Does Disney make you sick? It does me!

[Hidalgo]

My first post here.....and I DIDN'T come here to bash WDW. We are Vacation Club members...and we LOVE the Disney experience.

BUT........

We have made 3 trips to Orlando, and 1 to Anaheim, over the past 2 years. EACH and EVERY time either myself or my son returns home SICK! I know there are many, many people there from many different countries and we are constantly in contact with viruses and bacteria that we otherwise might never be exposed to. We aren't "sickly" people and ordinarily very seldom have an illness that requires a doctor's care. It is VERY frustrating. We wash our hands at every opportunity and try to do everything that is humanly possible (within reason) to prevent this. My wife is a MD and she has also come to the conclusion that Disney has a sanitation problem that needs to be addressed.

Has anyone else had this type of ongoing experience?

 

[HopLow]

It doesn't help either that they now make you put your finger on the pad when entering the parks. My sister runs around with antibacterial hand sanitizer and decontaminates us all periodically throughout the day. :lookaroun

Maybe they could train CMs to clean their areas more often? I don't know what else they could do to prevent illness. Germs get shared when there are that many people in a tight environment.

 

[magicmaya]

My first post here.....and I DIDN'T come here to bash WDW. We are Vacation Club members...and we LOVE the Disney experience.

BUT........

We have made 3 trips to Orlando, and 1 to Anaheim, over the past 2 years. EACH and EVERY time either myself or my son returns home SICK! I know there are many, many people there from many different countries and we are constantly in contact with viruses and bacteria that we otherwise might never be exposed to. We aren't "sickly" people and ordinarily very seldom have an illness that requires a doctor's care. It is VERY frustrating. We wash our hands at every opportunity and try to do everything that is humanly possible (within reason) to prevent this. My wife is a MD and she has also come to the conclusion that Disney has a sanitation problem that needs to be addressed.

Has anyone else had this type of ongoing experience?

No, but I always get allergies before I go.I got sick when I came back from St.Thomas last summer.

 

[SoHkJerry]

No Not really ... :shrug:

I understand the fact that many people go in and out of the place on a huge scale on a daily basis and this increasing the risk of a contamination of some sort .

But myself or family have never been sick in or after being at Disney , and we lived 5 min away from the world for 10 years attending the parks on a almost weekly basis and I don't believe they have a sanitation problem I am always amazed on how clean it is ?

I have picked up a few bugs in the airplane on my way to WDW could this be it ?

The symptoms you get is it allergy , infection , stomach illness ? :shrug:

Sorry to hear that you and your family get sick so often .

 

[Figment632]

It doesn't help either that they now make you put your finger on the pad when entering the parks. My sister runs around with antibacterial hand sanitizer and decontaminates us all periodically throughout the day. :lookaroun

Maybe they could train CMs to clean their areas more often? I don't know what else they could do to prevent illness. Germs get shared when there are that many people in a tight environment.

You dont have to put your finger on the scanner. I never do, you can just slide your card through and enter.

 

[djpoore94]

I came down with a cold after we returned from our last trip. Who knows where I picked up the bug, someplace at the World, on the plane, at the airport.... could have been anywhere.

I think there is a lot more to staying healthy than just hand washing or using hand sanitizer. I think it has a lot do to with getting enough rest, eating right, exercising, and the like.

 

[Hidalgo]

I have picked up a few bugs in the airplane on my way to WDW could this be it ?

No...we live in TN and usually drive to Orlando. Of course...we DID fly to Anaheim on this last trip, so it is a possibility in that instance.

The symptoms you get is it allergy , infection , stomach illness ? :shrug:

Flu-like symptoms (for lack of a better term). Nasal and chest congestion, accompanied by a moderate fever. No stomach problems, however.

Sorry to hear that you and your family get sick so often .

Thanks for the kind words.

Like I said initially...we are Vacation Club members and that is obviously our vacation plan for the future. I guess we'll have to do other things instead of the 2 parks. Disney does offer (thankfully) many other alternatives for DVC members.

