One of the most exciting parts about planning a Walt Disney World vacation is choosing which of the amazing hotels you want to stay at. However, one family’s dream trip turned into a nightmare as they allege their moldy Disney hotel room made them so sick they couldn’t breathe.
Redditor u/jayceevail went on the social media platform to share her story and ask for advice.
According to Jaycee, they went to Disney World with their mother and stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The Resort celebrates “unforgettable fads” from the 1950s all the way through the 1990s.
Shortly after arriving in their hotel room, Jaycee’s mother noticed a musty smell in their room.
According to the guests’ sharing of the experience, they repeatedly called for the issue to be fixed, but it never was.
Jaycee and their mom both got very ill. Finally, a maid came in reportedly and discovered a massive mold problem behind the room’s small refrigerator.
The full social media post reads:
I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I’m looking for advice for something that happened on my last Disney trip. Last fall I stayed at the [Pop Century Resort] with my mom. When we checked in she immediately knew something was wrong and complained about a musty smell in our room. I didn’t notice right away but it kept getting worse every night. We knew something was wrong so we called the front desk every morning hoping they would fix it.
My mom got sick very quickly, she felt terrible and had shortness of [breath] the rest of the trip. We thought it could just be a combination of her asthma, traveling, and the mustiness of our room until I got sick. It was so bad I didn’t wake up until [1 p.m.] and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
My mom called the front desk again, this time stressing the importance of how sick we felt. They sent a housekeeper to inspect the room and she found the fridge had been leaking and the entire wall behind the fridge was covered in mold. They immediately had us move rooms and told us someone from higher up would contact us.
My mom gets two calls during the rest of the trip, the first on the same day we moved rooms offering us a free [Genie+] upgrade and the second wanting to schedule a call for when we returned home. The scheduled call never happened and it’s been very hard to get a hold of anyone to try and get anything resolved. I think the best thing would [be] to get a refund for the days we spend in the moldy room given that we called every day to complain and the housekeeper took pictures of the mold on her phone.
The Reddit user ends their social media post asking for advice from other guests who may have experienced something similar.
In short, the Reddit user said that Disney finally had them move rooms, but they want to be refunded for having to stay in the alleged moldy room that made them sick.
Unfortunately, she alleges Disney was not making things easy, as Jaycee was struggling to get in touch with someone. They said that they do have photos of the allege mold in the room, and the maid also took photos.
Sadly, this is not the first time a guest reportedly stayed in a moldy Disney hotel room.
Not too long ago, a guest staying at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa — the most expensive Deluxe hotel at Disneyland Resort — reportedly found mold all around their bed.
They were especially shocked because rooms at the Grand Californian typically cost over $700 per night and can even run more than $1,000 per night.
This is also not the first time Pop Century made waves for an unforgettable guest experience. One guest shared on Reddit that they had reportedly found a scorpion in their hotel room! Thankfully, no one was hurt by the little invader, and it was safely removed.
If you find that your Disney hotel room isn’t up to your standards, it is recommended that you immediately head to Guest Services in your hotel and inform them of the problem.
Ask for a different hotel room, so the problem can be properly resolved. If you can, take photos, so Disney will know exactly where the problem is and can look for the source.
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Please note that the story outlined in this article is based on a personal Disney Parks guest experience. No two guest experiences are alike, and this article does not necessarily align with Disney Fanatic’s personal views on Disney Park operations.
We always stay at our home resort since we are DVC members, the Boardwalk. The bathrooms in our rooms are always dirty, and complaining to guest services gets you no where. It’s a shame that we are on vacation, and before settling in, we clean the whole room with clorax wipes and lysol spray, each room my family gets. Sad when housekeeping doesn’t take pride in their jobs, and that’s why they don’t get tipped!