren't the only ones who were hit with the oil...there were others ( a few adults) who received minor splatters and there were MANY witnesses to this mishap.

When I speak to her later today I will clear up those details for you.