Bed bugs!!

[Harlemgirl720]

It happens. I experienced it at Beach Club Villas last Christmas Day. They immediately moved us to another room, took everything we had on that day and other items we had laid out. Treated it and returned it to us the next day. Thank goodness we had our luggage packed by the front door because we were moving to another hotel the next day anyway. I usually just keep my stuff in the suitcase and take out clothes as needed. We were compensated. They are real good in handling these experiences.

 

[potterfanatic]

This makes me want to run out and buy ThermalStrike luggage ASAP. With all the stuff going on with bedbugs in hotels I have researched it quite a bit and found this luggage that you plug in for 8 hours. After the 8 hour period it has killed any kinds of bugs or even eggs that may have stowed away.

 

[disnut1149]

I returned late last night from a fairly quick visit to disney. I started at Pop Century and then added on an extra day ato Saratoga Springs Resort. I had an early DME to the airport, so things were rushed yesterday morning making sure I was packed and at the front of the resort on time. It wasn't until I was at the airport that I noticed little bites (or what I assume are bites) on my hand, foot, and - - now that I am home and can check - legs. I am terrified that they are bed bug bites as the are in a straight line. I have left my hard shell suitcase in my car, stripped in the kitchen and placed all the clothes I was wearing in plastic bags.

Should I contact the resort (s) and ask them to check the two rooms I stayed in to verify that they are bedbugs? I don't expect anything from disney, merely to prove or disprove that bedbugs were present so that I can take additional actions.

OP here. I would put all your clothes and everything fabric in a hot dryer for about an hour. It sounds like you might have the bites, since they're in a straight line. You'll know since they are intensely itchy. I don't think Disney would admit to anything now that you're home. If it's hot where you are, I would leave my suitcase in the car for a few days. That's what my DD did when we got home. You want to make sure there are no stragglers along when you bring your suitcase back into the house. Good luck.

 

[carmelhp]

I looked on Amazon and there are several repellents. they seem to be based on cinnamon and lemongrass oils. I may give them a try and spray our cases before leaving home. It couldn't hurt I suppose.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

If you complained hard enough, you could possibly get upgraded to a better hotel.

I swore I would never work in a retail/business again; dealing with customers for this very reason. And if I still did work in this type of industry I would upgrade a polite person before I upgrade a complainer. Being polite goes a long way!!!!!!!

 

[V2000]

OP here and it's not a negative post or scam. I'm 65 years old and never tried to get Dis to pay for anything in all my 33 trips! I woke up at POFQ at around 5:30 am with a lot of itching. I had about 10 bites. My DD and I pulled back the covers and we caught the tiny little bugger in a cup and put him in a little plastic baggy that he happily crawled around in. Then we took him to the front desk. The manager was so nice and could see all the bites on me. He was wonderful . Gave us money to go to Wal-Mart to get my DGD, DD and myself some new clothes. They had to escort us back up to our room to get stuff we needed for the day, but anything that was fabric had to be collected by them and taken to be disinfected, luggage included. We did get a new room that management checked out.I was so upset that we had to take time out and get a taxi to go shopping at Wal-Mart on our MK day. He did reimburse us for our one night. So I usually do check the beds when we check in, but with our plane getting rerouted because of storms, we got in late and I never checked the bed . Never make that mistake again! And thank you to the posters that had a little compassion to think that I would not make something like this up and try to scam Disney. I'm an honest person and would never think of doing that. I was just wondering if anyone had a problem and how it was handled. Michael, the manager was great. Oh, he said it happens about once a month.

Yikes. I saw some pictures on trip advisor once from the Swan hotel. I thought since it wasn't an actual Disney hotel we were safe. This is scary for me but I'm sure it's bound to happen in any hotel from time to time. Good thing you contacted the resort to take care of this!

 

[V2000]

I googled "where do bed bugs come from". It's possible that they can come from old luggage. That means that anyone can potentially bring this into the hotels (I know that might not be the only reason). If you notice bed bugs in the resort please notify the resort so they can clean it up!

This makes me want to get rid of any old luggage. Yuk.

