Sick at Disney

[Major Minor]

Who has used the housecall doctor services, local urgent care or even Celebration Hospital?

I've exhaustively researched our trip but the one remaining uninvestigated contingency plan is medical issues. I always like to have things like this figured out before the issue comes up with the sincere hope we won't need it. My kids are 4 & 7 and we won't have a car. A taxi to an urgent care is surely an option but if I can spend a few extra $$ to make it easier on the sick kid, I'm all for it.

There seem to be several medical care options that will send a doc to your room. Doctors on Call Service & The Medical Concierge are the two that come up in my research. I'm not seeing many online reviews of any of them. Anybody have a preference?

 

[NedsTJ]

Ok, so we had our little guy (18mos) wake up feeling lethargic and a little warm during our last trip (Dec '14). Ugh. We were staying at the Grand Floridian, and called the front desk. They recommended Centra Care in Lake Beuna vista. They offer a free shuttle service to and from your hotel. I called at 9am, and by 10am we were at their facility on South Apopka rd. Excellent care. I highly recommend them. Luckily we did - it turned out he had the flu, poor guy. But since it was within 12 hrs of symptoms first showing up, the Tamiflu worked wonders and he was almost back to normal by the next day.

The only downside was while I was able to use the shuttle to get there, I had to take a cab back as I needed to pickup a prescription. I could have taxi'd from there to the Walgreens and back, then the shuttle, but I just used the taxi.

 

[Marthasor]

We used Doctors on Call a few years back when we were staying at VWL and my DS, who had been anxiously playing with his lip the whole trip, ended up with a very, painful staph infection on his upper lip. The doctor was wonderful, treated my son and then arranged to have his prescription sent to the resort. It was so much easier than having to go to an urgent care center!

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I needed an xray in 2012 and went to Celebration Hospital. They were very nice and treated me appropriately, but they were S L O W. I would avoid it if you have an option. We had a car that trip, so transportation wasn't an issue.

 

[aaarcher86]

We always get one barfer each trip. Usually the youngest.

This year I had the pleasure of being bitten by a spider and needed to go to the urgent care! So fun! Not only did I get to see how much weight I'd gained in the few days we'd been there, but I was also out on antibiotics that made me swell up like a balloon!

The urgent care has free transportation and there is a medication delivery service you can use that'll come to the resort and charge to the room.

 

[mamabunny]

I'm a lot like the OP - I *have* to be ready for anything whenever we travel!

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about Doctor on Demand. It's really cool - you use your phone or tablet to set up a "FaceTime" like connection with a (real) licensed doctor (in the state you are in) and the visits can go as long as 15 minutes for a flat $40 fee.

They have an app for iOS devices, and I'm pretty sure they have an Android app as well. You can also use your laptop/desktop via the website doctorondemand.com

It's basically telemedicine on the go. For "simple" stuff where you might call your doctor's office at home, it's great. As an added bonus, because the doctor you will use is licensed in the state you are in, they can call in prescriptions to local pharmacies - meaning you can skip Concentra (and the $320 charge) if it's just tummy ache or something simple.

They also have support services for breastfeeding moms, and mental health services too (for a slightly higher fee)

I specifically reached out to them recently (via Twitter) and asked them if they have Doctors in Florida now, and they do. So, I have the app loaded on my iPhone and iPad.

If you watch their Twitter feed, they often have a "coupon" for half off.

Just FYI! I have no affiliation with them at all.

 

[lisski76]

Who has used the housecall doctor services, local urgent care or even Celebration Hospital?

I've exhaustively researched our trip but the one remaining uninvestigated contingency plan is medical issues. I always like to have things like this figured out before the issue comes up with the sincere hope we won't need it. My kids are 4 & 7 and we won't have a car. A taxi to an urgent care is surely an option but if I can spend a few extra $$ to make it easier on the sick kid, I'm all for it.

