Travel horror stories - let's hear 'em

[ErinInCT]

You know you've had one...the guy who snored next to you on the autotrain...the flight that was cancelled...the 3 hr traffic standstill when you had to go to the bathroom...
Please give me your horror stories on your way to/from WDW. I want to be prepared for a worst case scenario!!!
:space:

 

[dansyr]

This was about 5 years ago....
My dance students decided they wanted to do a competition at wdw. We booked through a tour company that was affiliated with the competition. They booked our rooms, flights, tickets, etc.
Well they booked us on Kiwi airlines. Little did we know, Kiwi was going out of business. Our flight was schedule for 7:00 am the day before the competition. We arrived at the airport and they said it was delayed until 9:30...ok no biggie. Well....here begins the ordeal. Our flight kept being delayed with no idea of when we would actually take off. After many hours of waiting we finally boarderd the plane at around 8:00 pm. After sitting on the plane for about 20 min...they told us there were problems and we would have to get off. About 45 min later they told us ...we may not be able to fly out tonite. Now I have a bunch of teen girls crying because they worked their behinds off for the last 9 mos for this trip. Finally after all the emotional and mental trials of the day ....we finally leave at around 11pm. I think we actually got into our rooms by 3am. Our first dance was originally scheduled at 8 am the next morning. Thankfully it all turned our alright in the end. They rearranged the schedule so we could dance later and the girls came home with several awards/

 

[AZKathy]

This happened on the way home from WDW in 1999. We were flying SWA and I was stupid then to lap sit my 23 month old for the trip. Let me tell you, that was soooooo dumb! Hindsite better than foresite.

Anyhoo, she decided she wanted this one seat and she had her very first temper tantrum right then and there on the airplane since she could not have "that seat" and had to sit on me or her daddy. She was ticked and she screamed all the way home except for an hour or so when she fell asleep. We had a nonstop trip this flight. It was a flight from hades!

Then, to top it off, our house sitter got the date we were returning wrong and she went home three days prior to our arrival home. The problem was that we had two huskies and a cat left in the home without any way to get outside for three days. We came home to a royal stinking mess. They used our bed as a potty spot (had to replace the whole thing) and of course, they chose NOT to use the tile which covered 60% of the floors for anything, so the carpet was totally ruined. Insurance would not pay to have it replaced since they had a clause that said any damage done by domestic animals is not covered. Terrible. I cried and cried and cried.<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4_2_4.gif' border=0></a>

That was our terrible trip home!

 

[safetymom]

I was flying back to Orlando from a business trip several weeks ago when one of the engines on the plane failed. This was on a small 50 seat plane.

Everyone wondered what was going on when the flight attendant said we were going to land after we were up in the air about 20 mins.

When we were coming in for a landing the runway was lined with fire trucks and ambulances. When we touched down the pilot announced that he had been trained to fly with only one engine if that mattered. It would have been nice if they had made some sort of announcement while we were in the air. The engine when it died made a terrible sound.

We ended up spending the night and flew out the next day to Orlando. I was glad to get back to Orlando.

 

[ckj]

Christmas eve traveling solo, I was on my way to Kansas, with a stop-over in st. louis, plane was late getting out of providence due to storms. Got stuck in st. louis with about 100 other people for the night.

Nothing like spending that holiday sleeping in the airport.
It was 2 am before they started offering hotel rooms to us and since the next flight out was 7 am a bunch of us just camped out in the terminal.

 

[CAP Aircrew]

This not a DISNEY related travel horror story but it is worth mentioning none the less.

I was on a business trip from Providence to Dallas as my home office is based in Dallas. When I arrived there, my boss joked and told me that I should extend my visit by at least one more day because the east coast was getting hit with some pretty heavy snow. I, of course promised my wife, that this would be a quick overnighter and that I would be home the next day.

So meeting ends and I confirm my flight back to Providence before heading out to airport. All systems seem go as the airports on the east coast are still open. My flight was not direct as I had to connect through Washington DC. I board the plane to DC and with the exception of a very bumpy flight and last minute "go around" at Washington DC, all was going according to plan.

