Our POP Stay and Black Mold in room.....

[SDTeaGirl]

We stayed From Dec 4-15 at POP- we got in our room and I noticed that there was a black "stain" on the floor by the edge of the sink. I was assuming it was just a stain and no big deal. Well 3-4 days later the "stain" was bigger than a basketball in size and was black on the outside and fuzzy whitish in the middle- I called and was telling them about this and they said they would have a manager come up to see it and to "fix" this problem. We waited over 1-2 hrs- I finally called back to say we had to leave to make a Dining Reservation. We got back and the room smelled like bleach and a lot of it. The "stain" was still kind of there yet. Well that stain I believe made us sick- my whole family (the 3 of us) all got sick and we started coughing and I have never coughed as hard as this before- we all were running a fever and could barely pick our heads off the bed for 2-3 days. We missed out on park days, tickets with left over days we didn't use because of being so sick, Dessert Party I prepaid for, Dining quick service meals that they would not let us turn into snacks( we didn't use because we were so sick), missed days of work when we finally got back home because we were still so sick, doctors visits. They (Disney) never let us change rooms, the housekeeping was so bad-beds never made- top sheet was bunched in ball sometimes thrown on floor- sometimes thrown on bed- weird dirty towels on bed, never taken out garbage for 4 days. Housekeeping even got worse after I called to complain- they finally took the bunched up top sheet and we only had 2 sheets per bed for the rest of our stay, plus the beds were never made after that either!

This was our first time Ever staying on Disney Property and second trip ever! -we are so disappointed in the lack of service and helping a guest out! We have been home now for almost 2 weeks and we still are coughing and not feeling the best.

I did email customer service about a week ago- but have not heard from them yet- I am assuming we are going to be ignored again.

I am not sure what to do with this horrible experience- Disney just ignored us!

What would you do in our situation? We really enjoyed the "magic" in the parks but with the horrible experience at the resort- we will probably not be back -unless Disney steps up and does not ignore us and the problem that we had.

Can someone help with their 2 cents?

 

[Rose23]

If you and your family are still coughing and not feeling well, I would get in to see your PCP (primary care doctor) as soon as possible or at least call your doctor and tell him what happened. Start getting everything documented and try to remember the names of those at Disney you spoke with. It's my guess your doctor will have you all go in for an MRI to have everyone's lungs checked out, the sooner the better.

Praying all is okay from a very cold Ohio...

 

[SDTeaGirl]

If you and your family are still coughing and not feeling well, I would get in to see your PCP (primary care doctor) as soon as possible or at least call your doctor and tell him what happened. Start getting everything documented and try to remember the names of those at Disney you spoke with. It's my guess your doctor will have you all go in for an MRI to have everyone's lungs checked out, the sooner the better.

Praying all is okay from a very cold Ohio...

We did go in a few days after we got back- took that long to get in- we told the doctor about what happened- he just listened to our lungs and he said yes they "sound" irritated. So he gave us Amoxicillin, Some cough syrup with codeine in it and a inhaler to use. He said he can't really tell if it was black mold unless we are still sick a month or two later? Not sure. Just sad that Disney Bleached the spot with the mold- but didn't move us to another room.

 

[maxiesmom]

The first thing you should be aware of is that if you e-mailed Disney they are very good at getting back to you. It may take a couple of weeks, but at the least you should get an e-mail response. They have actually called me twice too.

Second, if you ever run into a problem at the resorts, don't call. Go down to the front desk. When you call from your room you get a call center, not even someone at the resort, though they act like they are at the resort.

I'm not sure what to say about that horrible excuse for housekeeping. I've never run into anything like it. I'm sorry too that your family was sick and a lot of your precious vacation time lost.

 

[WEDWDW]

In 27 on-property stays at WDW,I have never experienced ANYTHING like that and if I ever do,would expect MUCH more to be done than you experienced.

 

[letsgoreds]

Sounds like you experienced poor service (sounds very strange...never heard of such lack of service) and picked up a virus. I believe that the symptoms you listed typically only come from prolonged exposure to mold, not a few days.

You are coming in contact with soooo many people carrying soooo many germs at WDW, that is far more likely than a black mold infection.

Definitely lesson learned for a next vacation. The first time you are dissatisfied, walk down to the main office and ask to speak with a manager.

