Where, in either of those paragraphs, am I saying that "there is no bedbug problem"? What I AM saying is that there always HAS been. The only reason it's a big deal all of a sudden is because someone who has easy access to the media had a bad experience (at, I might add, a NON-Disney resort). And because this producer had a bad experience, it's in the news again. But based on how easy it has been for you to find information and resort listings, it's pretty clear it's been a problem for a while. And it will continue to be, as long as millions of people share millions of hotel rooms.
It's no more of an epidemic now than it ever has been. It's just in the news now.
I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. There is more of an epidemic now; read up on it. Cities that never had issues have issues now - and that's not because some producer told them to. I know people who lived in NYC for many, many years who suddenly can't go into particular stores or some of their friends' homes because the buggers have started a serious multiply. If millions of Americans had been living with these things crawling all through their houses, there would have been a greater demand for effective extermination tools, and we would have them by now. And, due to world travel, it would be the more affluent people in the country who were calling out for these "effective treatment measures", so it would have been a done deal.
As the world grows smaller and links between cities become easier to make (so that the bugs can travel), and as improper and ineffective tools for bedbug removal and extermination are spread (not to mention that the only agreed-upon effective chemical for extermination has been banned some years ago), these bugs will become more of a scourge than has been seen in the USA before. THAT is the truth. In dealing with our own scourge, talking to many exterminators, doctors, and attorneys, and doing research, we found that these bugs can live for up to 18 months without feeding on ANYTHING - so by now, we should be good. We went with the most conservative estimate in order to make sure we didn't take off a bed cover too soon and end up with the bugs once again - and btw, that is NOT the way we treated our infestation, the bed was the last big thing we kept and had it covered the entire time, even through the second bug appearance (which was over a year later - again, they hadn't fed off us in that time, and there were no pets in the home).
So, like with anything else, a bit of prevention goes a long way. Sure, put an air mattress on the floor for your kids; throw your clothes in the dressers. Sleep soundly in your rented bed. As long as you've done a quick but thorough check of your room, you've done what you can to prevent the spread of these suckers. No reason to freak out or argue; check the places the bedbugs like to live, then get on with your life. Having had them myself, I can't say it's a smart decision to think "oh, whatever, I'll just live my life, no need to look at anything", but if you have an extra $10k to throw at the problem when you get home, by all means you can ignore my advice.
As a side note, we did a quick (>20 minute) check of our resort room at POFQ in November; when we took the picture off the wall to look behind it, we found a very old wrapping from a fake sword and eye patch! Had a good laugh over that.
that's just freaky....maybe they are getting ready for halloween
just sayin'
