Trip Report A Bad Experience... with a happy ending!

I've never done one these before, because A. I've only been to Disney 3 times and B. I've never had anything eventful enough to tell about. Well, that all changed this May! I had the best, worst trip to date. I also wanted to share because the folks at disney were really great, and I'd like to give them a shout out!
So, the past 2 trips (yes, that's 2 out of 3) we've gone to WDW in May for my birthday. First trip was for my 21st and it was AMAZING. The weather. The cast members. Everything went without a hitch. I guess maybe that set my standards a bit high for the next bday trip. This year I turned 23. I will skip over the first bit since everything went pretty smoothly up until day one brunch at Be Our Guest. BOG is one of my favs, and I was so excited to sit down and eat my croque madam. It was delicious. And it was minutes after I had finished that I started to feel really nauseated :confused: I was just diagnosed with IBS and reflux this year, so I figured maybe it was just that. Nope. Things got worse and worse until I decided to spend some time on the floor of the BOG restrooms (there's a disney first!) Well, little obscure fact: I hadn't vomited in 10 years, and I just couldn't convince myself to get sick in public. I'm weird. I know. So one VERY difficult bus ride back to our room at POFQ to be sick in privacy of my own bathroom (those bathrooms are perfect, you can lean over the toilet while sitting on the edge of the tub!) Maybe a rest will help. Nope. I was in so much pain I cannot describe it. Most pain I have ever experienced in my life. I was devastated I might have to spend my entire vacation in bed, since we were only in the parks for that day and the next. We decided there'd be no way I could go to our dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table or the fireworks dessert party. It would've been my first for both of those :( But, the cast members were SO GREAT about letting us cancel last minute for both of reservations with no cancellation fees. It was a big relief for me while I was sick. The cast members at the front desk were also super helpful when we decided I needed to go the ER or urgent care, providing us with the number to call. Urgent care was pretty great too, picking us up right at the hotel.
My Dr was Dr Levi... "like the pants". That is literally how he introduced himself. You can't make this stuff up! And Dr Levi introduced me to quite possibly the best pills to ever exist. And while they tasted like a mixture of fruit and charcoal, my nausea was gone within 20 minutes. I also got a complimentary birthday pedialite pop :p
Official diagnosis: norovirus.
So I still had some stomach discomfort, but it was worlds better than it had been, so we went back to the hotel and hung out by the pool for a while. That evening I was actually well enough to go back to the parks. I was happier to be there than I had ever been! We spent our time doing as many character meet and greets as possible. That is my favorite thing to do at Disney anyway, and since I didn't feel there were a lot of rides I could handle at that point, it was the best option. We met Ariel, Merida, Cinderella/ Tiana/Elana, etc. Also rode small world since it's a slow ride and another favorite of mine. I ate part of a birthday cake scone, then watched the fireworks for the first time and new Happily Ever After show. It was a really lovely ending for my birthday.
Day 2 I felt 90% back to normal. We spent the day at epcot (meeting more princesses! Lol) And I ate supper lite all day so I could enjoy a little bit of dinner at our absolute favorite, Chefs de France! I enjoyed every bite of food that wasn't apples or hard pretzels. I was also able to keep our reservation for Frozen Ever After dessert party, and watch illuminations for the first time ever! They even brought a surprise dessert plate to our table for me for my birthday! Other notables were meeting Anna and Elsa in their home in Norway, and riding FEA... it was AMAZING! I actually cried at one point.
So, it was certainly not the trip I was expecting, and I probably will never order a croque madam at BOG again :grumpy:, but, like most things in Disney, it had a very happy ending. :happy:
 

