Our Horrible Disney Vacation - LONG

SharpMomOfTwo

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
2,515
Well that pretty much sums it up - we just got back last night, and I've never been so happy to be home in my life. Here's what happened....

First of all, the airline pushed up our flight to Disney up an hour (I found out the day before we left), so that meant that we had to get on the road at 3am. We weren't to happy about that, but hey, it meant more time in Disney, right..... NOPE!! We sat on the runway (with a 2 & 3 y/o) for an hour and a half because they lost the gas slip, and couldn't take off because of it (they couldn't prove that the plan had gas).
So anyway, we finally get to our hotel and all is fine - we were early, so we didn't have a room, but no big deal, we just checked our bags and went to the MK. Everything was great for the first 2 days - DD3 was a perfect angel (total opposite to her at home) though DD2 was very difficult (total opposite to her at home). She didn't want to go on any busses or boats, and made me carry her everywhere - I couldn't even go to the bathroom without her.

On our second or third day at MK, DMIL left with DFIL all of the sudden - without explanation. Now, you must know that DFIL has Lupus, so if he has to leave somewhere, its something serious, so DH was nervous about him. Well, he ended up staying at the hotel for 2 days with dihreah and vomiting every 30-45 minutes (usually at the same time :sad2: ).
Neither we, nor my in laws can afford a Disney vacation every year, or even every 2 years, so losing 2 days out of 7 was devastating. Everyone else was OK though, so we kept going without them.
Finally after the two days, DFIL is better, and my brothers and their families (they live in FL) came and met us in DHS - we all had a great time. I road ToT twice - that is the best ride ever!!!!
After spending the whole day there with them, we said our goodbyes, they went back to their homes and hotels, but we went to see the Osbornes lights which while they were beautiful, you could not move in there, and I would never do it again.
Anyway, we (myself, DH and DDs) had planned to go to Epcot after that, so got on the bus back to our hotel to get the connector.... when it happened. All of the sudden, DH wasn't feeling well. I threw all of the stuffed animals and purchases out of our bag just in time for him to vomit into it while riding on the bus (while apologizing to everyone around us!). I yelled to the bus driver to go to POFQ before POR because he was throwing up (if you don't know, POR has 4 stops, while POFQ only has 1), but the bus driver just yelled back "NO" and kept going - nice! I called and complained about it, and they gave us two fast passes - yeah, as if we were getting on any rides!!!!
So we get back to the hotel where DH proceeds to vomit and have dihreah every 20-30 minutes (and you guessed it, at the same time!) for the next 18-22 hours - and I swear, this is no exaggeration at all.
Finally, he got over his illness, and it was the kids turn. They weren't quite as bad as DH or DFIL, but we the last 4 days of the trip (out of 7) were totally ruined because every time we thought they were OK, they were throw up right as we were leaving. And the cherry on the pie of my week - DD2 screamed the entire 1 1/2 hour flight home - yeah, we were not popular on that flight.
But, now we are home, and DD3 is laying on the couch complaining that her belly hurts.
I just can't believe that we have been planning this trip for over a year, and it was totally ruined! I know in the whole scheme of things, a ruined Disney vacation is rather small, it just bothers me that we spent like $4000, missed work (I'm part time, so I didn't get paid at all) and just lost a week of our lives because of this. I just keep thinking to myself, if I had only booked it for the week before or after, probably no one out have caught this bug, and this would have never happened - its all my fault.

But I have to look on the bright side of things, we did get to ride IASW once, and many other kids rides. I got to go to DTD and get 3 (brought 2 home) custom made Mickey shaped rice krispie treats. We also were on DDP, and hardly used any of our snacks, so we got 12 regular chocolate dipped Mickey head rice krispie treat for DD3 to take to her classmates and teachers today. What else.... all Christmas ornaments were 40% off, so we got a lot of them for not a lot of $$$ including a tree skirt, which is something I've always wanted. T-shirts were also 40% off, so I got two..... that's about it.

Hope everyone else has a better vacation than we did - we are already planning the next one though - for 3-4 years away, and we are going to stay at either a monorail resort, or the Boardwalk (my fav). No more moderate for us - to far away and to much waiting for busses and such. So anyway, its back to work and school today - yippee!
 
