This week we asked the Parenting Panel about dealing with an unforeseen curveball on vacation: What do you do when a child gets sick on a Disney vacation?
Chris, also known as GusMan, is always planning his next family trip to Walt Disney World and loves to help others plan their trips as well through sharing his experiences. Chris writes:
As frequent guests to Walt Disney World, we plan all we can in hopes that we have the best vacation possible. Rooms, Advance Dining Reservation (ADR), tickets, a touring plan—all standard issue. However, no matter how much you plan, there is always a chance that someone may get sick during your visit. At first, you may think this would ruin your vacation, but it does not always have to be the case if you plan ahead.
Personally, while I am not overly paranoid about germs or worry about catching a cold, I do tend to be more conscientious about my health, and my family’s health, a couple weeks prior to a trip. While we do not normally run to the doctor’s office at the first sign of a sniffle, if someone is starting to feel under the weather, we try to determine what illness it might be and if there is a need for the whole family to be concerned with spreading whatever is going around. If you end up at the doctor’s office, discuss your options if there is a belief that others in your family might be exposed to something that might flare up during your trip.
Since we cannot always prepare for the unexpected, the best advice I can give someone who might experience a health issue while on vacation is: Don’t panic! The Disney cast members do not want you to have a bad vacation, but, you need to be considerate of other guests, as well. One time, my daughter started to experience some significant ear pain. After the usual parental treatment of ear drops and pain killers (thinking it was swimmers ear) the pain was getting worse. We asked the front desk at our resort if there was a clinic nearby that could help. They directed us to an urgent care that was just right outside of Downtown Disney (DTD). We called and the clinic picked up my wife and daughter from the resort hotel. They were seen very quickly, filled her prescription on the spot, and even took them back to DTD to meet me. They were very courteous, professional, and even took care of all the insurance paperwork. It made what could have been a bad situation a whole lot better. It is great to know that there is a place like this around even though you hope to never have to use their services.
While we are glad that the clinic is there in case an illness progresses beyond what parents can handle on their own, there are always things that you can do to prepare for the unexpected:
- Remember to pack any over-the-counter medicines that work well for your family. For example, we pack the three usual pain killers (Tylenol, Advil, Aleve) since all of us have our preference for headaches, fevers, etc. Sudafed is also in our arsenal. Same for Mylanta tablets, as we all know that at times we all get the occasional upset stomach from overeating and the like.
- The adults in your traveling party should have some understanding as to who will stay behind if a child gets sick. This may seem logical but when you are in the middle of all the excitement of being at Disney, sometimes knowing what you would do beforehand sets reasonable expectations for all involved.
- Make sure your children understand that if they start feeling under the weather that they tell you right away. Many times, symptoms can be kept under control if treated early.
- Be willing to change your schedule if you were going to do something special with the person who is sick. Granted, you may not always be able to switch ADRs, tours, or the like, but maybe waiting to do a certain park or a special attraction will help make sure that everyone is happy at the end of the trip.
- Be courteous of other guests and keep the sick child away from others if at all possible. This is especially the case if the child has a fever, vomiting, progressive cough, etc. Let the child get some rest, and is symptom-free before continuing.
- Make sure you have your insurance information just in case you end up at the urgent care, or worst yet, the hospital. Make copies of everyone’s cards and make sure that each adult has a copy. This way, if you end up splitting up to tend to the sick child, you never have to worry about if you have the proper card with you.
Of course, it goes without saying that while it is important to wash your hands consistently, and use hand sanitizer properly, it is even more important to do so while on vacation. Prevention and minimizing exposure to those who appear to be sick, before and during your vacation, can play a major role in making your vacation a healthy one.
Mary Kraemer is an avid Disney fan and travel consultant with CruisingCo/MouseEarVacations who loves to travel with her husband and children to Disney destinations as often as possible. Mary shares:
Getting sick happens, and probably the last place you—or your kids—want to be sick is at a Disney park. If something minor happens, a blister, a headache, or a stomachache, the First Aid station at the park should be your first stop. You can get headache or stomach relief medications or band aids without charge.
