Sickness on recent WDW trip!

[Tinker-Bella]

We visit WDW every year and love it, however this must have been our "off year." Our 18 mos. old son developed pneumonia on day 3, Celebration Hospital doesn't have a peds units, transferred to downtown Orlando. After three days he was released.

My parents, staying in the room next to ours at POR, both became very ill with a norwalk-like illness, lasted 3 days, luckily they were able to return home on schedule, but missed out on 3 days of Disney Magic! My husband, myself and my seven year old son also became ill with the same symptoms, but we were to ill to travel home on schedule. It was awful!

The hotel staff was wonderful, but it was a tremendous added expense having to stay two extra days.

Just a word of caution, the paramedics, hospital staff, and urgent care staff all told us that these illnesses, including the pneumonia, are spreading like crazy right now for people visitng WDW. We were told that there were two small brothers in critical condition with pneumonia, and flu like symptoms in peds icu! They told us we were very lucky.

Not trying to fighten anyone, just use extra caution to protect against germs!
Hope next year is healthier for us all!

 

[Harmony]

What days did you travel?

I'm concerned now 'cause my son has lung issues so something like this, I take *very* seriously.

 

[jenr812]

Very scary! I am sorry this happened to you! I am also concerned - DD and I both have asthma. I hope that they are able to fumigate or SOMETHING. We're staying at POR as well.

 

[Tinker-Bella]

We were at POR from April 23-May 4. My son and myself both have asthma too, that didn't seem to bother us, just the baby with pneumonia, and the rest of us with the stomach-like virus.

Hopefully everyone will have healthy fun trips, this just wasn't our year, although we did manage to have fun before everything started!!

 

[Harmony]

What was the name of the hospital? I'd like to call and see if they are still having these problems.

My son...*may* have asthma, he's still to young to know for sure...but his lung issues go beyond that. He has one lung smaller than the other so something like this, well, we aren't taking chances. It's possible that we will cancel or postpone our trip.

Also, is there a doctor that I can speak to?

Our TA called Disney this morning and this is the info she got from Disney.

"I just called about the flu like sickness. (You can also call the normal number for reservations and we can compare notes.) The cast member said that they have a screen that goes through any sickness alerts, ie: west nile virus, etc. That screen said nothing about a flu like virus."

We are trying to get mor info b/c for us, this is a VERY serious concern.

 

[Harmony]

What was the name of the hospital? I'd like to call and see if they are still having these problems.

My son...*may* have asthma, he's still to young to know for sure...but his lung issues go beyond that. He has one lung smaller than the other so something like this, well, we aren't taking chances. It's possible that we will cancel or postpone our trip.

Also, is there a doctor that I can speak to?

Our TA called Disney this morning and this is the info she got from Disney.

"I just called about the flu like sickness. (You can also call the normal number for reservations and we can compare notes.) The cast member said that they have a screen that goes through any sickness alerts, ie: west nile virus, etc. That screen said nothing about a flu like virus."

We are trying to get more info b/c for us, this is a VERY serious concern.

 

[EthansMom]

I'm so sorry your son got ill. I hope he's doing better now.

On our recent trip, DH got food poisoning. We all got colds. And DD1 picked up pink eye that she then shared with the rest of us. (Doc. at the walk-in clinic said they see 10-20 kids per day from WDW with pink-eye.)

Really makes you think you should be dousing your family in antibacterial cleanser.

 

[TrickyFish]

Just a word of caution, the paramedics, hospital staff, and urgent care staff all told us that these illnesses, including the pneumonia, are spreading like crazy right now for people visitng WDW. We were told that there were two small brothers in critical condition with pneumonia, and flu like symptoms in peds icu! They told us we were very lucky.

I'm surprised they said this since you can't really "catch" pneumonia. Pneuomonia evolves from catching another virus, like influenza, that causes your lungs to become infected or inflamed. Further, your immune system is generally in a weaker state when such a virus evolves into pneumonia.