 

[Hidalgo]

I think there is a lot more to staying healthy than just hand washing or using hand sanitizer. I think it has a lot do to with getting enough rest, eating right, exercising, and the like.

While it CAN help with the severity of the distress...... rest, nutrition, etc won't stop a virus or bacterial infection.

 

[disney magic 06]

You have my sympathy! I get an upset stomach every year at Disney. I put it down to the change of water but the rest of my family don't have the same problem. Last year my daughter and I both had really bad colds too, my first cold for three years.

We still love Disney though - and will be back again three weeks on Monday :sohappy:

 

[jakeman]

My first post here.....and I DIDN'T come here to bash WDW. We are Vacation Club members...and we LOVE the Disney experience.

BUT........

We have made 3 trips to Orlando, and 1 to Anaheim, over the past 2 years. EACH and EVERY time either myself or my son returns home SICK! I know there are many, many people there from many different countries and we are constantly in contact with viruses and bacteria that we otherwise might never be exposed to. We aren't "sickly" people and ordinarily very seldom have an illness that requires a doctor's care. It is VERY frustrating. We wash our hands at every opportunity and try to do everything that is humanly possible (within reason) to prevent this. My wife is a MD and she has also come to the conclusion that Disney has a sanitation problem that needs to be addressed.

Has anyone else had this type of ongoing experience?

My wife and I go about 2-3 times a year and we have never gotten sick. I think that you may just have bad luck.

That is unfortunate to hear about your vacation though.

To automatically assume fault with the corporation when millions of people attend multiple times a year and are just fine doesn't really seem logical though.

 

[alecshawn]

no....

 

[Figment632]

No but the last three trips Ive gotten sick right before we left.

 

[rlaeromech]

My first post here.....and I DIDN'T come here to bash WDW. We are Vacation Club members...and we LOVE the Disney experience.

BUT........

We have made 3 trips to Orlando, and 1 to Anaheim, over the past 2 years. EACH and EVERY time either myself or my son returns home SICK! I know there are many, many people there from many different countries and we are constantly in contact with viruses and bacteria that we otherwise might never be exposed to. We aren't "sickly" people and ordinarily very seldom have an illness that requires a doctor's care. It is VERY frustrating. We wash our hands at every opportunity and try to do everything that is humanly possible (within reason) to prevent this. My wife is a MD and she has also come to the conclusion that Disney has a sanitation problem that needs to be addressed.

Has anyone else had this type of ongoing experience?

How do you get there? Drive or fly?

 

[rlaeromech]

No...we live in TN and usually drive to Orlando. Of course...we DID fly to Anaheim on this last trip, so it is a possibility in that instance.



Flu-like symptoms (for lack of a better term). Nasal and chest congestion, accompanied by a moderate fever. No stomach problems, however.



Thanks for the kind words.

Like I said initially...we are Vacation Club members and that is obviously our vacation plan for the future. I guess we'll have to do other things instead of the 2 parks. Disney does offer (thankfully) many other alternatives for DVC members.

ignore the previos question I asked.. you already answered that.

Where do you stay when you go?

 

[Master Yoda]

I am making an assumption here and may be way off base but is it possible that you and your sons life is too clean? I see an awful lot of literature about how being too sanitary and/or secluded is actually worse for your health. Your body builds up immunity through regular exposure to viruses, bacteria, etc. Remove that regular exposure and you end up with a defenseless immune system. Being an MD you wife gets plenty of exposure to all kinds of nasty things but if you and your son are not around different people on a regular basis you might be lacking this immunity training. I know that before I was married my house was spotless, I was rarely around kids or large groups of people and was rarely sick. When I got married 8 years ago my wife had 2 kids and I literally spent the first 3 years of my marriage with some type of upper respiratory ailment. My immune system eventually caught up to the assault but it took a while. Take a quick look at your day to to day life and if you and your son are not out in the public regularly you might want to start going to places with more exposure to people and build up your immunity system.