There seem to be several medical care options that will send a doc to your room. Doctors on Call Service & The Medical Concierge are the two that come up in my research. I'm not seeing many online reviews of any of them. Anybody have a preference?

We had a Dr come to our room. He did a thorough check of DD and even had meds on hand so we didn't need to get to a pharmacy.. Plus, when I submitted the bill to insurance, I got 100% back.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm a lot like the OP - I *have* to be ready for anything whenever we travel!

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about Doctor on Demand. It's really cool - you use your phone or tablet to set up a "FaceTime" like connection with a (real) licensed doctor (in the state you are in) and the visits can go as long as 15 minutes for a flat $40 fee.

They have an app for iOS devices, and I'm pretty sure they have an Android app as well. You can also use your laptop/desktop via the website doctorondemand.com

It's basically telemedicine on the go. For "simple" stuff where you might call your doctor's office at home, it's great. As an added bonus, because the doctor you will use is licensed in the state you are in, they can call in prescriptions to local pharmacies - meaning you can skip Concentra (and the $320 charge) if it's just tummy ache or something simple.

They also have support services for breastfeeding moms, and mental health services too (for a slightly higher fee)

I specifically reached out to them recently (via Twitter) and asked them if they have Doctors in Florida now, and they do. So, I have the app loaded on my iPhone and iPad.

If you watch their Twitter feed, they often have a "coupon" for half off.

Just FYI! I have no affiliation with them at all.

Thanks for this! It sounds like something that come in handy here at home too!

 

[DISNEYFOS]

I dislocated and fractured my toe while at Disney. (caught my pinkie toe on a sleeper chair in the room). I was traveling with extended family but without my husband. two kids under age of 5. We were at the Contemporary. Called the front desk and they arranged for me and my mom to take the shuttle to the urgent care center, while my cousin/aunt watched my kids. Doctor reset my toe and provided me with a boot. I called a local scooter company, they delivered one to my room and they picked it up at the end of the trip. I was impressed with the efficiency of it all...

 

[puffkin]

I dislocated and fractured my toe while at Disney. (caught my pinkie toe on a sleeper chair in the room). I was traveling with extended family but without my husband. two kids under age of 5. We were at the Contemporary. Called the front desk and they arranged for me and my mom to take the shuttle to the urgent care center, while my cousin/aunt watched my kids. Doctor reset my toe and provided me with a boot. I called a local scooter company, they delivered one to my room and they picked it up at the end of the trip. I was impressed with the efficiency of it all...

I cracked my toe on that same type of chair at the Contemporary! I didn't go to get it checked out as I have broken toes in the past, but it was very painful, swollen, and black and blue for the rest of that trip!

We have used the CVS Minute Clinic on 192 near AKL several times. It is a very short cab ride or drive if you are on that side of property and you can get your prescription filled right there.

 

[HopperFan]

Well .............. our experience has been completely negative. DD is there on DCP.

1) Everyone at work was getting sick with strep throat. She went to the CentraCare Urgent Care (connected to FL Hospital) outside DTD for a strep test. They were insisting on a $400 deposit and told her to be prepared for a $4000 bill for all her tests. What tests? She needed one. I think they saw good insurance and planned to milk her. She even called me from there and I asked questions and they verified these charges. I told her they were out of their minds and leave. She went a couple blocks up to Walgreens Clinic who saw her immediately, gave her a strep test which was positive, medicine, instructions on care and the final out of pocket for us was $60 (her bill was $130.)

2) She almost passed out at work. It was not an emergency. Her bosses made her take an ambulance to Celebration Florida Hospital. We are currently having a huge problem with them and their $7000 bill. They refuse to send me itemized billing saying they are one of 250 hospitals in the nation acknowledged by medicare to offer lump sum charges. We know she had CT scan, a couple draws of blood, IV liquid and urine test. Otherwise she sat around for hours alone doing nothing. Take out the CT and it was actually less care than a standard physical. Their final paperwork actually states they suggest surgery - they found nothing wrong with her..... We've been through something similar with DS who ended up staying for days at big name hospital with many tests and his charge was barely over this. They are totally ripping us off. And that doesn't include all the lab and doctor bills flooding in. Now trying to get insurance company to assist.