 

[shameless3]

I called Saratoga Springs the day after I returned (I arrived home at 1 am) and they have started a claim to investigate the room in question. I told them I merely want to know if it was/wasn't bed bugs so that I could figure out my next steps - I have already been treating my belongings as if they do contain them as a precaution.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

When we hit POR on the 4th this was the first thing we checked. We've never had issues at POR with bed bugs.

 

[Capang]

I had several students over several years that have brought their bedbugs to school. The repellents they sell are worthless. Don't waste your money. Only professional heat treatments will kill them. There is some kind of dust or powder that you can sprinkle that will kill them eventually. They can live for at least a year with no food. They are great hiders and tough to spot. Search in dresser drawers, mattresses and even behind headboards. They can live in paper such as books. Ziplock bags are fantastic. I made students keep costs and backpacks in them and I also travel with them.

Also, lots of things bite. Not all bites are bedbugs, especially in Florida. Many times bedbug bites take a while to show. It can be 8-10 hours after you have been bit that they start to show. OP I'm so sorry you had to deal with this. Disney seems to handle this better than some other resorts. Be cautious and check rooms when you check in. Put your suitcases in the tub while you check the room. The city I taught in has a widespread bedbug problem. I have sat through hours of in-services on these pesky bugs.

 

[dhardawa]

I have an acquaintance who was there last week and their room had a ton of them. They were moved to a new room, comped a day or two, and given $150 per person to buy clothes and toiletries while their things were being cleaned. Then, they were compensated for the items lost or destroyed during cleaning.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Yikes. I saw some pictures on trip advisor once from the Swan hotel. I thought since it wasn't an actual Disney hotel we were safe. This is scary for me but I'm sure it's bound to happen in any hotel from time to time. Good thing you contacted the resort to take care of this!

This could and does happen in the BEST (costliest) of hotels. They are introduced into your room by other guests that happen to be infested with them. So hopefully people take precautions where ever they stay, it isn't by any means the cheapest hotels that become infested.

 

[Dean Marino]

This makes me want to run out and buy ThermalStrike luggage ASAP. With all the stuff going on with bedbugs in hotels I have researched it quite a bit and found this luggage that you plug in for 8 hours. After the 8 hour period it has killed any kinds of bugs or even eggs that may have stowed away.

THANK YOU for that post.... we had not really considered this problem all that much. Now? We will. But we're going to take a slightly different track...

We don't need to worry about bugs going TO WDW.
We have medications, toiletries, electronics, sometimes chocolate in our bags coming BACK from WDW.

So - I want to buy THIS:
ThermalStrike Expedition - Bed Bug Heat Treatment

That's a (pretty much) home unit. Our intent? To change our habits coming HOME. Three bags (1 carry on, 2 suitcases). Three good sized ZIPLOCS that never get near the room, never get opened.

DEPARTURE - all heat sensitive items go into the bags. Bags on the TOP of the suitcases.
ARIVAL HOME - remove sealed items from bags. REMOVE THAT DAYS TRAVEL CLOTHING. Bags, travel clothing go into a ThermalStrike Expedition in the garage, over night. We UNpack and wash the next day.

The luggage is nice - but I don't think it addresses what one has ON the day of departure. We're going to separate the item (luggage) from the science (heat treatment).

 

[Christian Lefebvre]

I have an acquaintance who was there last week and their room had a ton of them. They were moved to a new room, comped a day or two, and given $150 per person to buy clothes and toiletries while their things were being cleaned. Then, they were compensated for the items lost or destroyed during cleaning.

Which resort/building if known?

 

[SwanVT2]

It happens. I experienced it at Beach Club Villas last Christmas Day. They immediately moved us to another room, took everything we had on that day and other items we had laid out. Treated it and returned it to us the next day. Thank goodness we had our luggage packed by the front door because we were moving to another hotel the next day anyway. I usually just keep my stuff in the suitcase and take out clothes as needed. We were compensated. They are real good in handling these experiences.

Oh no now I'm.nervous about our Feb stay planned at BCV. Every time I think a resort is in the clear, a report comes up!