Because my family drives to Disneyland for our visits, I’m fortunate to be able to pack nearly ever elixir stocked on a pharmacy’s kids’ section “just in case” I might need it. I also take every prescription medication for my kids that’s current in my medicine cabinet (my special favorite is the ear-numbing drops for ear infections). It used to be simple to take all this with me on the plane, but due to the TSA restrictions on liquids, all those goodies have to go into baggage (except for the prescriptions). I’ve even taken the family’s humidifier on our Disneyland trips. I believe in the “ounce of prevention” method. I am happy to dump unused medications once they pass their expiration date if they were never needed.
But more than once, I’ve had a child with an upset tummy, an ear infection, etc. One time, the ear infection was so bad that my husband had to locate the nearest Kaiser hospital from Disneyland for a trip to the ER in the middle of the night. That was back in the dark ages before GPS, and is probably one of the most dramatic illness episodes we ever had. Most everything else has been managed by my own traveling pharmacy.
I also make sure that each person in the family has at least one extra set of clothes, ‘just in case’ they’re needed. Although my kids don’t get car sick, some of their friends do, so I make sure that there are gallon Ziploc bags in the minivan…and they have been useful on more than one occasion.
To tell the truth, both my husband and I have been more sick at Disney than any of our kids—both of us have had food poisoning, but not at the same time, fortunately. With that, there was nothing to do except stay in the hotel room and wait it out.
Is it fun? No. Is it avoidable? No. So you have to deal with it and not let it derail your vacation. Approach your “missed time” as positively as possible—don’t let it detract from the time you did enjoy yourself!!
Parenting in the Parks columnist Adrienne Krock’s three boys are now 12, 9, and 6. They’ve been visiting Disneyland since they were each just weeks old and Passholders since their 3rd birthdays. Adrienne adds:
Our family’s sick child at Disneyland episode was far more dramatic after we had left the actual park than while we were there. When our eldest was about 22-months-old, he experienced a febrile seizure in the car, just a few blocks into our drive home from a day at the park. For that very first time, he and I ended up in the back of an ambulance getting a front-of-the-line pass to a nearby emergency room. Over the years, two of our three sons have experienced febrile seizures, the youngest son, multiple times. From these experiences, although they were always benign, I have a proactive approach to handling sick children.
The first reality is that illnesses and headaches, like injuries, can catch us off-guard. One minute our children seem fine and the next, they have a fever or the sniffles. The first lesson I learned is that the Disney theme parks offer single doses at a time of some over the counter pharmaceuticals in their First Aid Centers, including acetaminophen (the generic name for Tylenol.) This can be very helpful when families are caught unprepared. They have nurses and facilities where families can stop for a rest, ice packs, minor first-aid and so forth.
That said, while I strongly resist unnecessary medication, especially over-prescription of antibiotics, I learned early on to have a stash of medication on hand for our trips. By bringing our own medications, we can dose at the levels and frequency given to us by our personal physician, which are often slightly higher than the dosages on the bottles. In addition, I can be sure we have access to the formulas we prefer. I do not need to worry about what is available at the resorts or tracking down what we need. We usually pack a First Aid kit with the basic pharmaceuticals: pain relievers, both acetaminophen and ibuprofen, gas relievers, antihistamines and so forth. In Anaheim, there is a Target at Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue, a bit too far to walk but a quick drive, taxi or bus ride south of the resort for emergency supplies.
My friend, Gina (swanie on the MousePad message boards), shared some wonderful suggestions from her experiences traveling with her three daughters. Gina packs a quart-sized zip bag which she takes in her carry-on because she never knows when she might need something en route. Instead of carrying liquid over-the-counter medications which would be subject to TSA limitations, Gina packs Triaminic Thin Strips, daytime and nighttime, as well as Benedryl Allergy Thin Strips. Gina also learned to pack a thermometer. She explained that when she has had to call pediatricians, they always ask what the child’s temperature when she calls them.
Gina also shared that the on-property resort hotels will offer complimentary wheelchairs to injured guests. These wheelchairs only stay at the hotels; they cannot go to the parks, but they can be very helpful especially when navigating the large resorts at Walt Disney World.
It’s your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
Visit the Parenting on the Parks section of our MousePad discussion board, and share your opinions about this topic (link), or send your suggestions via e-mail (link). Reader-submitted tips might be used in a future article, and you might be selected to participate in an upcoming panel discussion!