You were there during Pop Warner, so I am sure they were super busy with things...but that is NO excuse. It is a lot harder to get satisfaction after a trip.

We were at POP one night at the start of our trip (Dec 6), and they gave us access to someone else's room. Gladly they weren't in there at the time, but their balloons, clothes, baby bottles, etc. all were. I went back, spoke to the manager and he refunded half of the room price and gave us 4 anytime MK Fastpasses (good for up to 5 people). Room and facilities were clean and nice, but I will never try a Value again...not a fan of outdoor corridors (rolling suitcases are loud), thin sheets/towels/walls...and mostly the inconsiderate guests who loudly talk in the hallways late at night and early in the morning.

 

[SDTeaGirl]

Sounds like you experienced poor service (sounds very strange...never heard of such lack of service) and picked up a virus. I believe that the symptoms you listed typically only come from prolonged exposure to mold, not a few days.
You are coming in contact with soooo many people carrying soooo many germs at WDW, that is far more likely than a black mold infection.


Not sure either- but we had that room for 12 days. We just got sicker everyday we were there. I am not 100% sure it came from the mold- but it is very strange that we all got sick at the same time. When any kind of Mold especially like what we seen in our room- we should of been moved to another room -no questions asked.

It is just sad that this was our first time staying on property and get an experience like this- I don't like to make a big fuss, but was so surprised by the lack of service we got. I will have a hard time talking my family on going back to Disney because of this and how we were just ignored. Disney really needs to focus on the resort stay as much as they focus on the parks- Magic in parks but no Magic in Resorts!

 

[maxiesmom]

Here is the thing: What happened to you is not normal. In fact, it is very much NOT the way resort stays usually go. Disney does focus on their resorts. It sounds like #1 you got a lazy housekeeper and #2 you made the mistake of not going down to the desk and talking to a manager face to face about the issues you were having.

 

[LittleMissDisney]

Ewww, I'm sorry for you. Hope everyone is feeling better but from personal experience if it was an exposure to black mold you'll feel the symptoms for months after. We're going down to POP in July, I'll be able to tell right away if our room has mold in it (it will trigger an asthma attack-not fun but an excellent detector)

I agree with others, it doesn't help you much but for others who are reading. Not much can be done if you do nothing to address the situation.

 

[Hisgirl]

I'm so very sorry this happened.

While I'm not a doctor or a mold expert, we had a mold issue in a house recently and I did massive amounts of research, not to mention, my husband works for a very large company that makes household cleaners.

From what I have researched, sleeping in a room with mold that size should not have caused all of you to react that way. It sounds like you have picked up a respiratory virus, many of which are going around, which can indeed last several weeks. I'm sure with the proper care (and prayer ), you'll be right as rain soon.

However, if they did indeed bleach that spot, it will come back. Bleach can be used to 'bleach out' the area and remove the stain, but it does NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT, kill the mold. Mold is a spore and it needs to be squashed, killed and encapsulated. Some use a high concentrate hydrogen peroxide to do this. We use a chemical called concrobium. It encapsulates and kills and it won't come back.

I would hope WDW management would have the basic knowledge for dealing with mold and mildew, but causes me pause.

Next time, and I do hope you come back to onsite, stand firm, ask, "Do you have the authority to make this right. Right being...we are moved to another room or resort" and if they say no, you politely but firmly insist to speak to whomever does have the authority. Stand firm.

We've never seen that quality of care and I do hope you alert Disney to this. Any business, upon receiving a letter indicating sickness and possible doctor bills, will see it as a legal issue, and oftentimes will not respond or will be vaguely non committal. Then they wait for a letter from an attorney and proof this illness was their fault (not possible to prove most likely).

Again, so sorry and I hope you all feel better very soon.

 

[SDTeaGirl]

Ewww, I'm sorry for you. Hope everyone is feeling better but from personal experience if it was an exposure to black mold you'll feel the symptoms for months after. We're going down to POP in July, I'll be able to tell right away if our room has mold in it (it will trigger an asthma attack-not fun but an excellent detector)

I agree with others, it doesn't help you much but for others who are reading. Not much can be done if you do nothing to address the situation.