Driver

Well-Known Member
I've never done one these before, because A. I've only been to Disney 3 times and B. I've never had anything eventful enough to tell about. Well, that all changed this May! I had the best, worst trip to date. I also wanted to share because the folks at disney were really great, and I'd like to give them a shout out!
So, the past 2 trips (yes, that's 2 out of 3) we've gone to WDW in May for my birthday. First trip was for my 21st and it was AMAZING. The weather. The cast members. Everything went without a hitch. I guess maybe that set my standards a bit high for the next bday trip. This year I turned 23. I will skip over the first bit since everything went pretty smoothly up until day one brunch at Be Our Guest. BOG is one of my favs, and I was so excited to sit down and eat my croque madam. It was delicious. And it was minutes after I had finished that I started to feel really nauseated :confused: I was just diagnosed with IBS and reflux this year, so I figured maybe it was just that. Nope. Things got worse and worse until I decided to spend some time on the floor of the BOG restrooms (there's a disney first!) Well, little obscure fact: I hadn't vomited in 10 years, and I just couldn't convince myself to get sick in public. I'm weird. I know. So one VERY difficult bus ride back to our room at POFQ to be sick in privacy of my own bathroom (those bathrooms are perfect, you can lean over the toilet while sitting on the edge of the tub!) Maybe a rest will help. Nope. I was in so much pain I cannot describe it. Most pain I have ever experienced in my life. I was devastated I might have to spend my entire vacation in bed, since we were only in the parks for that day and the next. We decided there'd be no way I could go to our dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table or the fireworks dessert party. It would've been my first for both of those :( But, the cast members were SO GREAT about letting us cancel last minute for both of reservations with no cancellation fees. It was a big relief for me while I was sick. The cast members at the front desk were also super helpful when we decided I needed to go the ER or urgent care, providing us with the number to call. Urgent care was pretty great too, picking us up right at the hotel.
My Dr was Dr Levi... "like the pants". That is literally how he introduced himself. You can't make this stuff up! And Dr Levi introduced me to quite possibly the best pills to ever exist. And while they tasted like a mixture of fruit and charcoal, my nausea was gone within 20 minutes. I also got a complimentary birthday pedialite pop :p
Official diagnosis: norovirus.
So I still had some stomach discomfort, but it was worlds better than it had been, so we went back to the hotel and hung out by the pool for a while. That evening I was actually well enough to go back to the parks. I was happier to be there than I had ever been! We spent our time doing as many character meet and greets as possible. That is my favorite thing to do at Disney anyway, and since I didn't feel there were a lot of rides I could handle at that point, it was the best option. We met Ariel, Merida, Cinderella/ Tiana/Elana, etc. Also rode small world since it's a slow ride and another favorite of mine. I ate part of a birthday cake scone, then watched the fireworks for the first time and new Happily Ever After show. It was a really lovely ending for my birthday.
Day 2 I felt 90% back to normal. We spent the day at epcot (meeting more princesses! Lol) And I ate supper lite all day so I could enjoy a little bit of dinner at our absolute favorite, Chefs de France! I enjoyed every bite of food that wasn't apples or hard pretzels. I was also able to keep our reservation for Frozen Ever After dessert party, and watch illuminations for the first time ever! They even brought a surprise dessert plate to our table for me for my birthday! Other notables were meeting Anna and Elsa in their home in Norway, and riding FEA... it was AMAZING! I actually cried at one point.
So, it was certainly not the trip I was expecting, and I probably will never order a croque madam at BOG again :grumpy:, but, like most things in Disney, it had a very happy ending. :happy:
Kudos to NP Levi, ( he's actually a nurse Practitioner) but nonetheless a great guy and very knowledgeable. On occasion Disney will use Centra Care for certain things involving CM's. And the few times I've been I had to see NP Levi. With the thousands of people he sees, I walked in after a year and not only did he remember me he also remembered some of my info before he even looked in my folder. I think that's remarkable! I'm glad you got some relief he is " the man" .
 

TerriA.

New Member
Original Poster
Kudos to NP Levi, ( he's actually a nurse Practitioner) but nonetheless a great guy and very knowledgeable. On occasion Disney will use Centra Care for certain things involving CM's. And the few times I've been I had to see NP Levi. With the thousands of people he sees, I walked in after a year and not only did he remember me he also remembered some of my info before he even looked in my folder. I think that's remarkable! I'm glad you got some relief he is " the man" .

