Getting sick at Disney...

[CattailGal]

On three previous trips my kids have gotten really sick at Disney. I'm nervous about our upcoming trip with Enterovirus 68 becoming more serious... Anyone else concerned?

 

[patty57]

No. Kids are exposed to all kinds of illnesses in school routinely. WDW doesn't concern me more than any other public place.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

if you were that concerned you would probably have to take them out of school, as they are probably even more likely to encounter such a virus there. Unless they are already homeschooled.

 

[TagsMissy]

On three previous trips my kids have gotten really sick at Disney. I'm nervous about our upcoming trip with Enterovirus 68 becoming more serious... Anyone else concerned?

No honestly I'm not. Wash your hands and don't touch your mouth/eyes etc. I know it's hard with kids to have them follow these rules but it really does help

 

[LilJennaBell]

I'm concerned! We're taking our first family vacation with our 15 month old in Nov... I just picture her hands constantly in her mouth!

 

[100acreHiker]

While I agree that elementary school is a petri dish of germs (I have a sick, coughing kiddo home today from what is likely the enterovirus going around), a classroom of 22 kids in a school of 350 kids just doesn't compare to a Disney Park, which sees tens of thousands of people every day. And it's a hands-on place, with games and rides and handlebars, etc.

That said, previous posters are right: other than washing your hands and your kids hands before you eat--every time-- and using purell and wipes after each ride, keeping your hands away from your face, there's little more you can do.

Last time we were at Disney, we came back to our resort room at the end of a long day in MK, and I said to my 5 year old, who hates to be bothered with washing, "Wash your hands before you do anything else" and he responded, "But Mom, I didn't touch ANYTHING ALL DAY." Yeah right!

 

[kangamangus]

No I don't worry about germs at all and I'm an RN hahaha, what I do worry about is car accidents, bike accidents, obesity, those are all things that honestly will probably hurt/kill them long before a virus does. Just do the best you can with hand washing and for me it has always worked to NOT over do the antibacterial wipes/grocery store seats ect....5 kids not one sick day from school in 9 years. Now we have had missed days for disney though! HAHA

 

[CattailGal]

I think some parents who are on vacation tend to drag sick kids to the parks because they have spent the money on tickets, whereas at home, they might keep them out of school.

My kids bite their nails, so keeping hands out of mouths is difficult. I'm taking DS13 today for a manicure to see if "tidy" nails helps keep them out of his mouth. DD refuses to get a manicure (I even offered acrylic nails).

At home they rarely get sick. In Disney, different story. BTW, we are in a state that thus far doesn't have the Enterovirus 68.

 

[Aggiegrl]

Well...

I'm currently sitting in a hotel room on property with my 4 year old, sick with some sort of stomach virus (norovirus, maybe?). He's number 3 of 3 kids to get sick in the 10 days we've been here. We have CRT dinner ressies tonight. We missed our BoG meal on Monday. I'm not going to get to see Festival of the Lion King this trip. Who knows if we'll make MNSSHP tomorrow night, It's a real bummer.

We've washed our hands religiously. We've gone through a jug of hand sanitizer and an entire bottle of hand soap. We've quarantined the sick kids in one room. Is there anything we could have done differently? No. We just drew an unlucky number this trip. Once one kid got infected, we had no chance.

I just hope the adults don't get on Saturday when we have to fly home.

 

[cvjw]

Wash your hands and the hands of your kids ALL THE TIME at Disney. We are at Disney multiple times per year and my kids have never gotten sick. I have always had a rule of not touching any orifice and constantly using hand sanitizer. They wash their hands at Disney so much that it is a running joke in our family now. They can laugh, but they stay healthy and happy at Disney.

 

[CattailGal]

We use hand sanitizer constantly and wash hands frequently at Disney (and all the time). At a buffet we use sanitizer every time we touch a serving utensil. Still they have gotten sick - DD when she was about 12 was sicker at Disney than she's every been (two trips to the walk in clinic, 105 fever even after Tylenol and Motrin combined, etc.)

 

[CattailGal]

I'm not normally worried about them "getting sick", but with the E-68 now causing paralysis and death, that's concerning. I wouldn't have planned this trip had I known this in advance. To cancel now I'd lose $3000 in UT tickets and rental house, so we'll go and make the best of it - hoping for good health!

 

[disney world dreamer]

i'm not concerned just like i was not concerned about h1n1.

in what way have your kids been sick?
stuffed up/cough? or stomach ache/throwing up?
if stuffed up and coughing you may have the air conditioning set too low in the room.
if stomach aches and throwing up it may be the food since most times you're tempted to not eat the healthiest choices as there are so many delicious unhealthy options and after you eat it it can come back to haunt you.
i got sick twice during our last trip in july.
once was shortly after eating at chef mickey's and the other was shortly after eating at cinderella's royal table.
i assume it was just due to the combinations of foods did not sit well in my stomach.

basically there are other explanations for why your kids may be getting sick at disney that is not related to any outbreak of a certain virus or bacteria.