It was snowing in DC and very windy but the airport remained open. I had 1.5 hours to kill before my next flight so I went to grab a bite to eat. Heading back to the gate, I see that the flight is cancelled to Providence. I'm not panicking yet because there is another one a couple of hours later. The gate agent switches me to that flight and I'm off to stroll around the airport for a few more hours.

Once again I check in only to find out that this flight too is now cancelled. The one remaining flight is at 9:20pm which could still get me home before midnight provided all goes well. You see, I promised my wife I'd be home before midnight and I was making every effort to do so.

I tried to get on that 9:20pm flight but it was booked solid. The best the agent could do was 9:20pm the following day! I refused to accept that and begged her to check with other airlines. She did and again the best she could do was an AM flight back to Pittsburgh and then on to Providence arriving some time later that morning.

So I resigned myself to sleeping in the terminal that night as I was unable to secure even a hotel room. I called my wife and broke the news to her. After that, I located a gate area that was quiet and sat down.

This was when I got to thinking. "Hey, I could go to Boston instead and take the Commuter Train home from there. Then I could just pick up my car in Providence the next day!"

So I jump up from my seat and check the monitor. Boston is still open and there are two flights heading there. I race to the gate and the agent confirms there is space and is able to transfer my ticket. I call my wife to give her the good news and I'm thinking to myself WOW, this cool, I'm actually going to make it. In hindsight, I realized I was suffering from a severe case of "get home itis.

I board the plane only to be held up with a thousand other flights trying to take off. Once airborne, I'm also greeted with the news that we are going to hold over Providence for about an hour as Boston was getting socked with snow at this point. I kept looking out at the wing and seeing all the snow flying by and saying to myself that this is NOT good. I also kept thinking if the pilot could just drop it down in Providence, then I could pick up my car and be on my way.

We finally get cleared to land at Logan and it was some landing. We practically slid sideways down the runway as there was so much snow.

The airplane was a regional jet so I disembarked right onto the tarmac and into foot of snow! That's no fun when you are in a business suit and shoes!

So now I'm back in Boston, it's snowing to beat the band and I still need to get to the commuter train to head home. The airport is across the harbor from the train station (South Station) and I had planned on taking the 10 minute ferry the runs all the time. I should add that it runs all the time unless it is snowing like crazy and the waves are bigger than the boat! Suffice it to say the ferry was not running that night.

Okay, Plan B. I jump on the bus to the subway and take the blue line to the orange line to the red line. Three different subways to get to South Station. It worked too! However I was just a little too late to catch the second to last train heading to my hometown! I call my wife to give her the bad news and tell her I can still make it home as the last train should get me home around 11:45pm (still before midnight!).

I have an hour to kill before the next train and I haven't eaten since I can remember so I go in search of something to eat. Nothing! The station's pretty much dead except for us poor souls waiting for the last train.

Finally the call comes and I board the train. The weather was so bad that the train had trouble making the trip and at one point had back down a portion of the track.

But alas, I finally make it and the time is 11:58pm! It's still snowing to beat the band and there must be 18 inches of snow on the ground now. My wife is at the train station waiting for me and my kids are fast asleep at home (my neighbor came over to watch them).

I kept my promise of getting home before midnight but it was truly a scene out of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles".

Next time, I'm going to take that extra day in Dallas and enjoy myself!

 

[clkelley]

On a Thanksgiving Trip to WDW in 2002 we foolishly were driving home the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

We had driven to Ocala late Saturday night and stayed in the Super 8. It was a lifesaver that we had.

We left the Super 8 in Ocala about 9am Sunday morning. Traffic was heavy but moving smoothly about 60 miles an hour. However, once we hit the Georgia border and the lanes dropped down to two each way, our speed dropped to 20 MPH!!!!!

We drove from the Georgia border all the way to Atlanta on I-75 at 20 MPH!!

When we got to Atlanta, we got over to I-20 and was able to go about 40 MPH.

We were finally able to go the speed limit once we reached the Alabama border.

