What is the “disney bug” that i am hearing?

[Retroecho]

I'm just saying what my vet said, not to be alarmed as it can cause vomiting. Not to be gross, but she vomited up the charcoal and we could count the pills.

That's always fun

 

[tsme]

Well lots of people are going from lots of different areas. In our state we have a huge outbreak of the flu. People drag all kinds of germs with them.

After our last trip, I thought I had the Disney bug & didn’t go to the dr. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Disney bug it was something more serious & putting off going see a dr. really made it so much worse. It took months before I recuperated. Scary, crazy. Lesson learned.

 

[anniemae]

Just the time of year, you can also get sick at the mall, the movie theater, grocery store etc. I find the best thing to do is wash hands often. Hop into the bathroom to wash once in a while. Always wash before eating. Sanitizer is okay if you can't wash, but it does not kill norovirus. We bring anti bacterial wipes to wipe down tables before eating. We also wipe down the hotel room: things like the remote, door knobs etc. We usually bring airborne or Emergen-C to keep immune system up. Also, don't touch your face! You will be fine.

 

[Davey Jones II]

At the parks, I also wash my face whenever I go to the bathroom. I put liquid soap on a paper towel to wash my face. Although I trained myself not to touch my face much, I assume I probably still do it at times.

 

[Ciandella915]

There is the flu going around in Orlando. I’m an event planner and was there for site visits this week, and one person couldn’t meet with me due to it and another person at another venue was getting over it.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Not a Disney bug per se, just that a lot of germs circulate wherever a lot of humans do. My kids rarely get sick. I’ve read the stats for how often young kids get colds or stomach viruses and they are way under the averages. Unless we’re on vacation. Twice now in the 9 years we’ve had kids they have had stomach bugs Christmas Eve and twice while at theme parks (once Disney and once Universal). The Disney illness may have been picked up there. Universal was the second day of our trip so I think the timing is too short for it to have been anything other than food poisoning or a bug brought with us from home.

The bugs are out there.

 

[Dismama2boys]

Of course there are germs everywhere, but I feel like Disney is more of a Petri dish than your average place. People that pay large amounts of money for their "dream vacation" are less likely to stay home than if they just need to run an errand. I've seen more sick people in the parks thank can count, all because they don't want to miss out or feel like they are losing money.

 

[LSUmiss]

People run themselves down at Disney. It's important to rest, stay hydrated, wash your hands and try to balance out the junk food with healthy options. I don't believe in Disney "bugs."

I agree. I don’t believe in bugs, but do think ppl are mostly nasty! Just look at the bathrooms! I try to do all those things you mentioned, but we often still get sick

 

[Klayfish]

I don't believe in Disney "bugs."

Clearly you've never done "It's Tough to be a Bug"

 

[CynBeth]

Don't believe in any bug. Closing on 200 visits and never got sick.

I think folks are going at a different pace than they normally do, eating way different than they usually do, more junk food and sweets, more excitement, more swimming in pools for some, sleep patterns off .... just lots of different changes ....

And I do think some germs come with them and just manifest while there.

Washing hands and using sanitizer helps ... and we avoid all railings wherever we can.

We luckily didn’t get sick but experienced this for the first time our last trip in the beginning of Dec 2016. It started on the plane. We kept noticing the attendants kept bringing stuff to a certain row a little ahead of us the entire short flight and as we were getting off a kid was using his bag so figured it was him. We didn’t know if it was due to motion sickness or not. Then the entire trip we kept either seeing someone get sick or there was cleanup and that happened not just everywhere at Disney but the day we spent at SW as well.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I agree. I don’t believe in bugs, but do think ppl are mostly nasty! Just look at the bathrooms! I try to do all those things you mentioned, but we often still get sick

Oh I get it. The only time I get sick when I travel is if I fly. Planes are the absolute worst germ factories. It's cold and flu season. If my kid gets sick it's ALWAYS from school. I just don't believe that Disney has its own bug lol.

 

[LSUmiss]

Oh I get it. The only time I get sick when I travel is if I fly. Planes are the absolute worst germ factories. It's cold and flu season. If my kid gets sick it's ALWAYS from school. I just don't believe that Disney has its own bug lol.

