I will admit, I was stressed about this trip, from the airplane to the restaurants to the condo we were staying in. But as we know, a first impression does a lot and we got that at the Winnipeg Airport from an awesome Westjet representative. Basically, we told them of Kason's allergies, and we were not even 2 steps away from the desk and we heard a westjet's radio blast "no ice cream on the Orlando flight - we have an allergy". Sorry to those kids but how awesome was that!?
We got to board first, and wipe down our entire row with 'Wet Ones' and they made a very generous announcement about the peanut allergy. Then, as Kelly went to the washroom he heard a young girl say to her grandmother "it's ok grandma, I don't need that granola bar, they have peanuts". Unreal! Not only was Westjet willing to ease our mind, but so were the other people headed to Orlando.
Did you know that Westjet carried Epinephrine Injectors on the plane too? And they let you take more than 120ml of liquid if it is for health reasons (i.e. Claritin). **I tweeted Westjet when we got to Orlando thanking them and they tweeted me back personally! pretty cool!**
4 hours later - we were exhausted but in 30 degree weather so we were ok!
We rented a fantastic condo with a fully equipped kitchen. We walked 5 mins to Publix grocery store (how convenient) and picked up fresh fruit and veggies and some of our allergy friendly favourites of course.
Having the condo is a must while travelling with an allergy child, but it wasn't as annoying as I thought. We ate three suppers at home, all our breakfasts and most of our lunches. The leftovers were Kason's meal for when we went to restaurants. All in all, I felt good and confident.
Whenever we went out in public we wore our trusty allermates wristband - Kason wore it around his leg:
The flight home was great, although they singled us out in the announcement "there is a child in row 15 with a peanut allergy" so all the heads turned to us, but I would rather that then no announcement at all.
Overall - This vacation gave me confidence, as well as a well needed break from REALITY. I love our little guy and feel happier and confident about his allergies every day! And from all I have heard - Disneyworld is the place to be if you have food allergies! That will be our next trip!
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