Food poisoning claims with Disney

[Hot Lava]

How do you know that food made you ill? Being the last thing you ate is far from solid evidence.

...said the army of Disney lawyers...


Actually, Disney would probably assign something like this to a newbie lawyer.

 

[lazyboy97o]

...said the army of Disney lawyers...


Actually, Disney would probably assign something like this to a newbie lawyer.

It would likely never get anywhere near a lawyer without actual proof.

 

[jamesgf]

At the end of our 2011 trip, my daughter became sick after eating at La Hacienda (she had fish and was the only one of us that was sick). Pretty sure it wasn't norovirus as no one else got sick considering how contagious it is (cleaning up after a sick kid is almost a guarantee to get it, it's happened to me no matter how careful you are).

During our trip this past January my mom became ill after eating at the coral reef, she only had a a bite or two of her lobster pasta dish and said it tasted off and sent it back, then was sick for 2 days of our 7 day trip. Once again no one else in our group was ill. She talked to guest services and they basically didn't care. I figure odds are it's my turn on our next trip.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

quote="lazyboy97o, post: 5802126, member: 62775"]And how do you know it was the restaurant you suspect that made you ill? How do you know you even had a food-borne illness and not something else with similar symptoms? This is why establishments do not take much notice of these claims, because there are far too many variables which are compounded by widespread, false beliefs amongst the populace.[/quote]
I eat just Disney food, I sleep in just a Disney bed. Chances are I got Disney sick. I dont expect payment but I do expect proper handling of a report. Also you do realize that the opposite of what your saying is true. It Iis far more likely a night of vomiting is caused by a foodborne illness than not. Sorry to criticize your "world" in anyway

 

[lazyboy97o]

I eat just Disney food, I sleep in just a Disney bed. Chances are I got Disney sick. I dont expect payment but I do expect proper handling of a report. Also you do realize that the opposite of what your saying is true. It Iis far more likely a night of vomiting is caused by a foodborne illness than not. Sorry to criticize your "world" in anyway

That still does not point to it being Disney food that made you sick. What did you want Disney to do? Send in a food safety crew to go inspect every place you ate at during the typical incubation period for most food-borne illnesses?

 

[Club Cooloholic]

That still does not point to it being Disney food that mhade you sick. What did you want Disney to do? Send in a food safety crew to go inspect every place you ate at during the typical incubation period for most food-borne illnesses?

No but I do expect proper tracking of possible incidents. Hey I dont mean to upset you but Disney does not handle all things well all the time, see Planes a cash grab not worthy of a big screen

 

[lazyboy97o]

No but I do expect proper tracking of possible incidents. Hey I dont mean to upset you but Disney does not handle all things well all the time, see Planes a cash grab not worthy of a big screen

I am far from one who takes issue with people complaining about Disney. The fact is that most people are wrong in their assumptions about food-borne illness and Disney jumping on every alleged incident would amount to a pile of largely worthless data. It is just that simple. If one truly believes that there is a safety issue, the best option is to report it to the local health department.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I am far from one who takes issue with people complaining about Disney. The fact is that most people are wrong in their assumptions about food-borne illness and Disney jumping on every alleged incident would amount to a pile of largely worthless data. It is just that simple. If one truly believes that there is a safety issue, the best option is to report it to the local health department.

Except your ignoring the fact that food poisoning is actually underreported

 

[wdwmom2+1]

I believe my husband and son (who was 10 months at the time ) got food poisoning from eating at the Poly Luau. THey were very sick. We didn't end up going to the hospital but lost a few days from our trip.. We never reported or asked for anything from Disney..

 

[Hakunamatata]

No but I do expect proper tracking of possible incidents. Hey I dont mean to upset you but Disney does not handle all things well all the time, see Planes a cash grab not worthy of a big screen

Curious as to what constitutes proper tracking?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Except your ignoring the fact that food poisoning is actually underreported

Under reporting doesn't change the other factors at play. Mass misreporting is not an effective means of addressing under reporting.