Lol! I agree.

 

[JenniKleims]

We all got crazy sick during our trip to Disney at the end of November (November 27-December 2) Gastro related - it took all four of us down, one after the other
We took all the precautions - hand sanitizer, staying hydrated, etc...
We called a doctor and had to prolong our trip by three days (thankful for trip insurance)
Needless - we’ll be back and we hope to not get the bug again (fingers crossed)

 

[cgattis]

Oh yuck. Ok. Will bring pepto and immodium with us!

All the "sundry" shops at Disney have Imodium, but speaking from experience (thanks, tainted Jif peanut butter!), you don't want to have to go looking for it when you need it, especially at a large resort or a park!! Because of that experience (and my DH's ongoing UC), we NEVER leave home without it.

 

[fla4fun]

All the "sundry" shops at Disney have Imodium, but speaking from experience (thanks, tainted Jif peanut butter!), you don't want to have to go looking for it when you need it, especially at a large resort or a park!! Because of that experience (and my DH's ongoing UC), we NEVER leave home without it.

I have a toiletry bag that is a traveling medicine cabinet. Cold/Flu meds, stomach bug meds, motion sickness meds, pain meds - you name it, it's in there. I learned the hard way via the fever and chills flu at WL a few years ago that when you get hit hard, you can't get to the gift shop or anywhere else to get meds. I was literally bedridden at WL for five days, until I checked out. I also travel with a glass mug and immersion heater (and a few tea bags) because I wanted a hot drink so bad when I was sick and had to resort to drinking lukewarm tap water because that's all there was (I don't even think they had coffee makers in the room then, or I would have tried that even though I hate coffee - I was that desperate). That was a horrible trip!

Another thing I've done religiously since then is carry the Wet Ones individually wrapped towelettes and use them before eating or drinking anything. I have been at Disney during a couple really bad norovirus outbreaks (where people were literally vomiting in the bushes all over the place) and didn't catch it. There is an ingredient in the Wet Ones that kills the norovirus, where hand sanitizers don't.

I think the biggest line of defense is to make sure you don't get run down trying to get everything done before you go on vacation. If you start your vacation run down, then you are more likely to catch something than if you start out well rested and properly nourished.

 

[FastPasser.]

If true, wouldn't CMs be the most at risk and calling in sick frequently?

 

[Disneygrl71]

There are always lots of germs to share at a place like WDW. I believe the main bug that people have been discussing is gastrointestinal. DH had to make some pretty desperate sprints to find a bathroom while we were there. Most folks seem to be recovering in a day or so. I caught only a mild cold.

With any of these things, washing hands well and frequently with regular soap and water is your best precaution.

We were there last week and my hubby got it also. Spent 1.5 days in the room, we ordered Immodium for him through Prime Now. Our friends who went a week before us got more 'flu like' symptoms and spent most their trip in the room. I think it just varies from person to person.

 

[Klayfish]

If true, wouldn't CMs be the most at risk and calling in sick frequently?

Exactly. It's such nonsense...Disney "bug". It's no different than any other public place.

Ironically, I say that and we're here now. DW is at urgent care as I write this (seriously). She has a sinus infection, but had it before we left (seriously). I told her several days before we left to go to the Minute Clinic (seriously), and she kept pushing it off (seriously). Now she's sitting in urgent care, and I'm pretty frustrated (seriously).

 

[bear_mom]

We all got crazy sick during our trip to Disney at the end of November (November 27-December 2) Gastro related - it took all four of us down, one after the other
We took all the precautions - hand sanitizer, staying hydrated, etc...
We called a doctor and had to prolong our trip by three days (thankful for trip insurance)
Needless - we’ll be back and we hope to not get the bug again (fingers crossed)

NOTE: most hand sanitizers do not kill norovirus (most common cause of GI illnesses). Washing hands with soap and water is best.

 

[rpb718]

The Disney bug is real folks and it's insidious. You go on your first trip to WDW, and after you come home for some reason you start thinking about going again. After several years of this initial symptom you begin to notice strange things - like some of your kitchen items have Mickey or Minnie patterns, you have many pieces of clothing with Disney characters on them, and don't get me going about the Christmas tree.

Yes Virginia, the Disney bug is real!