Bedbugs at CCI

[ADisneyPrincess]

We just returned from a great trip to DL. Great except for what we can only assume were bedbugs at the Candy Cane Inn. There were four of us in adjoining rooms. Two that were in the same room were covered in bites, the two of us in the other room were not. We initially assumed they were mosquito bites, however, we never saw nor heard any mosquitos. Plus mosquitos love me and I had no bites.

We didn't really realize what was going on until our last day. We reported it to hotel management who of course said it was mosquitos. We said no, it was bedbugs and they denied that it could be. We did not see any bugs, but from what I know this is usually the case. They come out when it is dark and you are asleep. When the lights are on they keep hidden. It is possible these bites weren't caused by bedbugs, but chances are they were.

Bedbugs can be at any hotel, even the nicest. This thread isn't to scare you away from the CCI, only to alert you. If you are staying at any hotel and suddenly have bug bites and haven't seen any mosquitos, it could very well be bedbugs. Request a room change immediately.

 

[TheZue]

Be really really careful with your laundry, you don't want them spreading to your house Ughhh this is one of the things that really freaks me out about travelling right now since bed bugs are making a big come back.

 

[MATTERHORN]

Yes, if they were bed bugs, sorry to say you or your friends probably already brought them home with you. Also you would not usually see them but you would see brown spots on the blankets or sheets from them.


Andrea

 

[ADisneyPrincess]

I'm guessing I'm safe since we didn't seem to have them in our room (fingers crossed), but my friends very possibly brought them home.

Any ideas on how to get rid of them if they did?

 

[MATTERHORN]

It is extremely rough to get rid of those guys. You have to wrap your mattress in plastic and disinfectant does not kill them. You have to take pretty extreme measures, some people even have to buy new furniture. They should be careful of their luggage if they really think it was bedbugs because they would have come home in there!


Andrea

 

[disneegrl4eva]

theres another bed bug post...you guys should read it

 

[Seahunt]

We just had an article in the local newspaper about local hotels hiring bed bug sniffing dogs (with a cute picture of a Jack Russell terrier named "Petey"!) Apparently the bed bugs have a certain aroma, and the dogs can go into the hotel rooms and indicate if there is a problem so the hotels can treat it:

Creepy flat bedbugs that siphon blood can survive in mattresses or suitcases for a year without a snack -- maybe in that hotel room where you slept recently -- but Petey can sniff them out.

The 7-year-old Jack Russell terrier is one of several dogs trained by Florida Canine Academy in Pinellas County to satisfy a growing number of requests from resorts and hotels in Florida and across the country for help with bedbug infestations.

The pros who battle bedbugs locally won't name names of area hotels that have called for service. Neither the Department of Health nor the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations track bedbug outbreaks.

And Petey isn't talking.

But the bedbugs are out there, to be sure, looking for a late night snack.

"I have been in the business for 18 years, and within the last three or four years, we have seen an increase in the calls for bedbugs. Normally they initiate with the hotel/motel industry," says Randy McCarty, general manager of Dave's Pest Control in Port Orange. "Very few calls are from single-family homes."

His most recent local calls were several months ago, but the bedbugs apparently continue to flourish.

"It is a major problem going on in Florida for the last two or three years," says Bob Davis, executive director of the Volusia County Hotel-Motel Association, although he has not had any local reports. "It's being brought in by international travelers."

The global scourge -- resulting in itching, mostly, but sometimes producing more serious allergic reactions -- has created demand for specialty dogs around the world.

"We just took our first termite and bedbug dog to Japan," says Bill Whitstine, master trainer at the canine academy. "They don't have a Japanese word for termite, so they have adopted the English word."

One pooch from Whitstine's academy-- Jada, a frisky mongrel rescued from the pound -- is already on the job sniffing out bedbugs. Jada was the subject of a New York Times story in June for commanding "hundreds of dollars an hour at some of Manhattan's most exclusive hotels and apartment buildings."

So even clean, high-class joints get bedbugs?

Yes, says Pete Thornton, an environmental administrator for Volusia County Health Department.

Thornton says bedbug problems are "not cleanliness-related" and bedbugs don't spread disease because the insects are "just pulling out (blood), not putting anything in."

Even if hotels "change the sheets every night, they don't always change the comforter," he says. And adult insects can wedge in headboards, along mattress and box-spring seams and in floor crevices.

Literature from Dave's Pest Control describes adult bedbugs as growing to about 1/5 inch. The insects produce tiny, whitish eggs that are really hard to see, and baby bugs are minute.

General cleaning won't kill bedbugs or eggs, says Hank Nolin, owner of Sun StateSpecialty K-9s in Port Orange, who works with dogs Whitstine has trained.

The nocturnal bugs spread quickly, Nolin says, so getting ahead of the problem isn't easy -- but the dogs can give them a leg up.

"Our latest addition is a little girl-- a lab (Labrador Retriever) mix -- named Riley. We are training her for bedbugs," Nolin says.

McCarty at Dave's Pest Control says bedbugs "give off a real distinct odor that even a human could smell from a bad infestation, but a dog could probably even detect minor infestations."

In the past, pesticides such as DDT kept the bedbug population at bay, but DDT was banned in 1972. McCarty says Suspend SC is the current antidote for killing bedbugs.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Oh gosh, that is my worst nightmare. Espeically bringing them back home. I always check my room now since seeing a show on TV about them. And how hard it is to get rid of them. Even last week in Vegas I checked the room. I pull down the sheets, look under the matress, in the bed frame, behind the headboard (a great hiding place for them). In the drapes, the lamps, and behind picture frames! Yes it sounds like a lot to do, but I can't sleep there unless I check.

