PLEASE check for bed bugs before accepting your room.

[Craigdarroch]

There are no reports of bedbugs at Mystic Dunes, and you can look it up just as easily as anyone else can.

www.bedbugregistry.com

 

[tndislvr]

kimmar - I wish I could but I've never stayed at Mystic Dunes before. Have heard of it as it is an exchange resort through RCI or Interval I believe (member of both and I remember Mystic Dunes popping up as a trade possibility). Sorry I can't be of more assistance.

On the bed bug front.....still fighting them. My PCO is really getting frustrated as he says usually 2 or 3 treatments and he is able to get rid of them. We've had 4 and they are still going strong. My daughter wakes up with new bites almost daily. At least I'm taking it better now....but really wish we could get rid of these things. Really tired of living in fear we will spread them....and would love to stop living out of plastic bags.

Have to say I am getting nervous about our September trip. I don't know if I'll even be able to sleep in the hotel after our last bad experience.

 

[Craigdarroch]

I feel so bad for you tndislvr I wish I could magically make them go away.

The fact that they are still biting your daughter means that they are still finding a way to feed.

I'm sincerely hoping they will be gone very shortly and hopefully long before your Sept. trip, BUT... if they're not, maybe the trip is just what you need.

Turn the heat up in your home when you leave (I know it will cost money but hey, at this point, whatever it takes to get rid of the critters) and perhaps when they are made uncomfortable and have nothing to feed on, they'll die off.

Like I said though, I really pray they are gone long before that

Many blessings to you

 

[PrinceCharmingsMom]

I travel with my own pillow and sheets, I am also a clean freak and inspect and clean our room before we carry in our luggage everytime. However still ended up bring home bedbugs from our last fall trip to Disney it has been almost a year and we have had to get rid of alot. It seems they made a nest in our toddler bed rail that we took and the pillow that I took. We have had our home sprayed 4 times just for this a week apart at first and now we are on a 3 month protocol. In order for the exterminator to spray we had to rip our bedroom apart. All the curtains had to come down and be washed. We lost a bamboo large recliner chair that was in our room because it was infested with them from the camera bag sitting in it which was covered in bed bugs. Due to this we started sleeping on the couch in the living room and must have transferred some when we first moved before we became so educated about how they move, grow and to look for them. So we ended up having to also get rid of our couch and get a new one. Not to mention the horrible rash I had for months till all the bites healed. We have since gotten a bedbug mattress cover, all new pillows with bedbug safe covers and are still being cautious about other items. We won't ever stay in the hotel that we got them from again, but it could be in any hotel anywhere so I will be more cautious and aware. When I used to inspect the bed I would spray with Lysol to disenfect and thought that would take care of the bedbugs as well, but it doesn't. There are lots of bug sprays availabe that are dog and cat safe that kill bedbugs we bought some at Lowe's. Just do some research and be careful. Bedbugs are VERY hard to get rid of and can be VERY EXPENSIVE. We have had 2 trips back to Disney since then and not had any issues. Sorry so long but hope it helps somone avoid our issues.

 

[Craigdarroch]

The one thing they tell you never to do if you want to avoid bedbugs is bring your own pillow or any bedding to a hotel.

The horror is not so much in finding you have bedbugs in your hotel room (while that is indeed unpleasant), the horror is in bringing them home with you.

It's bad enough they will often hitchhike home in your clothing or shoes or luggage, you don't want to give them more opportunity by bringing your own bedding with you.

 

[trolleyfanma]

OP so sorry you have to deal with all of this. We are driving down in a few weeks and always bring pillows and sleeping bags for the kids (they are allergic to most laundry detergents). I am thinking about not bringing the sleeping bags but we need some pillows for the car.

Do you think if we brought pillows with allergy/bed bug covers on them we would still risk bringing the critters home? We will have a washer/dryer in our unit so maybe I should wash the pillows before we leave? I'd love to spray but do not want to risk an asthma flare up. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Craigdarroch]

I think it's fine to bring pillows with bed bug covers on them. The chances of actually encountering bed bugs is quite small, however.... in the event that anyone ever brought pillows with them to a hotel and found that they had an infestation in their room, I would NOT bring the pillows back home with me, bed bug covers or not, laundered or not.
In that unlikely event I would trash the pillows and purchase new ones for the ride home (that didn't enter the hotel room) or buy new ones when I got home.

Just my 2 cents

 

[csharpwv]

There was just a story about Bed Bugs on the news a couple nights ago and they did survey of hotel rooms in (I think it was 6) popular travel destination and their survey found that 1 out of every 5 hotel rooms had signs of an active infestation of bed bugs.

Apartment dwellers are at risk the most due to their close proximity to their neighbor.

They said the first thing that you have to do is remove all bedding, clothing, and other soft goods from your home, wash it all - disinfect it, and then have a pest control company come in to spray for them.

The biggest ordeal of all is the mental anxiety and financial burden that they cause. The news report indicated that it costs around $1,200 on average to get rid of them. How many Americans can afford THAT right now?

I travel and stay in hotels a lot of work, and the very thought of bringing bed bugs home makes me want to quit my job! I couldn't take the thought that I couldn't sleep in my own bed without fear of waking up with bites all over my body. Ugh!

 

[kimmar067]

There was just a story about Bed Bugs on the news a couple nights ago and they did survey of hotel rooms in (I think it was 6) popular travel destination and their survey found that 1 out of every 5 hotel rooms had signs of an active infestation of bed bugs.....