It took us 13 HOURS to get from Ocala to Huntsville, AL!! It normally only takes 10 1/2 hours to get from Disney to Huntsville.

In addition, I had a winey teenage son that wanted to see his girlfriend!!!! I finally told him to shut up, or he would have to ride in the other car with his dad and Uncle (He doesn't like his Uncle very much, plus dad won't let them listen to their music in the car).

Then, when we got home, we had to break into the house cause we had taken extra keys off of our key rings to lighten the load and we took off the house keys and had locked the inside garage door which we normally don't do.

I shudder to think how long it would have taken if we had stayed at WDW that last night!!

I saw on the news the next day that 55,000 travelers were on the road the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Well most of them were on I-75 North in Florida and Georgia!!!!!

Carol

 

[Jen D]

Another holiday in the airport story. We were flying US Air, LGA to Cincinnati,through Pittsburgh on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, yeah, the worst travel day of the year. Got stuck in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile my dd (5) is sick and on penicillin-- she's pretty hardy until the drugs wear off, and then she has to be revivied with Motrin. The flight was going out about 8:30pm. We were stuck in the terminal for hours waiting for them to fix the plane. At about 11pm I came and asked them if they could please put us on a flight the next morning and we'd get a hotel, because my daughter was sick, but they refused and said the next flight wasn't until the next afternoon. And we'd have to pay for the hotel.

At 12:30am they cancelled the flight. At 1:30am they finally came out and announced they'd schedule a new flight for 6am, and said they'd get us hotel vouchers. By the time the vouchers came, it was almost 2am and we'd have to be back at the airport in under three hours. We decided to stick it out in the terminal, which turned out to be a terrible decision-- always take the vouchers. Get out of the airport! We had a terrible night, the kid was sick, it was miserable.

The next morning flight ended up being delayed and didn't leave until 7!

I felt bad when we got to Cincinnati, I was supposed to help my sister, who had newborn twins, with making dinner but I had to sleep so I let my parents help instead.

We always drive now to see them at Thanksgiving.

 

[TaraPA]

We spent September 9-16th, 2001 in WDW...all was well until obviously the morning of September 11th - we were waiting in the Indiana Jones show at MGM & the show was delayed but no one knew why. Then a chipper cast member comes out & announces that due to the events going on in the world the park was being evacuated immediately. 99% of the audience laughed - we really thought this was part of the show! A few people had heard about what was going on & we all realized she was serious. WDW was closing! After the chaos of getting out & back to the hotel (All Sports) we had to spend the day between the very crowded pool (hotel was full to capacity & parks were closed) & CNN in the room. The one bright thing was that the following day, the 12th, there was record low attendance for MK because people were scrambling to get home - we almost had the park to ourselves! The fun didn't last long, Tropical Storm Gabrielle was on her way - and hit HARD on the 13th & 14th. We were advised on the 13th not to go to the parks even though they were open. We decided to stay put, it was horrendous weather - torrential rain all day & 60 mph winds. So another day spent in the room! We did venture out to the parks on the 14th in the rain, not fun with a 1-year old and 4-year old. By this day we just wanted to go home but there were still no flights out, so we were stuck (along with everyone else). We finally did get out on the 16th...not a very nice day to be flying - only the 2nd day that commercial flights were operating since 9/11....but we survived along with everyone else...it just sticks out in my mind as a horrible trip!

 

[sugermouse]

THIS TOPS THEM ALL!!!


It was last sunday, and we were at MCO. Our flight was to ATL where we would switch planes to SFO. We got on the Orlando plane, and it began to lighting a little. So we sat at the gate... for and hour.

The captain came on and told us that we were clear to take off, but that they couldn't push us back from the ramp because it is metal, and if lighting were to strike it, the guy controling it could die.

Finally we left and flew through the storm and arrived in ATL. After immediate touchdown we sat next to the runway for 15 minutes thanks to airport congestion. Atlanta is the busiest airport in america and it is huge!

We pulled up to gate A24 and tried to scurry our way off the 767. We checked the time and we had 7 minutes to get all the way to D33!!! We took the subway and ran to the gate as fast as possible.

