Sick in WDW? How to cope?

[wings91]

Who's been sick on their WDW vacation? How did you cope? Did the excitement take some of your symptoms away?

DW and I leave in 11 days. I'm just getting over my first cold in over a year. DW isn't sick...yet (fingers crossed). We are WDW commandoes, and being run down would just ruin our vacation.

 

[spacemountain]

I've been sick before where I had a really bad running nose and a sore throat and laryngitis but that didn't stop me from doing anything. I just packed lots of kleenex and medicine!

 

[momrek06]

I have never been to WDW and gotten sick but my DGF went a few years ago with her son for a well planned long overdue vacation for them both. DGF was recently divorce. Thankfully, her parents went with her as the 2nd day of their trip DGF got the FLU. She literally was in bed the entire time. They stayed at ASM and she had absolutely no energy no want or will to do a thing. Let me tell you they were both the MOST excited mom and son to ever want to hit the WORLD and despite all that excitement she did not even get out of bed for 2 days straight. Thankfully, her parents did the best they could to get DGF's son to all the Parks and at least see to it that son had an awesome time. All the while my DGF just wanted to be home in her own bed dealing with this STUPID flu.

 

[pezpam]

You do what you can do and if it's bad enough that you can't physically go commando, you enjoy what you can do.

And you wear one of those little face masks so *I* don't get sick. <grin>

 

[I Love Tigger]

I got sick on our last vacation, caught a nasty upper respiratory infection so ended up finding a doctors surgery, who gave me some antibiotics! I've never felt so ill, couldn't get out of bed for two days and it ruined the second week of our holiday as my DH caught it too the worse part was he said we were well enough to fly home

But the good news we've just booked to go back and try again and this time no bugs allowed!

Fingers crossed you both are fine and you have a great time

 

[marbleso]

I always get sick in Disney, its my curse. This year I actually got a really bad flu on my first New Year's eve at Disney. I could barely get out of bed, so I couldn't go to the park. I coped by watching the Lifetime Movie Network on the hotel TV. We don't get it at home and stupid movies are really fun!

 

[ilovemcbride]

I got sunburned really, really bad the second time I went. It was so bad my forehead blistered. I'm not sure if I got sun poisoning or what from it, but I was SO sick at my stomach. I kept feeling like I had to throw up but never could. I bought a visor to keep extra sun off my head and that helped. I never actually had to take anything for it.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Not our family, but I do know someone who got appendicitis, had to be taken to the hospital and have his appendix removed. When she returned home, she couldn't stop talking about how wonderfully helpful everyone at the resort was (they stayed at POR, I think). From her first phone call in the middle of the night saying something was wrong, they were right there so promptly. And without question, the family got credit for the unused # of nights for another trip.

 

[kizmac]

When we went in December 03......me (also 7 mths pregnant), my dad, and 4 of my kids all got the flu. Me and my dad were sick as dogs by the 3rd day of the trip. Luckily the boys didn't get real ill till our last day of the trip, which made the ride home lots of fun. It was awful and while I was so bad that they rented a wheel chair and pushed me around in it, I still went and tried to have a good time. Not a trip that I would want to relive but still for the most part, we had a decent time.

I think I tend to get a little paranoid now when it gets close to trip time about someone getting sick. With 8 in our family, someone is always getting ill with something it seems. Last year the kids all were passing Strep around the week before the trip and at least we caught it and everyone had their antibiotics before we left town. What can you do but hope for the best! Hope you have a great, illness free trip!

 

[MomofKatie]

I have never been sick while at WDW, but both DH and DD got nasty colds with cough in October. I just poured lots of cold medicine down their throats and hoped for the best.

We missed one day at the parks- they just weren't up to it. We strolled verrrry slowly around DTD instead, then went back to the resort and had a quiet evening in. Luckily, we had a non-commando trip planned, so we could take it easy and not feel like we were "wasting" our vacation. The only thing we really felt we missed out on were the late night hours and some of the after-dark parades and fireworks/shows. DD was just not into staying up late (she will usually do anything to stay past her normal bedtime!).

Take it slow, take care of yourselves, and have a great time!

 

[wings91]

I would be dragging, but I think I could manage with just cold. If I had the flu it would be awfull. I had such a bad one last year I missed 3 days of work. The flu ran rampant in the office last year. This year, I got the flu shot so I should be OK there. DW doesn't believe in the shot, she thinks it will make her sick.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I get sick a lot right before vacation. I think it's the stress to get my work cleaned up in the week before, and my immune system goes down.

Anyhoo, I've gone on antibiotics that my doc prescribed before I left. Not fun since I couldn't (well, really shouldn't) drink alcohol and I wasn't supposed to be exposed to the sun for a long time. Big hat and sunscreen helped that, but I felt "off."