How cool you know him! (Well, not cool that you needed urgent care, but, you know what I mean.) He was SUPER nice and very helpful. Glad to have met him.
 

TerriA.

New Member
Original Poster
Happy to hear you had a great trip!

Did the doctor mention anything to you about norovirus being a contagious disease that is transmitted directly from person to person through contact or close proximity?

"The virus is found in the stool and vomit of infected people. People can become infected in several ways, including eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated by infected food handlers, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then touching their mouth before hand washing, or having direct contact with another person who is infected and then touching their mouth before hand washing."
I could've picked it up anywhere. His guess was the airport. I will say I will probably never eat a Macaroni Grill again either lol.
 

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
Happy to hear you had a great trip!

Did the doctor mention anything to you about norovirus being a contagious disease that is transmitted directly from person to person through contact or close proximity?
When you get norovirus on a cruise ship (and they know about it), they quarantine you to your cabin for at least 24 hours. I know you can pick it up anywhere and it's fairly common at resorts, but it's interesting that he didn't say anything about the contagiousness.

(When you hear about hundreds sickened aboard a cruise ship, it's norovirus. And there is a bunch of lengthy cleaning procedures the ship goes through during that sailing and before the following sailing. I hope OP reported her illness to her hotel, at least, so the cleaning crew could be diligent.)
 
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Songbird76

Well-Known Member
"The virus is found in the stool and vomit of infected people. People can become infected in several ways, including eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated by infected food handlers, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then touching their mouth before hand washing, or having direct contact with another person who is infected and then touching their mouth before hand washing."
I could've picked it up anywhere. His guess was the airport. I will say I will probably never eat a Macaroni Grill again either lol.
I think the point The Empress Lily was trying to make was not about where YOU picked it up, but the fact that you may have spread it to hundreds of other people. Everyone who went and hugged a Princess after your meet and greet, or ate at the restaurants after you did, or went to the illuminations dessert party might have caught it from you. I looked Norovirus up and there was a woman several years ago who went to a restaurant and got sick and infected 52 people just in that restaurant. (52 people reported symptoms and thought they had gotten food poisoning from the restaurant)
It's definitely no fun to get sick on your vacation, especially when it's for your birthday. But did the doctor mention to you that you were still contageous and should probably stay put so you didn't infect others? Or did he give you the all clear to go back into public places?
 

TerriA.

New Member
Original Poster
Let's all stay calm. I was not a giant infection monster going around infecting folks by the hundreds.
1. As stated above, the virus can only be spread through the stool or vomit (or by someone who didn't sterilize after coming in contact with the stool or vomit) I am a huge germaphobe and sterilized thoroughly after the one time I vomited. After my visit to urgent care I DID NOT vomit or have a bowl movement. (Seriously, the meds he gave me caused constipation for 2 weeks if you must know.) Thus, it would've been impossible to spread the disease hugging a princess. It is not transmitted through any other bodily fluid.

2. There are no resort rules as to having to quarantine yourself when sick with any common illness. I fail to see how this is different than the hundreds of people who visit the parks with the flu, colds, pinks eye, etc. While I am ALL for practicing the best hygiene and sterilization when you are ill, I don't expect others to cancel their entire vacation, and neither would I. If you choose to visit a resort with millions of people, know that at any given point some of them will be sick with contagious illnesses, in the parks, potentially spreading it.

3. NP Levi did give me the go ahead to go back in public.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Let's all stay calm. I was not a giant infection monster going around infecting folks by the hundreds.
1. As stated above, the virus can only be spread through the stool or vomit (or by someone who didn't sterilize after coming in contact with the stool or vomit) I am a huge germaphobe and sterilized thoroughly after the one time I vomited. After my visit to urgent care I DID NOT vomit or have a bowl movement. (Seriously, the meds he gave me caused constipation for 2 weeks if you must know.) Thus, it would've been impossible to spread the disease hugging a princess. It is not transmitted through any other bodily fluid.

