My Child Gets Sick Every Time We Visit Disney....

SandyinMonterey

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Not a stomach bug or cold/flu, but effects her asthma. Her asthma presents itself as a cough and can get bad fairly quickly. We just got back from a quick trip(March 7-11) and sure enough, she's coughing. With this trip her asthma doctor put her on a protocol of inhalers and Zyrtec one week prior to leaving for Disney and it didn't help. Missing school today and can't go on a 3 day class trip starting this Wednesday because of it. Just wondering if anyone has the same or similar experience?
 
I mean it's assumed there are germs and viruses EVERYWHERE at Disney, so my completely uneducated guess is that she comes into contact with those gets a respiratory cold/bug and it affects her asthma.
 
My daughter has allergies and a unique reaction that only presents in FL in the fall (her “home allergies” are not as severe) but nothing to the extreme you’re talking, especially with all the precautions you took.

I’m so sorry.
 
We returned two weeks ago, and unfortunately my DS has always gotten sick while at Disney. We normally visit 2-3 times a year, and without fail he always ends up catching cold or flu towards the end of the trip. We have been doing this since he was 2, he is now 10. I will say we lived 30 minutes from Disney a few years ago,( only for about a year). While we lived there he didn't catch bugs quite as often, and we frequented the parks a couple of days a week. My DS does have mild asthma and CVS, but it doesn't change in severity from when we visit Disney versus while we are home. However, we live in a similar climate( southeast Georgia.) We homeschool due to DS having CVS and DH job travels quite a bit though.....so no missed school. I know we used to do breathing treatments when DS was younger, they helped a lot more.
 
We returned two weeks ago, and unfortunately my DS has always gotten sick while at Disney. We normally visit 2-3 times a year, and without fail he always ends up catching cold or flu towards the end of the trip. We have been doing this since he was 2, he is now 10. I will say we lived 30 minutes from Disney a few years ago,( only for about a year). While we lived there he didn't catch bugs quite as often, and we frequented the parks a couple of days a week. My DS does have mild asthma and CVS, but it doesn't change in severity from when we visit Disney versus while we are home. However, we live in a similar climate( southeast Georgia.) We homeschool due to DS having CVS and DH job travels quite a bit though.....so no missed school. I know we used to do breathing treatments when DS was younger, they helped a lot more.
 
Never been able to find what triggers this. We’ve even been to Stanford in California. All comes up negative. Her asthma doctor has suggested mold. She said she’s lived in Florida & it’s everywhere & can be bad. But who knows? We can be home for a year or more & not go to Disney in that time and even start thinking she may grow out of this. But no, we go to Disney & it’s back.
 
I may be mold or something similar airborne. It’s so humid and in a swamp, so it makes sense. I live in a similar environment in Louisiana and know people who had issues being constantly sick here. Not a lot of people, but I do know of a few. Perhaps she’s just super suceptible to the type that’s there, or even outright allergic to it. Which really sucks.
 


Never been able to find what triggers this. We’ve even been to Stanford in California. All comes up negative. Her asthma doctor has suggested mold. She said she’s lived in Florida & it’s everywhere & can be bad. But who knows? We can be home for a year or more & not go to Disney in that time and even start thinking she may grow out of this. But no, we go to Disney & it’s back.

Mold is an interesting idea - do you tend to stay at the same hotel? Possibly something airborne though :(
 
No, different times of year. Another interesting note is that when we lived in California & frequently went to DL, she didn’t get sick.
i am thinking you might be on to something with the idea about mold. what about ordering or bringing with you an air purifier for the room even when you are not in room to get mold out of air. you might check with her doctor about using on at Disney. having lived in the Disneyland area for over 20 years weather is very dry in that area. that could be the difference not the people there at the parks
 
i am thinking you might be on to something with the idea about mold. what about ordering or bringing with you an air purifier for the room even when you are not in room to get mold out of air. you might check with her doctor about using on at Disney. having lived in the Disneyland area for over 20 years weather is very dry in that area. that could be the difference not the people there at the parks
We always travel with an air purifier. Thank goodness we can drive to WDW with all the stuff we bring for her.
 
I'm not to familiar with asthma but spent years working at a Hilton property before our kids. We had a frequent stay quest who had to have her room wiped down with just plain soap & water before her stay. She claimed the chemicals our housekeepers cleaned with triggered her asthma.
 
Mine and dh’s Asthma is much worse at Disney. I’m fine to up my Ventolin, inhaled steroids and oral meds, but dh needs big guns. He cannot go in March due to high pollen counts; he becomes seriously ill, nearly requiring hospitalisation.

In advance of our trips he ups his antihistamines. The dose is extremely high as per his allergist. He uses Ventolin as needed and his inhaled steroid. He needs a nasal decongestant.

I do a thorough wipe down of our villa. He brings his own pillowcase. He showers at the end of each day to get the pollen off of him. This is very effective.

He always has a prescription for Prendisone with him if things get completely unmanageable.

They say Florida is the pollen capital of the world. That isn’t a joke. Google it and you will find lots to read.
 
It’s known that Disney pumps scents into the air. My friend had a pretty bad reaction to the aroma of the Grand Floridian resort. She found it hard to breathe and got a headache. We weren’t staying there fortunately and had to cut our visit short due to her physical reaction.

I told her that’s how I always feel when I get dragged into a Bath & Bodyworks, or a Body Shop and am hit with a wall of smells from soap/perfume. (So, it’s strange in hindsight that I didn’t even notice the scent).

So, perhaps a chemical reaction of some kind?
 
I have asthma that is triggered by getting sick. I get sick almost every time I fly. Usually a day or two after I return it starts up. For me I think it's the germs on the plane. Not so much Disney.
 
No, different times of year. Another interesting note is that when we lived in California & frequently went to DL, she didn’t get sick.


another thing to potential test for is Sulfur allergies. My sister is highly allergic to Sulfur which sometimes presents it self in Swamp like environments...which much of Florida is.
The Sulfur could also potentially be in the water supply too.
 
another thing to potential test for is Sulfur allergies. My sister is highly allergic to Sulfur which sometimes presents it self in Swamp like environments...which much of Florida is.
The Sulfur could also potentially be in the water supply too.
Thank you for the information. She’s had blood tests for allergens but unsure if tested for sulfur. I’ll look into that.
 
I'm wondering if there's something environmental about Florida itself that's triggering it (I'm assuming you don't live in Florida or somewhere environmentally similar)

The humidity, something in the air, something in the water.
 

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