We asked if we made it, and someone said they thought so. Then the gate manager said, "Well the cabin door needs to be closed now, so nope, you missed it." It was 7pm now.

We were up on standby for an 8:30 flight to SFO. We didn't get a seat on that one. We had to walk down to a desk, and my dad started talking to a Delta rep. He said the next SFO flight is at 8 am. And since it was weather related why we missed the plane, they wouldn't pay for our hotel.My dad argued with the man, and he said that if we didn't leave, we would be arested!

We payed $100 to sleep in a bed that night. What a way to end your Disney Vacation. Delta used to be such a great airline. Don't fly them.

But when we arived in SFO our bags had made it on the flight we missed, which meant that is was not the weather's fault that we missed the plane... Making them responisible. We are working on getting our money back right now.

 

[kaylarachelpooh]

It was our daughter's first trip to Disney. She was 22 months old. We were so excited. We were flying out of Portland, Maine on US Airways. My husband and I booked tickets for ourselves and we thought we would just let her sit on our lap. A few days after buying our tickets, we decided to go ahead and purchase her a ticket anyways..........better safe than sorry. When I called US Airways, I told them I already had 2 tickets purchased and wanted to purchase another one for my almost 2 year old. For some reason, I don't know why, the rep misunderstood me. When I called the day before to confirm our flight, they said they had my daughter's ticket but my husband's and mine had been cancelled. There were no seats left together on the flight. I raised holy hell and they upgraded us to first class.

We arrive at the airport for a 7:00 a.m. flight. We see the pilot sitting in the cockpit reading the paper. This cannot be good. At 6:30, they annouce there was something wrong with the plane and they were waiting for maintenance to come. Our luggage was already on the plane. At 7:00, they cancel the flight. We were able to jump on another flight and they still put us in first class. Great trip down.........first time my daughter had flown......loving this. Our luggage made it to our hotel later. The first day we hit MK and the second we go to Sea World. Half way through touring Sea World, my daughter starts acting fussy. It was really hot so we decide to go back to the hotel and let her nap and be in the cool, air-conditioned room. She naps for a couple of hours, wakes, sits up in bed and says "Hi Daddy" and proceeds to throw up all over the bed. After 3 hours of non-stop puking, we call the hotel desk and ask if there is a doctor on call. They send us to this clinic where we waited and waited. Meantime, she's throwing up all over the place. We finally get seen, and there is nothing wrong with her. No ear infection, (which was what I was afraid of) no anything. We had to pay cash as they wouldn't accept our insurance card. No big deal, I'll deal with it when I get home.

We finally get her back to the hotel and she seems to be keeping water down but nothing else. We hang out the next day in the room and try to go to the pool a few times. She just slept most of the day.

The 2 days when she was feeling better, it rained. We just wanted to come home. All flights were booked, so we had to wait it out. We finally head to the airport for our departure flight. They can put us back in first class for the first portion of the flight, but once we hit Philadelphia, we have to go back to coach. We take off and no sooner do we take off, she wants to sit in my lap. She throws up all over me and the little Barney doll she's carrying. The flight attendant was only able to get me a few towels to clean her and myself up. My husband is sitting across from us and my daughter only wants me. We land in Philly and I sit there in puke drenched clothes for 2 hours. We get on the plane in Philly to head back to Portland, Maine and we are in the 3rd to last row of the plane..............full plane. She cried from the moment we left Philly until the time we landed in Portland where she puked again just as we touched down. We were the travelers from hell! My parents picked us up and it was a very quiet ride home as we were all mad.

We didn't try flying again until she was over 5. We went 3 years ago and she did great along with her little sister. We are going again in November. Pray for us.

 

[Mikelly1221]

Sugermouse, your story sounds a bit like ours. (WARNING: LONG POST!)

