Our Horrible Disney Vacation - LONG

[Soarin08]

I don't get why people need to write such reviews, disgusting health related issues, its unfortunate that you got ill but look at the bright side, it was only a few days, there are some that have devastating cancers and are sick all te time, disney had nothing to do with your awful trip....it is the luck of the draw......as for the plane, good lord, it happens ALL THE TIME....it is unfortunate but seriously, do you really feel you wasted a week of your life? You took babies to disney, you have to expect behaviors from little ones...............2 year olds want carried!!!! Heck, I want carried. As for the bus driver, are you serious? Can you imagine if he changed his route for every ill person or every "issue"? Everyone has an issue at one time or another, bus drivers have routes, they cannot change them as requested. There are just some reviews that are not valuable...

I am thankful this report was written along with others. I wouldn't have known Norwalk was rampant at WDW otherwise. Now my family knows and we can practice every known precaution to keep from coming down with this bug (which, as I said, I had last month and it was nasty) and having our trip spoiled. EVERY review is valuable because they help those of us getting ready to leave know what to expect.

So I now know to:

1. Prolly avoid WDW buses.
2. Carry around a ton of Purell and anti-bacterial wipes.
3. Pack some Lysol spray and anti-bacterial wipes to clean surfaces in the hotel room.
4. Wash my hands every chance I get.
5. Be very very very careful and watch what I touch and avoid getting my hands near my face when I touch something.

So SharpMomOfTwo, your report was muchly appreciated and was VERY valuable to me.

 

[kate&sarahsdad]

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 ).
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!

I can't believe the bus driver would not do that for you. That's terrible.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

I don't get why people need to write such reviews, disgusting health related issues, its unfortunate that you got ill but look at the bright side, it was only a few days, there are some that have devastating cancers and are sick all te time, disney had nothing to do with your awful trip....it is the luck of the draw......as for the plane, good lord, it happens ALL THE TIME....it is unfortunate but seriously, do you really feel you wasted a week of your life? You took babies to disney, you have to expect behaviors from little ones...............2 year olds want carried!!!! Heck, I want carried. As for the bus driver, are you serious? Can you imagine if he changed his route for every ill person or every "issue"? Everyone has an issue at one time or another, bus drivers have routes, they cannot change them as requested. There are just some reviews that are not valuable...

I agree with most of what you said. Yes, all reviews are helpful, but do not need to be as detailed and graphic as the OP's (i.e. coming out of both ends, etc.) I'm sure had she said that her family was sick with a stomach virus, that would have been sufficient.

 

[mom2cinderella]

I'm sorry people have been grossed out by the OP or subsequent posts. However, to me "stomach virus" isn't nearly as serious as "Norwalk virus". Knowing the details would make me a lot more vigilant on my trip than just hearing a vague mention.

Michele

 

[princessmom29]

We arrived on thanksgiving Day and on the morining of day 3 which would have been Sat. I woke up with a horrible sore throat. It got so bad that I was in constant pain the rest of the trip and couldn't really eat or drink much. It let up a little on the last day (monday) and when I got back I found out it was tonsilitus. I did not think I had an infection because I have severe nasal allergies and I assumed it was irritated from drainage and being out in the cold. I never ran a temperature or anything. We just made the best of it and did not let it stop me from doing anything, but it was really oainful at times. I thought nothing of it at the itme, but I wonder now just how many people get sick at Disney??

 

[ShellyShellfish]

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

At least you got to go shopping, my favorite Disney pastime 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

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

Just saying hi - I'm in West Henrietta!


OP - I'm sorry your trip got ruined, that sounds like a miserable time

 

[**eeyore**]

I am thankful this report was written along with others. I wouldn't have known Norwalk was rampant at WDW otherwise. Now my family knows and we can practice every known precaution to keep from coming down with this bug (which, as I said, I had last month and it was nasty) and having our trip spoiled. EVERY review is valuable because they help those of us getting ready to leave know what to expect.

So I now know to:

1. Prolly avoid WDW buses.
2. Carry around a ton of Purell and anti-bacterial wipes.
3. Pack some Lysol spray and anti-bacterial wipes to clean surfaces in the hotel room.
4. Wash my hands every chance I get.
5. Be very very very careful and watch what I touch and avoid getting my hands near my face when I touch something.

So SharpMomOfTwo, your report was muchly appreciated and was VERY valuable to me.

