Ok, this might seem a little over the top but here goes…
My son has extreme allergies to anything with fur. Extreme meaning it causes his eyes to swell, constant sneezing, and causes his asthma to kick in.
I have never been to Disney World and I am concerned about Animal Kingdom. He doesn’t have to touch an animal to be set off. Sometimes at the Asheboro Zoo in NC his allergies can be set off and he comes in no direct contact with animals and most are a good distance away.
Anyone have an opinion about whether this is a crazy concern or does it have any validity?
Thanks for your help in this matter.
I think you probably already know the answer to this question…
1 Like
I would say that AK will have your son in roughly the same type proximity with animals as a zoo. The one exception would be Kilamajaro Safaris where I have had giraffes stick their heads into our vehicle before.
I think the more important question would be is it life threatening and how long does it last? If it isn’t life threatening and doesn’t last long you could do it at the end of your trip. If it is life threatening or it does last several days, then you just don’t go to AK. LOTS of people don’t do AK without any sort of reason, and since you haven’t been you won’t know what you have missed!
Agree with VFLnSFD - if it’s just annoying and cleared up by a Benadryl, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If he goes into anaphylactic shock and needs an EpiPen I’d steer clear. Sticking to certain sections of the park, would likely be safer - the Dinosaur side is relatively animal free. I think from Dinosaur over to Expedition Everest and Kali areas there’s only a monkey setup. To get to either you do need to walk by some bird enclosures etc. that are up front - I don’t think there are many animals with fur there though.
The Safari and the Jungle Trek are the two you’d likely have the most issues on, but the rest of the park you’d probably be able to navigate without issue. But you really need to judge what it would do to your vacation if he does have an attack - if a couple hours of annoyance, then roll the dice & I might even do the safari. If it would ruin the trip if the allergies flare up, I’d likely skip AK altogether…
If you just go over to Dinosaur Land and ride the rides, he would probably be okay, but the Animals are pretty much spread throughout the park. I guess it just depends on how much tolerance you have for his misery. We ha a problem with my youngest son always breaking out the weeks we went to Walt Disney World. I thought he was allergic to the sun. He was so bad he’d have an accompanying fever. I wouldn’t knowingly put him in this situation again. As it turned out, we discovered before our last trip that he was allergic to sun tan lotion. If he’s miserable at the zoo, he will probably be miserable at AK too. You could go over to Dinosaur Land and just ride the rides, but that would make a very short day. And, there are waterbirds on the walkways to the attractions, so if he’s allergic to birds, I would say don’t go.
If you decide to go, maybe stay away from the Conservation Station. There’s a petting zoo area there. Even if you don’t go in, the people sitting next to you on the train back to the park may well have just visited and not washed up afterward.
I love AK for the animals, but my allergies aren’t serious unless I touch the animals themselves. I would say the possibility of animal dander being in the air is high, but is he allergic to all animals or just some?
I guess it depends on “good distance away” and what that means. I have never seen an animal up very close on the safari, and you are constantly moving and getting fresh air. I’d definitely not go to the conservation station anyway, or the bird show, where animals are much closer. But there are plenty of rides, the Boneyard, shows, etc. that you could enjoy and not be around real animals. The nature trails would be a question but aren’t really necessary: you aren’t very close to the animals and the size of the park means it is very open and airy, so I think a zoo and the higher density of animals there would be more problematic. My allergies have never kicked up, but perhaps you want to check in with an allergist or doctor for a medical opinion.