Just got back, impressions

[jk591]

Had an amazing time with my family even though my wife and dd got sick on the first night. We have had stomache bugs before but this was no doubt food poisoning from the inside Mexican restaurant on Thur. night. The girls had the chips and salsa while my son and I just ate chips. 4 hours later, the girls were throwing up. My son and I never got sick. The girls were fine by Fri. at noon so we were down but not too upset. We called the disney reservation line to report this but they didn't seem to care much. That was really the only big negative of the whole trip. We stayed at the Beach Club and really enjoyed it. I have stayed at the Polynesian 2 yrs ago. I think the Poly is still my favorite but this was very close. Crowds were fine except for MK which was packed. The other parks were not that bad at all. We never waited much at all (we did rope drop). DS did Jedi academy and pirates and dd did Bibbidy Botique. Amazing trip, lots of memories!

 

[momofkids]

Sorry to hear about the illness, but glad you had a nice trip anyway.

 

[dres40]

So happy for you that your trip was fun, in spite of the illness.
On our first trip about 7 years ago our DD had a bug and kept us out of the parks for a few days.
I still think of that trip as so much fun. Just have to make the best of it and carry on!

 

[finedice]

So very sorry your girls got sick. Salsa is an unlikely suspect though, as it's not generally high in either carbs or protein, and has a fair amount of acidity. It's not impossible, but it is unlikely compared to many other foods. Most food borne illnesses generally take a little longer to set up shop inside us too. It's rare that they hit within the first four hours. Again - not impossible, but improbable... Most food borne illnesses can take up to a week or more to leave our systems as well. This sounds more like an unfortunate encounter with a 24 hour bug than food poisoning.

If Mexico had pathogenic bacteria in their salsa - hundreds - possibly thousands would have gotten sick - and it would make the news. Was there anything else they both ate? This might explain the lack of serious consideration from Disney. If you had been the second+ person to call, they might have shown more worry...

Oh - and I don't work for Disney - but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night... AND I am a certified food service sanitation teacher

 

[jk591]

Oh, some other observations. Beach Club busses were excellent to the Magic Kingdom but poor with Animal Kingdom. We shared a bus with Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin, Yacht Club. That's way too many stops. With the Magic Kingdom the bus only stopped at The Beach and Yacht club and it was very prompt. I followed this boards advice to get a cab when leaving downtown Disney. Best $15 I ever spent. That place is crazy with traffic! Kids loved the pool at the Beach club. I loved walking to Epcot and a quick boat to Hollywood. It amazes me how clueless people are though. Saw tons of people who had no clue about dining reservations or who didn't know how to get to Epcot from the Beach Club.

 

[andyman8]

So very sorry your girls got sick. Salsa is an unlikely suspect though, as it's not generally high in either carbs or protein, and has a fair amount of acidity. It's not impossible, but it is unlikely compared to many other foods. Most food borne illnesses generally take a little longer to set up shop inside us too. It's rare that they hit within the first four hours. Again - not impossible, but improbable... Most food borne illnesses can take up to a week or more to leave our systems as well. This sounds more like an unfortunate encounter with a 24 hour bug than food poisoning.

If Mexico had pathogenic bacteria in their salsa - hundreds - possibly thousands would have gotten sick - and it would make the news. Was there anything else they both ate? This might explain the lack of serious consideration from Disney. If you had been the second+ person to call, they might have shown more worry...

Oh - and I don't work for Disney - but I am a certified food service sanitation teacher AND, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

This is from a 2010 news article that popped up on Google when I searched "salsa foodborne illness". There were several of them but I just chose this one from Wedmd.com.

The CDC has identified salsa and guacamole as two significant sources of food-borne illnesses.

I don't know, though. Generally, it is fairly typical of such a large company like Disney to not care that much about food poisoning of one individual (or two) as with such a large operation, something's bound to go wrong. If this had been a smaller local restaurant, they probably would have cared a slight bit more. Doesn't excuse the incident though. Glad you had a great trip though.