Just an FYI to ask questions, know what they are doing at all times, ask for copies of everything before you leave. I believe they see TOURIST dollars and start padding the bill.

Walgreens Clinic as well can handle many issues http://www.walgreens.com/adaptive/storelocator/storeDetails.jsp?dt=1.95&requestType=&stnum=4164

 

[DISNEYFOS]

I cracked my toe on that same type of chair at the Contemporary! I didn't go to get it checked out as I have broken toes in the past, but it was very painful, swollen, and black and blue for the rest of that trip!

We have used the CVS Minute Clinic on 192 near AKL several times. It is a very short cab ride or drive if you are on that side of property and you can get your prescription filled right there.

Too funny!! It was a massive chair... My toe was pointing sideways..definitely couldn't ignore it.

 

[Disney before Sally]

Will Walgreens clinic or CVS minute clinic see an emergency for allergies?

 

[porterbl1]

My teenage daughter ate a cheddar bacon biscuit that I had baked for our drive down.... A week later. She got food poisoning. At the time we thought it was a virus. I called the doctor on call just wanting an anti nauseau medicine. The doctor was not nice. He was almost like a robot. He ignored everything I said, and just kept demanding answers to very specific questions. It was almost like he had to get exact questions answered for legal purposes. He had no bedside manner, and would hear of nothing except her going to Celebration hospital. I did not like him at all.

They sent a free ambulance to take us to the hospital. She threw up on the sidewalk at POR while strapped into the gurney. They gave her a zofran. We were at Celebration for like 4 hours. It was awful. They gave her iv fluids and more zofran. They gave us the prescriptions, and sent us home in a taxi that they reimbursed us for.

POR called the prescriptions in and we picked them up later. This all happened the day after the 24 hour party that my daughter and I had stayed up for, so we each had a few hours sleep. Not fun. Overall I was happy with WDW's handling. I didn't like the almost $900 oop bill from the hospital though. Apparently my insurance doesn't cover much out of network.

 

[HopperFan]

Will Walgreens clinic or CVS minute clinic see an emergency for allergies?

Looks like it -
http://www.walgreens.com/topic/pharmacy/healthcare-clinic/our-services.jsp?ban=hcchp_seasonalill

 

[Figmentmommy]

We used the Walgreens outside of Downtown Disney this past trip for my son's bad sore throat. They were very nice and thorough and were not crowded at all. Since we had a car getting there was not an issue. We were able to get all meds right away. Many years ago we used an in-room doctor visit which was linked to a major urgent care clinic in the area. We first went to the clinic and it was riduculously crowded. Since they didn't take our insurance either way they recommended we go back to our Disney hotel and they would send a doctor. This only took about 45 minutes and the doctor was very nice. That visit was $200. A little expensive but with a 4 & 2 year old it was worth not waiting in the clinic.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We've been to CentraCare a few times for various ailments. We always have a car so we just drive over there. My husband passed out after a Disney race (ToT 10 Miler) right outside the park and Reedy Creek FD took him and me to Celebration Hospital in an ambulance. Then Disney paid for a cab to bring us back to our resort after he was released. You can usually just check with the front desk (talk to them in person, not over the phone) and they will assist you if you need medical assistance. CentraCare did not take our BC/BS directly (I don't think they take anything), but they provided the forms for us to submit to our insurance. Any emergencies that you need EMTs and Reedy Creek FD will respond.

 

[DisneyGal24]

We had a great experience with Centra Care. DH had a cyst on his back become infected and had to get it lanced and packed. Turner Drugs delivered his prescriptions after the resort faxed them over. I wouldn't have know about these options if I hadn't read about them on the DIS. You can actually get online and make an appointment with them. They will provide transportation as well.