Bed bugs?

[Summer2018]

Bedbugs aren't restricted to beds. After all, the way they get someplace new is by hitching a ride on something like luggage. So, before jumping to the conclusion that the hotel is to blame, it's worth considering the possibility that the bugs were brought into the room on luggage. Anyone traveling by plane needs to remember that their bags come into contact with other bags (either in the cargo area or the overhead compartment).

We recently replaced all of our cloth luggage with hard samsonite luggage because of bed bug risk.

 

[Summer2018]

My husband works for a large university. They've had issues in student housing with bedbugs and even in their administration offices -- it's almost impossible to avoid in public places where people from all over the world converge..

All you can do is check out your room when you arrive and do your best to be diligent. Every time I've heard of a bedbug issue at Disney, they have gone above and beyond to make it right.

We take precautions such as hard vs. cloth luggage; clothes packed in ziploc bags inside luggage; and we always check the mattresses before settling into our room, leaving the luggage in the bathroom.

 

[Amylc]

We just had them in a room at Saratoga. Didn't notice the bites until the evening I got home. I have been home for 3 weeks and I keep checking but I don't think we brought them home. Disney was very responsive and I am completely satisfied with how they responded.

I travel a lot and always check the bed (including this time at Saratoga!). When I get home I put everything I can in the hot cycle of the dryer and then wash and dry it. I vacuum the suitcases out before I put them away. What else can you really do?

Did they actually say your room had them?

 

[4fordisneyworld]

Did they actually say your room had them?

What area/building were you staying in at Saratoga?

 

[jo-jo]

Has anyone used a luggage spray to repel the bugs?

 

[Brett Wyman]

We just had them in a room at Saratoga. Didn't notice the bites until the evening I got home. I have been home for 3 weeks and I keep checking but I don't think we brought them home. Disney was very responsive and I am completely satisfied with how they responded.

I travel a lot and always check the bed (including this time at Saratoga!). When I get home I put everything I can in the hot cycle of the dryer and then wash and dry it. I vacuum the suitcases out before I put them away. What else can you really do?

We had them at a 1-bedroom villas at BC. That was a $700 a dollar night room. Can happen anywhere. Id stay there again. Unfortunately we did not notify Disney while we were there as we were still debating what the bites were. We checked the king bed thoroughly and saw nothing. May have been the pull out. I did have a doctor verify that most likely thats what they were.

 

[4fordisneyworld]

Has anyone used a luggage spray to repel the bugs?

From my understanding, heat is the only thing that will kill these monsters. I believe the sprays are a great way for people to make money by selling them. Of course, just my opinion. I just posted on another thread concerning this, that we have purchased a heat treater for this very purpose. Everything that was on our trip, minus our electronics and meds, go into the heater before coming into our home.

 

[Sandiz08]

Bed bugs in beach club bed one trip, but didn’t get bit until last day there. They didn’t really do much as we were leaving, hopefully they cleaned for the next guest. It can happen anywhere, but it did make me leary of returning there.

 

[MotherKnowsBest]

Did they actually say your room had them?

Yes they confirmed.

 

[MotherKnowsBest]

What area/building were you staying in at Saratoga?

They told me they treated the room so it wouldn't really matter. You can literally pick them up anywhere.

 

[pooh2001]

eek

 

[cinnaminny]

Bed bugs make me so nervous but I am not going to let it stop me from traveling. Even a nice place can get bed bugs, so you have to check every room. (and even then) I was planning a trip to Disneyland and was talking to a hotel person across the street about my fear of bedbugs and she said honestly, every single hotel is hit with bedbugs around these big tourist spots. About 10 years ago on a (different) trip to Disneyland, before I understood the signs of bedbugs, after we checked into our room at the Parkvue I saw blood smear on our sheets. Yikes. Glad I didn't end up bringing anything home with us.

I was once planning a trip to NYC and I guess its really bad there. Like pick them up in a cab bad. And the hotels are not as good about taking care of you as Disney is.

 

[wifey]

We had them 2 years ago at Beach Club, never got bitten, the staff informed us after a sweep of the room with their sniffer dog. Thankfully they handled everything really well we were compensated for being without clothing overnight whilst they treated everything and gave us a great room too. It didn’t stop our enjoyment of the resort or our vacation. It was just a bit of a shock to get the call and have to pack everything up for decontamination treatment. They credited every cost for substitute clothing back to our account for the purchases we needed for the 48 hours it took to get things back. They took everything offsite for thorough laundering too. All handled in such a way we were made to feel cared for and ours wasn’t the only room on that floor that week that had this problem. Thankfully everything was put right in no time.

 

[pooh2001]

Pack your clothes and items in large zip lock plastic bags in your suitcase
Leave your bags by the door as you check your room.
No bed bugs found, then...

Then check the creases of your bags for bed bugs.

If you find some - take the plastic item bags out of your suitcase and place in the room.
Ask the hotel if they can steam clean your luggage which is infected with bed bugs.
They may charge you for the suitcase cleaning - our thank you for not spreading bed bugs in the hotel.
Either way the steam clean charge will be worth it.

 

[Therich84]

I had a bed bug at AKL Jambo House during my last trip in Dec of 2017. We had a 6am flight home so we had to be out of our rooms at 2am for the magical express to MCO. While packing we found one bug in the Queen pullout. The night manager and exterminator came to our room within 20 minutes of us calling the front desk. They took all of our clothes and luggage so that they could be treated. They then opened up the gift shop so we could get new clothes since we had to leave what we were wearing. They also gave me a $300 train set since it happened to be my birthday. They got us a taxi to the airport which they paid for and the manager gave me a number in case we missed our flights because they would have paid for new flights. She also refunded one night of our stay and gave us a free 3 night stay with park tickets for any 1-bedroom Villa on property. Our clothes were overnighted back to us and she called to make sure we arrived back in NY safely. They couldn't have handled the situation any better. These type of things happen especially with as many rooms as WDW has. The real key is the way they handle the situation and compensate you in the event this happens.

 

[MinnieMSue]

I have to say I am impressed at how aggressive Disney is about eradicating bedbugs when found. That is a sign of a good hotel. All hotels get them (and sadly many other places that I don’t want t to think about). It is how they handle the problem that matters.

 

[NWOhiogal]

Just experienced bed bugs in our room at Caribbean Beach in January of this year. I made a video all about it and went over everything about how Disney handled it. It was 24 minutes of me talking, so it would probably take too long to type out. If you're interested, skip to 5:54 for the start of the bed bug story

Out of curiosity, where were you going when you recorded this? I mean, I see you walking and walking and walking for like 25 minutes and I got curious as to where you ended up.

 

[NWOhiogal]

One place to check for bedbugs that not a lot of people think of is the tops of picture frames. Bedbugs love it there because it's quiet and they aren't disturbed. So look there too!

 

[gillep]

We had bed bugs in Kidani last year in April. We always check the bed, picture frames, drawers, carpet, etc. and we didn't see a thing until we found one in our bed the next morning after check in, and then discovered bites on both of us. Disney really took care of us, and we were confident when we left that we would not be bringing any home with us. I was very impressed with how the entire situation was handled.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Bed bugs in beach club bed one trip, but didn’t get bit until last day there. They didn’t really do much as we were leaving, hopefully they cleaned for the next guest. It can happen anywhere, but it did make me leary of returning there.

What about your stuff, luggage, clothing, etc?