Disney Stomach Bug - Be prepared!!

[SOnotLayuh]

I'm so sorry that your Disney experience was less than magical this time!! That's too bad!

I hope that things clear up - I have a few health problems that really screw over my immune system.

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

I always wonder how many germs are lurking on the serving spoons etc at the buffet meals i mean a lot of people handle them and no one really goes back and sanitises there hands after using them.

I do !!!!
Had a great trip last time- always had hand sanitizing wipes as well as B&BW hand sanitizer and I sanitize before and after a trip to the buffet before I pick up my silverware...

 

[goodfaerie]

I've posted a version of this before. I am so sorry to hear of your illness. I was sick on the Wonder in Feb.--my dp didn't get sick, amazingly enough, and I have to say I think I probably got it at the parks the few days before we boarded. I washed my hands all the time, cleaned everything in that stateroom--and it didn't matter. I do think that people need to be more aware that even if they are feeling better, it doesn't mean they aren't still contagious.

Looking back, I can say that I'm grateful for the time I did have on the ship, that I wasn't sicker, and that the doctor had the good sense to insist I stay in my stateroom so that I didn't spread it to others. Did it ruin my trip? A little. But I would never wish it on anyone, and felt I owed it to my fellow passengers to follow the doc's orders.

I wish you all healthy and magical times at WDW.

 

[swald91]

Our last trip our daughter was sick too ...the first night! We were keeping our fingers crossed that we wouldn't get it- and thank goodness we didn't but felt terrible for her-but we can all agree that if anyone in our party gets sick it should be her-she does her thing , cleans herself up & goes back to bed. I hope everyone that goes on any vacation stays healthy b/c it does put a damper on your trip.

 

[jesschris]

I sanitize after each trip to a buffet as well...but i've never sanitized my room...now I will!

I got a stomach bug July 2008 when we stayed at BWV. It was horrible. It was about 2 days into the trip and lasted abotu 24 hours. But it was hard to recover from the dehydration with the heat. I thought it was something I ate, but DH and I had eaten all the same things, so it didn't make sense. Never really figured it out.

Two good things we learned from it though:
1. they will open the gift shop for you at night if you need something...very cool
2. they will refund part of the dining plan...they refunded some of my unused credits due to my illness...it was really nice!

 

[treehugnmama]

we got back march 13 and i was so worried as so many people were reprting stomach bugs.....we did not get it. I have kids that get sick looking at someone through two layers of glass that are sick.

soif you are going don't worry although people do get sick lots don't.

 

[HelenParr]

We've been sick on Disney trips before, and it is a total bummer. But it happens, as it can anywhere. We try to focus on staying healthy the week running up (lots of hand washing and no exotic eating) and lots of hand washing at Disney. You touch so many things all day, and at some point you will: rub your eye, nose or mouth.

CDC, and most other sources, still emphasize the importance of good hand hygeine with frequent hand washing (with soap) and an alcohol based hand sanitizer. These are shown to be effective against certain viruses (noro included). They may not kill them, but they can help reduce your risk of illness, essentially because it washes off you, not because it is dead.

Crypto bacteria (sometimes found in pools) is one of the organizsms for which alcohol is of no use. There are others as well. C. diff. and other poo (sorry!) related bacteria. They don't wash off well, and they are immune to alcohol.

I know there are stong feelings about the long term effects of so much sanitizing. Just wanted to point out that right now, the best guess science has is wash your hands often.

 

[disneydiva1313]

I was in Disney World March 15-19...luckily I remained healthy the entire trip. I just wash my hands a lot...didn't have any type of sanitizer. I am a public school teacher...maybe I have built up a strong tolerance. I was also in one of the newly remodeled rooms at Pop Century...it smelled of new carpet. In addition to having an extremely clean room, my "mousekeeper" did a fantastic job every day.

 

[ElizabethB]

The Centers for Disease Control website indicates that symptoms of norovirus can appear in as little as 12 hours after exposure. The OP indicates that they arrived on Sunday and started getting sick on Monday.

It seems quite possible that they got sick from the room. I'm quite troubled by the fact that there was a vomit smell and, thus, the previous guests has obviously been ill in that room. Yet, it apparently was assigned to new guests without a thorough cleaning, including rug scrubbing.

It's hard to even imagine the sheer number of surfaces in the room on which norovirus could have been residing that were not cleaned in the quick cleaning/bed linen change that rooms ordinarily get between guests.

I'm making a mental note to (1) ask for a different room immediately if I even smell the hint of vomit when we check into a room and (2) bring a clorax/water mix in a spray bottle and use it generously in our room.

If I were the OP, I'd be very, very unhappy.

 

[ToriPeanut]

aww thats aweful!!

i HATE that sickness..

i will be wiping doen EVERYTHING when we go in april...

the last thing i want is to be sick at THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!!

 

[CanadianGuy]

It's hard to even imagine the sheer number of surfaces....

