Our kids got sick from the Epcot splash pad

[cruisingtwins]

We just returned from WDW, it was our 19 month old twins first trip to the world. The first park we went was epcot and my kids spent a good time playing on the splash pad. When we went back to the hotel in the afternoon and my DD started throwing up, at first I thought it was the strawberries she had earlier but then my son started throwing up in the middle of the night and he had not eaten any fruit. They didn't eat anything in common so that rules out food poisoning. I'm pretty sure they got crypto from the splash pad.

 

[quandrea]

Lots of nasties at those theme parks. Hope the bugs don't last long. I have twins and know how rough it is to have the double dose of sickness.

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

SO sorry! I hope it is/was short lived!

It's hard to pinpoint where a bug comes from. Kids are just on a different plane than a grown up and touch all kinds of railings, buttons, handles, etc. that we don't even realize they do.

Splash pad water is usually chlorinated and filtered, so way less likely to cause a bug than the bottom rung of the queue rail at Peter Pan. It makes me want to wear a surgical mask and wear gloves filled with Purell.

 

[cruisingtwins]

We had not flown in 10 days prior to going to the parks, when our kids get a bug form touching something me and DH usually get it too and it's usually a 12 hours bug. Our kids are still sick and all of their symptoms match the symptoms of crypto which is a very common splash pad parasite which is very resistant to chlorine.

 

[pennyg]

We have stopped doing any kind of splash pads anywhere because my kids always seem to get sick within a day of visiting one. I hope yours get better fast so you can enjoy your trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

Later in the afternoon is a little soon for Cryptosporidium. Symptoms generally begin in 2-10 days (average of 7 days).

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypto/disease.html

But, the water in those types of play places can get contaminated with crypto and other things. Even thought they are chlorinated, there is a fairly small amount of water and a lot of diaper age children.
I've seen kids getting the water splashed in their mouth accidentally while playing and also some who put their heads into the water (with mouth open). So, whatever is in the water can get swallowed.

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/pdf/swimming/resources/cryptosporidium-factsheet.pdf

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

Wow! I had no idea...the hidden dangers of the splash pad.

I retract my earlier statement regarding the splash pad/likelihood of it being a possible cause...except for the sympathies for two sick kids and the mom who has to deal with them. That I'll never retract.

 

[JennLen]

My then 18mo old got very sick from the splash pad at bay lake tower 2 summers ago.

 

[cruisingtwins]

You are right about he incubation period. Wr did play at the downtown disney splash pad as well both days before we went to epcot and we were on a disney cruise before. On the cruise we only took them to the splash pad area a couple of times and I'm sure they did no drink the water like they did in DTD and Epcot.

I had no idea about this crypto thing even existed which I'm pretty sure is what they have because the symptoms are identical. I wish they just got rid of the splash pads if there is no way to make them safe.

Thanks for all the well wishes. I hope today is a better day for my little ones.

 

[angelmom27]

Sorry about your kids getting sick.

If disney were to take out the splash pads then taking out all pools and water play areas would be best too. Since you can get sick from those places too. Our kids always play in the splash pads. Thankfully no one has ever gotten sick from it.

 

[mjkacmom]

It's very hard to tell where they got it from. My kids have had DOZENS of stomach virus's, from the "throw up once" to the dreaded rotavirus (lasts up to two weeks).

 

[cruisingtwins]

It's not rota or adenovirus we did a stool sample as soon as we got home and they test for those 2 things. From what I've been reading splash pads are particularly dangerous because of the low amount of water.

 

[sk!mom]

Sorry your kids got sick but it's virtually impossible to tie it to anyone thing. The awful stomach bugs people pick up on cruises is well publicized not to mention that you had been in very crowded public places for days. I would think that the splash pad was the least likely in this case due to the short incubation period between the pad and the onset of symptoms.

 

[LilyWDW]

You can not 100% tie it to any one thing at this point. I don't think pointing at the splash pads does anyone any good.