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

It's called Golfer's Vasculitus caused by walking a lot in the heat. I got it this past May when I was at Epcot.

knock wood...no bed bugs so far.

Wanted to comment on this Golfer's vasculitus.
I have a tendency for this but I think I found a solution.
I take a break mid day and go to the pool. If I don't feel like swimming I at least sit on the side and soak my feet/legs in the coolness of the pool and it cools down my body. In 2013 I had a really bad case. I was sleeping with ice on my legs at night. The last two trips I made sure to take the break and soak in the pool and had very little swelling and redness. We just had some hot weather in Massachusetts and I have a similar reaction to the heat. So I did epsom salt baths and it really seemed to hel col me down and reduce the swelling. Good luck.

Okie dokie on the bedbugs. ewwww. DH will arrive before me. (work has us on separate flights) so I told him to make sure he checks the bed before he brings anything into the room. ewwwww I will be devastated if I find them. I've a serious reaction to any bug bites. It's awful.
I see a picture in a links below I'm investigating so he knows what to look for too.
Thanks for making us aware.

 

[potterfanatic]

THANK YOU for that post.... we had not really considered this problem all that much. Now? We will. But we're going to take a slightly different track...

We don't need to worry about bugs going TO WDW.
We have medications, toiletries, electronics, sometimes chocolate in our bags coming BACK from WDW.

So - I want to buy THIS:
ThermalStrike Expedition - Bed Bug Heat Treatment

That's a (pretty much) home unit. Our intent? To change our habits coming HOME. Three bags (1 carry on, 2 suitcases). Three good sized ZIPLOCS that never get near the room, never get opened.

DEPARTURE - all heat sensitive items go into the bags. Bags on the TOP of the suitcases.
ARIVAL HOME - remove sealed items from bags. REMOVE THAT DAYS TRAVEL CLOTHING. Bags, travel clothing go into a ThermalStrike Expedition in the garage, over night. We UNpack and wash the next day.

The luggage is nice - but I don't think it addresses what one has ON the day of departure. We're going to separate the item (luggage) from the science (heat treatment).

You're very welcome. I posted it hoping it could help some other people. I think that sounds like an excellent plan!

 

[Texas Barbie]

Yikes. What a nightmare...

I haven't heard of a bedbug repellant for luggage, but it's enough of an issue for travelers on airplanes that I've seen stations in airports overseas where you could pay to have your luggage shrink-wrapped before checking it in with the airlines. I can't remember ever seeing anything like this in the US, though.

Actually, last week we took a bus from MK to Beach club, as we wanted to tour the countries without walking through Future World. We saw a van in the lobby driveway area, and a couple of guys in uniforms were shrink wrapping a set of luggage. I had the impression it was a commercial service.

 

[Aurora0427]

I returned late last night from a fairly quick visit to disney. I started at Pop Century and then added on an extra day ato Saratoga Springs Resort. I had an early DME to the airport, so things were rushed yesterday morning making sure I was packed and at the front of the resort on time. It wasn't until I was at the airport that I noticed little bites (or what I assume are bites) on my hand, foot, and - - now that I am home and can check - legs. I am terrified that they are bed bug bites as the are in a straight line. I have left my hard shell suitcase in my car, stripped in the kitchen and placed all the clothes I was wearing in plastic bags.

Should I contact the resort (s) and ask them to check the two rooms I stayed in to verify that they are bedbugs? I don't expect anything from disney, merely to prove or disprove that bedbugs were present so that I can take additional actions.

Yes- you need to contact Guest Services. They may not admit to you if the room tests positive for bed bugs, but they will send in the bed bug detection dogs to check and take the room out of service. We had a similar experience at the Poly. Fortunately none of our clothes or luggage was affected.

 

[Aurora0427]

Yikes. I saw some pictures on trip advisor once from the Swan hotel. I thought since it wasn't an actual Disney hotel we were safe. This is scary for me but I'm sure it's bound to happen in any hotel from time to time. Good thing you contacted the resort to take care of this!

You aren't safe at any hotel. There can be bed bugs at the Waldorf Astoria. The Swan is no safer than a Disney hotel, or any other.