In a few days we are taking our first vacation since our daughter was diagnosed at the end of last September. This year's spring break will be in Disney World. Any vacation tips that you would like to share for us relative newbies relating to vacation in general or Disney World specificallly.would be appreciated.
We have made a list of all of the supplies that we will need. We will be taking approximately double the supplies that we think will be needed. We have a copy of a letter from her doctor just in case any questions arise at airport security. Our daughter is so excited to get away for a week. We share her excitement but that is mixed with a lttle bit of apprehension since this is our first extended trip since dx.
My son Liam was diagnosed at the end of last September, and we are also heading off to Disneyworld for spring break. We’re going April 10th! Sounds like you’re going earlier than we, but have fun!!!
I’ve been on planning overload on this trip, and two things I would say is that very first thing, when you go into the park, you can go to guest services and explain your daughter’s situation. I’m not sure what kind of insulin therapy you are doing or your daughter’s age, but if waiting in long lines is going to make a strict meal schedule difficult, or she’s not able to stand in the sun for long periods of time, etc (and we all know the many random variables that can wreak havoc on us), then by letting their staff know that, she can get a guest assistance card that will let the crew at each ride know what the issues are (so you don’t have to explain again and again) and in some cases, allow for a different area to wait in out of the sun (or using the fast pass line, with little wait at all).
I’d also say that you can contact Disney if you already haven’t to notify them of dietary issues, but they don’t provide carb information other than a few items. They’ll tell you to carry a calorie king book, which you probably already do. They said to call the restaurants you plan on eating in a couple days in advance, or at the time of service, and let them know if you need help with what’s in certain foods. They sound pretty accommodating in that respect.
Also, while no carb counts are available, you can get copies of the menu’s so you can at least plan in advance and see what is offered, so you’re not going in blind. http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm
We had annual passes to Disneyland last year. My son was diagnosed right in the middle. We never realized that there’d be any special treatment, so we just went. The security check to get inside was the only time I even mentioned that my son had diabetes due to the syringes, etc in the bag. We brought our own food because we went every couple weeks and it was how we saved money. We never needed any kind of letter. Have fun!
Hi Larry,
We took our daughter and son to Disney last year and here are just a couple tips that helped us.
We tried very hard to stay on Juliana’s feeding schedule as much as possible. Before we left in the mornings we would eat breakfast in our hotel room and pack a healthy lunch and snacks. You are able to go in the park with a cooler for all your supplies and food of course.
Test, test, test. The first night of Disney was so exciting for Juliana to take in and her emotions got the best of her. She was hypoglycemic the whole night. The rest of the trip she did pretty good but we tested her every couple hours to make sure. So make sure you bring plenty of stips. Also, they have several stores like CVS just in case you need extra diabetes supplies or anything else.
The most important thing I can tell you is to have fun. Your daughter will never forget this trip and neither will you. We took Juliana after she had a seizure and I was heartbroken. We all needed something good in our life and going to Disney was the best choice we ever made. Our kids had a great time and they talk about Disney all the time.
I know this isn’t much but I hope it helps. Hope you have a great time!!!
I have a 3 yr old daughter diagnosed at 13 mos. We live in Florida so we went a couple of times already.
We don’t carry the travel letter from her doctor to disney and we were never asked about her supplies. I always mention it to security when they check the bags but they just don’t mind about her pouch.
What I normally take is water, juice, glucose tablets (dex-4), tons of snacks (apples, cereals, cereal bars) so she can have a healthy snack between meals and if for whatever reason there are lines to buy food she can start eating something.
All of the times we went there her numbers got high just because the food they have at the parks is not the most healthy…
It’s a good idea when you have breakfast at the hotel to separate a couple of things that you can take with you (fresh fruit, etc) and save it for snacks.
When you enter the park there is a guest relations office but they don’t have anything special for kids with diabetes unfortunately. When they saw my daughter they were, she can stand in line (yes), can she wait (yes)…so nothing…but we as parents of a kid with type 1 know that having a fast pass or at least avoiding them to stand in the sun for long periods helps their numbers…
Plan on eating around 12 cause later there’s a lot of people at the restaurants and the lines get really long…
I don’t know the age of your daughter, but mine uses the stroller on and off, so it’s always nice to have a seat for her if she gets tired.
