NOT the best trip:( And I HATE the busses. Never again.

[auntfrannie]

Maybe the busses ran slow because they had to go back to the hub and have all the vomit cleaned up.

This made me laugh!

 

[Cee]

I have to admit the above post made me laugh.

I also agree with the PP who stated that the memories are clouded by all the negatives because the memory is still so fresh. When that part fades, all the good that happened on the trip will come to the forefront.

I think it's great that Disney provides the free transportation should we choose to take advantage of it. But remember..."you get what you pay for".

The CMs are human and I can't imagine always being wonderful when so many of the guests are having a bad day and not being at their best.

As for prices, I for one am well aware that Disney is trying to part me from my money. I remember telling my brother before his first trip, "Everything is crazy expensive, so just SHUT UP and open your wallet!" He did...and all was well!

 

[Magicbus]

I think it's great that Disney provides the free transportation should we choose to take advantage of it. But remember..."you get what you pay for".

You don't have to pay extra when you ride WDW transportation, but you are paying for it, it's far from free. It's included in your room rate, park ticket, etc. And I agree you get what you pay for.

The CMs are human and I can't imagine always being wonderful when so many of the guests are having a bad day and not being at their best.

Disney expects CMs to stay in role whenever they're on stage. Guests can have bad days but CMs should not.

 

[NMW]

Sorry you did not have a great trip.

I can't understand the check-in thing though. The check in time for ANY WDW hotel is 3 PM, always. It's 4 PM for DVC resorts. Yes, you can check-in, have them store your luggage, get your tickets and go...we always do that. Checking in does not mean getting in your room before 3 PM.

Did the CM when you booked your trip tell you that you could get into your room before 3 PM? Any time I book through the WDW Travel Company they tell me check-in is at 3 PM, but then go on to explain that I can store my luggage, get my tickets, and go. So, I guess I'm just confused by this. Which resort did you stay at and who told you that you could get into your room at any time? Just curious...

 

[TLinden16]

Sorry your trip wasn't eveything you hoped for.

I'm going to move this to our trip report board.

 

[Coach81]

Sadly, this trip was not too good for us. It bums me out because we don't get to go on vacation to often and this trip was only a short trip with a budget and it wasn't good at all. Now my kids will tell you they had fun, but they are kids and in Disney so its hard not to have fun. I am not a bus person. We wasted more time waiting for busses than necessary. Also had some rude drivers. Here is the rundown:

*Sunday, 12/5...I was told I could check into my hotel anytime. We got there at 11:30am. What they didn't tell me is that my room may not be ready. I'm sorry, but to me "check in" means go to my room. So we had just gotten off the plane and we had lunch reservations at T-Rex. We wanted to freshen up and change. Well, we couldn't. My boys ended up changing in the bathroom and they took our luggage and held it for us while we went to lunch. She told us the room would not be ready for a couple of hours. As soon as we got off the bus for DTD, they called and said our room was ready. Not even 30 minutes later. I was livid.

*That night after getting settled in our room and changing for the Christmas Party, we were on our way to MK and my middle son got sick. Spiked a fever and we missed the party that night. Luckily Disney was wonderful about it and exchanged the tix for tuesday night, no charge.

*Monday, Epcot day. My DS still was tired and not feeling 100% but he wanted to go to the park, so we did. Waited 30 minutes for a bus at the hotel. Ridiculous. WORST Mickey at the Visa meet and greet. He backed away from all my kids and was very standoffish. They rushed us through there too. Thankfully we had a great one at the Epcot character spot. They were all great there. We had a good day there and after he ate and got some fresh (freezing) air he was fine. Not a bad day. Hopped onver to DHS to catch the Osborne lights that night and they were awesome.

*Tuesday...DHS day. Waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for a bus at the hotel. No lie. There was a guy there with a raido and he told us there was one bus down and that was what was causing the delay. Funny, at least six or seven busses came for all the other parks and even DTD while we waited. So we missed any chance of getting on TSM since we didn't even get tot the park until almost 11. Had lunch at Sci Fi. My DH and I were not super hungry so he had a sandwich and I had an appetizer. The kids had fun on RnR and ToT a few times and then about mid afternoon, DH got sick. he had to go back to the hotel and I ended up taking my two older boys to the party without him. We did have fun, but we missed him and the baby not being there. It was too cold for the baby anyway. My Dh was up all night vomitting...horrible.

