Ever Have a Dud Disney Vacation?

[SeiraB17]

Last May my brother and I went to Disney World and I'm sorry to say it was sort of a dud...I was so nervous to fly before we left that I was still sort of a wreck when I got there. There were a few really great days.

and then....my brother got tired (example: Me: "Hey do you wanna ride Splash Mountain?" My brother: How far away is it?"

....and then my brother got sick(he had only eaten cheeseburgers and drank sprite for an entire week:hurl....and we ended up spending the last day and a half in the Pop Century. Kinda lame way to spend the last day of your vacation.

Next time that boy is going eat healthy and drink water instead of sprite let me tell you:zipit: !

 

[SarahBella82]

I haven't had a dud vacation, persay. But my family did travel via Greyhound from Maine to Florida. Twice. Both times, I spent the vacation with anxiety about the trip back. It's somewhat difficult to fully enjoy a vacation with a knot in your stomach...

PS: I would never recommend Greyhound for that long a trip. It is complete and utter hell on earth. It is, however, fantastic for short jaunts, like Maine to Boston/NYC.

 

[tink81]

We've had dud days during our trips. I was coming down with a nasty cold during our trip in September, but I kept up and never complained. My BF, however, was in perfect health and decided to throw a tantrum our last night. Picure this: We are enjoying our last sit-down meal at Italy, and he says, "do you think we can make it to Fantasmic?" This is his all-time favorite thing at Disney and I love it as well, so I said sure. We get the bill at 7:45pm and bolt to the International Gateway to take the boat to MGM (Fantasmic goes off at 9:00) we barely catch the boat and calculate that we can just barely make it into MGM and we'll have to stand to see the show (no biggie). We stop at all the hotels and then finally the boat pulls into MGM we have like8 minutes to get into the park. So we get off the boat and I am prepared to sprint to the gate and he goes "just forget it, we'll never make it in time." WHAT?!?! I was soooo livid! We could have just finished our dinners and casually gotten on the monorail and gone to MK (it was EMH that night) but NO, we sprinted through the parks and spent the past 40 minutes on a frickin boat and now we were so close and he wanted to give up. UGH. We ended up just getting on a bus to go to MK. I was so irritated. What a way to spend our last night on vacation!

 

[Laura]

I've had 2 not so great vacations.

The first was in July 2004. We decided at the very last second to take our first family vacation to WDW right before our son turned 3..this way both our kids would get in the park free (ages 1 & almost 3). Well we got there and I was all hyped up on "Unofficial Guide to WDW" and touring plans. I had this strict schedule in my head that I felt that we needed to follow, and the schedule I planned was absolutely exhausting, and having the trip in the heat of mid-July just made it all that much worse. We were grumpy and miserable the whole time.

Then in December 2005 was another sub-par trip. Everything went wrong. I flew down alone with 2 kids (ages 2 and 4) and was to meet up with some extended family members who flew down from another state. They're flight ended up delayed so I got there way before them and had to manage the 2 kids and all of my luggage singlehandedly. Then Disney screwed up the reservation and put my room in the furthest away building, on the complete opposite end of the resort from the rest of my family so I was totally alone. Then I almost lost my stroller because I had forgotten to put Magical Express tags on it and was on the phone with Disney and the airline the whole first night trying to get the stroller back. Then my son ended up getting extremely sick for about 3 days of the trip. It was one bad thing after another!

 

[SnowFire]

This past summer, we drove from Eastern PA with three kids - ages 10, 7, and 2. We arrived late Sunday night. On Monday we went to MK all day, leaving the cell phone in the room since I didn't want anyone from work calling me. We had a great day, but returned to several messages on the cell and room phones. It turns out that my SIL (with whom my wife was very close) had died in an auto accident that morning. We spent the next several days trying to figure out what to do. Do we all head home? Does my wife head home alone? In the end we all stayed at Disney, but it was a hard decision.

I do have to say that everybody at Disney was amazing through the whole experience. They tried to locate us while we were in the park. Even though they were not able to, I know they made the effort since my parents said that Disney contacted them several times throughout the day to see if anyone at home had located us. The WL sent snack baskets for the kids. The WL manager spent at least an hour sitting with my wife so that she could have someone to talk to outside the immediate family. This same manager also repeatedly offerered to do anything to help.

