This is so weird that it was just mentioned! My classes are reviewing parasites right now!
J/K btw, this is not parasites.
Anyways, it may or may not have been the water. Truthfully, depending upon what region of the country that you are brought up in, what lifestyle you have lived (poor housing or housing with nothing but purified water), how you live (did you tromp around in creeks and drink creek water like I did or did you listen to your parents to not do naughty things like that), and depending upon your genetics, everyone reacts differently when exposed to different bacterias and substances commonly found in water.
I'll put it simply. I've heard of quite a few people having bad reactions from the water at Disney. Have I ever had a bad reaction? Not at all, I drink water like a fish and am always fine. Is it epidemic there? No. Chances are though that there are certain things (I won't get all technical on everyone) in the water that most people in the U.S. have been exposed to before, but a few have not. If you've never been exposed to these "things" you'll react like your friend did.
A perfect example is the warning to not drink water in foreign countries. My sister, who never tromped around in creeks or drank things like lake water, reacts very violently when she so much as drinks tap water from the hotel faucets in the Caribbean, and they often have their own purification systems. I've drank water at the same hotels with her out of the tap and have been completely fine. I've even drank water at peoples homes basically in the underdeveloped sections of Dominican Republic (a friends family is originally from there, thus how I've been to these different areas) and have been fine. Of course most people thought I was nuts to even try unpurified water but I've learned that I've already exposed myself to just about everything in terms of things that will be found in water. Would most people react that way? Definitely not. Do most people get the flu as often as I do though? Definitely not! lol
So basically, if your a person who puts a filter on your tap 24/7, and has never drank water outside of your home (and truly you shouldn't, if you've ever done an analysis of water there is actually a rather evil cocci parasite (I shortened the name of it) that is in 70% of surface waters in the U.S. and causes severe diarrhea in many) than chances are your more likely to have a bad reaction to tap water anywhere where large numbers of people congregate.
Just pay attention to yourself and if you tend to have abdominal pain and stomach problems often (you know what I mean) then chances are you should probably avoid the tap water while on vacation. So if you have a fincky stomach and react like that even in U.S. Hotels (if your from the U.S.) simply drink bottled water. I've heard of people trying to build themselves up to the point where they are used to foreign water while on vacation and find that hilarious. A week long vacation, even if you drank the stuff every day, is not a long enough exposure time to get yourself used to it. All you'd wind up was an incredibly sick you.
I wouldn't imagine that many people have this problem at Disney though. All the major things are already filtered out.
Heres a parting fun fact for you all. About 20% of the United States carries intestinal parasites and don't know it. Thats the percentage that is unaware of it.
Fun times folks! If you have abdominal pains all the time that could be why! But don't worry, if you have the little buggers living inside of you and they've been there for awhile you'll continue to be fine, you'll just have the occassional mild stomache.
the next day, and all the sick people had, say, marinara sauce and NONE of the well people had marinara sauce.