*Wednesday, our last day... My DH is a saint. he got up and we all went to MK for the day. He somehow managed to get through a character breakfast. He trudged through the parks with us all day. We ahd no wait for any of the rides, but Dumbo was a 60 minute wait! We did not wait for that. Nothing else had lines like that. not even Space Mountain or Buzz. Craziness. We were leaving aroun dinnertime and saw Santa. He was AMAZING!!! Then that night on the way to Chef Mickey's, my baby projectile vomitted all over the bus. Luckily, this bus driver was awesome and really helped us out. I wanted to go back to the hotel, but was outvoted. The baby threw up again, but he is such a happy guy, he never fusses. Dinner was not so good. My oldest started to not feel well and barely ate. My middle son ate some mac and cheese and my DH some soup and salad. our bill was $152! That is insane. I was furious at the prices. Not to mention our waiter was rude, and the characters were awful.

Photopass not very present and none would take a magic shot. Also some only took one or two shots and they are not that great. Some of them were really rude too.

Got home thursday after an 90 minute ME ride to the airport because our driver was confused and circled the parking lot at ASMu for 20 minutes. We almost missed our flight. Got there 15 minutes before it took off.

I got sick when we got home.

So glad its over.

Perhaps try Universal next time

 

[Magicbus]

And I guarantee that you will have no complaints about the buses at Universal.

 

[lovethattink]

I hope you are all feeling better now. Sounds like your few days at Disney were similar to my few days, dec 12 to 15th. Murphy's Law has been plaguing me! Check out my trip report that I've started, you will see misfortune and mayhem were running loose, http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2616570 . We got 2 hours or less of park time on our trip, but there were still some great memories made!

You do know that you can cancel ADRs that don't require a credit card? (I'm sure there is a way to cancel them too, but I don't know how that works.) I had 3 ADRs made, and we only made it to one with half of our party.

Same thing happened to me this past summer about check-in. We did advance check in and they said it would probably be 2 hours. (Perhaps this is a magic number used to be on the safe side?) We no sooner got to DTD and in the lego store when I got a text message that the room was ready and what the room number is. We took our good old time getting back to the room, because Lego's took first priority with DS.

Didn't room service have all your luggage and stuff from storage in your room by the time you got there?

 

[TDC Nala]

I had some bad bus karma too. That you can blame Disney for. When I plan for bad bus karma, it turns and I'm a half hour early to wherever I was going. I still like it better than driving. I don't use photopass and can't comment on the rudeness/whatever of the cast members doing that.

The illnesses (appears some family members were ill even before the trip) and the misunderstanding regarding the check-in times (what you experienced is standard procedure for Disney and for most any other hotel), as well as the illnesses affecting the ability to eat enough at the buffet, plus the weather, were unfortunate.

 

[seashoreCM]

... vomiting kid into a restaurant and complained about the bill ...

(copied from another thread) The kid should not have eaten anything until 12 hours after the last twinge of nausea passed. Plenty of water is okay and recommended.

Under those circumstances there should have been no charge for the kid.

I would see no problem with having the kid (or you if you were the one sick) sit down and rest somewhere warm in the park. Family can meet up with you periodically, or if you feel invigorated, resume activity with the family for a little while.

If you or a kid got sick, think about this: Did at any time before that you (or your kid) ate something that you (he) touched with bare fingers? Suggestion for the future, use a napkin or paper towel to pick up that doughnut or chicken wing or chocolate covered candy.

1:15 wait for a bus -- That means at least two trips were missed or there was a humongous line. If there was a humongous line, a 1:15 wait might not be considered an aberration provided there was substantial service during that time.

Health hints: http://www.cockam.com/health.htm

(also copied from another post) After vomiting, rinse out your mouth. What is vomited (and also various other substances including pineapple juice) accelerate rotting of the teeth.

 

[Flamingomo]

Okay, wow, some of you are being incredibly rude to me. I did not once blame Disney for my children being sick, nor did I bring a sick child on vacation. No one was sick when we left. My son was over it three days before we left and the rest of us were feeling just fine. Also, I did not once say that any of the CM's stayed away from us, I said that Mickey at the Visa meet and greet was standoffish to my baby and ther rest of us and that the CM's rushed us through there, and to insinuate that they did because my child looked sick is just horrible, mean and rude. My kids did not look sick, none of us did. Wow, the rudeness here is unbelievable.

Yes, I have been to Disney numerous times and always checked in when I got there and got my room no matter what the time of day. I am sorry, I guess I just "assumed" that I could get my room when I got there because I always had on all the other trips. My mistake. So very sorry.

