Is There a Rainy Day Ticket Policy for Illness?

[G24T]

As the title says. If a family member such as a child is severely ill, will the resort offer rainy day tickets?

I'm asking because last Friday evening, right after the fireworks, my family and I unintentionally ended up following a large group of people who had a very very sick 12-15 year old with them. This kid was so sick he had vomited in the 45 minute queue for IASW and nobody from his group notified a CM (nor did any of the other guests nearby for that matter). I ended up flagging the greeter CM and facilities showed up in about 10 minutes to clean it.

After we got off IASW we were on our way to catch the train back to Main Street when we came across a pool of vomit in the path between IASW and Toontown Depot there was a guest standing by it telling others to watch out who, when I asked him, said he had a CM calling into facilities. The train was about to depart but the CM let us on.

On the way to Tomorrowland station I smelled vomit and wouldn't you know it, in the seats across from us (side facing cars) there was a kid with his head in his lap puking in the passenger car with one of his party members massaging his back. Again.. nobody from that party even made an effort to alert the CM. Again, I flagged the CM at Tomorrowland station while I and other guests were switching cars to avoid the smell. For whatever reason the train departed without a visit from facilities.

Upon exiting at Main Street station I noticed two facilities CM's rushing to the puke car and the group, with kid in tow, leaving down the station exit heading towards the Emporium. The kid was noticeably dizzy and a member of his party had to hold him tightly to keep him from falling. My wife who is a registered nurse kindly informed a female member of their party that their child may be severely dehydrated and may have the flu. She also informed as to where the first aid office is. Before my wife could finish the lady pleaded to her that they had no choice but to go because Disney wouldn't refund or replace their tickets and that they couldn't afford to have him go to the hospital. Eventually my wife convinced them to go to first aid and we walked with them because they weren't sure where to go. At first aid we learned that this was a family from Arizona that had traveled here practically on their last dime, that their dad had just been laid off, and thus this kid had no health insurance. Fortunately the nurses there assuredly said that they would be able to treat the dehydration there as it "happens all the time" in their words.

While we were glad that the situation worked out OK we were not very happy to spend the holidays with a stomach virus. I'm not sure if the lady we talked to mentioned the whole "Disney didn't credit or refund us" as a cop out to any negligence on their part or if this really happened. All I know is that if it did go down this way then I'm pretty mad that the resort would put the health of other guests at risk.

[KellyMcG86]

While that is awful, even if the whole background story is not true it's no fun to be that sick (or have to care for someone that sick) on vacation, I don't see it as Disneyland's responsibility to refund their ticket.

Yes, it would be great customer service, but it's not the industry standard (that I'm aware of). I don't think a hotel will give you an extra night free if you're sick during your stay, etc.

Also, I don't see it being very feasible. Would they give free admission to everyone in the party? What if there's ten people in the group? I could see this being abused, unfortunately.

Really, the parents are at fault for forcing their child to stay, and hence exposing other guests to the illness. I feel bad for them, but that's rather selfish on their part.

[swampymarsh]

There is no such policy, but speaking with guest services can certainly help.

[Malina]

It's done in other industries. I personally saw it happen numerous times at Broadway shows I was involved with and those have a strict "no refund" policy on paper. It was done in situations where patrons had very serious and very obviously legitimate extenuating circumstances.

In the cases I witnessed: several were patrons who showed up, shall we say, three sheets to the wind. The manager intercepted them in the lobby before they could even sit down and told them to come back when they were "feeling better." No, there was absolutely no obligation for the theater to past-date intoxicated people, but in doing so, they ensured that the rest of the audience wouldn't have to put up with them.

I also saw it done in several cases where people had injuries or illnesses - in one case where someone fainted and in another where they slipped, fell and had to be taken away in an ambulance, off the top of my head.

The person got a "past dated" ticket and instructions on how to come back on another night on a space-available basis.

One could always say there's the potential for abuse - what's to stop someone from coming to City Hall at 9pm and saying "oh, I'm sick, give me my money back" - but if it's an unofficial policy and it's reserved for cases like this where someone is very clearly ill or injured, I don't think it would hurt.

[KellyMcG86]

Certainly in a slip and fall situation - usually they're trying to pacify and prevent legal issues. And again, I do think for certain situations it is doing a service to not just the ill customer, but others around them.

However what would you do for large parties?

I don't think this should be a policy, but I do think that it should be an option that managers could offer at their discretion.

[KellyMcG86]

And my apologies for being incorrect on whether or not it is a standard in other industries, as I said I was speculating. Although, I am talking more about destination vacation sites moreso than a play or something that people don't generally travel to attend. I have fortunately not had to deal with a situation like this, so I am in no way trying to say that I have any authority in this.

