Pick a spot if you get separated and other disasters during Niece's trip

[DisneyWisher]

My DNiece24 just returned from her annual "its-Alex's-birthday-lets-go-to-Disney World-and-MVMCP". Horrible trip she says but I won't get into that now except for they went with their best friends and got separated from the husband of the other party within an hour of getting to MVMCP. Since the wife had the left the cellphone in her room they had no way of getting in contact with him. They finally found him 30 mins before leaving. If everyone would have a meeting spot in case they do get separated this problem will not happen. In front of the castle (everyone knows where the front of the castle is) or even the ice cream shop is a great spot. Needless to say it somewhat ruined MVMCP because instead of having fun they were looking for the husband.

Other things that ruined her trip
1. Room was not cleaned at ASMovies (crumbs on bed and gummy bears on bathroom floor)
2. Called and requested room be recleaned. Came back from MVMCP to find out bathroom door had been locked, wasn't opened til after 1am. Room still looked in disarray (me, I would have packed and demanded another room or resort)
3. They had Brakey-Brakey bus driver (you know the ones constantly stepping on the brake letting off and they braking again) Makes you nauseous besides they fact that if you are standing you feel like you are going to fall. Seems like its happening more and more.
4. This is basically because of number 3. They are just pulling into MK and my niece's 5 yr old gets sick on the bus. Well lets just says they started a domino effect. When they told the bus driver that they needed to stay on so they could go back to the resort to change their son's clothes, he told them they had to get off and wait for the next bus because he had to pick up a different resort (seems like he could have called someone and they would have assisted them, maybe by allowing him to continue back to their resort). They decide to heck with it we'll just buy him some clothes at the park but then the sky open and dropped a downpour on them (well at least his clothes are clean) LOL yes, I'm mean. Bus lines are packed now so DNiece skips to the front (all the while getting nasty glares) and explains to the bus driver what happened. He called a supervisor that has a van take my niece and her family back to the resort. (the only nice thing that happened the whole trip)

We did this exact same trip last year and had a ball. My niece's husband said "Ok. thats it. If Shirley (me) can't go with us we aren't going. I told her we are going this week for Sunday's MVMCP and if she wants to go lets do it. I told her to write several letters to Disney. Especially about the uncleaned room at ASMovies and because Housekeeping had to come back to reclean (which didn't happen) then bathroom door gets locked and having to wait til after 1am to get it opened. To me thats just not acceptable. Yes, it could have been an accident but why would the mousekeeper locked the door to begin with, there shouldn't be a reason to lock it, its not their room.

Hoping I have a better trip.

 

[wendy1974]

I hope that you have a much better trip too! One tip though, I would not plan in front of the castle as a meeting place. That has become one of the most crowded places in the park and with Cinderellabration running several times a day that could make it hard to find someone in the large crowd of people.

 

[DizBelle]

Have to rant a little....

If you want to be able to return to your resort on a moments notice, then you need to have your own transportation and not depend on WDW transportation. Providing transportation to everyone that needs to go back to their resort for a change of clothes would be extremely expensive. As far as I know, chauffeur service is not included in the room rate.

Disrupting the bus schedule and having the driver continue back to your resort rather than go to where he was scheduled to to pick up folks at a different resort would have really screwed up the system. They have the schedules for a reason. All those people that were at that other resort waiting for the bus would have had to wait until they could find another bus to come get them while the bus you were on took you back to your resort. All because someone needed a new shirt.

It's one thing if you are ill and need medical attention. Completely another if you soiled yourself and just need a change of clothes. Dealing with these things is part and parcel of being a parent. Either be prepared or deal with the inconvenience. Don't inconvenience hundreds of other people (yes hundreds would probably be inconvenienced due to one wayward bus) because of a little mishap in your group. I certainly wouldn't.

 

[Schmeck]

About #3 ~ So, the bus drivers shouldn't step on the brakes? There can be a lot of traffic at WDW, the exits are curvy, the bus routes are convoluted sometimes, and the people driving there in their own cars love to cut in front of buses.

In our many trips there, we never had a problem with a bus driver using the brakes...


About #4 ~ I'd glare too if someone cut everyone in line. What makes one person more important than others? Was the child so ill that they needed assistance? If that was so, the bus driver would not be the person to assist anyone. It was gracious of WDW to get a separate van. Hope your niece tipped the driver.

It sounds like your niece's family is extremely disorganized. Leaving the cell phone, getting separated, no meeting place, no change of clothing (does the kid get bus sick a lot?) no idea how to get alternative transportation, what to do in tricky situatins without inconveniencing many other people - are you sure you want to go to WDW with them?

 

[Sammie]

They probably want the OP to go to keep them organized.

I am sorry when anyone has a less than wonderful trip. However I do agree with some of the other comments, everyone needs to take responsiblity for making their own vacation be the vacation of their dreams.

Obviously housekeeping is having problems, shouldn't happen, but since it is I just can not understand anyone not dealing with it while there.