I've also tried the over-the-counter arsenal on vacations. It helps a little, but still a bummer.

Last year, due to cholesterol issues, I'd gotten turned on to very strong, premium, loose-leaf medicinal teas before we went on vacation. Of course, both DH & I caught a bug a couple days before our trip. I read that some of the teas we had were good for colds, so we loaded up on a ton of teas, brought our tea maker (it's a plastic thing), sugar and our coffee pot for lots of hot water, and that helped the best.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Oh, now THIS thread I'm an expert on!

Some tips: know how to get to Celebration Hospital. Know where the closest doc in the box is, and know where the all night pharmacy is.

I got the WORST case of gastroenteritis in Disney about 3 years ago and ended up at Celebration-very nice hospital.

Had one of the kids come down with strep two years ago, popped over the the doc in a box over by osceola parkway and got some meds right away.

The all night pharmacy is the Walgreen's on 192, but I'd double check that one.

You can also get a Disney Doc to come to your room if you call the front desk. I was almost sick enough for that about 10 years ago. THat's what I get for swallowing Wet N' Wild water

 

[weeluvdisney]

On our first and only trip to Disney (until May 2006) a few days before we left I started getting sick. Didn't know it till I was there but it was a terrible sinus infection and the plane ride compounded it. The pressure and pain in my head was awful......I don't think I hardly slept at all and we went commando on the parks. I couldn't go more then 2 minutes without having to blow my nose and still no relief. Went to the Dr. when we got home, got an antibiotic. I still had fun but I was pretty miserable and I can't wait to go this time and not be sick (fingers crossed).

 

[KimR]

My DD got a stomach bug 2 years ago in Disney. She was out of commission for a day and a half. I'm thankful it wasn't longer, but that was bad enough. Ever since then I've been so paranoid of one of the kids getting sick at WDW. Since we go during Spring Break, that's an issue we'll always be dealing with since strep and other bugs seem to run rampant in the Spring.

 

[disgirl]

For awhile it seemed like every trip(sometimes it would be a few years in between trips, before joining DVC) someone would get sick, stomach bug, cold, sore throat, etc. Many years ago my brother was so sick with an infection, that my parents had a doctor come to the room at the Contemporary. We have also had to make a few trips to nearby clinics for strep throat etc. and even made one trip to the emergency room at celebration for myself in 03. Luckily in all cases, our trips were never totally ruined. Usually an antibiotic was prescribed and all was well in a couple of days. We were lucky because I think it is horrible if you are only there for a couple of days and are sick the whole time. We have not had that experience and in the last 3 years, we have been healthy at WDW!

Good Luck! Feel good and stay well!

 

[CBCit]

On last years vacation my husband had a really bad eye infection and although he had been on meds for a few days before it just kept getting worse. We had to stop every 2 hours wherever we were and find him a quiet bench so he could put his eyedrops in. I was sure we were going to end up in the emergency room by our second morning, but although it didn't go away, it stopped getting worse so we just did the eyedrop thing for all five days. He was really embarrassed, especially because the eye was all red and kept his sunglassses on all the time, so we started calling him Neo, or whatever that guys name is from the movies. Anyway he managed, as we all did, to have a great time anyway.

 

[remmy_7]

On our last trip I had a really bad flu (threw up on the plane on the way over ) So when we go the hotel at about 2 pm, I went straight to the room and slept. The next morning I felt better, but was still a bit woozy.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, appendicitis "wins" (so far), but I think I'm first runner up for now. A few years ago (November 2000) I got pneumonia while staying at Shades of Green (although I'm reasonably certain I caught it on the plane on the way down). I spent two days in the room then, when I went to check out and ask for VERY specific directions to a hospital - it only hurt when I breathed - the desk clerk took one look at me and insisted on calling an ambulance. They took me to the Celebration Health ER, where I was diagnosed and had to wait for a room. There are (or were, I haven't been back) very few inpatient rooms, so I ended up in the Presidential Suite - complete with balcony with a great view of the IllumiNations fireworks - for five days.

 

[mickeymom629]

I woke up last Wednesday, our last full day of our quick spring break trip, with chest congestion. I woke at 5:30 to get to the MK by 7 (EMH). By noon, my voice was gone. Luckily, I sounded worse than I felt. We went back in the p.m. until closing at midnight. We had the drive home to MD and I felt pretty run down and coughing. Now we are home and it has since turned into a full "cold". I guess I was pretty lucky. The funny thing is that I always bring our entire medicine cabinet. This time I didn't bring anything except headache medications. I'm the one who eats the healthiest and dresses the warmest. I think it's like bringing ponchos and umbrellas.
I will not forget the medications next time!

Hopefully, the fact that you are already sick, you are on your road to recovery and you will have a wonderful time!