**btw my family has never felt the need to use hand sanitizer while at disney or anywhere else and we don't become sick everywhere we go**

also i would be sure to bring over the counter medications to counter act symptoms.
for example i always bring tums, anti diarrhea medication, advil, dramamine, gas-x... as a just in case.

 

[River Country]

Yeah I mean wash your hands and keep yourself clean is about the most control you can have over the situation and to be honest I don't even know or want to know what Entovirus 68 is....wasn't that Stitch???? LOL

little advice don't lick the poles inside the Monorail Cars and you will be fine

 

[ArwenMarie]

Well...

I'm currently sitting in a hotel room on property with my 4 year old, sick with some sort of stomach virus (norovirus, maybe?). He's number 3 of 3 kids to get sick in the 10 days we've been here. We have CRT dinner ressies tonight. We missed our BoG meal on Monday. I'm not going to get to see Festival of the Lion King this trip. Who knows if we'll make MNSSHP tomorrow night, It's a real bummer.

We've washed our hands religiously. We've gone through a jug of hand sanitizer and an entire bottle of hand soap. We've quarantined the sick kids in one room. Is there anything we could have done differently? No. We just drew an unlucky number this trip. Once one kid got infected, we had no chance.

I just hope the adults don't get on Saturday when we have to fly home.

Ugh, I'm sorry, that stinks.

We all got the flu one year at Disney in the fall. We barely made it home then both kids got pneumonia. It was the worst.

Hope it stops spreading at least.

 

[kangamangus]

Yes there has been paralysis and death but to put it in perspective your kids have a 1 in 20,000 chance of being killed today in the bus ride home or the car ride to the soccer game tonight. (approximately 10,000 a year) The odds of being killed by the enterovirus is so slight (maybe 1 in 10,000,000?) (4 deaths). I think it seems scary because it's so rare, uncommon ect...as a nurse I see it all the time...patients are scared to die of ebola but ride with no seatbelt while smoking....

 

[akadada]

It's a very reasonable concern. It's very difficult to monitor kids hygiene, while the media is not necessarily given people the information necessary to be proceed with confidence around the virus(es).

I respectfully disagree with the contagion post that it's no different than school. School is a highly concentrated regional incubator that has teachers overseeing to the best of their abilities cleanliness and hygiene. General sicknesses remain in the district once it arrives, but is relatively contained until a new sickness is introduced. Introduction comes from the outside. It's not made up out of thin air, it's brought in from the outside, often due to travel, usually highly concentrated, less hygenic, dense settings. This clearly the case if one looks at Colorado right now. A concentrated viral variant.

A theme park is global, dense, and the park itself can not care what you and your family do for hygiene.The park if fortunately clean by world standards, but the ability of a virus to spread at a theme park is exponentially larger (thousands) of times larger than a regional school. The airplane and airport are likely equal or more capable of transfer of a disease than the park though.

E68 (among other viruses going around right now) is highly contagious and is only mitigated by avoidance, hand washing (not just alcohol rub), and luck. Hand washing needs to be at least 5-20 seconds up to the elbows. Again, hard to do with a kid.


There's variants of the virus (or possibly a new virus) that are alarming, but rare right now. Many kids likely have E68 right now but not showing the extreme signs. Overall, the risk of disease is always there; sickness of course is common. E68 and its possible variants are a big deal, but any virus with the wrong immune system and bad luck are a big deal to the person dealing with it.

One thing Disney offers (which I don't like but will possibly use in teh future) is the magic band. You don't have to touch anything with the band. Healthy.

If you're truly concerned about your own family, which you have every right to be, please consult your pediatrician since they can best opine on the viruses and your family history. Further, get flu shots if you believe in their use.

Hope that helps.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We are tossing around the idea of a quick Thanksgiving week trip. And I'll be honest, enterovirus is not pushing me towards the Let's Go side.

I think if I had a trip planned, I would make the best of it and hope for the best.

I am going to wait and see how it spreads over the next week or two I think. I know you can get it at home as well, I'm more concerned about getting it and being so far from home. We'll see.

Good luck with your trip.

 

[Cyrano]

No worries from us.

Kids are just as likely to get sick at home and school.

As others state worth having hand sanitiser with you at all times

 

[ArwenMarie]

It's a very reasonable concern. It's very difficult to monitor kids hygiene, while the media is not necessarily given people the information necessary to be proceed with confidence around the virus(es).

I respectfully disagree with the contagion post that it's no different than school. School is a highly concentrated regional incubator that has teachers overseeing to the best of their abilities cleanliness and hygiene. General sicknesses remain in the district once it arrives, but is relatively contained until a new sickness is introduced. Introduction comes from the outside. It's not made up out of thin air, it's brought in from the outside, often due to travel, usually highly concentrated, less hygenic, dense settings. This clearly the case if one looks at Colorado right now. A concentrated viral variant.

A theme park is global, dense, and the park itself can not care what you and your family do for hygiene.The park if fortunately clean by world standards, but the ability of a virus to spread at a theme park is exponentially larger (thousands) of times larger than a regional school. The airplane and airport are likely equal or more capable of transfer of a disease than the park though.

Well said and I agree.