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Credit: DisneyA moldy Walt Disney World Resort hotel room allegedly made two Guests so sick that they couldn’t breathe.
When you stay on Disney property, you get to enjoy certain benefits that other Guests don’t. From direct transportation to the Parks – whether that’s by bus, boat, foot, or monorail – to an extra half an hour in the Parks each morning, there’s a reason why Guests pay the premium to stay at a Disney Resort.
However, over the past few years, Disney has eliminated several of the perks of staying on property. That extra half an hour in the Parks used to be Extra Magic Hours. While Parks do also offer Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, this benefit is exclusively offered to Guests at Disney Deluxe Resorts or other select hotels, such as the Swan & Dolphin, which eliminates the perk for those staying at Value or Moderate Resorts.
The introduction of Genie+ also meant that Guests at Disney Resorts can no longer enjoy wider FastPass+ booking windows. And, of course, there was the elimination of the Magical Express, meaning Guests now need to make their own way from Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Walt Disney World Resort.
Guests have also taken issue with some of the renovation decisions across Walt Disney World. A debate recently sparked online about the “hospital”-style decor now present in rooms at Pop Century Resort. However, that seems like the least of one Guest’s problems on their most recent visit to the hotel.
In a Reddit thread, a Guest shared their experience staying at Pop Century last fall. Located on the Skyliner, one of the huge perks of Pop Century – which is inspired by each decade of pop culture from the 1950ss to the 1990s – is that you get easy access to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT.
But upon arriving at the hotel with their mother, this Guest “immediately knew something was wrong and complained about a musty smell in their room.”
With each passing night, this smell seemed to become increasingly worse. “My mom got sick very quickly,” wrote user Jayceevail. “She felt terrible and had shortness of breathe 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 felt like I couldn’t breathe.”
The pair called the front desk on two separate occasions. The second time they called, the Guest’s mother stressed how unwell they felt until a housekeeper was sent to assess the room – where they found something pretty horrifying.
Related: “Poo Century,” Guest Claims Disney Hotel Treats Guests Like “Plebes”
“She found the fridge had been leaking and the entire wall behind the fridge was covered in mold,” they wrote. Not exactly the kind of surprising ‘Disney magic’ you expect on a Disney World vacation. “They immediately had us move rooms and told us someone from higher up would contact us.”
They were later contacted and offered a free Genie+ upgrade. Disney also requested to schedule a call for once they returned home from Walt Disney World. However, the Guest noted that this call never happened and that “it’s been very hard to get a hold of anyone to try and get anything resolved.”
There are bad Disney World experiences, and then there’s this. Hopefully, Disney resolved the issue in the room pretty quickly – and hopefully, the Guests can secure a refund for the days that they stayed in the moldy Pop Century room.
Have you ever noticed anything gross in your Disney World Resort room? Share your story with Inside the Magic in the comments!