 

[dave1105]

This past summer, we drove from Eastern PA with three kids - ages 10, 7, and 2. We arrived late Sunday night. On Monday we went to MK all day, leaving the cell phone in the room since I didn't want anyone from work calling me. We had a great day, but returned to several messages on the cell and room phones. It turns out that my SIL (with whom my wife was very close) had died in an auto accident that morning. We spent the next several days trying to figure out what to do. Do we all head home? Does my wife head home alone? In the end we all stayed at Disney, but it was a hard decision.

I do have to say that everybody at Disney was amazing through the whole experience. They tried to locate us while we were in the park. Even though they were not able to, I know they made the effort since my parents said that Disney contacted them several times throughout the day to see if anyone at home had located us. The WL sent snack baskets for the kids. The WL manager spent at least an hour sitting with my wife so that she could have someone to talk to outside the immediate family. This same manager also repeatedly offerered to do anything to help.

I can only imagine how tought a decision that was to make. Sorry for your loss. Glad to hear that Disney came thru for you and your family in a of need.

 

[Raven66]

We've never had a dud vacation, but a dud day here and there. In 2005, I got some sort of rash on my legs and it looked horrible. So I missed a day of touring because I felt sick to my stomach. After sleeping the day away I was all ready to go the next day. It turns out it was just something to do with the sun. In 2006, we flew in, checked in and headed right to the parks when I promptly came down with a horrible migraine. I was so sick and in pain. I didn't want to go back to the room tho. Luckily I remembered my meds and the all important pain killers. But because the headache started it sometimes takes a while for the meds to kick in, if they do at all. I wanted to kill my hubby that night because he felt the need to drag me all over the boardwalk, onto 2 buses and 3 boats. It was like sweet nector of the God's when I got to take that pain killer. :lookaroun That same trip my daughter (then 9) started running a temp while we were at Animal Kingdom. We headed back to the room at about 8:30 and she was asleep in no time.


Someone mentioned fighting. Well, my DH and I had a real nice one in Epcot. I love how people walk by you and pretend you aren't there screaming at each other and throwing out words no one should hear. I felt really bad, but there was no way I was apologizing. I don't remember what the fight was about, but I'm sure it was his fault. :ROFLOL:

 

[Cole'sMom]

I had a baby last July. I was on bedrest during my pregnancy from Feb 06 to June 06. We missed our yearly trip in May, so we planned on Sept. Our son was 10 weeks old, and it was just different. Going on the rides separately really made a big difference. It almost felt like we were there as two separate people. We had a good time, but it didn't feel like a vacation since having our son. It seemed as though we were away from our house for a week and we had to pack up everything. It was a big adjustment. No more park warriors for us! We loved having Cole along, my mom offered to wtch him for the week and we quickly declined. We are going back in May of this year. His second trip and he will be 10 months, so a bit different scenario and we are now pros at toting a child around everywhere. I guess we should enjoy having him with us all the time-when he is 15 he'll want to explore on his own!

 

[jooleejul]

The last time I went, it could have been a little better. We tried to do too much and wore ourselves out. My friend still kids me about that trip - he called me the "Disney World Nazi" because one particular day, I had made him get up early to do the parks and then stay up until 3am at MK cuz it was one of the extended hours nights! :lol: Looking back, no wonder he called me that, lol

Just give yourself time to relax!

 

[dave1105]

The last time I went, it could have been a little better. We tried to do too much and wore ourselves out. My friend still kids me about that trip - he called me the "Disney World Nazi" because one particular day, I had made him get up early to do the parks and then stay up until 3am at MK cuz it was one of the extended hours nights! :lol: Looking back, no wonder he called me that, lol

Just give yourself time to relax!

Hey there fellow Marylander! I can definately relate and have been called the same. Guess sometimes we can get carried away trying to pack too much into one day!

 

[Buzzforprez]

NO. DUH. INFINITY.

I had the most fun when my wife was pregnant with our son, just sitting on benches, listening to the music, taking in the sites and watching others enjoy thier time in the parks.

 

[Steamboat_Kevin]

I've never had a dud vacation, they've always been amazing as a whole.