Wow...I am so sorry your vacation got ruined. We went to Disney last month and every day I would worry that someone would get sick. Knowing all the planning, time and money that goes into a Disney World trip, I have nothing but sympathy for you:)

Hopefully your trip 2-3 years down the road will be better. Just think, the kids will be a few years older and not so dependent on Mommy and Daddy. Our kids were 11 and 8 when we went and it was wonderful. No strollers, no diapers, minimal whining:yay:

At least you got to go shopping, my favorite Disney pastime:cloud9: I have a friend going to Disney next month and I'm giving her at least $20 to bring me back more chocolate covered mickey krispie treats:cheer2:
 
I am sorry for your bad trip. It does sound awful. It stinks but you can't really control those things and certianly can't plan for them. I can't imagine who you'd write to, I am thinking it's just bad luck.

I would suggest one thing however. My family is on a tight budget. Mt DH has a good job but I am a SAHM, something we are not willing to budge on, so while we have enough money, we don't have a lot of money. All our friends ask all the time how in the world we can go to Disney every other year. We ALWAYS stay value (the good news is we love the values!, I don't want to stay anywhere else.) We just got back 2 weeks ago and even though it was Thanksgiving week, we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus. Our room reservation was for 3 adults and 1 junior (our youngest was on my grandparents reservation). We stayed 8 nights, had 5 day tickets and free dining ad we paid $1803, yours would be even cheaper with 2 kids instead. Maybe going that route you could go sooner. I know the values aren't for everyone but we love them and we can afford to be there a lot more often. We have friends that went one time, to the fullest. They spent $10,000 on a deluxe suite, deluxe dining, the whole thing. We had as mcuh fun as they did and we get to go back!!! Anyway, jsut a thoguht.

Again, sorry about your trip. I am sure it stinks to pay so much and get so little. Had we all gotten sick I would have been upset too.
 
Wow...I am so sorry your vacation got ruined. We went to Disney last month and every day I would worry that someone would get sick. Knowing all the planning, time and money that goes into a Disney World trip, I have nothing but sympathy for you:)

Hopefully your trip 2-3 years down the road will be better. Just think, the kids will be a few years older and not so dependent on Mommy and Daddy. Our kids were 11 and 8 when we went and it was wonderful. No strollers, no diapers, minimal whining:yay:

At least you got to go shopping, my favorite Disney pastime:cloud9: I have a friend going to Disney next month and I'm giving her at least $20 to bring me back more chocolate covered mickey krispie treats:cheer2:


Just wanted to say hello, we are in Gates...
 

I'msorry that you had such a rough vacation. It stinks when everyone gets sick. I don't really think you can write to anyone to get a new vacation though. It wasn't anyone's fault you got sick. I'm not being unsympathetic so please do not misconstrue this, but I think you just had stinky luck. Hopefully you will find a way to get back there sooner!:cutie:
 
So we get back to the hotel where DH proceeds to vomit and have dihreah every 20-30 minutes (and you guessed it, at the same time!) for the next 18-22 hours - and I swear, this is no exaggeration at all.

Oh, man, I had that last month. I don't get sick often, and I think if I'd had a gun I'd have shot myself (as opposed to what I actually did to myself :rotfl: ).

Sorry it spoiled your vacation.
 
Well that pretty much sums it up - we just got back last night, and I've never been so happy to be home in my life. Here's what happened....

First of all, the airline pushed up our flight to Disney up an hour (I found out the day before we left), so that meant that we had to get on the road at 3am. We weren't to happy about that, but hey, it meant more time in Disney, right..... NOPE!! We sat on the runway (with a 2 & 3 y/o) for an hour and a half because they lost the gas slip, and couldn't take off because of it (they couldn't prove that the plan had gas).
So anyway, we finally get to our hotel and all is fine - we were early, so we didn't have a room, but no big deal, we just checked our bags and went to the MK. Everything was great for the first 2 days - DD3 was a perfect angel (total opposite to her at home) though DD2 was very difficult (total opposite to her at home). She didn't want to go on any busses or boats, and made me carry her everywhere - I couldn't even go to the bathroom without her.