And last but not least, don’t forget your camera and enjoy !!!
I hope you and your family really enjoy the vacation.
Plan to do extra BG checks throughout the week for safety. We found that every time we travelled with our son (usually hockey tournaments) he was so excited that BG’s lows would hit almost the very moment that we would check into a hotel. Very unexpected as we would have anticipated higher than normal BG’s from sitting in a vehicle all travelling, but lows were a frequent response to extra excitement.
i’ve read through all the replies and don’t have much more to add. we are going to be taking our family vaca in june…to disney!
it’s good that you have your travel letter, you probably will only need it for airport security.
pack plenty of snacks, juice and H2O. lots of H2O!
maybe triple instead of double your supplies. and make sure you keep a site change & extra supplies ON you during your flight, heaven forbid you lose your luggage and your diabetes supplies.
have your daughter wear a medical ID, too, in case she gets seperated from you. my son is 3, and wears his around his ankle all the time. (www.n-styleid.com).
don’t forget your camera.
have an amazing time and cherish every minute!!!
Hello, My son is now 9 he was diagnosed Sept 2008, and we took him to Disneyland for his birthday in April. We went to the first aid station in the park and left the extra insulin there in the fridge. You have to sign in and sign out your meds. Since you dont have to refrigerate the novolog we just carried one vile with us. The best advise would be just relax and have a good time, dont stress on anything. Just test and do what you would normally do at home. Just deal with it one step at a time. About meals we just gave it our best guess and corrected with the next meal time. At one point I was worried about the meter getting wet on the water ride because they dont have a place to put your stuff, but I happened to have a baggie so I just put the meter in that. Plus all the other guests were so helpful with anything. Just open up to people like you do here and they will surprise you with their kindness.
We went to Disney last July for a conference and then again just in Feb 10. Disney does not require a letter when you enter the park at all. They check everyone’s bags so we always mention to them that we have diabetic supplies and they are totally fine. They are actually quite accommodating - they will keep insulin for you at the first aid area I believe.
We found it a very easy place to vacation with a child with type 1. Our daughter is 5 and was diagnosed at 3.
We’ve not been since our daughter was dx in November but did go one time when she was on oral antibiotics. We were staying in a Disney hotel and they comped a refrigerator for us to keep her antibiotics.
Have so much fun. It will be good for all of you!!!
Thanks everyone for the comments. I have increased the supplies so we should be more than covered. I did buy a Frio wallet from http://www.coolerconcept.com/index.htm for the trip to keep the insulin cool. I just prepared the wallet a few minutes ago and it seems like it will do the job. We do have a refrigerator in our room but I figured that the frio wallet would come in useful for this and future trips. Bags are packed, cameras are ready. Mickey here we come.
I thought I would continue this post during our vacation in case it might provide some useful information to others venturing to the land of the mouse this year. Today was a real roller coaster ride with BGs going from 88 in the morning to 338 in the early afternoon to 48 in the early evening. A great place we found to eat today that was very healthy and not difficult to count carbs was Teppan Edo in the Japan area of Epcot. This is a Japanese style steakhouse which is certainly pricey but a good value if you are on the Disney Dining Plan and the “show” was wonderful as well.
We had a great breakfast at Wolfgang Puck’s Express but I must have greatly underestimated the carbs for that meal. Tomorrow is a character breakfast - estimating carbs for that one should be a real trick.
Thank you for posting the link for medical ID. I just ordered two rubber knot bracelets for my 17 year old son. One black and one brown, so that he has the option of change. Hoping he will find them more comfortable than the silver medic alert bracelet that he has outgrown, but did not like wearing prior to outgrowing.
Spring Break was a great time for all. We were staying on property and using the Disney Dining Plan. We did experience some wild swings in BGs. I started to add a factor of 30% to 50% to the carb estimate. This seemed to work pretty well and kept the high spikes down. It would be wonderful if Disney would step up to the plate and provide carb information. I certainly won’t be the first, but I will be raising the issue with Disney corporate.
As others reported, the diabetic supplies did not raise any questions from Disney security. The advice of bringing extra supplies and testing often was certainly spot on.
