RE: Getting sick in Disney - doctors etc

[lisaross]

Just wanted to know, if you or anyone gets sick with a fever/sore throat etc - i understand that there is a doctor whom is on call at Disney Resorts - is this correct? does anyone know how long it actually takes to see the dr - hours ??????? also does this dr. take Insurance? and if you need antibiotic does the doctor get it for you or do you then have to find a pharmacy to fill it?

What about at the clinics?


Just wanted to know all the facts - hoping my family does not get sick while we are down there, but like to know my different options - and fastest way to see dr and get better if need be.

thanx for the info.

Lisa

 

[Harvest02]

My husband got a bad sore throat and swollen glands when we were at Disney in June. We were staying at the ASMo. He stayed in the room while I took the kids to AK. He called me while I was out and said he talked to someone at the front desk, and they got him free transportation to a care center just off property. It was called Florida Hospital Centra Care. They got him there quickly, he saw the doctor, and they had the pharmacy right in the Centra Care building. We have Blue Shield of California PPO, so ours was just an office co-pay. We have to file the prescription claim ourselves, but that should be covered as well. I was very concerned about medical care if we needed it also, but my fears were taken away after my husbands experience. NO SWEAT!!!!

 

[youbegoofy]

This just happened to us two weeks ago! My daughter and I woke up on our second day with conjunctivitis, and I wanted to get eyedrops going right away.

We were staying at OKW, and the front desk directed us to call the local walk-in clinic, affiliated with Celebration Hospital. They sent a van and picked us up right in front of our room, took us to the clinic, total time there was only about an hour, then the van took us to Walgreens, waited while our prescriptions got filled, and then asked us where we wanted to be dropped off! We asked for Downtown Disney, where we hooked up with DH and other DD, and proceeded to enjoy the rest of our day. Never got charged directly for the van, although it may have been part of the co-pay charged by the clinic ($45). All in all, I was extremely pleased with this service.

 

[J&J]

I got sick called the front desk for a Doctor. I paid with a credit card if I remember right around $120 for the visit. In about one hour a doctor and a nurse came. They thought I had a callapse lungs so off I went in an ambulance. After some test Disney picked us up and we reutrn to the hotel. Our trip was me in the room for the rest of the trip. The only problem I had was that the hotel wouldn not give me a late check out until we called m,any times. Our insurance paid for the hospital bill doctor had to be paid in cash or a credit card.

 

[dtuleya]

My husband got deathly sick with food poisoning on our last visit. Called the WL front desk and they were totally unhelpful. Looked up a doc-in-a-box by ourselves and got DH some much needed treatment since we were flying home that day. The only time I've found that Disney didn't bend over backwords to offer assistance.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Has anyone used the travel insurance that comes with a Disney package when you needed a doctor? If so, did the coverage go smoothly?

 

[sbsteel]

I became ill with swollen glands and a sore throat on my first trip to OKW on our second day there. I stopped by the front desk and they were so sympathetic - they first made sure I didn't need an ambulance and then told me I could have a doctor sent to the room or they could give me directions to the nearest clinic. Because it was 8pm, the only thing open was the emergency room at the Celebration Hospital. I drove myself there (thanks to her great directions), was seen promptly by a doctor, and sent to a nearby Walgreens to fill my prescription. Both the hospital and Walgreens took my insurance with no questions - Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO for the visit and Express Scripts for the medicine.

As odd as it may sound, it was easier being sick on vacation than at home. If I was at home, I would've ignored it until I couldn't any longer, then taken time off work to see the doctor, and never fully rested like they recommend because there is always something to do when you're home. I was able to nip my strep throat in the bud, fully relax for a day without any distractions, and was back on my feet within 24 hours.

 

[cgcw]

Two different trips, two different children, two trips to Centra Care.


Both were handled quickly and the kids were on their way with the antibiotics they needed very quickly.

I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Most charges were covered by our insurance.

 

[dgaston]

Slightly off topic.
DH passed out -- most likely orthostatic hypotension (sudden drop in blood pressure with standing up) and broke his fall with the left side of his face at the entrance to Boardwalk. Disney people were great. The Valet folks called 911, they got (scared) lifeguards up from the pools who attempted to assess the emergency, and Reedy Creek ambulance was there in 10 minutes. We were transported to Celebration Hospital, and I was checked into the Boardwalk by the powers that be, and given a # to call when I needed to come back. DH ended up spending 3 days 2 nights between Celebration, and Florida Orlando Hospital while the docs ruled out any cardiac problems. Having had a terrible emergency at WDW, I know that you will be given good care.

This happened on 7/2, and DH's vision will be forever compromised in his left eye. His blood pressure meds have been greatly reduced, but we will really never know why he passed out.

Even with bad things happening at the Happiest Place on Earth, the WDW staff is magical.

 

[Corryn]

Gosh....some of these stories made me cringe...collapsed lung, compromised eye.....It's nice to hear that everything was taken care of, except the food poisoning situation

On our last trip, I had something going on, I didn't know what, though. At first I thought it was a wisdom tooth coming in, then I thought it was strept throat. One of my friends had a prescription for antibiotics, so I took those. Even after taking them for three days it didn't help at all.
One morning when we first entered MGM I felt so much pain, so I walked into the nurse's office there. They suggested that I take the "limo" to the medical center, but I wasn't sure if they would accept my health insurance (and the nurses didn't know either) and I didn't want to pay cash (we were going on the Disney Cruise the next day) so I sucked it up. I was miserable. I wound up having a really bad ear infection due to swimmer's ear. I never get ear infections!

