is it common to get food poisoning at disney?

[CleveRocks]

I got sick last summer and I am sure it was food poisoning. We had eaten at the castle for lunch and that evening I got really bad diarrhea. It was horrible. Couldn't get back to the room fast enough. As soon as I got back the vomiting started and then I started feeling better. Weak the next day but much better.

I'm sure it wasn't food poisoning. At least not from food from Cinderella's Royal Table.

Food at CRT is made in batches. If you got it, then many other people got it, too. If no one else in your party was affected, then it couldn't have been THAT food.

I'm just getting over a stomach bug here in New Jersey. I can name all the food I ate in the 24 hours before I first got sick. But how in the world can I possibly blame one food or another? How in the world can I possibly know I'm NOT sick because of a virus I picked up 5 days ago and has been incubating inside me? Seriously ....

 

[CleveRocks]

In my opinion, the simple answer is NO!!!!
It is flu season.

Last family trip 3 of us came down with a HORRIBLE case of flu, the other 3 did not. It's common for it not to get everyone in the household, so it could have possibly been either the flu or food poisoning. You'll probably never know for sure.

Flu is a respiratory illness. Flu is coughing, sneezing, runny nose, chest congestion, fever.

Flu is NOT a stomach bug. Repeat, flu is NOT a digestive problem. If your main symptoms are vomiting or diarrhea or stomach upset, it is NOT the flu.

Sorry, it's just one of my pet peeves.

 

[LilyWDW]

The direct answer to the OP's question is: NO.

TRUE, genuine food poisoning is rare and tho it can happen, most times when it does a large # of people get sick from eating the same contaminated food.

My guess is that many (in fact, most) cases of illness blamed on "food poisoning" are actually cases of people eating foods they aren't used to eating.

I have had diagnosed food poisoning before. The bacteria was diagnosed and traced back to a particular food that I ingested. There was no way I could have gotten through that illness without hospitalization because I was dangerously dehydrated from being sick.

My situation happened to be from an undercooked chicken.

(note: that was not at Disney)

True food poisoning is extremely rare. The vast majority of people who get "food poisoning" are people who are eating foods that they normally do not eat. When it comes to Disney you have that situation PLUS increased activity PLUS increased temp and humidity many times of the year. How many people eat daily as many rich or fried foods as they do at Disney? I know I do not.

And a personal peeve of mine. I find it slightly irresponsible to say one had "food poisoning" unless they were seen by a doctor. My reasoning is that the reputation of food poisoning can hurt a restaurant... even if the claims end up being false. Can food poisoning happen at Disney? Yes, it can happen anywhere... but none of the posts here seem to be backed by actual medical information, so be sure to take them for what they are.

 

[SarahKate]

Have no idea of the OP's diagnosis - stomach virus or food poisoning.

But just observing that several posters are talking about the flu. The illnesses with vomiting and diarrhea are NOT to be confused with the flu. Call it a stomach virus if you will, but it definitely isn't the flu. Also, flu virus is spread through droplets when people cough and sneeze, which is different than how stomach viruses get spread.

Another tidbit, it seems that most people do not know how to wash their hands properly. This allows the viruses and bacteria to proliferate. Wash with luke water, 15-20 seconds, use friction, get between the fingers and "scratch" the insides of your palms, rinse, and please use a paper towel to turn off the faucet. That last step is where people screw up. If you turn off the faucet w/ your bare hands, you just re-contaminated yourself.

I've stood in lots of public restrooms and the VAST majority of women don't wash their hands well. It's icky.

And please cover your coughs and sneezes. NOT with your hand, use the inside of your elbow. If you feel that you must do this into your hands, please use hand sanitizer or wash your hands right after.

And that, my friends, is today's PSA on handwashing.

 

[Missytara]

I had food poisoning once in my life and it was tracked by the hospital as mayo in a macaroni salad that I had eaten from a nearby deli. I went to the deli a few days later, and spoke to the manager, and found out I wasn't the only person who got it from the macaroni salad served that particular day.

Believe me, you know when you have food poisoning. I have had a normal flu virus and this is nothing like it.