 

[cruisingtwins]

Well going by the symptoms that my kids are presenting and the fact that no one else got sick even when our kids were throwing up on top of us constantly I believe my kids got sick by drinking recreational water. If it had been a random bug me and DH would have caught it for sure we always do. The only thing that my kids did that we didn't was drink out of the splash pads. Really it's not that uncommon to get sick from a splash pad look it up online. There are a bunch of illnesses that are resistant to chlorine and thrive in splash pads. Maybe my kids were too young to play in those and I won't allow them back in until I can trust them not to drink the water.

But anyways my kids are feeling better and that's what matters.

 

[4kids4karen]

Kids should be careful not to get the water in their face (eyes, nose, mouth) and also not put their hands on their face or in their mouth. Sorry your kid is sick, but I see so many kids soaked in the splash areas, drinking the water, and putting their faces into the water. Really the kids might as well lick the ground too. It's for splashing, not drinking. I am sure with all the diapered kids there the water is pretty gross.

 

[cruisingtwins]

See me and I guess a lot of people assume they are safe and that chlorine kills everything.

They should put this sign up near all the splash pads.

 

[thedonduck]

See me and I guess a lot of people assume they are safe and that chlorine kills everything.

They should put this sign up near all the splash pads.

Um there are signs up about not drinking the water and not letting kids play if they are sick, etc. My kids have been playing in the splash pads since they were able to crawl. Never have gotten sick. I have been very vigilant about making sure they know not to drink their water. Sorry your kids got sick, but unless they can be tested for and it can be proved that the Epcot/DtD splash pad made your kids sick, you may want to change your thread title.

Disney is FULL of germs. Think about how MANY people are there from around the world (literally) and all the different illnesses/germs that they bring in. Disney can disinfect as much as possible and they will never be able to keep up. The railings can get your just as sick.

 

[4kids4karen]

Not all splash pads are even treated with chlorine. I am not sure about Disney's. When they are, it is high levels of chlorine. So it is still not good for a toddler to drink highly chlorinated water!

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/three-things-avoid-splash-pad-051800837--spt.html

Don't drink the water

Parents of small children will have to watch them closely at a splash pad, because they almost always seem to treat the sprinklers as giant drinking fountains. Some splash pads are designed to collect the water as it drains and recycle it into the system, while other splash pads use fresh water. The facilities that use recycled water must be carefully tested and treated with high levels of chlorine to kill bacteria.

Last summer, several kids were sickened by E.Coli in the water at an Alabama splash pad. The chlorine levels were just not high enough to kill this strong bacteria, and the kids who drank or inhaled the contaminated water became very ill. The best way to keep harmful bacteria out of the splash pad's water system is to make sure kids are clean and washed before getting in the water, and never let babies in diapers play on the splash pad, because diapers are a major source of coliform bacterial contamination.

Don't play in the runoff

If the drainage is insufficient, there may be large puddles of stagnant water near the splash pad. These puddles can be dangerous. In 2005, two young boys died from infections they contracted while playing near a splash pad in an Oklahoma park. The boys were infected with an amoeba known as Naegleria fowleri, which entered through their noses and attacked their brains. Amoebas can be present in all sorts of fresh water, but they seem to thrive in warm, stagnant water. Avoid all stagnant puddles of runoff water if you want to stay away from microbial contaminants.

 

[GotLabradors]

Should it be our goal in life to never ever let our kids get sick or have bumps and bruises? One of the reasons "superbugs" have been able to take hold is because of our over use of all things "antibacterial". You realize that your immune system needs to be exposed to all different types of pathogens in order to produce the appropriate immune response. Parents are so freaked out about their babies being germ free, they never stop to think about the fact that they're not allowing their child's immune system to do it's intended job. We don't use antibacterial anything in my home. My kids are allowed to dig in the sand at the beach and the dirt in my yard. They are allowed to roll around with our 3 labradors. My kids are hardly ever sick.