 

[flynnibus]

if you are actually concerned... talk to the county health department and make your report there. Then actual action will be taken if there are multiple reports and ways to dealing with it.

if you want compensation... talk to disney, and don't give up. ranting here won't do anything.

 

[jaklgreen]

Most food borne illnesses take between 16-48 hours for symptoms to occur. I work in the food industry and people try to make claims that our food has gotten them sick before but about 95% of the time it's something they had eaten earlier in the day or te day before that got them sick. If only you an your daughter reported an illness and not anyone else it's most likely not the Disney food you ate, but something else.

A lot of people do not understand the time table for illness to occur.

That is not necessarily true. There are some that take a while and others can show symptoms within 30 min(like norovirus). I have had food poisoning a couple times in my life and you know what that feels like and how it is different from the flu. And it is possible for just a few people to get sick. Example, employee goes to the bathroom, does not wash hands (or not good enough) touches your food, gets hands dirty and then rewashes them. I have worked in food for 25 years. I have seen people not wash hands enough or touch money and then go back to touching food. It happens more then you would think. In fact I am surprised more people don't get sick. And who knows, maybe that table you sit at is one where the last person did not wash their hands after the bathroom and spread it all over the table and that is how someone got sick. People are disgusting, I see all the time at work people come in, touch the door, touch their money, touch god knows what and then sit down and eat their food without washing their hands first. GROSS!!

 

[Goofyernmost]

That is not necessarily true. There are some that take a while and others can show symptoms within 30 min(like norovirus). I have had food poisoning a couple times in my life and you know what that feels like and how it is different from the flu. And it is possible for just a few people to get sick. Example, employee goes to the bathroom, does not wash hands (or not good enough) touches your food, gets hands dirty and then rewashes them. I have worked in food for 25 years. I have seen people not wash hands enough or touch money and then go back to touching food. It happens more then you would think. In fact I am surprised more people don't get sick. And who knows, maybe that table you sit at is one where the last person did not wash their hands after the bathroom and spread it all over the table and that is how someone got sick. People are disgusting, I see all the time at work people come in, touch the door, touch their money, touch god knows what and then sit down and eat their food without washing their hands first. GROSS!!

And yet, as far as we know...they didn't get sick. How does that happen exactly? You are coming in contact with all kinds of stuff when on a trip. If you flew, you are in close proximity to all kinds of possible things. If you drive there you have probably stopped and eaten at least 3 times a day in route. Just because you happen to get sick while you are at Disney does not mean that it started there. Just traveling sometimes upsets people systems enough to cause problems. The word food poisoning is way to easily thrown out there. I am 65 years old, I have never concerned myself or taken extraordinary precautions and believe me I have eaten a lot of meals in that time. I have never had what I would consider Food Poison. I can only remember getting sick on one vacation in my life and that was in Maine after eating seafood. But I ate that at 6 PM and it was only a couple of hours later that I started having problems. Knowing that it takes a little while to have that problem set in, it never even crossed my mind that Food Poisoning was the cause.

 

[Hakunamatata]

It doesn't surprise me that people get sick at WDW. You have international travelers bringing uncommon germ and virus strains. Most people forget that throughout your life you become immune to all kinds of various viruses. So why does one person get sick and the others don't? Well it could be bacterial which is what food poisoning is mostly or it could be exposure to a virus that is piggy backing on your burger. That is not food poisoning. The vast majority of food poisoning cases are identified by multiple people reporting illness from a central location. Then it's highly likely that it's a case of that location getting a food product from a supplier ( spinach or cantaloupe being the most recent high profile candidates) that is the source.

 

[Cesar R M]

Three other thoughts:

A large percentage of food poisonings are due not to the ingredients used in the dish, but the unwashed hands of those who prepared or handled the food (or washed in lukewarm water and then use the handle that's been used by many who don't wash at all to leave the loo). People who handle food should wash their hands in water that's almost too hot to use and lather with soap for a minimum of 30 seconds (and count) and touch nothing that might have been in contact with fecal matter (like a bathroom handle).