... Wow, that's a startling stat....

 

[csharpwv]

I forgot to mention a tip that I heard a while back in reference to all of this.
They said to pull back the sheets at the bottom of the bed and take a hair dryer on HIGH and hold it a couple inches away from the corner of the mattress, and more than likely if there is an active infestation the heat will cause the bed bugs to surface.

Also to look for the black spotting and blood spots.
There is a photo of what that looks like in one of the first few pages of this post.

It is all VERY disgusting to think about - but like it has been said before - it can happen to ANYONE whether you travel or not - whether you keep your home spotless or messy - it can happen to anyone before you've even realized what is going on!

 

[kimmar067]

I forgot to mention a tip that I heard a while back in reference to all of this.
They said to pull back the sheets at the bottom of the bed and take a hair dryer on HIGH and hold it a couple inches away from the corner of the mattress, and more than likely if there is an active infestation the heat will cause the bed bugs to surface....

...that's a good tip - thanks!

 

[tednvon]

This might sound like a silly question, but folks here have obviously done the research well and I have not seen this commented on. Does the memory foam mattress have any less threat of having bedbugs?
Thanks, Ted

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Our local news just had a story on bed bugs last night...
Now I'm itching all over!

So sorry to hear about everyone's bedbug stories. I will be checking my hotel beds from now on!

Oh, and on the news they said to vacuum your luggage out after you get home as a way to clean them out. And of course, don't set your luggage on your bed!

 

[Craigdarroch]

This might sound like a silly question, but folks here have obviously done the research well and I have not seen this commented on. Does the memory foam mattress have any less threat of having bedbugs?
Thanks, Ted

Not a silly question at all.

Most "memory foam" companies will tell you that their mattresses are "bed bug" resistant because they have no seams or crevices for the bugs to live in. The fact is, these bugs typically don't "burrow", they simply live on the area between the boxspring and mattress, or between the wall and mattress, or headboard and mattress, and even on the underneath of the legs of the bed.
The only difference with memory foam is you may be able to detect them earlier, but I don't think they offer any added protection.

They tell you that no matter what type of mattress you have, if you suspect you have been exposed to bedbugs, you should get a zippered mattress cover that covers and seals your whole mattress. The idea is, with any live bugs or newly hatched bugs, they can't escape to feed and they die off.

 

[tndislvr]

I agree with Craigdarroch - memory foam beds probably don't really offer any benefit or protection as far as bed bugs go. As mentioned, they will live anywhere around your bed - not just the mattress.

On a positive note - the bed bug dogs and PCO came out again today. With the exception of one bag of laundry (which had already been washed and dried so not sure what happened) and one closet our house was clean! While they are still in one closet this is MUCH improved over two weeks ago when the dogs alerted for bed bugs in two bedrooms, three closets, one bathroom, my car (YUCK!), and possible activity in our bonus room. We still have to deal with the closet but at least that is one small room of the house instead of half my house. I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks to all my fellow DISers for your support! Don't know how I would get through this without all the advice, encouragement, and good wishes.

Will keep you all posted but I hope the end is near. And I'll be much more careful and prepared for our September trip. Hard lesson learned but at least now I know!

 

[trolleyfanma]

So glad things are improving for you! Thank you so much for this thread. I am working on a list of things to do when we get to the room and while in the room. There is so much to try to remember and after a 20 hour drive I don't want to be too tired and forget something!

I think for the pillows- I will have 2 sets one for the car which we will store in the car-top carrier while in Orlando and one set for the room that will stay there. We will have brand new pillows waiting for us at home! It's time for new ones anyway. I am also going to double check our beds to see if the allergy covers are still intact and replace them if necessary before any potential problems.

 

[Craigdarroch]

TNDISLVR - I'm so happy to hear that there is some definite improvement. That is indeed the best news I' ve heard all week!

I will continue to pray that before long, you will completely bed-bug free and moving on with with life and a sigh of relief

 

[tndislvr]

Thanks so much, Craigdarroch! Your encouragement has really helped through this ordeal. I do believe we will be done with all this soon.....at least I hope! And I will be MUCH more careful on our next trip.

Off topic....but have you ever stayed on site? If so, where?

 

[Craigdarroch]

Yes... we almost always stay at the Port Orleans (French Quarter or Riverside, we like them both).
Always had a great experience and enjoy the resort very much.
No problems with bed bugs, although, we did have a few cockroach sightings on one trip at POR.

When we take our niece and nephews (we were'nt able to have kids of our own, so we "borrow" my brother and sisters kids) we usually stay at the All Star Resorts or Pop Century (they just like it better).
No problem for us at either resort, but our friends did come in contact with bed bugs at the room next to us at POP. That was several years ago now.

In the Fall, we will be back at the French Quarter. We got one of those awesome deals through Travelocity for $74 a night. Looking forward to it, but we'll be extra cautious on this trip. I think this bed bug problem has just become more prominent in the last year or so, so it doesn't hurt to be extra aware.

Thanks again for putting us all on alert with your situation sweetie. You could have easily just kept your mouth shut and dealt with it on your own, but you chose to share with us and I know it has helped and "will" help a lot of people.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

http://ap.news-journalonline.com/dynamic/stories/U/US_NYC_BEDBUGS?SITE=FLDAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

above is a link to a story in the Daytona local news-paper. It is about NYC having to deal with them....