There is also the possibility that you are running into some kind of allergen or irritant. If that is the case a regular treatment with an antihistamine like Claritin before, after and during your tip might do the trick.

 

[happymom52003]

I do not think Disney has a sanitation problem, I just think when you have that many people in a space touching so many surfaces, there are going to be lots of germs, especially during cold and flu season.

We take as many precautions as we can while we are there....we each have a little thing of purrell in our pocket, and we try to remember to put it on after each ride, especially if the ride involved having to touch a safety bar that hundreds of people have touched before us. And of course, frequent hand washing.

But no matter how many precautions you take, you can only do so much. Luck can play a huge part in it. I mean, if you happen to have a sick person sneeze on you while sitting next to you on the monorail, there is not much you can do.

And some people's immune systems are just weaker than others.:shrug:
My DH seldom gets sick...I can count on one hand the times he has been sick in the 15 years I've known him. Even when the rest of our family is sick, he rarely gets it. His mom has said that he was the same way as a child...he was rarely sick. But I catch several colds every cold and flu season. We eat the same diet, we get the same amount of sleep and exercise, and we both wash our hands frequently. But our immune systems seem to be very different.

In all of our trips to Disney, I have only been sick AT Disney one time. I caught a cold several days into our trip in 2000.
I've had one time where I was sick after our trip (Dec. 2008), but I am sure I caught it on the airplane ride home because the entire plane was coughing and sneezing.
My DH or my son have never been sick at Disney.
My DD got sick a couple of days into our last trip, but she could have caught it from her brother who was sick right before our trip.

 

[klineski96]

You'd be suprised, shocked, and probably disgusted like I am, at the number of times I'm washing my hands in the restrooms on property and see dudes just do their thing at a urinal or in a stall, and simply walk right out... not even a pointless hand rinse. :hurl: Then you think about all the hand rails, lap bars, door knobs/handles etc that these guys touch all day. :hurl:

I'm not a paranoid person or anything, but I refuse to leave a restroom without a paper towel in my hand to open the door.

My wife an I carry hand sanitizer with us when we go to the parks, and we're constantly washing our hands and trying not to touch everything.

It's no wonder people get sick! The sheer number of people and the number of people who don't use soap has to be a big reason for people catching something while there.

 

[joel_maxwell]

I am making an assumption here and may be way off base but is it possible that you and your sons life is too clean? I see an awful lot of literature about how being too sanitary and/or secluded is actually worse for your health. You wife will know that your body builds up immunity through regular exposure to viruses, bacteria, etc. Remove that regular exposure and you end up with a defenseless immune system. I know that before I was married my house was spotless, I was rarely around kids or large groups of people and was rarely sick. When I got married 8 years ago my wife had 2 kids and I literally spent the first 3 years of my marriage with some type of upper respiratory ailment. My immune system eventually caught up to the assault but it took a while. Take a quick look at your day to to day life and if you and your son are not out in the public regularly you might want to start going to places with more exposure to people and build up your immunity system.

The best thing that happen to me was having a child. Ok, i actually didnt have the child, but you know what i mean. I had a serious germ-a-phoebe problem. Now, i try and only wash my hands after public/private restrooms. Ill wash before eating too.... but none of the hand sani in my car/bag. I try and get all the germs i can so that my body can fight off all that crazy stuff my daughter brings home from the school she is at. Approaching 1 year of snuggling up to germs and Im doing great.

There is also the possibility that you are running into some kind of allergen or irritant. If that is the case a regular treatment with an antihistamine like Claritin before after and during your tip might do the trick.

This is a good point too. I medicate with Allergy meds and even though i dont get motion sickness, i still take Dramamine so my day is great.

 

[Luige11]

Only time ive gotten sick while at wdw was with my asthma other then that

 

[Disney05]

You dont have to put your finger on the scanner. I never do, you can just slide your card through and enter.

Really? They don't bust your chops about it?