I know all about Chef Mickey's prices. I have been there numerous times. I know its a buffet, but the prices have gone up significantly in the past few years. I wasn't complaining about the price because the food was bad, I was just stating I was upset because my kids and husband barely ate anything and we paid out the wazoo for nothing. Again, not Disney's fault, just the luck of the draw for this vacation. The characters were the same at everyone's table. Very quick and barely waited for a phot to be taken. It wasn't because we looked sick. Jerk. And as I said, my two older sons were starving and they begged us to still go and then barely ate. The baby being sick was jsut a qucik few hour thing because he was fine the next day and even after he threw up a little bit. He never did again. And yes in the heat of the moment and that being our last night there, I wanted to make my kids happy. Is that so wrong?

We stayed at All Star Movies. Loved the hotel, loved the food court and the people that worked there... AWESOME! I did not say all the CM's I encountered were rude. I said I had a couple of rude photographers and a rude waiter and bus driver. All the rest in the parks and the other restaurants were great. And it had nothing to do with my attitude. What was that statement about? I am the least rude person to anyone. There are just some people here who think Disney can do no wrong and I am getting slammed for it because there were people who were rude to us and everyone around us.

My expectations were no higher than anyone else's when they go on vacation. We all expect to have fun and enjoy ouselves and be treated nicely, especially in Disney, and for the majoroty of the time we were. I was not slamming Disney in anyway. I just said the buses were awful and I had encountered a few rude people. Why is everyone being so mean?

As I said, the kids will tell you they had a blast, which to me is really most important. Thankfully they are young enough not to notice some of things that we notice, but they hated the buses too. When we hit the rides, the lines were short aside from Dumbo and TSM, so they loved eveything we went on. We ahd a great time at MVMCP despite my DH not being there and the crowds were super low that night. We got in a couple of dance parties, the parade right up front and a show. Walked on every ride as well. I did not say the whole trip was runined, just that we had some bad luck with illness, waiting for buses and a couple of rude CM's. Geeze. Everyone needs to take a chill pill.

Thanks to the rest of you who were kind enough to understand and sympathise with me. I truly appreciate it. And Billy...thanks for the comic relief as usual

 

[Flamingomo]

So your kids vomited all over the buses on several occassions, if I read that correctly, and the bus drivers were GREAT about it but your big complaint about the trip was how awful the buses were? I don't get it.

I'm sorry they all got sick on the trip, that sucks. But honestly, I think your viewpoint of what happened was distorted by the fact that you were also getting sick. It doesn't really sound like anything actually went wrong. Disney upheld their end of the bargain every time but the one extremely late bus (and one late bus over an entire week is actually pretty good. I promised myself, personally, I wouldn't complain about buses unless we had three or more major issues)--and honestly, if you had to wait an hour and 15 minutes and got there at 11, that means you didn't even hit the bus stop until 9:45... if you were serious about getting on TSM without a line, shouldn't you have been out there at 8? Just saying...

First off, my baby vomitted on the bus once. No one else did. Several occasions? I said once. I said my other son started to feel sick on the way to MVMCP, I did not say he threw up. That bus driver was rude and would not let us get off the bus until she finished some stupid rant about where to to get the bus back despite me and everyone else telling her my son didn't feel well. She rattled on for over five minutes. It was insane. The bus driver on the bus when my baby threw up was awesome. He gave us stuff to clean him up and while I was cleaning the floor of the bus, he said not to worry about it, that he would do it and to just take care of the baby. I still cleaned it up, but he was sweet. This bus was going to MK, but since we were the only ones on it, he drove us to the Contemporary anyway. He was wonderful. We had a couple other very rude drivers who just yelled at everyone and tried to cram way too many people on the bus and threatened to just sit there all night until people moved back. There was nowhere else to move trust me.

We got to the bus line just before 9am. Which should have gotten us to DHS by 9:30-9:45 at the latest. Did you forget to add in travel time? I didn't care what time my kids got to ride TSM, as long as we got FP's for sometime during the day. Getting there before 10 should have ensured that. I waited no less than 20-30 minutes for a bus the entire time I was there, and most of the time it was closer to 45 minutes.

This was my first and last time using the buses. We were on a budget and also only a short three and a half day trip. So I was disappointed some of us got sick and missed doing some things we had planned and really wanted to do. It would be sad for anyone if their trip was less than they hoped for because of illness and time wasted waiting and some rude people. I was never once rude to anyone.

I was upset at the price of dinner because we barely ate. I was upset about check in because if I had known it would have only been 30 minutes until our room was ready, I would have waited. Yes our luggage was in our room when we got back which was great. I did not complain about that at all.