Definitely never set up a meeting place that everyone else is going to use or be overly crowded. This needs to be decided on just as soon as you arrive, so everyone is clear where the meeting place is.

As to the braking it's just getting more and more crowded on the roads at Disney making for more stopping.

 

[surfgirl]

DisneyWisher,
Sorry to hear they had a less-than-desirable trip.

If I had a child that had a tendency to be carsick, I would certainly carry extra clothes, but come on guys, let's show some compassion. A 5 yr. old kid 'gets' the concept of embarrassment and are typically trying extra hard to fit in. If somebody wanted to cut the line because for this reaon, I would be happy to let them. Just make sure they aren't behind you on the bus on the way home

 

[pampam]

There is wonderful assistence Guest services offers. If ever separated from your party, go to City Hall, or wherever guest services is located, and leave a message for your party. Let them know where you will be and when. All your party has to do is go to guest services and get the message. I find waiting in front of guest services is a better spot. It is less crowded than in front of the castle, and your party has to go there anyway to get the message.

 

[EjandMD]

I think the OP and dealing with the 5 year old is fine. I'm not a parent but I have a slew of Neices and Nephews and kids puke on a moments notice. We were out to breakfast a few weeks ago, Sunday morning, when out of the blue my nephew puked all over the table! Kids are kids and it happens. I certainly wouldn't carry and extra set of clothes with me becuase of this incident.

We're so quick to jump on everyone on this site. OP is just venting.

 

[vfb2girls]

Then there are parents like myself that do come prepared when we have a child who is prone to throwing up, I had a couple of sets of clothes for our daughter in our bag and as we got settled in one of the shows my daughter promptly needed to throw up and did so right into the bag with all of the clean clothes! So sometimes being prepared doesn't help! Of course this was when my daughter was three years old and is now 26 years old with a family of her own and we still like to kid her about her "puking experience!"

 

[DisneyWisher]

wendy1974- Thanks. For DD12 and I, our spot is to the left of the castle at bridge to Tomorrowland, close to where they take your pic (not the one directly in front of the castle)
lfontaine- yep, I needed to rant. I was just telling the story so someone could learn from my Niece's experience so it doesn't happen to them. Most of the time the bus drivers are heading back to the resort they just came from. They don't get their altered assignments til they are radioing in just as they enter the park's bus area (there have been a few times we've gotten the same driver on the same day). Seems though that maybe the bus should have been taken to be inspected to see if it needed cleaning.
Schmeck Sunday is our 8th trip this year (yep, I go a lot, they can't call me into work if I'm out of town hehe). We've been noticing that some of the bus drivers(some not all) are just not very good drivers. I'm curious if they ever have a supervisor or maybe mystery riders to check how they are driving. In May when returning from DTD, bus was packed and the driver kept braking til almost a complete stop, releasing brake, then braking again. People on the bus were starting to ask him to take it easy with the brakes. A poor tweenager fell, poor thing was so embarrassed. She said the van driver was even nice enough to take them to their building and yes, she took care of him but she said he refused it but her hubby dropped in on the front seat anyway. Maybe they are instructed not to accept tips. Niece is usually organized but the only time she does bring extra clothes is when going to AK (kali rapids) but now she knows better. The friend didn't bring the cell because she didn't want to worry about losing it, plus her hubby is maintenance supervisor and he gets called a lot even on vacation, she wanted to enjoy it, she shouldn't have chanced the fates.
SammieI agree, I told her she should have asked for a manager right away but from other threads on here this type of thing is getting more common, though thankfully I have yet to experience it.
PamPamGreat Idea!
vfb2girls, EjandMD, SurfgirlThanks for the kind words.

I just don't want anyone's trip ruined because of things like this. That is one of the reasons for this board is to help others.

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

One piece of advice the OP mentioned that is very important is pick a spot to meet up in case you get separated. We always meet in front of the tea cups. It is easy to get separated especially if you have a large group. We had 18 family members on a trip one time! And yes, we have had to use the "meet at the tea cup" strategy a few times. The only problem we had is when some members forgot to set their watches to FL time!!!! After waiting an hour on the rest of us, you can bet that they won't be quilty of that again!!

 

[bopper]

My older daughter is prone to throwing up, but we have never had a problem on a disney bus. But in other situations we don't bring a change of clothes, we bring a ziploc bag. Barf in the bag; you can seal it and then easily throw it away.

 

[pezpam]

On the cell phone issue, if I think people will be calling when I don't want (or need) to hear from them, I carry the phone, but leave it turned off. I can turn it on to make a call or if my group got separated and might be calling me right then. No reason to *tell* the office you have the phone. Shhhhh. ;-)

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Sorry about the not so hot trip. Thank you for the reminder to pick a meeting place!

For those mere mortals like myself, even the best laid plans can go awry, so tell your neice not to beat up on herself. I'm so surprised that the bus driver wasn't more helpful. Disney is well known for its excellent customer service. If the second bus driver called his supervisor then the first should have also.

The uncleaned room is inexcusable, a clean room is included with the room rate.

Thanks again for taking the time to let us know!!!