Hopefully your room didn't have any and things will be okay! I just itch thinking about it!

 

[marydmjj]

That is so gross.

JenDisneylandlvr: Can you see bedbugs or are they too small? What sort of things do you look for when you look through your room?

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

That is so gross.

JenDisneylandlvr: Can you see bedbugs or are they too small? What sort of things do you look for when you look through your room?

Oh no you can see them! But you do have to hunt, they hide very well during the daylight hours. If you don't actually see them they do leave other signs. Gross but they have a redish poop (from the blood they suck), and you'll find it on the mattress, espeically on the edges and folds of the edges of the mattress. It's like red/brown smears. Also look for the redish color on lamp shades, curtins, and behind the head board. The bugs are small but they will look flat, and if they've been eating they have a plump look to them. They are a brownish/red color as well. And hide in all the places I've mentioned. So if they have bed bugs, you'll either see the bugs themselves in these places, or their "markings".

They are very hard to get rid of. The show I saw the people that had them in their house had exterminators come out several times. They got rid of their furniture, carpet, and clothes! Can you imagine the costs? They even talked about an apartment building where they had to knock down a wall because the bugs were hiding and living in the cracks of the wall! So when they bombed the house it didn't kill them because they were safely in the walls. I guess the poison we used to use, and what killed them off in this country can no longer be used. Due to it being a cancer causing agent. So now that the bugs are back it's been a challenge because what we have now days just doesn't kill them.

You could do a search on the web, there's a few sites that show pictures of what it'll look like on the mattress and pictures of the bugs themselves. Before our DL trip in July I did a bit of reading on it, after I saw that show. I've also talked to people online the worked in hotels and they recommended be checking out the rooms too because of things they've seen. I have friends that think I'm crazy for searching a room though, but hey I don't want to be eaten alive by these things, nor do I want to bring them home! And from what I'm hearing this is a growing problem all over the country. Just one of those things that I think a 5-10 minute check may be well worth it!

 

[my3kids]

I've read to try to look behind the headboard of the bed also. If it is tight against the wall they can hide there. Alos, as said, to pull the matress pad up a bit to check for the red stains or even bugs along the seams of the mattress.

 

[merlinsgang]

Just wanted to say that this is an unfortunate incicdent. My family, however, spent a week at CCI after Labor Day and had a wonderful time.

 

[albianne]

We stayed at the CCI in May and the same thing happened to us. We saw virtually no mosquito's or any spiders and then all of a sudden I had bites on my torso. My Hubby had none but my dd also had a couple. They were itchy for quite a while. The room looked spotless but I really didn't know what to look for until I got home and started doing a bit of research.

I can't remember our room number but we were on the ground floor at the very back of the complex in one of the deluxe rooms. I guess we will never really know for certain what bit us but it is suspicious that all the bites were on our torso under our clothes which is what you would expect if you got bitten in the night when you are undressed not in the daytime when clothes would cover these areas.

We had no problem with bugs in our suitcase, everything was fine when we got home, maybe we were lucky.

 

[ADisneyPrincess]

albianne, it does sound like bedbugs. We were also towards the back of the property, but on the 2nd floor. The problem room for us was 235. As I said, I was in 234 and had no problem with bugs. Hopefully hotel management got right on the problem and trying to resolve it.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I certainly hope the hotel is taking care of it. I mean it can happen anywhere. Even the nicest, cleanest, most expensive hotels are having this problem. Unlike what were used to seeing, a dirty room with spiders or roaches or something. This is nothing like that. The room could be spotless, but if someone stayed there before and brought these bugs in their luggage, it's gonna happen.

So I really don't blame the hotels in that respect. What I do have a problem with is when this happens and they dismiss you. Tell you it's not it, and then don't even bother to check it out. Continue to let people stay in those rooms, get ate up and possibly bring them home with them. That is when I have a problem with the hotels themsevles.

 

[Lyn5]

Thank you so much for posting this. We are supposed to stay there in two weeks and I cannot begin to describe how disgusting I find this. I really, REALLY, don't want my family to get bit or bring this thing home. I don't know where else we could stay since a lot of hotels are booked

 

[laui]

hmm, i wonder if it would be worth emailing this thread to the hotel......?
i'm sure they would want have this problem looked after immediately.

if you are staying there, i'd ask for a thorough check for any signs of bedbugs before checking into the room. i don't think that's too much to ask at all.

ick.

 

[Lyn5]

hmm, i wonder if it would be worth emailing this thread to the hotel......?
i'm sure they would want have this problem looked after immediately.

if you are staying there, i'd ask for a thorough check for any signs of bedbugs before checking into the room. i don't think that's too much to ask at all.

ick.

I sent a very polite e-mail asking about it. I haven't heard back yet.

 

[ADisneyPrincess]

My friends who were bit are quite upset about the hotel's response. As I said, they spoke to the manager and showed him their bites (one had about 40 bites that were awful looking). They are upset that the manager was pretty much dismissive of them. They understand that things like this happen and the hotel doesn't always know there is a problem, but a sincere apology and some concern would have been nice. Frankly, I think he should have given them a free night as well. I wouldn't expect one for my room as we didn't have a problem, but the problem room should have been comped in some manner, imo. They are probably going to contact the hotel again to express their dissatisfaction over the situation and the hotel's response.

Even if this wasn't bedbugs, and was fleas or some other critter, there is still an infestation problem in the room.

 

[azlaura]

I did email them and let them know. ( I am staying there in Dec. and would hate to have bites all over) I got an email this morning from the manager and they were looking into the issue. And stated they appreciated the email.