Again, people get way too defensive and mean if anyone says anything negative about Disney and then they blame the person who had a less than magical time. Its ridiculous. If any of you experienced what I went through, and I hope to god you never do, I would not blame you for it or say you have a bad attitude. I would feel bad for you and hope that your next vacation is extra special because of it.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Believe me, I know how it feels to get flamed for posting things at Disney that made you very upset (My last trip included a screaming match with someone at Guest Services).

However, with no disrespect, you started off your report with being "livid" at your room being ready early. That sort of set the tone. Most of us would have been THRILLED to have our rooms ready early!

I think maybe that some of the things you got angry at we all would have assumed you would have already been through after the number of visits you've had. I guess that means great things for your past visits!
I will say that I don't think there is any excuse for rude CM's, period. It's customer service, your job is to be nice. I've been in it over 25 years and can count the number of times I have had to be rude to someone on one hand.

Take this trip as a learning experience for the following:

1. Pay the extra $ to get a town car to take you to the resort. That way you are not relying on ME (and most will let you get a 30 minute grocery stop in for meds, sprite, crackers, whatever ) It's not as expensive as you may think.

2. Plan on getting up early, taking a taxi, or grabbing a different bus to make it somewhere on time if you have to. Transfer at DTD if you have to, we have done that and at least we didn't feel like we were just standing around.

3. Make sure both of you (DH and yourself) know that one of you might have to stay at the resort if your kids get sick. You ended up taking the big kids to the MVMCP by yourself while DH was sick, he could've taken the big kids to Chef Mickey's on his own. IMHO, that is the one part of the story that stuck out. I would've never taken a child who just "projectile vomited" to a restaurant.

4. If you find a rude CM, go to another one. The rude ones are few and far between, and the chances of you getting two in a row are pretty slim. We have had not so nice PhotoPass people before, and we have learned to just say "no thanks" and either skip it or find another one.

5. Always carry a sling or backpack purse for the first day. That way once you drop our things at the hotel and you can't get in your room, you have a couple of essentials with you in your bag.

6. Read the DIS! Most of the problems you ran into have been covered almost daily on these boards. I have learned soooooo much here on saving money, park tips, how to get around, the dining plans, restaurant reviews, etc. Yeah, I've run into some flamers, but the pros far outway the cons.

I hope you take these hints in the spirit that they aere given, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

[LeafsFanNL]

To the OP.

I always purchase trip cancellation insurance for just these circumstances. There is no way I would have went through with this trip if I were you.

 

[Flamingomo]

The only thing I agree with is Photopass....We were only able to take one magic shot and it didn't even end up showing up! We feel they only took one or two shots too and they were also up and down. I like them more horizontal. We also paid for the PhotoPass CD beforehand.

As for your Magical Express ride, that is not possible that you got there 15 minutes before your plane left. They set up a time 3 hours before you leave and 90 minutes is an hour and a half of time before you left.

Im sorry you all got sick.

Magical Express told us to be downstairs at 9:30am for our 12:05 flight. We were there at 9:15. The bus arrived at 9:30, and didn't leave the ASMo until a little after 10. Made a couple fo other stops, but then circled the ASMu parking lot for over 20 minutes. We got to our gate at 11:45 running through the airport to make sure we made it. So yes, we almost missed our flight.

 

[Flamingomo]

To the OP.

I always purchase trip cancellation insurance for just these circumstances. There is no way I would have went through with this trip if I were you.

Unfortunately, we were already there when my family got sick. My oldest son had it before we left but was better and feeling fine for a few days before we left.

 

[LeafsFanNL]

I had a stomach bug run through the house. If one of the kids was getting better, and it was within a few days of him getting sick, I'd expect the rest to be getting it on the trip.

As for the bus thing, I keep hearing horror stories, and I really think it largely is basically luck. I can think of one 20 minute wait over four trips. I can't stand driving down there, the roads are much busier than I am used to, and I'll never stay off property of ever have a rental car again. It's all about personal preference.

 

[FindingFigment]

I've only ever seen one person vomit in person and it was actually at WDW. A teenage boy got off the of monorail and ran across the walkway right in front of us and threw up in the bushes. I must have a weak stomach but it made me gag and the image of that just never goes away. This was 1991 and I'll never forget it.

I hope this long thread will serve as a reminder to people to not take their kids in public when they have a stomach bug or have been exposed to it. I understand being on a tight budget and not wanting to lose out but sometimes we've just got to remember that other people exist in this world and your child's vomit can be a lifetime memory for another child who has to witness it. Well, unless you just don't care about other people.

