It is possible to have a bad day at Disney…

While Walt Disney World vacations are designed to be – – and often are – – incredibly happy occasions, that’s not always the case. We asked our readers to share their WORST Walt Disney World vacation stories, and these are some of the wildest responses we got!

Till Disney Do Us Part?

Reader Jil shared a somewhat devastating story about her (ex) husband, telling us “I took my (then) husband to Disney for our anniversary, and he demanded a divorce on the first or second night of the trip — definitely not how I wanted the trip to be.”

Ouch.

However, she went on to tell us that a couple of years later she made a much happier Disney World memory. “On the flip side, I learned that I have a half-sister in 2017. We both love Disney. I was planning a solo trip to Disney World in 2018, and she asked if she could join me. Our first face-to-face was in front of our resort as she got off the Magical Express!”

Emergency!

Several readers responded with stories of medical emergencies that took place on their vacation. One of whom, Cheryl, shared this story of her son, “Day one of our Disney vacation and we were at Hollywood Studios. My 14yo son had been complaining of stomach pain most of the day, unusual for him because he’s not one to complain, so I got him some Pepto thinking it was something he’d eaten. Pain continued to worsen, and my son was now hanging onto my shoulders because standing upright hurt. Suddenly I just knew – appendix! We headed straight to guest relations, they bring us back to the nurse, and 10 minutes later we’re in an ambulance on our way to Celebration Hospital for a CT scan. After some tests, another ambulance took us to Orlando Children’s hospital, and two hours later he was being wheeled into the OR for an emergency appendectomy. That’s a vacation we’ll never forget!”

Irreplaceable

While not as serious as a medical emergency, reader Sonya shared a story of misplacing an irreplaceable heirloom. He explained, “I lost my engagement ring on the Buzz Lightyear ride 3 years ago. I’m still upset. We’ve been married 40 years now. All I have left is my wedding band.”

Not-So-Magical Luggage Mishap

There are many, including us, who miss the ease and convenience of Disney’s Magical Express transporting guests and their luggage to and from Orlando International Airport to their Disney hotel. However, as reader Regina explained, the service wasn’t always magical. “Flew in for a 10 day stay. This was 11 years ago. Luggage was magically brought to your room from the bus so after checking in at the front desk we went straight to the park. Returning to our room at 11:00 pm, there was luggage in our room….just not ours! It took multiple phone calls to the front desk and searches to find our luggage. An hour later they said the bellhop would be bringing it right up. Knock on door. Bellhop was there to pick up the wrong luggage but did not have ours. I said “No way you get this luggage until you bring me mine.” I was pretty frazzled by that point. Bellhop left and returned 10 minutes later with our luggage and we gave him the other luggage. I have always wondered why he came to collect the other and not bring ours. Have been several times since but we just drive there and we know where our luggage is. Not that they have any magical way to get either people or luggage from the airport anymore.”

Lookout Below

Reader Michael shared a rather gross story about dealing with Walt Disney World wildlife. “Was there with my first wife. Not sure if we were married yet, engaged, or just dating, but we got to the entrance area. I went to use the restroom at the entrance gates, and as I was returning to the entrance gate, three birds bombed me. I tried to jump out of the way of their “missiles”, but I got hit. Back to the restroom to clean up.”

And people wonder why they don’t have real birds in the Tiki Room.

Be Wary Staying Off-Property

There are definitely some benefits to staying off-property when visiting Walt Disney World. However, it’s important to keep in mind when planning your trip’s itinerary that it adds travel time. As reader John explained, “2019 we stayed at a ‘Virgin recommended’ hotel with free transport to Disney. Not only was the hotel the worst ever in history but the free shuttle didn’t pick us up till 90 mins after the park opened which meant we would have missed our early fast passes. So across the two week we was there we spent over $400 on uber just so we could get to our fast passes.”

Anxiety Attack

Reader Minta shared a story of an anxiety attack she suffered, which was in-turn compounded by a transportation breakdown. “Long story short I had an anxiety attack that was showing signs it would go into a full panic soon while at EPCOT. my husband and I quickly hopped on the skyliner to get back to our resort (Pop), but it was one of the few times I’ve had the skyliner “break down” on me mid-flight. We were stopped for 20 minutes in the air while I tried every breathing technique I know, all while the other couple we didn’t know in the cabin tried making conversation. When I finally calmed down later I felt so bad because that couple must have thought I was so rude, but I was really incapable of making small talk.”

Mother Nature Strikes

As reader Tasha told us, a storm wreaked havoc with her family’s Disney Cruise. She explained in part, “Had my Disney cruise get canceled cause of Hurricane Dorian. It was like 2 hours of rain. Literally nothing worth canceling. So my family was stranded in Orlando for 5 days until the land portion of my land and sea trip kicked in. And Disney was going to take 3 business days to refund our cruise money. So after talking to a million managers on the phone and raising absolute hell with them all, I finally got our family rooms at Pop Century for base pricing of like $30 a night. They also gave us meal vouchers for the whole family of 2 quick service a day and 2 days of park tickets for everyone.”

Food Poisoning

So.Much.Food.Poisoning.

Conservatively, more than half of the answers from our readers described incidents of food poisoning that destroyed their vacations.

These are just a sampling of the worst Disney World experiences that our readers shared with us. Stay tuned to DFB for further examples of YOUR Disney observations.

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What’s your worst experience at Walt Disney World? Let us know in the comments below.