2. There are no resort rules as to having to quarantine yourself when sick with any common illness. I fail to see how this is different than the hundreds of people who visit the parks with the flu, colds, pinks eye, etc. While I am ALL for practicing the best hygiene and sterilization when you are ill, I don't expect others to cancel their entire vacation, and neither would I. If you choose to visit a resort with millions of people, know that at any given point some of them will be sick with contagious illnesses, in the parks, potentially spreading it.

3. NP Levi did give me the go ahead to go back in public.
Look, we're not trying to be jerks. It just didn't seem like you took the risk to others very seriously.

And from the Mayo Clinic website: "Some people with norovirus infection may show no signs or symptoms. However, they are still contagious and can spread the virus to others." and "You can also be infected through close contact with an infected person. "
So your statement about it ONLY being spread through the stool or vomit is not true. You don't have to have vomited or had diarrhea to be contagious.
I'm glad you got to enjoy your vacation, and of course no one wants to cancel their entire vacation...it's a lot of money down the drain. But, did you consider that if someone else at the airport had done just that, you wouldn't have had the experience you did and you could have enjoyed ALL of your vacation? You couldn't do anything about the fact that you were already ON your vacation before you exhibited symptoms, so of course you couldn't postpone the trip or anything, nor could you do anything about spreading it before you started showing symptoms. It happens. And maybe you didn't realize how contagious it really is. You're not a doctor, so no one can expect you to know everything about it. But a "Wow...I hadn't thought about that. That's a good point. Maybe I shouldn't have done that and I won't do it again" would come off a whole lot different than saying it was IMPOSSIBLE that you spread it. Sorry...it just seems really inconsiderate to say there's no way and people should just expect to get sick.
I don't begrudge you your birthday trip, I really don't. And I'm glad the CMs were so efficient in getting you the help you needed.
 

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Ok, it can be spread through things other than vomit or stool, that is good info to know. But I can't say "Maybe I shouldn't have done that and I won't do it again" WHEN it comes to this. I am a very sanitary person. I don't go to work or out in public when sick unless absolutely necessary. But when it comes to things like a trip I paid $1000+ for, yep, I will put others at risk of being sick if cleared by a medical professional to enjoy my vacation. Sue me. That's how life works. I don't blame the person who traveled in the airport and infected me, and I am shocked that you guys would expect one person with norovirus to stay quarantined when there are hundreds of others in the parks. If that's what you choose to do when sick in Disney, that is your choice, but others can entitled to their own choice, and I wouldn't judge anyone who chose to be contagious at the happiest place on earth.
Oh honey, I was with you right up until this post.

But really, how much you paid for your vacation is irrelevant. I DO judge people who knowingly choose to be contagious at the Happiest Place on Earth. You could kill somebody; but that’s okay as long as you get your princess pics. :facepalm:

Peace out.
 

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
No, there's no quanantine at WDW, or any resort. There's no way they could enforce anything like that. Nor would I expect them to. I was just surprised that an NP would say it was cool for anyone with norovirus to go back out in public, knowing they were going to be in close quarters with a lot of people. Especially considering that the CDC says people who have norovirus should stay home for two days after symptoms stop and that studies have shown people can still be contagious 2 weeks after feeling better. And the bad press that places get when noro hits. But I'm sure if he had to tell people they should miss part of their Disney trip, he'd get a lot of unpleasantness.
 

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
People, wow. Just wow. I'm sure she wasn't licking the door handles and gleeking on passerby's. You all need to take a stepback. If you were sick during your vacation would you spend the rest of your vacation in your room after you were feeling better or would you at least take a bus to walk around and just soak in the feeling of Disney. Be nice. Mean people suck.
 

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