I did try to address the problem when down there- least I thought I was when calling- like I said first time ever staying on property- I assumed a phone call would of taken care of the problem. I just learned a huge lesson. To bad it cost us a lot of our vacation. I guess if Disney does not call or email me about the problem and address this issue we will take our money for the next vacation and go somewhere else. Sad to say that but last year we stayed offsite- Super 8 and got treated better and had better service for $30/night. I am just asking not to be ignored!

Thanks for all your advise- I didn't know there was a difference in calling verse going down to the front desk- I assumed I was talking to the front desk and the manager- didn't know I was talking to a call center! I didn't want to be one of those people that go down to the front desk and make a scene.

 

[SDTeaGirl]

I'm so very sorry this happened.

While I'm not a doctor or a mold expert, we had a mold issue in a house recently and I did massive amounts of research, not to mention, my husband works for a very large company that makes household cleaners.

From what I have researched, sleeping in a room with mold that size should not have caused all of you to react that way. It sounds like you have picked up a respiratory virus, many of which are going around, which can indeed last several weeks. I'm sure with the proper care (and prayer ), you'll be right as rain soon.

However, if they did indeed bleach that spot, it will come back. Bleach can be used to 'bleach out' the area and remove the stain, but it does NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT, kill the mold. Mold is a spore and it needs to be squashed, killed and encapsulated. Some use a high concentrate hydrogen peroxide to do this. We use a chemical called concrobium. It encapsulates and kills and it won't come back.

I would hope WDW management would have the basic knowledge for dealing with mold and mildew, but causes me pause.

Next time, and I do hope you come back to onsite, stand firm, ask, "Do you have the authority to make this right. Right being...we are moved to another room or resort" and if they say no, you politely but firmly insist to speak to whomever does have the authority. Stand firm.

We've never seen that quality of care and I do hope you alert Disney to this. Any business, upon receiving a letter indicating sickness and possible doctor bills, will see it as a legal issue, and oftentimes will not respond or will be vaguely non committal. Then they wait for a letter from an attorney and proof this illness was their fault (not possible to prove most likely).
Again, so sorry and I hope you all feel better very soon.

If we do ever stay on property again and if we come back we WILL stand firm if we have a problem.

Also I know I can not "prove" that the mold caused our sickness- And am just assuming it did- or didn't help matters. I just thought they would of helped us move to another room. I just want to let people know my experience and their thoughts on what happened to us.

I thank everyone for their input on my experience. I do hope Disney does respond to my email or call me (gave them my phone number in email to customer service) so I can talk to them about it.

 

[DebbieB]

We stayed From Dec 4-15 at POP- we got in our room and I noticed that there was a black "stain" on the floor by the edge of the sink. I was assuming it was just a stain and no big deal. Well 3-4 days later the "stain" was bigger than a basketball in size and was black on the outside and fuzzy whitish in the middle- I called and was telling them about this and they said they would have a manager come up to see it and to "fix" this problem. We waited over 1-2 hrs- I finally called back to say we had to leave to make a Dining Reservation. We got back and the room smelled like bleach and a lot of it. The "stain" was still kind of there yet. Well that stain I believe made us sick- my whole family (the 3 of us) all got sick and we started coughing and I have never coughed as hard as this before- we all were running a fever and could barely pick our heads off the bed for 2-3 days. We missed out on park days, tickets with left over days we didn't use because of being so sick, Dessert Party I prepaid for, Dining quick service meals that they would not let us turn into snacks( we didn't use because we were so sick), missed days of work when we finally got back home because we were still so sick, doctors visits. They (Disney) never let us change rooms, the housekeeping was so bad-beds never made- top sheet was bunched in ball sometimes thrown on floor- sometimes thrown on bed- weird dirty towels on bed, never taken out garbage for 4 days. Housekeeping even got worse after I called to complain- they finally took the bunched up top sheet and we only had 2 sheets per bed for the rest of our stay, plus the beds were never made after that either!

This was our first time Ever staying on Disney Property and second trip ever! -we are so disappointed in the lack of service and helping a guest out! We have been home now for almost 2 weeks and we still are coughing and not feeling the best.

I did email customer service about a week ago- but have not heard from them yet- I am assuming we are going to be ignored again.

I am not sure what to do with this horrible experience- Disney just ignored us!