On our second or third day at MK, DMIL left with DFIL all of the sudden - without explanation. Now, you must know that DFIL has Lupus, so if he has to leave somewhere, its something serious, so DH was nervous about him. Well, he ended up staying at the hotel for 2 days with dihreah and vomiting every 30-45 minutes (usually at the same time :sad2: ).
Neither we, nor my in laws can afford a Disney vacation every year, or even every 2 years, so losing 2 days out of 7 was devastating. Everyone else was OK though, so we kept going without them.
Finally after the two days, DFIL is better, and my brothers and their families (they live in FL) came and met us in DHS - we all had a great time. I road ToT twice - that is the best ride ever!!!!
After spending the whole day there with them, we said our goodbyes, they went back to their homes and hotels, but we went to see the Osbornes lights which while they were beautiful, you could not move in there, and I would never do it again.
Anyway, we (myself, DH and DDs) had planned to go to Epcot after that, so got on the bus back to our hotel to get the connector.... when it happened. All of the sudden, DH wasn't feeling well. I threw all of the stuffed animals and purchases out of our bag just in time for him to vomit into it while riding on the bus (while apologizing to everyone around us!). I yelled to the bus driver to go to POFQ before POR because he was throwing up (if you don't know, POR has 4 stops, while POFQ only has 1), but the bus driver just yelled back "NO" and kept going - nice! I called and complained about it, and they gave us two fast passes - yeah, as if we were getting on any rides!!!!
So we get back to the hotel where DH proceeds to vomit and have dihreah every 20-30 minutes (and you guessed it, at the same time!) for the next 18-22 hours - and I swear, this is no exaggeration at all.
Finally, he got over his illness, and it was the kids turn. They weren't quite as bad as DH or DFIL, but we the last 4 days of the trip (out of 7) were totally ruined because every time we thought they were OK, they were throw up right as we were leaving. And the cherry on the pie of my week - DD2 screamed the entire 1 1/2 hour flight home - yeah, we were not popular on that flight.
But, now we are home, and DD3 is laying on the couch complaining that her belly hurts.
I just can't believe that we have been planning this trip for over a year, and it was totally ruined! I want to write a letter to someone - anyone to see if they can help us to get another vacation! I know in the whole scheme of things, a ruined Disney vacation is rather small, it just bothers me that we spent like $4000, missed work (I'm part time, so I didn't get paid at all) and just lost a week of our lives because of this. I just keep thinking to myself, if I had only booked it for the week before or after, probably no one out have caught this bug, and this would have never happened - its all my fault.

But I have to look on the bright side of things, we did get to ride IASW once, and many other kids rides. I got to go to DTD and get 3 (brought 2 home) custom made Mickey shaped rice krispie treats. We also were on DDP, and hardly used any of our snacks, so we got 12 regular chocolate dipped Mickey head rice krispie treat for DD3 to take to her classmates and teachers today. What else.... all Christmas ornaments were 40% off, so we got a lot of them for not a lot of $$$ including a tree skirt, which is something I've always wanted. T-shirts were also 40% off, so I got two..... that's about it.

Hope everyone else has a better vacation than we did - we are already planning the next one though - for 3-4 years away, and we are going to stay at either a monorail resort, or the Boardwalk (my fav). No more moderate for us - to far away and to much waiting for busses and such. So anyway, its back to work and school today - yippee!

I'm sorry. :hug:

My 11 year old got a stomach bug a few trips ago (went from feeling fine to vomiting all over the sidewalk at MGM within minutes) so I understand. We spent a lot of quiet time in the room for the next two days. Luckily, we still had four days where she was feeling good.
 
That's rough to go through such sickness on vacation. At least everyone was feeling better rather quickly. We had the same bug go around my family (although not on vacation!)

I think it's kinda like pregnancy though, it's fresh in your mind right now so it seems really bad but as time goes on you'll remember the good parts of the vacation and the sick parts will be lost in your memories!
 
Sorry you're having a bad day. Hope you DD is feeling better soon!

:hug:
 
I am so sorry that this happened to you. I would feel the same way, but I don't think that Disney would do anything about it.

I always have a fear of someone getting sick or hurt before we go on a trip, especially Disney because of the cost. I remember a few years back when we lived in Raleigh, NC, my DD had been sick and we had planned a trip to see my Mom in Alabama. Well, she got better so we went. My middle DD came down with it the next day, and I was sick with it the day after, but it lasted for about three days. I was about three months pregnant with my son so that made it worse. :sick: I ended up going to see my old Doctor to make sure everything was okay with the baby. I remember my DH had made plans to fly down to drive me home, it was crazy. Luckily, we all got better but the day we left, my poor mom was in bed with it.:sad2: It was a virus like what your family had, and they are the worst! :headache:
 
Sounds like a rough time. Being sick is bad, but being sick on vacation is even worse. Not sure who you would write to for a free trip though. Sickness happens.
 