 

[jk591]

This is from a 2010 news article that popped up on Google when I searched "salsa foodborne illness". There were several of them but I just chose this one from Wedmd.com.


I don't know, though. Generally, it is fairly typical of such a large company like Disney to not care that much about food poisoning of one individual (or two) as with such a large operation, something's bound to go wrong. If this had been a smaller local restaurant, they probably would have cared a slight bit more. Doesn't excuse the incident though. Glad you had a great trip though.

Yep, I read that too! I don't like salsa anyway but never again for the rest of my family either.

 

[jk591]

"The reason that salsa and guacamole are so susceptible to contamination is that they are made with multiple raw, uncooked vegetables and are often stored at room temperature. Tomatoes, cilantro, avocados, and peppers have all been linked to separate outbreaks in the past 10 years. These ingredients should be properly washed before preparation"


From Food safety news

 

[LilyWDW]

To be honest, there is no reason for Disney (or any other company) to take a single person seriously who randomly calls up and says they have food poisoning. Unless you go to the hospital and there is an investigation, you have no proof that the cause was food based. Trust me, they take cases of food poisoning really seriously when there is an actual report, medical evidence, and a health department investigation.

 

[finedice]

Not going to argue here - I'm in my happy place atm. However, as I said his is an unlikely source of food borne illness. Most (not all) major food borne pathogenic bacteria thrive in foods that have high protein and / or carbohydrate levels, and have a neutral acidity / alkalinity level.

As salsa is an item that many hundreds of people would have consumed at the Mexico pavillion in a given meal period, more people would be sick - and as I said - it would make the news. The FIRST thing the CDC or health department would look at is how many other people that ate the same food got sick. 1 call = unfortunate incident - 2 calls = outbreak.

I will also say that there are a great many "unlikely" foods being blamed for outbreaks these days., I (as the conspiracy theorist I am) tend to think most of these associations are to pull the suspicion from the real culprits which are more than likely meats. Why? - well there is a great deal of money, influence, and lobbying power behind the meat industry... (And no, I am not a vegetarian).

I also wonder if they mentioned how long the symptoms of salmonella, E Coli 0157:H7, and campylobacter poisoning generally last?

Almost any food can be a culprit - especially if mishandled, cross-contaminated, or yes, left out for long periods of time. I only said unlikely.

 

[dzneelvr]

Both DD and I have had food poisoning (never at WDW) and it hits about 4 hours later, with constant and non relenting vomiting for many hours...then lethargic and "limp" for another 24-36 hours. If your family members had those symptoms, Disney should have been interested at the very least. Food poisoning is horribleoutbreaks can close down dining places in our area

 

[kymom99]

A couple weeks ago my son came down with the 24 hour stomach virus. He threw up several times, missed one day of school, and felt as good as new in a relatively short time. My husband and I did not get sick, and I cleaned up after him. Now I will say, if the ladies were already heading for an illness, salsa would certainly be a food that would set things in motion. I will never forget how badly spaghetti sauce sat in my stomach as I came down with a stomach virus years ago.

 

[Smiles4DW]

So very sorry your girls got sick. Salsa is an unlikely suspect though, as it's not generally high in either carbs or protein, and has a fair amount of acidity. It's not impossible, but it is unlikely compared to many other foods. Most food borne illnesses generally take a little longer to set up shop inside us too. It's rare that they hit within the first four hours. Again - not impossible, but improbable... Most food borne illnesses can take up to a week or more to leave our systems as well. This sounds more like an unfortunate encounter with a 24 hour bug than food poisoning.

If Mexico had pathogenic bacteria in their salsa - hundreds - possibly thousands would have gotten sick - and it would make the news. Was there anything else they both ate? This might explain the lack of serious consideration from Disney. If you had been the second+ person to call, they might have shown more worry...

Oh - and I don't work for Disney - but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night... AND I am a certified food service sanitation teacher

FYI...several guests got food poisoning from BOG's roasted chicken a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't in the news. I read a post on another Disney fan site. Disney confirmed this and was correcting the issue (the chicken wasn't cooked properly).

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Trip Reports board.