You get violently ill for a very short period of time. I mean violently - you are unable to stop it; it just keeps coming and coming and coming.

 

[justskip70003]

the onset of food poisoning takes anywhere from 4-72 hours to hit. unless you had a high fever, bloody diarrhea, weakness, blurred vision, paralysis of the eye nerves, difficulty speaking or swallowing, respiratory failure, or death you didnt have food poisoning.

you dont get over it, you go to the hospital and are treated for food poisoning.

i am guessing everyone who gets explosive diarrhea are eating too many dole whips hahahahaha

 

[Lynne M]

People are talking about food poisoning as if it's one single illness with one set of symptoms. It's not. There are many, many kinds of food-borne illnesses, and the period between infection and onset of symptoms varies widely depending on what particular organism is causing the problem. The symptoms vary greatly as well. Depending on the bug, symptoms might hit within a couple of hours of eating, or the next day, or later. You may feel just a little crummy, or require hospitalization, or anything inbetween.

That said, has anyone noticed the sudden appearance of several threads about 'stomach bugs', 'food poisoning' and 'sick at WDW' within the last couple of days? You see those same threads appear in mid-December every single year. Without fail. I don't know how far back the boards go, but if you can still see threads from last December, you'll find the same topics.

That's because it's the beginning of Norovirus season. Many of the reports in these threads are perfectly describing the symptoms of a norovirus infection.

CDC Technical Fact Sheet: Norovirus

Another week or so, you'll start seeing news stories about outbreaks on cruise ships.

Any setting where you have large numbers of people in close proximity - like WDW - is ripe for the transmission of this bug. The single best thing you can do to protect yourself is to wash your hands. Frequently.

 

[CleveRocks]

People are talking about food poisoning as if it's one single illness with one set of symptoms. It's not. There are many, many kinds of food-borne illnesses, and the period between infection and onset of symptoms varies widely depending on what particular organism is causing the problem. The symptoms vary greatly as well. Depending on the bug, symptoms might hit within a couple of hours of eating, or the next day, or later. You may feel just a little crummy, or require hospitalization, or anything inbetween.

That said, has anyone noticed the sudden appearance of several threads about 'stomach bugs', 'food poisoning' and 'sick at WDW' within the last couple of days? You see those same threads appear in mid-December every single year. Without fail. I don't know how far back the boards go, but if you can still see threads from last December, you'll find the same topics.

That's because it's the beginning of Norovirus season. Many of the reports in these threads are perfectly describing the symptoms of a norovirus infection.

CDC Technical Fact Sheet: Norovirus

Another week or so, you'll start seeing news stories about outbreaks on cruise ships.

Any setting where you have large numbers of people in close proximity - like WDW - is ripe for the transmission of this bug. The single best thing you can do to protect yourself is to wash your hands. Frequently.

Very VERY well said!

 

[jmkjr72]

you know we are living in such a way today that our imune systems are weaking
every one is carying hand sanatizer and whipe this down whipe that down adn your body actualy is loosing imunity

we had a version of noro virus hit the boy scout camp the other summer when i had my troop there
we were the only rural troop that week the others were from larger city areas
we also didnt have moms up there pushing the hand sanatizer after you touched every thing
i kid you not before the virus struck there was a mom that whiped down every thing the kids in that troop touched before they could touch it paint brushes bows rifels shot guns
that troop went home early with every one sick

guess what we were the only troop that didnt have any one get sick

 

[FergieTCat]

I am just wondering because I got sick last week and I am pretty sure it was food poisoning and not a stomach virus because no one else got it. I have read on here people saying they got sick.

Same thing; I got sick on December 16th. I ended up cutting my vacation short and heading home.

I don't know if it was a virus or food poisoning, but I got ill within 1/2 hour of eating dinner at the AllStar Music Food Court. I seemed to have the classic symptoms of food poisoning.

FWIW, I was fastidious about washing my hands. I have a feeling other people weren't as careful.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I got sick the last night of our trip last year and had to FLY home the next day! I was SO miserable . My experience sounds similar to other postings. Definitely NOT the way I wanted to end my Disney trip!

