And this is why we rent a car!! Why didn't I just use it?!?

I used to think this way too, until I had my own kid. There are any number of valid reasons for bringing a kid with a cough somewhere.

Very true. However, it's pretty easy to tell when a cough is from illness, and not just allergies, asthma, a tickle in the throat etc... As a mother herself, I'm guessing she's pretty versed on what "sick" looks like, and she said both children clearly looked sick.

And no, there is no excuse for taking your sick child to a theme park like that. For their sake, or the sake of everyone else. The exception would be if they "suddenly" came down with it, while at the park and they were trying to get back to the hotel room. But that's certainly a less common scenario.

Well, it sounds like your child didn’t catch strep from the coughing kids. As a parent, strep is one of my favorite diagnoses, two rounds of antibiotics, no longer contagious. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Incubation period for strep and many other illnesses is several days, so not likely it was the bus.

I do agree, though, that there are unpleasant bus rides. Most of ours are fine, though!

Who said anything about strep? She said fever and sore throat. There are several causes of fever and sore throat, that aren't strep. And could easily be caught on that bus - most viruses have a 2-5 day incubation, and with some symptoms can occur within 12 hours. So yes, it's very plausible she caught it from them.
 
It stinks for anyone to end up sick on vacation. Unfortunately the whole parks are cesspools of germs.

People can also cough from allergies, not just because they are sick. I know it doesn't matter at this point where a germ is picked up, but just wanted to throw that out there. I remember one bus ride where the child next to me was coughing and coughing. I looked at the mom and said "Asthma?" She said yes. A cough is not always something contagious.

Yes. Busses have germs. Parks are filled with germs too.

Agree completely with above though. My son has asthma. Spring is hard for him. We usually go to WDW on April school vacation. He always has a cough then. Twice in WDW (and many times in general) he has coughed so hard that he threw up, but he's not actually sick. It's getting better as he gets older.
As a side note, I will say the times that he threw up at Walt Disney World the CMs were on it immediately - offering help and cleaning it up. The time he threw up at Universal nobody came over to help or clean up except another guest in the park who offered us a napkin.
 
Kids get sick at school as well. You won't be able to stop them from getting sick no matter where they are. As a parent you just learn to try to prevent it as much as possible. I get sick from my husband working in peoples homes and brings stuff home. I would have just put a napkin over their face.
 
Who said anything about strep? She said fever and sore throat. There are several causes of fever and sore throat, that aren't strep. And could easily be caught on that bus - most viruses have a 2-5 day incubation, and with some symptoms can occur within 12 hours. So yes, it's very plausible she caught it from them.

I said strep as others had mentioned it, but also had said "other things" as well.
 
On our last park day, we ate dinner then headed to MK for the evening. We rode a few rides then suddenly my 10 yo started throwing up and didn’t stop so we left. She was sick all night. The only thing we surmised it to be was food poisoning from the restaurant. It can happen anytime, anywhere and it’s not fun.
 

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