I had scheduled a 2 hr layover in ATL from Asheville, NC, because we were travelling with a 2 year old and I knew he needed some leg stretching time. Well, because of mechanical problems, by the time we finally left Asheville, my 2 hour layover had turned into 30 minutes. Add sitting on the runway waiting to pull into our gate for 20 minutes and our layover is now 10 minutes and we had to run across the airport (no small feat in Atlanta) to get to our gate. Well, we get there, due to an equipment change, our seats had totally been rearranged and our son (mind you, 2 years old) was in seat 13a and my DH & I's seats were in the 30 something range, totally in another cabin. When I told the people at the gate, they were rude, yelled at me, and finally said "See if the flight attendants will help you". I was in a panic and almost in tears talking to the flight attendant (who switched us so I was sitting with DS). Imagine being pefectly fine sitting a 2 year old clear across the plane away from his parents. It still makes me so mad thinking about it, and this was 3 years ago. That was Delta.

Another Delta story: flying from Asheville to ATL (I should just drive there!) the very rude and wrong flight attendant wouldn't let me use DS car seat because it was a "booster seat". Actually it was a seat that has straps in it until the child is 30 lbs. and then the straps can come out and it becomes a full fledged booster seat. While the straps are in, it is FAA approved and says so. This jerk yelled at me in front of all the passengers, brought the seat to the captain of the plane, and told me that the captain would not take off unless the seat was taken away from me. I was so embarassed and DS cried and fought me the whole flight.

I have 2 FF tickets for Delta. I plan on using them and never flying them again-their customer service has gone down the tubes.

 

[Mikelly1221]

kaylarachel WOW!! That trip sounds so awful!! Hopefully you can look back now and laugh????? Or cry????

 

[Harligirl]

Hi all

This starts out bad but ends up good

It was December of last year and as I sat around dwelling on the fact we decided to skip our Disney vacation this year (what was I thinking??), I just flat out asked my DH if we could go for a couple days...Surprisingly, he agreed! So, I quickly made our reservations for hotel and air..... So happy! We surprised the kids with little boxes filled with Disney items for Christmas...

Okay, here it comes...our trip was planned for Jan 3 to the 6. We get to Providence airport and go to check in. The guy at the baggage says- oh, you dont leave until Jan 6....Oh man- I was beginning to freak- I checked the paper and in the midst of my happy booking, somehow the airline had us booked to leave Jan 6 and return Jan 6!! Not completely panicking but getting there- We went to the ticket counter. Due to high travel volume with the holidays the man said things were looking bad. Best he could do was have one of us travel alone at 9:00am and the other 3 travel at 2:00. So, now I am wondering- do I travel by myself or travel with the kids??? Ugh- so stressed at this point.

Then the man said, "Well, we can put you on stand by for the 9:00 flight for all of you, but chances are slim you could make it" So, we go to the gate and wait. and wait. Every person coming in we were scanning- it was a long wait! But thankfully, we made it on! They were missing exactly 4 people! What are the odds!! But, then we get on the plane- completly full mind you and all the seats are spread out. I have a very sensitive 6 yr old and this is his first flying trip he remembers. Things are not looking good!! The look on his face was just pure panic. Thankfully, a nice man switched seats with us so he could sit with me. God Bless him!!

So, after the morning disaster, we ended up getting there one hour late!! It was a wonderful trip though- Now I learned to check and recheck everything!!

 

[kaylarachelpooh]

Originally posted by Mikelly1221
kaylarachel WOW!! That trip sounds so awful!! Hopefully you can look back now and laugh????? Or cry????

Yes, thankfully, we can laugh now. Live and learn. And carry an extra set of clothes as carryons! We had to put her Barney doll in a plastic bag and I tossed it up in the overhead bin. I think I threw the whole thing away when we got home and bought her another one!

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

I have never had many problems with Delta. Always have had nice flight crew and good customer serivce. I am a gold medallion with Delta so that might have somthing to with it. Sorry some of you had such a bad time.