Sorry to hear about your trip :hug: I understand, we got back 2 weeks ago. Our trip started with a 6 car pile up on I-95 (my Expedition is in the shop now), DD got the stomach bug while we were there & then DH got a really bad case of strep throat. It can really put a damper on the trip :rolleyes1 As DVC members & annual passholders, we go 1-2 per year, so we were able to still enjoy our trip. I agree it would be nice to get a "do-over" vacation but I don't think there's really anyone to complain to (other than your fairy godmother ;) )

My only suggestion would be for your next trip to look into travel health insurance. For a small fee ahead of time, you can have your whole family covered for your trip. If someone got sick or injured, you call and they send a Dr to your room. Even if you don't get the insurance ahead of time, you can call if you need a Dr and they'll send one to your room (costs a little more, but you only pay if you need it). I used it on our trip in June when DD's cold/upper respiratory infection turned into pneumonia & strep throat while at Disney. Her pediatrician at home said I should take her to the urgent care or ER, instead we had the Dr come to the room who was able to diagnose & prescribe the right medicine and we didn't lose 6-12 hours waiting in the ER. I know a lot of the Drs also carry injectible antibiotics & anti-naseau medicine so you'll feel better faster and not lose as much vacation time.

FWIW, this stomach bug seems to be all over the place (NC, FL, VA, PA, etc) and it just plain stinks :sick: Hope your family can get over it soon and not keep passing it back & forth :hug:
 
Wow...what an awful time for illness to strike! I'm so sorry that your family vacation was marred by this, and I hope that your DD is feeling better very soon.

Can't imagine who you'd write to about getting another vacation, though. :confused3 Unfortunately, sometimes illness hits while you're on vacation. It stinks, but it doesn't mean that your vacation destination owes you a freebie.
 
It sounds like you contracted Norwalk. Horrible thing but not Disney's fault. Extremely diligent handwashing is your best defense but that's hard in a theme park.

My daughter was sick our second to last trip. Vomitting every 15 minutes for 12-14 hours. Lost 2 days vacation. Chalked it up to her nailbiting. She stuck in her mouth every germ anyone in the park touched. Not Disney's fault either.

Good luck.
 
:hug: I am so sorry!

Our most recent trip was a little disappointing and dissatisfying (is that even a word? :confused3 ) but nothing like what you went through. I hope your little ones feel better soon and that your Christmas is very merry!

:) Michele
 
thanks guys for your replys. One thing I just wanted to say was that my comment about writing someone wasn't ment literally - I'm not really going to write anyone - I know no one owes us a vacation - its just the way I feel right now, kwim?
 
Anyway, we (myself, DH and DDs) had planned to go to Epcot after that, so got on the bus back to our hotel to get the connector.... when it happened. All of the sudden, DH wasn't feeling well. I threw all of the stuffed animals and purchases out of our bag just in time for him to vomit into it while riding on the bus (while apologizing to everyone around us!). I yelled to the bus driver to go to POFQ before POR because he was throwing up (if you don't know, POR has 4 stops, while POFQ only has 1), but the bus driver just yelled back "NO" and kept going - nice! I called and complained about it, and they gave us two fast passes - yeah, as if we were getting on any rides!!!!
WOW! That's terrible. I hope everyone is feeling better.
 
I'm so, so sorry! I think that is everyone's worst Disney Trip nightmare.

We had the awful virus at home last week. It was bad enough having it at home with full access to extra bathrooms and a laundry room. I can't imagine it on vacation! My DD's first grade had 9 missing students on one day last week!
 


Disney Vacation Planning. Free. Done for You.
Our Authorized Disney Vacation Planners are here to provide personalized, expert advice, answer every question, and uncover the best discounts. Let Dreams Unlimited Travel take care of all the details, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy a stress-free vacation.
Start Your Disney Vacation
Disney EarMarked Producer






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter
Add as a preferred source on Google

Back
Top Bottom