I'm not sure that we can acurately say that Norwalk is rampant at WDW. It is not surprising that if one person in this woman's party got sick that it everyone else in her party got it - that does not mean, however that it is running rampant at WDW. And, do we even know for sure that it is Norwalk? Or is everyone just saying it sounds like Norwalk? To me, it sounds like a nasty stomach bug.

As for the steps you are now taking to avoid getting sick, based on the original review, these are good hiegyne habits that should ALWAYS be practiced - not just when at WDW, trying to avoid Norwalk. If we all practiced the habits, some of these stomach bugs might not affect as many people.

Also, this is just plain old sick season - people are going to get sick, whether at home or at WDW. In fact, I also ended up with a nasty stomach virus a couple of weeks ago - in fact it started at 2:30 in the morning, when we were suppposed to hop on a plane to WDW at 8:00 that morning. Needless to say, we didn't make it - there was no way take any chances of spreading those germs around an airplane or WDW! So, we postponed our trip a couple of month. Yes, we lost about $300 on airfare, but WDW was very accomodating and returned our deposit due to the circumstances.

OP, I'm sorry you and your family had to go through this - it is no fun, no matter if you are at WDW or at home. I hope your family is feeling better now and that you have a wonderful holiday season!

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

I'm so sorry your trip was ruined. We too stayed at a mod (csr) and will not do it again... or at least while having a child in the stroller. It was far too stressful to deal with the stroller, diaper bag, camera, and gift bags 4x a day to get on and off the darn bus.

 

[lntsmom]

knowing this virus is going around....if one person in your party comes down with it could you use the Disney Travel insurance to refund the value of the rest of the trip and go home early...then use that money towards a trip sometime in the future (hopefully after the virus has run it's course)?

It might be worth it to have that insurance, if so. Go and hope for the best...but be prepared to leave at the first sign of it.

 

[Tiger926]

knowing this virus is going around....if one person in your party comes down with it could you use the Disney Travel insurance to refund the value of the rest of the trip and go home early...then use that money towards a trip sometime in the future (hopefully after the virus has run it's course)?

It might be worth it to have that insurance, if so. Go and hope for the best...but be prepared to leave at the first sign of it.

Travel insurance is very tricky - if one person had any symptoms of illness before trip, or, was treated it, then it's a pre-existing condition and they will not cover it. It might be hard to prove that guest did not have symptoms before trip, but since it's about a payout, I'm sure the insurance company will make it very difficult to collect on this type of illness.

We were going to get travel insurance for our big trip (supposed to take a Disney Cruise, but we cancelled), and when I went to purchase, they asked us about pre-existing conditions for myself, hubby, daughter and baby. Here's the kicker, the pre-existing condition clause kicked in for approx. 6 months before the trip. Any illnesses in that time similar to the one you are making a claim for will not be covered. More specifically, hubby had kidney stones and son had pneumonia many months before, and we were worried about flare-ups, but since they both had medical documented cases of each, they would have rejected our claim for these illnesses.

Good luck to those who are down there now as it sounds like a serious health and safety crisis at the moment.

Tiger

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I'm not sure that we can acurately say that Norwalk is rampant at WDW. It is not surprising that if one person in this woman's party got sick that it everyone else in her party got it - that does not mean, however that it is running rampant at WDW. And, do we even know for sure that it is Norwalk? Or is everyone just saying it sounds like Norwalk? To me, it sounds like a nasty stomach bug.

As for the steps you are now taking to avoid getting sick, based on the original review, these are good hiegyne habits that should ALWAYS be practiced - not just when at WDW, trying to avoid Norwalk. If we all practiced the habits, some of these stomach bugs might not affect as many people.

Statement bolded above by me. I posted earlier in this thread about all 9 of our party getting this horrible stomach virus. I used the word Norwalk because I believe it was that or Rotavirus. We have had personal experience with both. We got Norwalk on the Disney Cruise in 2002 - the ship was taken into port and deep cleaned just a couple of weeks after our cruise - so we KNOW it was Norwalk that we had. No one can diagnose whatever is going around right now unless they seek outside medical care BUT Disney is using HEAVY bleach in the rooms right now - at least in both of our rooms at SSR - and bleach is known to kill the Norwalk virus. We had a very mild case of Norwalk on the cruise by all accounts but this virus at WDW was like the Norwalk we had magnified times 10!

We were very careful about handwashing, using Lysol spray and Lysol wipes. The only ones that changed DS's diaper were me and DH but yet everyone else in our party became ill (6 adults, DD14, DD10 and DS19months).

