Children getting sick in Disney World

[hayesmama]

I will never forget the German speaking family who brought their son into Disneyland with full blown chicken pox (this was years before the immunization). It was 80 degrees out and the kid was wearing shorts and a tank top! I took a double look as we walked past them and just then the park security caught up with them. I felt bad that they had traveled all that way but I couldn't beleive they would bring their child in like that! My cousin needed a band aid later in the day and we went to the first aid. I told the nurse about that boy and she said that they had been there. She said people do stuff like that all the time!

 

[eeyore0062]

"She said people do stuff like that all the time!"

Yeah, they do, more than you would even like to imagine.... "Mommy, I need to throw up". "Sorry, honey, but we CAN'T get out of line, can you hold it?"

It is just amazing!

 

[bdcp]

I'm still convinced my son had food poisoning. BTW, so was his pediatrician who I called when we returned. We go on vacation almost every year and eat out a lot. That is the one and only time any of us have gotten sick. He also had a fever of 102 with the diarrhea. That is an infection. That you don't get from eating strange food, especially since he mainly ate chicken tenders and hamburgers, not exactly he hadn't eaten regularly his whole life. Undercooked chicken and hamburger meat cause a lot of food poisoning, as does poor food handling. He was also sick for 6 days. Last day of the trip til 5 days after we got home. I've had food poisoning when I was 12 and I remember it vividly. Also, if it had been the water, he would have had diarrhea before our 6th day there.

 

[barb45]

I don't believe it was strange food or water either - not with a fever. It could have been a virus or the food poisoning. Either is nasty and agravating because it shouldn't have happened. Better food handling and people keeping their "cooties" out of the parks would have prevented this.

 

[eeyore0062]

Sounds like a stomach bug to me, now that you say he had a fever. I always check my child's food by cutting into it before she eats it to make sure it is cooked properly. I have had food poisoning before... it is more than vomiting, diarrhea and fever.... it included horrible cramps and blood in the stool. I have to say, that I have never gotten it from food eaten at WDW. Mostly what you see there are the runs from strange food and water.

 

[Belle5]

Mom of 6 kids here and I am rather a vomiting and diarrhea expert! (Just had some vomiting around here last night--can't be helped when visiting relatives) First, to the folks that say, "My pediatrician says..." I am not so easily impressed by what old doc may have to say about the matter. Until someones fluids have been sampled it's just an opinion. My kids' doctor will bring his kids over for holidays and get togethers while they are vomiting. He always says it's something they ate. Strangely the next day my kids are vomiting. Hmmm...
Honestly, I think 90% of these things are bugs. We have 8 people to try and keep healthy at WDW and we have become fairly successful. Here's the strategy we employ. Don't fly. Avoid buffets unless you are the first people to eat from it. Wash hands like crazy. Stay away from the kid's section of the buffet. Wash hands. Hold breath near folks who look or sound ill in any way. Get out of line (even at attractions)if folks look or sound ill near you. We used to get sick on vacation. We no longer do. We think the water is fine. Encourage kids not to swallow pool water. Tell them it will ruin their vacation because they will likely get sick and end up in bed. (We had one that really took in a lot of water in the pool)

 

[bdcp]

He is now 21 and remembers being sick vividly. He never threw up and never felt nauseous. It was diarrhea (which did turn bloody after a couple of days) with cramps and fever. ( I was trying before not to get too graphic) Regardless, I didn't take him back out after he got sick and all the signs did point to food poisoning, probably salmonella.

I may not have 6 kids, but I have raised 2 (now 18 and 21) and have seen my share of illnesses. They actually haven't been sick at college either. This was unlike anything either one has ever had including the flu and gastroenteritis, but were usually fairly healthy. Fortunately I was home with them and they weren't exposed to sick kids in daycare everyday who were there because mom and dad had to be at work so they'd send the kids sick, usually loaded up on tylenol. I don't get that. I work now and all my supervisors and co-workers are always able to take time to care for their children. No one ever gets any grief over it. I have a friend who did daycare and she had to send kids home many times for showing up sick or suddenly spiking a temp after 4 hours (when the tylenol wore off). My boys got their fair share of exposure to illnesses through church and playgroups, and pre-school which helped boost their immunities, but most people fortunately didn't intentionally take sick children to those locations.

Holding your breath won't do any good. It's not the ones you know are sick that get you, it's the ones that try to hide it and go out and about like nothing is wrong. The best thing to do is wash your hands before you eat and after the bathroom. Otherwise, like what was said earlier, kids do get sick. That's just the way it is. Parents have to be adults and decide for the child instead of for their pocketbook or their good time and not take them out if they're sick. Sometimes vacations just don't happen the way you want.

 

[disneychrista]

Without haveing to read every reply I will say I got the same way and the only thing I could pin it on was the water. Once I switched to bottled beverages I was fine. So I say, have fun at disney just dont drink the water. That means no fountain drinks, hot chocolate, coffee, tea, etc.