Matt

 

[jiggerj]

After much anticipation and planning for our first trip to AKL we arrived at the airport to find that we are delayed. No big deal right this happens all the time. Im still ok at this point "Hey i'm still going to Disney just a few extra hours later" We finally get on (dont even remember how long we were delayed...) but when we get in our seats my dd about 11 at the time looks over across the row at me and asks me "Is this supposed to do this" Shes pointing to the inside window that was hanging off! I freak and call the flight attendent who goes VERY pale and brings back masking tape! Delays I can deal with windows falling off... NOT! To make what could be an extremely long post on the rest of the vacation from you know where I will end it with I was given total vouchers for all of us. Check those windows and this was on SW!!

 

[ErinInCT]

Well, I have definately learned to check my tickets to make sure I have the right ones! I will also bring a change of shirts for me & dh (as well as the ones I always bring for the kids) in our carry on. Nothing I can do about airline delays. Trust me, I wanted to drive, I feel like I have a bit more control, but 2 hrs in a plane vs 2 days driving - well, you do the math!!!!

 

[hawt1]

Okay, I'll throw mine in here.

Was September 2001 and I was on a business trip to Arizona. Left my pregnant (about 7 months) wife and two year old at home (just ouside of Toronto) for the week.

Woke up on the morning of my flight home (11th) and turned on TV just in time to see second plane hit the towers. Tried to get a phone line to call home to tell them that I might be delayed but could not get line out for awhile. In the meantime, my wife and parents could not remember when my flight was leaving and thought that I may have been on a plane.

Eventually got thru and told them I was okay and would let them know when I would be home.

Now, take this with a grain of salt but, at the time, the last place that I, a Canadian, wanted to be during the days after Sept 11th was the US. In fact, all of us just wanted to get back across the border. Several friends drove up the coast to Vancouver just to get out of the States.

We chose to stay at the resort and wait for flights. That lasted for 5 extra days when we eventually found a rental vehicle and headed to Denver or it might have been Dallas (I just know that we found a confirmed flight that would head in the right general direction and headed out.

Would have felt better if I was single, better if wife was not pregnant, better if I was stranded outside of US...

In perspective, I was one of the lucky ones on Sept 11th but probably my worst travel experience just the same.

 

[ChisJo]

My BF won a trip to the Phillippines and asked me to go along with her in May 2003. The travel agent that was helping us didn't really know much about the trip, but was very helpful about the country itself. We decided to stay in Milan (had options to stay in resort area islands). We asked for transportation to and from our 5star hotel. We were so excited.
Well, we get to the Phillippines and the air was putrid! I could not believe how polluted the country was. It was 4 am when we arrived and the traffic was 10 times worse than rush hour on a Friday afternoon. We asked our driver why the road was so bad, and he said it was always like that. They turned 3 lane highways into 5 lane highways with no identifyable lanes. We were absolutely terrified. The driver was really nice, but told us that we should never walk or go anywhere by ourselves because of all the pick-pockets everywhere, and because we were white Canadian females.
Anyways, throughout the trip, we were trying to enjoy ourselves, but the words of the driver always were in our heads, so we were always looking over our shoulders. I kept my credit card in my bra! My BF and me started fighting half-way through the trip about everything, then on the last day, after a trip from hell and just wanting to get the hell home, we get to the incredibly crowded airport and the agent says to us that our tickets are stand-by tickets only. Because they were won and they were free tickets, the ones who paid had priority. We were shocked, because the TA never said anything about this, at all! We were 3 hours early for the flight and we just sat there crying, the whole time. She wanted to get home to her kids and husband, and I just wanted to get away from her (she is still my BF, by the way). We had all the airport management coming up to us and trying to calm us down, we had residents telling us that we could live with them until the next plane flew to Canada (3 days later), the pilot came over and tried to say a couple nice words. It was awful. We just wanted to leave. We couldn't even call home because there wasn't even a pay phone around. Anyways, there were about 11 people on stand-by, and they announced that there were only 2 seats left - and they surprisingly gave them to us! But, the plane was leaving in 20 minutes, and we had to still check our bags in, go through security, etc. Needless to say, we made it. But on the plane, there was a child sitting behind me that was screaming and kicking the seat for the first 3 hours (11 hour flight) but at that point, I was just happy to get on the plane.
Sorry this is so long, I really could have added so much more.
Jo