This is a VIRUS and all the Germ-X in the world is not going to kill it.

 

[Tiger926]

Statement bolded above by me. I posted earlier in this thread about all 9 of our party getting this horrible stomach virus. I used the word Norwalk because I believe it was that or Rotavirus. We have had personal experience with both. We got Norwalk on the Disney Cruise in 2002 - the ship was taken into port and deep cleaned just a couple of weeks after our cruise - so we KNOW it was Norwalk that we had. No one can diagnose whatever is going around right now unless they seek outside medical care BUT Disney is using HEAVY bleach in the rooms right now - at least in both of our rooms at SSR - and bleach is known to kill the Norwalk virus. We had a very mild case of Norwalk on the cruise by all accounts but this virus at WDW was like the Norwalk we had magnified times 10!

We were very careful about handwashing, using Lysol spray and Lysol wipes. The only ones that changed DS's diaper were me and DH but yet everyone else in our party became ill (6 adults, DD14, DD10 and DS19months).

This is a VIRUS and all the Germ-X in the world is not going to kill it.

Based on this, it might be airborne then? Even though our daughter was highly contagious with several illnesses, the hospital staff was beyond ecstatic and stunned that my hubby and I didn't catch any of it. She was contagious before we knew about it and we still didn't catch any of it as we practice exceptional hygiene habits, and they said that showed based on the fact that we didn't catch a thing. Based on your description that you were washing, etc., yet you all still got sick, unless she was contagious before and you didn't know, or, it was airborne, this might be how you caught it?

Everyone is constantly mentioning handwashing, and I agree, these are behaviours that need to be practised all of the time and not just while on vacation as this is why so many germs are spread. But, if this is an airborne virus or bacteria, then that could be why it's being spread so easily?

If WDW is using bleach, there is a reason for it as that is not in the normal cleaning protocol - when we had Wilderness Lodge do a deep clean of our villa, this is what they used. They said they wished more guests would be as caring as us and inform them of contagious illnesses so that they can deep clean (they have a special cleaning protocol for contagious illnesses - the housekeeper looked like a Hazmat crew member!) and so that they can track it.

Happy health to all, Tiger

 

[annie1995]

knowing this virus is going around....if one person in your party comes down with it could you use the Disney Travel insurance to refund the value of the rest of the trip and go home early...then use that money towards a trip sometime in the future (hopefully after the virus has run it's course)?

It might be worth it to have that insurance, if so. Go and hope for the best...but be prepared to leave at the first sign of it.

We get travel insurance for this very reason. It saved our butts 2 years ago when all my children became ill. We came home early and it covered everything, the difference in price for changing our plane tickets, the lost park tickets, etc......
To me its totally worth the hundred or so bucks for it!

 

[triplet_mom_2001]

We got back last night, and had a similar virus run through everyone. We left home with a sick child and large quantities of Zofran. The Zofran allowed us to have a fairly enjoyable trip, although the dining plan was a bust. If you are dealing with a virus while traveling I encourage you to get prescription for Zofran. It takes away the nausea without causing sleepiness.

Lisa

 

[mom2cinderella]

We get travel insurance for this very reason. It saved our butts 2 years ago when all my children became ill. We came home early and it covered everything, the difference in price for changing our plane tickets, the lost park tickets, etc......
To me its totally worth the hundred or so bucks for it!

Oh, that's good to know! I thought travel insurance was for having to cancel a trip - didn't know it applied if a trip had to be cut short.

Michele

 

[all4fun]

Based on this, it might be airborne then? Even though our daughter was highly contagious with several illnesses, the hospital staff was beyond ecstatic and stunned that my hubby and I didn't catch any of it. She was contagious before we knew about it and we still didn't catch any of it as we practice exceptional hygiene habits, and they said that showed based on the fact that we didn't catch a thing. Based on your description that you were washing, etc., yet you all still got sick, unless she was contagious before and you didn't know, or, it was airborne, this might be how you caught it?

Everyone is constantly mentioning handwashing, and I agree, these are behaviours that need to be practised all of the time and not just while on vacation as this is why so many germs are spread. But, if this is an airborne virus or bacteria, then that could be why it's being spread so easily?

If WDW is using bleach, there is a reason for it as that is not in the normal cleaning protocol - when we had Wilderness Lodge do a deep clean of our villa, this is what they used. They said they wished more guests would be as caring as us and inform them of contagious illnesses so that they can deep clean (they have a special cleaning protocol for contagious illnesses - the housekeeper looked like a Hazmat crew member!) and so that they can track it.