 

[Belle5]

Actually, holding your breath is one of the tips I picked up from a special 20/20 did on trying not to catch colds a few years ago. When you are talking about a stomach virus--I agree-- you usually can't tell. I was referring to respiratory illness where you can hear the folks coughing around you. I wasn't responding to any one particular (bdcp--I haven't even looked to see if you were the OP so I don't know what your particular story is--I was just responding with general tips on staying well in WDW in our experience)

 

[abeyst]

thank you so much for starting this thread. I thought my son and I were the only ones who got the 'icky tummy' at Disney. What surprised me about the posts is so many people saying it's the water. I assumed all this time that it's the change in food we're eating on vacation that we normally don't eat at home (richer, fattier food). I guess this trip I can try correcting the water. If that doesn't work, the trip after next will be change the food!

My tip: Don't leave home without you Immodium! It's been a must in my suitcase for the past 2 years.

 

[jeancbpugh]

My 5 year old got a nasty stomach flu the day AFTER we checked out of Disney.

 

[Selket]

Seems like it matters more what time of year we travel than anything else. In the colder months it seems like one of us is always sick with something so I'm guessing it would be the same at WDW. In the summer months that it is rare that one of us is sick - whether at home or traveling.

That being said of course I did come down with a cold when we were there in August last time! Getting a summer cold is VERY rare for me. Fortunately it wasn't too bad!

 

[Jackie H.]

I am sorry, I didn't read through this entire thread and I am sure others have posted this (because I figured it out by reading this site) BUT IT IS THE WATER!!!!

My daughter got sick every trip at WDW. I once said she was on a "puke around the world tour" No matter, what on the third day this kid was sick! My son, hubby & I were never sick, so it didn't seem to be something contageous....

I finally read on this site that a lot of people had this problem due to the high sulfur content in the water. The next trip down I carried a case of bottled water and I made it clear to everyone that my daughter was NOT to drink any local water. She didn't and she didn't get sick! I can't prove it, but she will never drink WDW water (or Orlando for that matter) as long as I am around!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Wow! I am surprised at all the water issues - we ALWAYS get a contageous thing! It always starts with my youngest daughter toward the last days of our trips (about 5-7 days into it) and spreads thru our family every 48 hours or so someone gets sick!! We stay concierge and drink bottled water and canned soda, so....

I don't think for us it is the water. We have well water at home, though. Don't know if that makes a difference???

I just think the place is SO germy! On our THanksgiving trip the washrooms were FILTHY and there were all kinds of bodily substances on almost every surface in them. I saw many people leave the washrooms without washing their hands at all. Also someone threw up on the monorail ramp at TTC. We had to walk around it. I told my kids "HOLD YOUR BREATH" - but after that I had a BAD feeling. Everytime we walked down the ramp there was the stain as a reminder of what was to come. Of course, we weren't home 24 hours and my littlest one started vomitting. Then my other daughter.....

We try and keep our hands clean with wipes and washing a lot - but it almost never fails - someone or all get the vomitting stomach bug. It has ruined almost all of our trips. I have to wonder why we keep going back for more??? Although on our August trip we all did stay healthy. It gave me hope to try again for Thanksgiving, but that didn't work out so great.

I am now afraid to take my two littlest ones by myself to WDW - I don't think I could handle it by myself it we all got ill.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

I am a mother of 2 sets of twins. Two 8 year olds and two 4 year olds. Since the odds of "one of us" getting sick is high, I planned our trip for 2 weeks and bought the FITS tickets for flexiblility. Actually none of us got sick but we stayed at Fort Wilderness in our trailer and ate quiet a few meals there.

I have always heard (I did not go online for direct quotes so this is coming from memory) that viruses are at their most contagious up to a week before symptoms. So it is next to impossible to keep your cold away from people.

Also with fruits and Veggies I have always heard that soaking them for at least 30 seconds in water kills most everything because of the Chlorine in the water. So I assume the Cl we have in our water helps in addition to soap.

I also read this last summer that when a pool has a strong Cl smell it is actually not properly balanced. Because the smell is actually the bioproduct of the bacteria. So the pool has bacteria in it...thriving.

My son had foot and mouth disease 3 days after we got back from WDW last Sept and I am sure he got it from there. They are not in daycare and it has a incubation period. He sucks his fingers and he is the only one of the kids that got it.

Not really much you can do but wash your hands often and trying not to touch highly touched surfaces. I truely believe water does affect some people's systems.

 

[lovebuzz]

our last visit to wdw my son got strep throat.We stayed on site and it was so nice because they have a doctor that will come to your room ($185) and then he will send the antibiotic to your hotel it was so nice.For that reason alone I will always stay on site

 

[KimberAnn]

My son got sick in February when we were in DW. It was actually the day we went to Sea World. Well, he and the three other adults in our group went to SW. Me and the DDs stayed at the pool. Anyway, he touched all the fish he could and ate his sandwich without washing his hands. (Never occured to DH ). He was sick all that night, throwing up and was fine the next day. Interestingly within 48 hours, two of the adults that went to SW also got sick.

 

[JoyMouse]

I agree. it is probably the water. We take in bottles to sip on. Our DD's usually do fine, but we keep crackers and water handy just to avoid these problems and also we save a little $ that way!

 

[GEM]

We all drink the water (including my little guy) and we've never had any problems. In more than 10 trips, none of us have ever been sick a single day. I guess we're just lucky - and maybe we have extra tough tummies.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well, we didn't even make it out of the starting gate! DS is sick NOW! Low grade fever, sore throat, yesterday he said his stomach "felt bubbly". DH is on the way to the doctor with him now. Whatever is wrong with him I REALLY hope he feels better by Wednesday!