What would you do in our situation? We really enjoyed the "magic" in the parks but with the horrible experience at the resort- we will probably not be back -unless Disney steps up and does not ignore us and the problem that we had.

Can someone help with their 2 cents?

Did you take pictures?

 

[Hisgirl]

You did what you thought was all you could do, at the time. You had no way of knowing they wouldn't hop to fixing things for you. It's truly shameful they didn't react strongly and move you. We have only experienced the utmost in mousekeeping at the resorts where we've stayed and I hope to only experience the same as we move forward. I hope this was just an awful exception that you will quickly recover from.

 

[SDTeaGirl]

Did you take pictures?

No- never thought of taking pictures- I guess I should of- just never thought about it at the time- I had to use my cell phone with the flashlight app to "see" if it was mold (was in a dark place). Oh well - I don't want this to "turn" into a something "ugly".

I am just dumb founded that Disney didn't do something for us (like move us to another room) when we called to complain about the mold and the housekeeping service- and I am totally surprised that the housekeeping didn't get better after we complained.

Sorry don't mean to go on and on about this experience- just so Surprised by what Happened to us.

 

[SDTeaGirl]

You did what you thought was all you could do, at the time. You had no way of knowing they wouldn't hop to fixing things for you. It's truly shameful they didn't react strongly and move you. We have only experienced the utmost in mousekeeping at the resorts where we've stayed and I hope to only experience the same as we move forward. I hope this was just an awful exception that you will quickly recover from.

I sure we will be fine- it just really "turned" us off of Disney and how we see it. In due time this will pass and we will forget how bad it actually was and go again- might take along time- but I am sure I will want to experience Disney again- I know we will NEVER stay at POP again though- just don't want that memory again surfacing.

 

[MommyJack]

Sounds like an awful experience, sorry this happened to you. I doubt, however, that you will receive anything but a vague apology from Disney now that your trip is over. If you had insisted on a new room, I think you may have gotten one along with a different housekeeper. Now that Disney has all your money and you really can't prove they caused your illness, I doubt there is anything they will do.

Just curious, what would you consider a satisfactory resolution?

 

[SDTeaGirl]

Sounds like an awful experience, sorry this happened to you. I doubt, however, that you will receive anything but a vague apology from Disney now that your trip is over. If you had insisted on a new room, I think you may have gotten one along with a different housekeeper. Now that Disney has all your money and you really can't prove they caused your illness, I doubt there is anything they will do.

Just curious, what would you consider a satisfactory resolution?[/QUOTE]

I really don't know- I would just like them to "respond" to my email and at least say a vague apology- I am really fine on Not getting Something ( money wise or something for my trouble) I just wanted to be recognized and not ignored (which to me this is how we felt) -We felt like they didn't care and we didn't matter which is totally opposite on what Disney portrays.

 

[winnie77]

I was down there about the same time same resort. I didn't have an issue with sick or anything like that however I will agree that the staff @ pop doesn't seem to care. I have stayed at other resorts on property and other resorts are so much friendlier and cleaner. I didn't feel the staff did a good job cleaning either. My issue with pop was a charging issue and I was up @ the front desk 4 times dealing with it. They never got things right and never did anything to try and make things better. (And I have had issues @other resorts and other resorts gave gone above and beyond to fix my issue and make things better). I too emailed disney when I got home. I got an automated reply at first but yesterday I got a call and spent about 25 minutes on the phone with them. They did seem to care and they are working to make things better for me. I will go back to disney but never will I stay @ pop again.

 

[DebbieB]

Sounds like an awful experience, sorry this happened to you. I doubt, however, that you will receive anything but a vague apology from Disney now that your trip is over. If you had insisted on a new room, I think you may have gotten one along with a different housekeeper. Now that Disney has all your money and you really can't prove they caused your illness, I doubt there is anything they will do.

Just curious, what would you consider a satisfactory resolution?[/

I really don't know- I would just like them to "respond" to my email and at least say a vague apology- I am really fine on Not getting Something ( money wise or something for my trouble) I just wanted to be recognized and not ignored (which to me this is how we felt) -We felt like they didn't care and we didn't matter which is totally opposite on what Disney portrays.

They are not going to apologize because that would be admitting guilt. Considering your illness claim, they are backing off because they are worried about being sued. Not that you want to do that, but that is their concern.