If there's a time range of when food poisoning could have happened, that entire time range could have been spent eating Disney food.

People who have food allergies need to bring these up every time they eat out if they have a huge sensitivity to something - ordering something that doesn't contain it isn't enough.

you know, tossing my two cents..
the washing hands things (or using sanitizer) should apply to the clients as well.
I honestly was horrified to see so many americans(or so I think) going into the bathroom and NEVER WASHING THEIR HANDS... specially at epcot and on airports.

The food poisoning can come from anywhere is both sides are unclean or do not use proper hygiene.

 

[jamesgf]

you know, tossing my two cents..
the washing hands things (or using sanitizer) should apply to the clients as well.
I honestly was horrified to see so many americans(or so I think) going into the bathroom and NEVER WASHING THEIR HANDS... specially at epcot and on airports.

The food poisoning can come from anywhere is both sides are unclean or do not use proper hygiene.

I agree (American here), it's gross not to wash you hands after using the bathroom. I'm not a germ freak by any means, but when traveling and at WDW I make sure to wash my hands very frequently, before each meal (before getting to the table), use sanitizer or washing hands after riding attractions to avoid getting sick while I am on vacation. I don't want anything to slow me down or ruin my time at WDW.

 

[DManRightHere]

I'm sorry, but I'm sure Disney has tens of thousands of false claims about food illnesses. Not saying your claim is false, just that is why Disney is not cooperating. I think you would be looking at a lawsuit, which may be very difficult to prove unless you find several other people that had the same illness. I think the most they may help you out on out of court is to not charge you for the extra days.

Good luck to you.

 

[GoofGoof]

I worked in a restaurant that was sued by a lady who admittedly been snorting coke and drinking for 8 hours before she came in for dinner. She fell down the stairs where a waiter carrying a heavy tray simply stepped over her on the way up the stairs which P'ed her off so she sued us for having stairs that were 1 inch to narrow. End result she got nothing because she was some crazy lady from up North but people threaten lawsuits continually on restaurants. Why on earth they do this I don't know but the customers always right??? No they aren't.

As far as insurance, oh ya if you are out of network etc. the bill can be 10K in a blink of an eye.

I love a story with a happy ending.

 

[SagamoreBeach]

I don't know how much the restaurant or the manager would be able to help. If you want to seek damages, you need to contact Disney guest services and keep plugging away until they get you to the person who can help...

That being said, I am not sure how successful you are going to be. The problem is that even though a doctor may say they see Disney food related illness all the time it is going to be difficult to prove that it was the restaurant that you ate at that is responsible. It would take a huge number of people who ate the very same dish, the very same day to trigger an investigation and inquiry. (Think ecoli contamination and fast food restaurants).

One issue that happens is that many people take thier leftovers with them...junior's pizza or cheeseburger or mom's ham and cheese sandwich with mayo do not agree with a warm, moist temperature and being kept out of refrigeration for hours. Then someone snacks on it, and food poisoning occurs (I am not saying this happened to you, nor am I saying you are responsible for your illness, btw) and the family says, 'all I had was this sandwich/burger/pizza from Disney... it has to be the cause.' But the real cause was outside of Disney's hands.

That being said, if the hospital said they had X amount of cases that day/days and it can be traced back to everyone eating at the same restaurant...then you have a stronger case....

Either way, sorry to hear you and your daughter's vacation was marred by this illness - not exactly the way anyone wants to spend thier hard earned time away.

I totally agree with Spikerdink. You should try and find out from the hospital or the local department of public health if there had been other reports of foodborne illness. If just the two of you, the argument could be that it was something the two of you ate somewhere else - not at Disney for lack of other complaints. Also, food borne illness can incubate for many days before it makes you sick. Sorry that you got sick, but unless you can prove that others were also affected, you really don't have much of a case.