Anyway, I hope all your family is feeling better!!

 

[jeast]

It may not be disney but the time of year. Right now my son's pre-school is absolutely rampant with rotovirus and pinkeye. We live in Florida but eight hours away from Orlando. They had six teachers out and multitudes of kids in the past couple of weeks.

You can get sick anywhere, anytime. Go to walmart and your kids put their hands on the cart where fifty other kids put their hands/mouths. I'm not convinced that Disney is any different than any school or playground where lots of kids convene.

 

[Harmony]

It may not be disney but the time of year. Right now my son's pre-school is absolutely rampant with rotovirus and pinkeye. We live in Florida but eight hours away from Orlando. They had six teachers out and multitudes of kids in the past couple of weeks.

You can get sick anywhere, anytime. Go to walmart and your kids put their hands on the cart where fifty other kids put their hands/mouths. I'm not convinced that Disney is any different than any school or playground where lots of kids convene.

So true...so true! But if Disney is having an "outbreak", then I'll have to take that into consideration before going. Pink-eye and things like that won't change our plans. But any virus that can put a "normal" healthy child in the hospital...well, that is something to worry about.

I'm really praying that this was an isolated incident and not something widespread.

 

[Tinker-Bella]

I never intended to give the impression that these sicknesses were the fault of WDW. Sickness can occur anytime, anywhere, it's just unfortunate it happened on vacation.

We were at Florida Hospital in Celebration, and Orlando. The Urgent Care Clinic we visited is located just outside WDW, across from Crossroads.

The cast members at the resort were informed of our condition, and their response was that on any given day there are thousnads of guests staying at WDW resorts, and unfortunately some people will be sick.

The hospital, ugent care staff, and paramedics, never said there was a full-blown "outbreak." we were told this is occuring very frequently among tourists at WDW.

Disney was wonderful to us, and I don't put blame on anyone or anyplace, it just happened. We will return next year, as we do every year!

Next time, I will bring lysol and a bigger supply of wipes and hand sanitizer!

 

[Luv2go2WDW]

We were at WDW in Feb 05 and my son got very sick. We arrived Saturday (2/4/05). The first night we spent offsite and visited different resorts. My DS (5) woke up at 3AM on Sunday vomiting.

We checked into AKL and he was sick all day. (AKL did a great job getting us into our room early as we were homeless for several hours due to checkout at the other condo). AKL managers were very helpfull and offered to have onsite paramedics come look at him for free. They recommended we either take him to hospital, clinic, or schedule a Dr to come onsite. Called Dr for room visit, but wait was too long. We ended up at the hospital in Celebration where he spent the next 18 hours in ER. He was given meds to stop vomiting and an IV for dehydration. He was given a second dextrose (?) (sugar solution) IV. This caused his sugar levels to go way out of wack. They wanted to admit him to Orlando hospital. We waited in ER for 12 hrs for a bed in the Orlando hospital. He was finally discharged with the stipulation that we treat him as a diabetic on vacation and get him retested at home since they thought the dehydration could have caused the higher levels. He was tested at home and is doing fine, no diabetics.

While at the hospital, there were a lot of people sick. Not enough beds in the ER to treat them all. We were this is very common. That WDW is a breeding grounds for visruses as no one wants to miss vacation so they go into the parks and the germs spread like wildfire. Take extra precautions, we used the anti-bacteria gel after each ride or when we touched public handrails. Felt like the germ police - but we didn't want anyone else getting sick.

I am taking my DS back in August as I felt like he missed out on some of the magic

Michelle

 

[Harmony]

The hospital, ugent care staff, and paramedics, never said there was a full-blown "outbreak." we were told this is occuring very frequently among tourists at WDW.

To me..."viruses spreading like crazy" is the same thing as saying...most everyone has it.

If this is an isolated incident or just a handful of people getting sick then it's no big deal 'cause germs don't rest or take vacations so 'yes' it can be very common to get sick while on vacation.