OMG!! Me too! This was last Thursday (12/16), and had to fly home Friday (12/17). DD got it also. Strangely, my 3 month old son and DH didn't get it.

It came on so suddenly, within 15 minutes I was laying down on the Monorail bench, and < 30 minutes later, projectile vomiting repeatedly.

*edited to add we were super careful about handwashing because of DS being a baby

 

[FergieTCat]

OMG!! Me too! This was last Thursday (12/16), and had to fly home Friday (12/17). DD got it also. Strangely, my 3 month old son and DH didn't get it.

It came on so suddenly, within 15 minutes I was laying down on the Monorail bench, and < 30 minutes later, projectile vomiting repeatedly.

*edited to add we were super careful about handwashing because of DS being a baby

Yes, exactly.

I was in bed all day Friday (at the AllStars Music) (although I will always think of it as "Shades of Green") and managed to get to the airport Saturday morning. I REALLY wanted to go home, took the first flight out and ended up having to get up at 4:30 AM to get the Magical Express.

I was by myself. I barely remember how I got my stuff together. Slowly, I guess.

 

[Belle5]

I think calling the stomach virus "the flu" is a regional thing...I grew up in Ohio and the stomach virus was always referred to that way. My sister still lives there and she was complaining last week (when she had a horrible bug with lots of vomiting) that my mom and I talked her out of getting the flu shot and now she has the flu! I tried to explain to her that she did not have the flu...

I have been on these boards almost daily for eleven years and I, too, notice that every year this time there are loads of reports of "food poisoning".

Personally, I think that the biggest reason we pass these bugs around to each other so much is that we don't know how to stay home and stay put. As the mother of a pretty large brood, I had to learn many years ago how to keep these bugs from passing around our own family--or we could be out of commission for one to two weeks per round. Our rule was (and still is--for those still living here) isolation for 24 hours past the time that you felt well. In other words, if someone threw up two hours earlier and now claimed that they felt normal--they would not be allowed near the rest of us. They would need about 22 hours more of staying away from everyone.

It's not realistic to expect WDW visitors to stay in their rooms past the time they start feeling well--they're just not going to do it considering the amount of money they have laid out to be there. Still, if people did more of this while at home, less bugs would be passed around when we vacation--at least that's my theory!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I think calling the stomach virus "the flu" is a regional thing...I grew up in Ohio and the stomach virus was always referred to that way. My sister still lives there and she was complaining last week (when she had a horrible bug with lots of vomiting) that my mom and I talked her out of getting the flu shot and now she has the flu! I tried to explain to her that she did not have the flu...

I have been on these boards almost daily for eleven years and I, too, notice that every year this time there are loads of reports of "food poisoning".

Personally, I think that the biggest reason we pass these bugs around to each other so much is that we don't know how to stay home and stay put. As the mother of a pretty large brood, I had to learn many years ago how to keep these bugs from passing around our own family--or we could be out of commission for one to two weeks per round. Our rule was (and still is--for those still living here) isolation for 24 hours past the time that you felt well. In other words, if someone threw up two hours earlier and now claimed that they felt normal--they would not be allowed near the rest of us. They would need about 22 hours more of staying away from everyone.

It's not realistic to expect WDW visitors to stay in their rooms past the time they start feeling well--they're just not going to do it considering the amount of money they have laid out to be there. Still, if people did more of this while at home, less bugs would be passed around when we vacation--at least that's my theory!

I couldn't agree more!

I've been sick at Disney twice, once on what we thought was going to be a once in a lifetime at Christmas trip with the brand new Dining plan and super hard to get ADR's like CRT in the early 2000's when you had to call 1 year ahead at exaclty 7 am, a Segway tour when it was still new and booking up quickly,etc. etc Yeah it STUNK to stay in my room while I knew all that fun was going on, after being seen by a Dr and being cleared for activity 24 hours after receiving antibiotics for strep, I ventured out again but only for a day and was sick again. My BF at the time would go to the food court and bring me back food, etc I didn't even leave when Mousekeeping would stop by. We ended up ending our trip early, renting a car and driving home. It was miserable but at least as bad as I felt I knew that I had done my part in not spreading it to anyone else (ironically it couldn't be spread anyway).