For most people, going to Disney World is a dream come true! The sights and sounds alone are pretty dreamy (the Polynesian Resort’s ambient music is SO relaxing!), not to mention the heavenly desserts and treats you can indulge in during your vacation. But just like every rose has its thorns, not every Disney vacation is perfect!
Disney World is a dream come true!
If you’ve ever seen Fantasmic! in Disney World, what we’re about to talk about is pretty much the real-life equivalent to the scene where Mickey’s dream turns into a nightmare. That’s right, we’re talking about our readers’ biggest Disney World NIGHTMARES!
We asked our readers over on Facebook a simple question: “What’s the biggest NIGHTMARE you’ve experienced in Disney World?“ Our readers did NOT disappoint with their responses!
Now THAT is a nightmare, or should we say “nightCHAIR”
We received THOUSANDS of responses to our question, so we broke down the answers into (rather unfortunate) categories.
Health Scares
When it comes to situations in Disney World, most minor problems or inconveniences can be fixed. But health issues are a much larger (and scarier!) problem — especially when you’re on vacation and far from home! We had quite a few reader responses involving health scares, like one reader who said,
“Staying in the beach club the night before leaving early next morning on a Disney cruise to find out your 11 year old daughter lost her rescue inhaler.🤦♀️Nothing like a plan to leave the country without rescue meds. Disney did a fabulous job! We were able to get ahold of dr office after hours. They called in the new rx and Disney delivered it to our door.”
What could possibly go wrong at such a pretty resort?!
There were SO many more responses with similar experiences.
Click here to learn about everything First Aid Centers can do for you in Disney World
And it turns out lots of people get sick in Disney World. But we have useful information to help you navigate that.
Find out what happens when you get sick in Disney World here.
Bad Days
Unfortunately, bad days don’t go on vacation! Lots of our readers shared some pretty unfortunate stories; here’s a small sampling of what they said!
“I was 12. It was our first visit and the castle was being turned into the pink birthday cake. I stood in the middle of Main Street USA and cried. Then later that day I sat down in melted fudge bar and it looked like I pooped my pants. At least my grandma bought me a cute new outfit.”
*instant tears*
Speaking of chocolate disasters…
“First trip as a new family with a young daughter in a stroller. We had gone for breakfast at All-Star Movies before going to Magic Kingdom. I had my mug filled with hot chocolate. When trying to fold up the stroller on the bus to the park and picking up my daughter, my hot chocolate (now cooled off, thankfully), now made its way down my daughter’s CUTEST outfit… Now 16 years later, my wife won’t let me live it down.”
KEEP AWAY FROM PANTS!
Sing it with us, 🎶”Cause you had a bad day…”🎶
Click here to see what happens when things go wrong in Disney World
Mechanical Misgivings
Of course, there are some nightmares where people are trapped on a broken attraction or vehicle! Until you’ve gotten stuck in a precarious position or trapped in a never-ending loop of dialogue, you just can’t understand the pain!
“Monorail stopped/broke between Contemporary and MK and missed Rope Drop. Had to go to Guest Services to rectify this great injustice; for several FPs for the “trauma.” Fortunately knew how to properly voice our grievances.”
They got up early for NOTHING!
Splash Mountain has a reputation for breaking down, so we’re sure lots of people can relate to this story:
“Stuck before descend on splash mountain! It was terrifying”
This ride is TROUBLE!
One reader joked, “Being stuck on “it’s a small world” for an hour was fairly traumatic,” while another felt traumatized in a different way,
“Getting stuck in the Haunted Mansion when I was 5, for an extended period of time with the bride’s beating heart on full display in the darkness.”
OoooOOOOoooo
As you can see, people’s nightmares can range from frustrating to downright SCARY! Thank you to all who shared your experience, and if you didn’t get the opportunity to comment, now’s your chance! Let us know what YOUR worst Disney World nightmare was! In the meantime, stay tuned for all the latest Disney news and updates!
Our Team’s Most Embarrassing Photos from Disney World
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What’s YOUR biggest Disney World nightmare experience? Let us know in the comments!
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My dad passed from cancer when my sisters and I were 16, 14, and 11. We took our first ever trip to WDW that Christmas because we couldn’t handle being home. I remember it being the first time I felt ok with smiling and laughing again and really felt his presence (which is why I still as an adult have such a love for it.) My sisters and I were standing in line to meet a character and a family with smaller kids was behind us. The mom very loudly was complaining that the line was taking so long because all these big kids were taking up space that should be for little kids and we were too old to be there. Still to this day (27 years later) it makes me upset. If only she knew what was going on in our lives. It taught me at that young age to always be kind because you never know what silent battles someone is fighting.
I got stuck on Haunted Mansion in the graveyard scene. Our doom buggy stopped in front of the ghoul that jumps out from behind the gravestone and screams at you. After about 10 minutes, I was starting to go a little insane, haha.