 

[NMW]

Yes, I have been to Disney numerous times and always checked in when I got there and got my room no matter what the time of day. I am sorry, I guess I just "assumed" that I could get my room when I got there because I always had on all the other trips. My mistake. So very sorry.

I hope you didn't think was being rude in asking about the check-in. I was just curious as to why you thought that you could always check-in before the 3 PM check-in time. I wondered if a travel agent or a WDW Travel Co rep told you this. Because if this was the case, I would be upset at being given incorrect information if I was you. We have gone to WDW every year since 2002 and every time we booked the trips, CM's told us that check-in time was at 3 PM. Our paperwork states this as well. I thought maybe you used a travel agency or something that told you this and was just curious.

FWIW, we always stay in the Epcot resorts (BWI/BC/YC) and our rooms have been ready about 50% of the time. We take early flights and check-in rather early...by 10-10:30 AM. We always have a backpack with us with everything we need for a day in the parks if our room isn't ready. So, if the room is not ready, we check-in, store our stuff, grab our tickets and go. We know walking in that there is a good chance the room wont be ready, if it is...lucky for us.

 

[Flamingomo]

I do read the boards...way too much in my husband's opinion But I truly had no idea that we couldn't get into our room when we got there. We lucked out on all other trips apparently and were able to get into the rooms right away no matter what time. I was livid when they called becasue if I had known it would have only been a thirty minute wait, I would not have trekked all the way to DTD, I would have waited so we could have changed and freshened up first. I did not mean to say I was mad because my room was ready early. The circumstances were not good surrounding it. That is all.

I had no trouble with the ME from the airport. That was easy and quick and right there when we got there. Going back to airport on our way home was the problem.

I took my baby to the restaurant, as I said, because my older two were very upset about not being able to go. They were looking forward to the whole trip and told me they were "starving". The baby threw up on the bus and once more a little bit before getting into the restaurant. I still don't think he had what the rest of us did. He was completely fine after that. No fever and still had an appetite later in the night after dinner. No one saw him throw up. And even so saying he would have ruined someone's life if they saw him vomit is crazy. And to insinuate that I don't care about other people is insane. You are ignorant.

Obviously there were plenty of sick people there at the same time since other people were seeing people throwing up and others were sick as well and still went to the parks. I didn't go to the parks with anyone sick. I did not get anyone else sick. SOme of you are very ignorant and judgemental.

And please stop saying I should not have even gone on this trip. NO ONE WAS SICK WHEN WE LEFT!!!!! NO ONE!!! How was I to know that my DH and my son were going to get it while we were there? I assumed that since my oldest was fine for a few days that we were in the clear. Was I supposed to cancel and lose all that money "just in case" we got sick? I mean really. You know none of you would have done that either. Don't judge me.

And again, when we went to the parks, no one was sick. Sunday night on the way to MVMCP, my 6yo started to not feel well AND WE LEFT. He never even threw up. He had a fever, but I think he was feeling overly tired and I know that makes me not feel well too. Monday, we were all fine. Tuesday, my DH got sick halfway through the day AND WENT BACK TO THE HOTEL, the rest of us were fine. Wednesday, my DH was not feeling 100% but he was ok enough to eat breakfast with us and walk through the park with us and was better by late afternoon. It was our last day there and he wanted to have some time with his kids and me. Is that so wrong? We only had three days in the parks, was I supposed to quarentine everyone and miss everything? Seriously. Give me a break.

If you would go back and re-read my post, I said there were alot of things that were great, I am not a negative nellie by any means and I hate when people assume that I was rude or upset at any of these CM's that were rude to us. I never said I was upset at the hotel for not having my room ready. I just said I assumed it would be since it was on all other trips. The woman was nice and very accomodating and informed me we could leave our bags there and when we got back they would be in our room. I jsut said "ok, that works" and went and changed my kids and went to lunch. I was upset that our room was ready so quickly because I never would have left if I had known it would have been. Jesus people CHILL OUT.

Again, I would never wish this on anyone. NO one should should have to go through sickness on a trip, its sad to put out all that money and not be the vacation you hoped for. And there is NEVER an excuse for anyone to rude at Disney. Not a bus driver, not a CM, not a waiter, and especially not a character. I hate to burst your bubble, but Disney is not perfect, so don't flame me because I experienced some rude people and then turn around and tell me it as my fault they were rude to me. You guys are nuts. I would never blame anyone for getting bad service, no matter where they were.