It's hard to imagine the sheer numbers of surfaces you touch while at Disney all day every day.. Lap Bars, ride vehicles, hand railings, counter surfaces, door knobs, push doors, bathroom fixtures, sink fixtures in public washrooms and on and on. Before you get to your room you've got all the DME surfaces, the front desk check-in area, elevator buttons, stair railings, and so on..

And never mind the surfaces you touch while traveling via air... seat back buttons, seatback trays, over head luggage compartments, in flight entertainment controls, the magazine in the seatback in front of you..

I agree in this case it sounds like that room should never have been assigned and while it seems like a no-brainer that's probably the cause..

It's worth noting that even in a pristine room - you can get very sick when traveling because :

a) typically your immune system isn't at 100% due to slight dehydration and overtiredness..

b) from the moment you arrive the airport in your hometown, you SURROUNDED from that point on.. with things that EVERYONE and their dogs (literally in some cases) touch and spit and whatever

c) many of those public surfaces aren't cleaned frequently thu the day

d) handwashing takes a backseat frequently when your FastPass for Toy Story Mania is NOW - COME ON LETS GOOOOO...!

I'm posting all this because someone on another board was all set to sue Disney for making them sick because they got sick a few hours after they ate at Disney. Typically, that almost NEVER works that way.

In this case.. I'd be plenty ticked with Disney.. But why why why stay in a room that smelled like vomit? I would never have accepted that.

I woulda been camped out in the lobby and made myself at home, brushed my teeth in the water fountain.. changed into my jammies and parked in front of the lobby TV ... until they found me something else.

Probably because I'm sensitive and the smell of it makes me want to vomit. So.. there's that.

Now where was that post about not armchair quarterbacking other people's trips that I wrote yesterday.. (scolds self)


K

 

[DizGirl20]

My daughter got sick with the stomach flu during our last trip which was January 2009. I will never forget it b/c she started vomiting as we were boarding the plane to fly home and they kicked us off until she could be seen by a medic!

There are germs all over Disney every day - just a matter of whether your immune system kicks in or not. In all our years of travelling with the kids we have never picked up anything except for the trip I mention in this post. I always bring Lysol wipes with me now and do my best to wipe down the hotel room surfaces.

 

[christinec68]

It's not just Disney - it's everywhere. My office mate was sick for 3 or 4 days last month and now it seems DH has the same thing.

I am sorry your vacation was messed up - I hope you are able to make up for it somewhere soon!

 

[2Tiggies]

Unfortunately that "bug" has been making the rounds everywhere, not just Disney. It visited my house back in Feb. took about a week to go through the whole family. Now almost a month later it seems to be hitting another family I know. This is a mean bug going around everywhere, even with being vigilant about hand washing and bleach cleaning when possible I'm not sure it can be avoided if you leave your house to go anywhere.

It's doing its rounds in central Scotland too - so the bug is well travelled!

 

[2Tiggies]

I woulda been camped out in the lobby and made myself at home, brushed my teeth in the water fountain.. changed into my jammies and parked in front of the lobby TV ... until they found me something else.

I don't mean to make fun of anything in the thread, but the picture of someone rooming in at the lobby

 

[dwolf]

While it may be a virus everywhere, you could not have contracted a virus on Monday evening from a room you checked into Monday afternoon. A virus needs an incubation period of at least 72 hours. You may have contracted it prior to your trip. It's certainly awful your room was like that and I'm not trying to minimize your family's illness, I just don't think it would be fair to pin the entire illness on Disney. Although I think they should have offered you another room. I hope you have better luck on your next trip.

Actually we checked in on Sunday and it is entirely possible to contract and become ill with Norovirus within 12 hours of exposure. You can check the CDC website if you don't believe me. Regardless, it's just plain disgusting that our room smelled of vomit.

 

[dwolf]

I should also mention that Saratoga Springs was FULL and so was the park in general. There were several flight cancellations to the Northeast on Sunday because of bad weather and there were several people in the lobby when we were checking in scrambling for accomodations until they could get flights out.

Disney never offered to change our room. I was informed they would clean the carpets but they couldn't do that until Tuesday. It was just as well since my DD and DS2 spent Monday night throwing up all over them anyway. So it was vomit from 2 families they finally cleaned out of those rugs on Tuesday.

I don't live in la la land. I know we could have caught this bug before we left or on the plane, but I'm mad at Disney for not noticing our room smelled of vomit in the first place and then delaying the cleaning of the room for close to 18 hours.

I guess even at Disney you have to be the squeaky wheel to get what you want. I've learned my lesson.

 

[elbow0824]

We were there in early March, my 7 year old and I got this stomach bug as well. It was quite possibly the sickest I have ever been in my life. I was also pregnant and ended up in the ER. We also knew another family there in March who got the bug as well. I witnessed 2 other children on seperate occasions vomiting as they walked through fantasyland. Cast members told us that they were seeing it everywhere and they didn't know the cause. My friend and her family are at the resort right now (7 months later)and have spent the past three days in their room with vomiting and diarrhea. It is no doubt the exact same bug!

 

[sndral]

I doubt that it's the same bug 30 months later.

 

[SenecaWolf]

Lol, that's one heck of a bug to last from March 2010!!

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