Happy health to all, Tiger

Norovirus info:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm

How do people become infected with noroviruses?
Noroviruses are found in the stool or vomit of infected people. People can become infected with the virus in several ways, including:

eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with norovirus;
touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus, and then placing their hand in their mouth;
having direct contact with another person who is infected and showing symptoms (for example, when caring for someone with illness, or sharing foods or eating utensils with someone who is ill).
Persons working in day-care centers or nursing homes should pay special attention to children or residents who have norovirus illness. This virus is very contagious and can spread rapidly throughout such environments.

We are still at WDW and DH and I both had upset stomach and dh had acute onset vomitting, however he was much better and joined ds and I in the park a few hours later. DS hasn't been sick at all. We have been here since Sunday and spoken with quite a few people and haven't heard anything about people getting sick, in general. This is RSV & Flu season, a time when people more commonly get sick. I would think in a place like WDW it wouldn't be so uncommon for illnesses to get passed around easily (airborne or not). I'm sorry the OP was so severely affected by it while on vacation. That is always a total bummer! Hope your family is feeling much better now.

 

[Tiger926]

Oh, that's good to know! I thought travel insurance was for having to cancel a trip - didn't know it applied if a trip had to be cut short.

Michele

Again, as I mentioned above, I've been in contact with several health insurance providers this past year, and they all told me that if any of the insured guests have been diagnosed with the very symptoms they make a claim for, this is then a pre-existing condition and it will not be covered. Maybe this works out for viruses as most people do not go to the doctor, and therefore, there is no medical record of it? With our son's illnesses (asthma/pneumonia/ear infections) and my hubby's kidney stones, they would both have been rejected on these claims should they have been stricken with these illnesses as we would have had to fill out paperwork and have our doctor fill out paperwork about any pre-existing conditions in this respect.

We have platinum health insurance here as I'm a teacher - our daughter's $6,000 hospital bill while in Orlando was totally covered with no questions asked, but this was our regular health insurance (I have incredible out of country insurance). I did not find the new policies that I was calling about to be even close to mine when I called for additional health insurance coverage while booking our cruise in regards to the pre-existing stuff, so maybe it depends upon the insurance policy in these cases? I also asked about extra insurance as my grandma and aunt were seriously ill, and we only would have been covered if they had passed away as this would have been a trip-interruption transportation situation (they would have paid for our transportation back home for the funeral) as both of their pre-existing conditions would not have qualified.

Hopefully people are able to utilize their travel insurance in this virus case. Happy health to all, Tiger

 

[pixie921]

We got back last night, and had a similar virus run through everyone. We left home with a sick child and large quantities of Zofran. The Zofran allowed us to have a fairly enjoyable trip, although the dining plan was a bust. If you are dealing with a virus while traveling I encourage you to get prescription for Zofran. It takes away the nausea without causing sleepiness.

Lisa

So you brought a child with the virus to WDW? And people wonder why the virus just won't go away.

 

[Tiger926]

So you brought a child with the virus to WDW? And people wonder why the virus just won't go away.

Yup, I was thinking the same thing. I just posted about this on another related thread. People need to stop taking sick people on planes and to WDW, period!

I surely hope that no one that was on Pixie's plane might have to spend their holidays in hospital due to this illness. Staying home and rescheduling needs to be taken way more seriously than it is - if people can't afford a few hundred dollars to reschedule flights, or, for purchasing travel insurance, then I'm going to suggest that they should not be going on vacation, as this is something that should be factored into everyone's travel budget.

Tiger

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We got back last night, and had a similar virus run through everyone. We left home with a sick child and large quantities of Zofran. The Zofran allowed us to have a fairly enjoyable trip, although the dining plan was a bust. If you are dealing with a virus while traveling I encourage you to get prescription for Zofran. It takes away the nausea without causing sleepiness.

Lisa

Why did you have Zofran? That is a powerful anti-nausea medication usually given to cancer patients to deal with the side effects of chemo. I was on Zofran during my 3rd pregnancy because I had hyperemesis gravidarum and couldn't function without it. It isn't a cheap med either. If memory serves my meds were about $1700 for a 10 day supply for name brand Zofran. I know a generic came out at the end of my pregnancy but it was still pricey.

If I was sick enough that I needed Zofran I sure wouldn't be going on vacation!

With the illness at Disney, nausea wasn't the main symptom - the vomiting and frequent urgent trips to the restroom were. Zofran wouldn't stop those symptoms.