I did, however, have one dud day last year. It was the day we went to Epcot and I had somehow gotten a cold/fever. I felt pretty bad all day, and worst of all I couldn't taste or smell anything It was horrible because I wasn't sure how long I'd be sick for. I took as much medicine as was possible without being dangerous and by the next day I was feeling fine!

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

I wouldn't really call this last trip a dud, but now that I'm home, I realize how much stuff I missed out on while waiting on dinner reservations ("Well, we really don't have time to get in any ride lines right now because our ADR is in an hour...what do we do in the meantime...."), and spending 1-2 hours on sit down dinners. Don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful time, and the Dining Plan is a really good deal and I enjoyed eating at restaurants that I never would have dreamed paying those kind of prices in , but I would really have to think about getting it again. Almost made the trip too structured...

 

[DukeEarthwalker]

Last time I was there (May '05) I had some kind of allergic reaction to a new sunscreen for about 4 days. Didn't get any sleep at all, but I had to gut it out though since it was my girlfriend's first trip.

The improptu WDWMagic gathering with WannabeBelle, JPVonDrake and their gang certainly helped improve the week .

 

[SallyShine]

Last spring break:

day 1 AWESOME
day 2 son #2 sick
day 3 son #1 sick
day 4 mom sick
day 5 son #1 sick again (off the back of the boat going to Ft. Wilderness)
day 6 dad sick

And when i say sick, i mean :hurl: Son #3 never got sick. He was probably the one that gave it to the rest of us. Luckily, the kids are old enough we could leave them to sleep while the rest of us tried to make the best of it. We were really glad we were in a cabin and had extra room.

 

[Simba1]

The last two times my family has visited, my mom has come down with strep throat. She never gets it. She hates flying so I think it's stress induced if that's possible! That's been the only negative thing that's happened.

 

[George]

The last two times my family has visited, my mom has come down with strep throat. She never gets it. She hates flying so I think it's stress induced if that's possible! That's been the only negative thing that's happened.

Very possible it was stress induced. I worry about getting sick right before or on vacation and have met other people who are the same. I actually work out and take extra good care of myself starting about 2 months before a vacation. I could actually compete in the Olympics if I had a vacation looming all year!

 

[Sadiebird]

Our son was 10 weeks old, and it was just different. Going on the rides separately really made a big difference. It almost felt like we were there as two separate people. We had a good time, but it didn't feel like a vacation since having our son. It seemed as though we were away from our house for a week and we had to pack up everything. It was a big adjustment. No more park warriors for us! We loved having Cole along, my mom offered to wtch him for the week and we quickly declined. We are going back in May of this year. His second trip and he will be 10 months, so a bit different scenario and we are now pros at toting a child around everywhere. I guess we should enjoy having him with us all the time-when he is 15 he'll want to explore on his own!

Oh boy, can I relate to that. My husband and I had gone to WDW together about 8 or 9 times before our son was born, so we had it down pat. Get up early, go on all the big rides first. We would be done with each park by 11:00. Now everything takes twice as long because we have to ride on the rides separately and it's certainly not as much fun when you're all by yourself. Our first trip with our son wasn't too bad because we were there 11 days and my Mom joined us for the last 4 days so we got to ride a ton of things together. Plus I was still nursing my son because he was only 5 months old, so I didn't have to pack bottles or baby food. The second trip with him was another story. We were there 6 days all by ourselves and I had to tote around bottles and baby food everywhere. And that was the trip where he didn't sleep and we were all in one room. We all had to go to bed at 7:30 every night!

Anyway, this trip he'll be eating all table food and if he doesn't sleep I'm just going to let him sleep with us. And we're staying in a suite, so we can put him to bed and stay up in the other room if we want to. Plus I've tried to plan for us to go mostly on rides that he can go on as well.

But I can't wait until he's 53 inches!!!!

 

[DisneyMusician2]

Has anyone actually had a bad vacation caused by Disney or the Disney crowd? Most of these stories (including my own) are mostly sickness or some "act of god" kind of event.

 

[Cole'sMom]

I have never had a bad vacation caused by Disney or CM. We have had nothing but positive experiences with Disney. That's why we keep going back!