But if it's...like you first posted..."spreading like crazy" then that's a whole different situation.

 

[weregoingtodw]

To me..."viruses spreading like crazy" is the same thing as saying...most everyone has it.

If this is an isolated incident or just a handful of people getting sick then it's no big deal 'cause germs don't rest or take vacations so 'yes' it can be very common to get sick while on vacation.

But if it's...like you first posted..."spreading like crazy" then that's a whole different situation.

We just returned on Saturday. Six out of eight of us were sick with a stomach type virus - as were multiple others in the hotel (we stayed at SoG), so I'd definitely say it was spreading like crazy where we were. Every family sitting around the pool during this particular conversation had one or more family member who had been affected during the trip - most were multiple family members. The bug involved vomiting, diarrhea, headache, chills, and stomach cramps, and lasted 24 hours or less.

 

[Harmony]

Just wondering...out of those that got diarrhea and/or stomach cramps..did any of you go swimming? Germs are *easily* spread in the pool. Stomach viruses...although terrible...aren't my main concern here. Pneumonia like viruses are what raises my red flag. That's why I'm in the process of trying to figure out if this is widespread or not.

I'll update if I find new information.


Just for the record...I'm not a mom that panics over every little cold...it goes beyond that for me. I won't go into great detail with my son's medical history but needless to say it's quite complicated and at one point, was very, very serious. Although he had a very rough beginning, he's remained pretty healthy due to our vigiliance so this information, I do take very seriously.

 

[weregoingtodw]

Just wondering...out of those that got diarrhea and/or stomach cramps..did any of you go swimming? Germs are *easily* spread in the pool. Stomach viruses...although terrible...aren't my main concern here. Pneumonia like viruses are what raises my red flag. That's why I'm in the process of trying to figure out if this is widespread or not.

Sounds like you're pretty worried, with good cause. Try calling the urgent care & hospital directly:

Centra Care Buena Vista
12139 S Apopka Vineland Rd
Orlando, FL 32836
(407) 239-7777

Florida Hospital Celebration Health
400 Celebration Place
Celebration, FL 34747
(407) 303-4000

 

[Tinker-Bella]

The ER tirage nurse (at FA Hospital, Celebration) used the pharase "spreading like crazy," the hospital, urgent care, and paramedics, spoke more of seeing these things very frequently among tourists at WDW in recent weeks.

While waiting at urgent care, we talked with three other families all staying on WDW property (different resorts), all with family members with the same symptoms.

The cast at POR never spoke of many others being sick, but said people do get sick while on vacation. We never even made it to the pool this year, so we didn't catch it there.

When my parents checked out, "mousekeeping" only spent about 20 minutes cleaning, and I did tell them that the previous guests had been sick. A few hours later new guests were in the room!

There were sick people on the flight home too, maybe this is just a bad time of year for sickness in Florida.

 

[Harmony]

Centra Care Buena Vista
12139 S Apopka Vineland Rd
Orlando, FL 32836
(407) 239-7777

Florida Hospital Celebration Health
400 Celebration Place
Celebration, FL 34747
(407) 303-4000

THANK YOU so much for posting this info! This is what I've found so far and may have been what the OP was talking about????

http://www.local6.com/news/4491981/detail.html

 

[Tinker-Bella]

The new article you found was interesting. I was begining to regret posting my story, I truly did not mean to upset or frighten anyone. Now, at least I know we weren't the only people affected by these nasty viruses.

My main reason for sharing my story was to let people know to just use a little extra caution, and if you think an illness is starting, especally in young children, don't wait, seek medical help soon!

Another reason is because until this happened, I didn't realize that Florida Hospital in Celebration, which is very close to WDW, and a beautiful hospital, does not have a Pediatric Unit, and children who need to be admitted from the ER, will have to be transferred, which for us was another stressful event!

Well, my wishes for a healthy trip for those leaving soon!

 

[the kabuki]

I'm thinking LYSOL will be added to my packing list.