Bed bugs

[dhaywood]

I have been seeing on the news that Saratoga Springs has a problem with bed bugs. Does anyone know about this? Has anyone heard of this problem in other DVC properties?
Deb

 

[Deb & Bill]

Wrong resort. The report wasn't about Saratoga Springs, but another Orlando resort with a similar name.

But bed bugs are everywhere now and they will hitch a ride in your luggage from someone else's luggage on the plane.

 

[PHILCT]

Itchy thoughts just reading the title line.

I always wonder about the DVC bedspreads, all the newer hotel resorts seem to no longer use them, and use those folded up thin covering.
I must think that they get washed for every new guest, or I will start to think ITCHY thoughts again.

No Bugs Please !

 

[adminjedi]

Blech!!

 

[cseca]

Thanks for posting the question I've been wanting to post for awhile. But I am too afraid of the answer...

Although I'm curious about all DVC resort. If anyone has had any issues, and what do you do now to minimize the possibility of meeting these yucky creatures...

I'm not very good at checking all other things aside from the mattresses. Don't really how to look for the signs when the items are dark colored in the first place (like dark colored sofas, drawers, headboards). Makes me itch just thinking about this.

 

[ToddyLu]

I think the advice was to check the mattress carefully upon arrival before even opening the suitcase, do not place items in drawers, and when bringing your suitcase home--open it and clean it out without bringing it in the house. Some folks even go that extra step and defog the case by plaicng it in a Trashbag or something. The detailed thread on this a few weeks ago really creeped me out. And this is coming from someone who sees staph infection abscesses for a living. I think I will go take a shower now!

 

[buzz5985]

What's worse is they are now infesting stores. Abercrombie and Victoria Secret in NYC have had to be closed due to bed bugs so they can fumigate.

 

[diddldonna]

Don't know much about them but is there a spray anyone could take with them to protect you?

 

[mtmbyck]

Ah the dreaded bed bug thread. Comes up every few months. DIsney, like every other hotel, has it;s share of bed bug problems. When you walk by a room that they are redoing with a new matress then chances are that is why!

THere is no spray that will help. Based on my readings they are like dust mites living inside the matress or inside the headboard. But you can see them once they come out - usually 3am - look like little fleas or spiders. Best indicator I read is to look at the matress for dark residue along the seam of the matress.

But I think in the end it is sheer luck if you end up stuck in a room with or without them! Touch wood, I haven't had the pleasure!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't know much about them but is there a spray anyone could take with them to protect you?

I've heard that heat it the best thing to kill them.

 

[Sammie]

They have become immune to sprays, they have made such a comeback they are now going off to college.

 

[Sammie]

When you walk by a room that they are redoing with a new matress then chances are that is why!

Not always, we got a new mattress the last stay at a DVC resort due to the fact it was broken down from someone letting kids jump on it.

Now I know no DISer would allow such a thing to happen, but it was horrible the shape it was in and it makes everyone's dues go up.

A bed is not a trampoline.

 

[william1375]

Bedbugs getting to be rather common in hotels now. I travel often and always check the matress prior to unpacking.

 

[adminjedi]

This is still creeping me out.
Oh Denial, where can I find you again?

 

[eliza61]

I've heard that heat it the best thing to kill them.

They have become immune to sprays, they have made such a comeback they are now going off to college.

Bedbugs pretty much have always been a problem among us. Remember "sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite".
While very pesky, they don't transmit disease so the worse they can do is leave you with a very itchy bite (the inching comes from a reaction with their saliva which prevents our blood from clotting)

we were close to eradicating them but since we've banned DDT (I almost typed in ddp. ) they've made a soaring come back.

Heat is very effective in killing them, but it has to be at least 100F. If you can, wash travelling clothes in hot water or throw them in the dryer for 20 mins on high (hot)

Scientist think they actually found a way to ward off the pest by using Yogurt. Evidently the bacteria cultures in yogurt is noxious to bedbugs.

The smart cookies in Belgium are trying to develop bacteria capsules to put into mattresses.

 

[gkrykewy]

we were close to eradicating them but since we've banned DDT (I almost typed in ddp. ) they've made a soaring come back.

I think I read somewhere that bed bugs had already evolved a resistance to DDT well before it was banned, in the 40s or 50s.

Since it's been decades since DDT was banned, something else must be responsible for the resurgence; it's certainly been in the news a lot lately (or perhaps this is just like the "summer of the shark" prior to 9/11, when there was an increase in media reports on shark attacks, but not actually an increase in shark attacks).

People point to an increase in international travel, but that doesn't strike me as a new phenomenon.

Heat seems to be a reliable fix, but I'd read 115F rather than 100F.

 

[ToddyLu]

Yep I am now an official matress checker...dang...I am no longer an innocent bystander.

 

[Lost in Neverland]

From what I have been reading it is not a resistance to the DDT that has caused the resergance but the factwe are no longer using it. The increase in travel to under developed countries as well as areas of the world that do not worry as much about insects is the main contributing factor to their strong return in the US. Then since we no longer use DDT they have exploded in numbers as well as infected areas. it really gives me the creeps to know that I may bring them home from a clothing store. we have always unpacked in the garage taking all clothes straight to the laundry but that was due to other critters such as roaches and the likes. We have really never worried about bed bugs until just recently. O well add me to the list of the no longer blissfully ignorant .

 

[mtmbyck]

So smother yourself in yogurt before bed each night in hotels. Great for the skin, a healthy bedtime snack and a variety of flavours to choose from. I am sure Disney will find a way to market the Mickey Yogurt bedbug Rub.

 

[nytimez]

Don't forget movie theaters -- they're showing up there, too.

In NY, there's even a pest control company running commercials with vampires... that turn out to be bed bugs.

I check the mattresses too now... but there's only so much you can do. They could live in the baseboards, outlets, drawers, etc.