Are there still bats at Wilderness Lodge?

[ice cube]

My thought on the bat situation is the resort is called the "Wilderness Lodge"..the obvious word in the name is "Wilderness" so the bats add a real nature aspect to the theme of the resort...

We have stayed many times in the past and it never bothered us..this from a father of 2 little DD girls..and one big one...

 

[MrShiny]

Of course a bat could easily get into WL and be hard to get out. But I'm sure Disney would do it's best to get it out - not that it's a direct threat or anything, but any animal flying above could leave a mess below!

I remember checking into WL in 2001 to find a green tree frog serenely perched on our wall. We managed to scoop him up and get him out to the balcony.

I have stayed at WL several times and have never seen a bat myself though.

 

[troynkasey]

We were there from June 5th - June 11th and there were NO bats. I looked.

 

[sjs314]

We were there from June 5th - June 11th and there were NO bats. I looked.

We just switched our reservation yesterday to WL and I forgot all about the bats until I just saw this thread pop up again. Good to hear you did not see any. I do not go until October but will have to keep an eye out for them then.

 

[nkereina]

Assuming you mean indoors, I could see your concern. Especially after reading a few posts on that Artist Point thread. Having had a bat problem in my attic, bat guano (or poop) is not something easy to clean or as common as something like bird poop or mice droppings. It's fairly large, it collects, it smells, and it carries a ton of disease. The clean up in my attic was more time consuming and cost more than the actual removal. I would think if there were bats indoors they resort would be cautious of the guano because of this, so it probably wouldn't discourage me from staying there.

 

[disneychic2]

We're at WL in Sept. Even if I see a bat, it won't bother me. Like others have said, they don't really like us any better than we like them. Besides, the lobby is so enormous, there could be a bat and we'd never know it.

I had a huge black two inch bug wake me from a sound sleep as it crawled on my neck one time. This was at Old Key West. Didn't sleep the rest of the night!

 

[sjs314]

We're at WL in Sept. Even if I see a bat, it won't bother me. Like others have said, they don't really like us any better than we like them. Besides, the lobby is so enormous, there could be a bat and we'd never know it.

I had a huge black two inch bug wake me from a sound sleep as it crawled on my neck one time. This was at Old Key West. Didn't sleep the rest of the night!

I would have screamed so loud everyone near my room would have been awakened

 

[chabs]

We were there last year (returning June 4th this year, yeah!) and only saw one bat. However, we did see a life guard doing a strange stomping dance. We inquired and he said that he was trying to kill an "Alligator Tick". He said that they are common to Florida, known to bite, and hard to kill. We only saw one other during our stay, but you just may want to keep an eye out. I have cut and pasted a short description, unable to send the link to the photo due to being a new member to this site. They were in no way a nuisance, nor as large as I have seen in photos on the internet. I just chalked it up to my new thing learned for that day.


Giant Water Bugs


Giant Water Bugs are found in freshwater streams and ponds in North America, South America, and East Asia. They are most often referred to as Toe-Biters or, in Florida, Alligator Ticks. Unfortunately, these nasty thigns are every bit as terrifying as those names sound. If they happen to mistake your toe for food, they’ll chomp down and inject it with the same poison they inject into their natural prey—a poison that liquifies tissue. On humans, this has been known to occasionally cause permanent muscle damage if they catch you in just the right spot. But permanent damage or not, it’s painful.

I did not know that those things bite! One of them chased us around the pool at the WL last August. It was kind of funny because everyone was screaming in the pool.

As for the bats, we've stayed at the WL dozens of times and I've never even seen a bat on the property, much less in the building. I think that was just a freak thing that they happened to get in the door. I would have noticed them too because I keep an eye out for them when I'm walking at night at home. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[aubriee]

I did not know that those things bite! One of them chased us around the pool at the WL last August. It was kind of funny because everyone was screaming in the pool.

Poor little thing. It wasn't chasing you, it was scared and trying to get out.

Being born and raised in the south, I always laugh at all the northerners that panic at the thought that there might be a wild animal or bug loose in Disney. It's the south people, critters come with the territory and there is no way Disney could possible get rid of them all, even if they wanted to, which they don't. I live in town and work at a psychiatric hospital, which is fully fenced in with an 8 foot chain link fence. Coming into work every night, I always see bats, snakes, foxes, skunks, opposums, armadillos, rabbits, coyotes, mice, and rats. We also see alot of large water bugs, crickets, and ants and an occasional scorpion on the sidewalks as we walk into the buildings. With the fence I don't know how all the critters get in, but because we have some employees that feed the wild cats that are always hanging around, the other critters are always hanging around the buildings too. Also I live inside the city limits on a corner lot that has alot of empty lots right across the road on one side of my house. The row of houses across from me also have a huge empty lot behind them. Consequently even though I live in town, I still get alot of critters. There are some rabbits that are in my front yard just about every morning. I've also seen armadillos and oppossums in my yard and a bobcat and coyotes in the area across the street from me. I've also found a couple of snakes in my garage and in my backyard and at night we see bats flying around our houses. You leave them alone and for the most part they'll leave you alone.

 

[MrsHammer]

Since I started this thread, I feel like I should give some closure. We did decide that worrying about the bats was probably not warranted. So, I'm happy to report that we have secured our room reservation at the Lodge for June 2012! Got a decent AAA rate on a woods view room, and I'm hoping the discounts will shine upon us as we get closer to next year. Looking forward to sharing the magic of Disney with my family! Thanks for everyone's input!