[Malina]

Certainly in a slip and fall situation - usually they're trying to pacify and prevent legal issues. And again, I do think for certain situations it is doing a service to not just the ill customer, but others around them.

However what would you do for large parties?

I don't think this should be a policy, but I do think that it should be an option that managers could offer at their discretion.

True, good point.

I have no idea what they would do in large group situations - I certainly saw them past-date groups of 3 and 4 but I never saw more than that. If you had a larger group at Disney they might need to say that they'll past date two or four, but no more than that.

I agree with you 100% - it shouldn't be a policy known to the public but it should be an option managers can use if they feel it's warranted.

Maybe in this case, with the sick child, a CM could have come up to the parents and told them "you know, we can have you come back tomorrow or another day, if it would help." That way the kid wouldn't have been sick all over the park - better for him, surely, and those around him, too.

No apologies needed, debate is good!

[KellyMcG86]

Maybe in this case, with the sick child, a CM could have come up to the parents and told them "you know, we can have you come back tomorrow or another day, if it would help." That way the kid wouldn't have been sick all over the park - better for him, surely, and those around him, too.

Friendly debate like this is good (and refreshing!) Haha

I still can't believe the parents forced him to stay in the park being that sick. It's one thing if they get sick after a ride, but he was obviously sick with a virus or something more long term. Poor kid. Perhaps if a CM had come up and made an offer like you said it would have gotten them to take him home and let him recover.

I just hope I never have to go through that!

[Westsider]

There's no rainy day refund policy when it actually rains, and there's no "rainy day" refund policy when a child gets sick. If Disneyland started giving out free tickets for every upchuck on the train and every headache and skinned knee there would be no end to the people demanding their money back or free tickets to return "when fill-in-the-blank is feeling better". In this case it's the parents responsibility to take care of their child. It's more than enough for Disneyland to offer free nursing care and medical advice to those Guests who are ill while on property and self-report to First Aid. The parents of this child bear the entire responsibility, even if the father was just laid off in this recovering economy that is getting better every day and they felt it was wise to spend their last dime on a trip to Disneyland.

[Malcon10t]

We have had Disney extend a ticket of someone who was ill. However, let's say Johnny's family is here with a 3 day ticket, staying in a hotel 2 nights, and it is everything they had. If Disney did extend their tickets a day, what about food and hotel for that extra day.

I'm sorry, but if my child had been that ill, we would have left. It's my call as a parent, and staying would be wrong.

[Disneytwins]

They have no obligation to do anything, but you could go to Guest Services and explain. They could help you in terms of guest courtesy.

[BlackWidowBride]

As much as I would have LOVED to get an extra day, I knew that I couldn't. I got sick the last day of 5 days (and now, hearing about your story, maybe I DIDN'T get food poisoning and maybe it was the stomach flu) and lucky, while I got sick at the hotel, I still felt sick the last day there. We spent only a short amount of time in the park and I just couldn't handle it, so I don't know how a child could. This must be something going around because the last night we were there, my husband said that a mom was holding her child and he vomited all over the back of her...and they ran out of the Emporium super fast. Again, as much as I wish I could have received an extra day for being sick, I knew it wasn't possible and I just had to stay back at the hotel

[fifthrider]

As a kid, I was sick all the time. About one day out of every 2 weeks I would turn pale white and go on a vomiting tirade while doctors said they had no clue what was causing it. One day my mom took me to Universal Studios. We were only an hour into the park when I got hit with another episode. Despite the money she spent ( and we were B-R-O-K-E in a big way back then ) to give us this one fun day in the park, she did the right thing and drove me all the way back to my bed in San Diego so I could sleep it off.

So let me get this straight... I know they spent a lot of money on this trip but when given the choice between their child's health and a day in Disneyland that made WHAT choice?

Health =/> Day in theme park

As a parent who forked out hundreds for that day, I'd be pissed but wouldn't blame the kid. Imagine the scenario where the child's issue gets complicated to the point of hospitalization, or worse. You'd make the newspapers as the parents who killed your kid by forcing them to enjoy Disneyland while seriously ill.

[DrFink]

I have been sick at Disneyland before and while it is no fun there really isn't anything you can do about it. Illness is a risk you take whenever you take a vacation anywhere. I don't see how it should be Disney's responsibility to give someone an additional day in the park due to something that it out of everyone's control.

With this specific situation I blame the parents. If my child was that sick I would have tried to handle things a little differently than walking them around the park letting them puke everywhere and get severely dehydrated.

[bee1000]

Regardless of Disney's or any other corporation's policies, you could buy travel insurance. I don't know how useful it is, but it does exist.

Hindsight is 20/20 (especially when talking about someone else's decisions!), but I'd much rather "waste" my last $500 and stay home than spend $500 and go through a day at Disneyland with someone sicker with anything worse than a cold.