After reading these posts, I won't be so apprehensive about going in for the care I need. There's also a similar post on the DCL board which also described many different health insurance policies being accepted.
It would be very nice if the health centers located in the parks had a listing of all the health insurance policies that were accepted at the nearby medi-centers. It could even be a listing on their computers where it could be constantly updated.
Just my opinion.....

 

[dznygurl]

You could also bring along your doctor's phone number and call his/her office if you become sick. If it's just a sore throat or ear pain, they can call in antibiotics over the phone to the Walgreens...We had to do this for my DS2 on our trip a few months ago. He always suffers with sore throats and ear infections. On our second to last day, he started running fever and could barely swallow his juice. I called his doctor and within an hour, she had called in medication for me to pick up at Walgreens. By the early afternoon he was munching on chicken nuggets and feeling great!

 

[lisaross]

I didn't know a dr. out of state could prescribe a medicine!

Where is the Walgreens located?

thanx for all the information

lisa

 

[dmonroe]

We've also needed medical care while at WDW. Ds #2 (6 mos. at the time!) became sick on his first trip. It was in the evening and the staff at Boardwalk was really helpful. Gave us phone numbers and directions to a clinic. We decided on having the DR. come to our room. He was great--very thorough. Ds had a double ear infection, and he called in some meds to be delivered to the front desk the next morning. (We had stuff for pain already!) The visit was about $200, but we filed it on our ins. when we got home! I was really pleased with the way everything was handled!

 

[Corryn]

You could also bring along your doctor's phone number and call his/her office if you become sick. If it's just a sore throat or ear pain, they can call in antibiotics over the phone to the Walgreens...We had to do this for my DS2 on our trip a few months ago. He always suffers with sore throats and ear infections. On our second to last day, he started running fever and could barely swallow his juice. I called his doctor and within an hour, she had called in medication for me to pick up at Walgreens. By the early afternoon he was munching on chicken nuggets and feeling great!

I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT!!!! I am definitely going to do that, THANKS!!!

 

[bellenbuzz]

Travelling with 4 kids come November. I feel much better knowing that ear infections etc..... can be taken care of........Thanks for all your tips & comments, it eases my mind....

 

[Ted and Holly]

I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT!!!! I am definitely going to do that, THANKS!!!

Don't count on this. Many doctors will do this differently. Some may insist that they actually see the patient (like mine). Some may not return your call... like mine (recently, not all the time).

 

[frayedend]

On our last trip, I had something going on, I didn't know what, though. At first I thought it was a wisdom tooth coming in, then I thought it was strept throat. One of my friends had a prescription for antibiotics, so I took those. Even after taking them for three days it didn't help at all.

QUOTE]


Okay, I know this is off topic but PLEASE Folks don't take antibiotics that aren't prescribed. And if they are, make sure you finish them even if you feel better. First of all, not all antibiotics work with all bacterial infections (they do absolutely nothing for viral infections). Secondly, if they do start to kill off the bacteria but you don't clear the infection, the doctor's tests will probably come back negative because you were taking antibiotics. They won't be able to figure out what you have. Thirdly, taking antibiotics that aren't effective and don't kill all the bacteria helps lead to antibiotic resistance (that's why a lot of antibiotics don't work so well anymore, the bacteria learn to survive with them). And lastly, antibiotics work by interfering with the life cycle of bacteria (usually they just can't reproduce). So you may feel better but still have a slight infection. If you don't finish the antibiotic regime then the infection will start to grow again and you'll get sick again or get others sick.

Sorry this is OT, but I feel strongly that people need to know these things.

 

[Heather]

Like cgcw, we have two kids who have had to go to the Urgent Care center THREE times while at WDW -- two ear infections and a bronchitis. As the above posters have said, the shuttle picks you up, takes you there (two of the three times we hardly had any wait at all -- total time away from the hotel less than 2 hours), brings you back. We got the prescriptions filled at Walgreens once and right on site another time (don't remember the third one).

Now, OUR insurance did NOT cover it, but it was still worth the approx $100 plus meds (which did take our insurance card) to get the kids taken care of quickly and efficiently, and to not have them or us lose too much "vacation time". One parent went with the child while the other stayed with the other child (or in one case, I took dd while other dd stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and went to Fantasmic). Really a good system, I have to say. We also have some friends who used the "in-house" doctor who comes to the hotel room (this was a few years ago) and they were very pleased with that service as well, for people who are so sick/can't leave the room.

Hope no one needs it, but glad to know it is there!

 

[nealpads]

I didn't realize that the front desk would help so much. After what happened our last trip, we decided to get information on care centers nearby.

On our last trip, while at Downtown Disney, I began having horrible pains that felt like my ribs were being squeezed. The pain was so intense that I starting throwing up--how embarrassing at Downtown Disney!

We went back to our Wilderness Lodge Villa and the pain stayed for 3 hours. I thought maybe I was having a heart attack. My DH took me to the Celebration Hospital where I paid $150.00 copay and the doctor there told me that it was probably just gas!!!! I knew she was wrong, but the pain went away on its own later. It came back 2 days later, but not as intense.

After going home, 3 friends diagnosed my problem and so did my own doctor. After a sonogram proved them right, I had to have my gallbladder removed. I was VERY disappointed that my friends at home could diagnose me and the ER doctor couldn't.

Janelle

 

[fantasia4]

Hi,

We were just in Disney at the pofq and our son had an allergic reaction to antibiotics. The hotel gave me the name of Turners Pharmacy which I gave to our pedi md back home. They called in a new prescription and some aveeno. Turner's delivered it to the hotel within an one hour. We can submit the bill to our insurance company.

The hotel also gave us the phone number to the on call MD if we want our son looked at.

I was really pleased with the fast service.