BEDBUGS at Disney???

[BlueSkies]

I am in awe at how calm you were over this.

Had I found a bed bug I would have freaked out. I know they can be in any room at any resort but seriously ... I would have freaked out

i would have called the health dept out

the CDC

Heck I would use the bat signal to get batman to show up

That is just so gross! I know they say it can happen in ANY resort BUTTTTTTTT my whole complaint is this is why we have housekeeping!!! Shouldn't ONE of their jobs be to inspect headboards and the bed while changing the sheets out?!?! I mean think of the bad rep the resort gets when bed bugs are found
If I was a resort owner it seems that would be a MAJOR requirement of mine to have the beds inspected with the daily bed making.

Brook You are hilarious!!! but you also brought up a very good point about inspecting the beds....they really should be!

 

[VMKaddict]

This makes me start itching...

 

[eeyoresnr]

there have been many reports on here of bedbugs from the All Stars to Contemporary...many times Disney wouldn't even acknowledge that they were bedbugs....other times people have reported that Disney took all their luggage and clothing to be de-bugged or in one case replaced

 

[trekker93]

Been down there many times and haven't seen any yet - knock on wood! And we always check the beds before we hit them at night because where we live up north, ticks are an issue - bigger cousins of the bed bugs. And they hurt sometimes! At Pop Century I'm surprised we haven't seen anything but love bugs actually. But we've been very, very lucky to have such great cast members changing the room each day.

 

[Koren34]

Why?

The snake thread and now this one, why do I do this to myself? Now I'll wake up in the middle of the night itching, heck I'm already starting to itch

I think it's possible for any hotel to get them regardless of how well the room is cleaned. Bedbugs get in luggage and just travel around the world. Now I will be checking out the headboard, rug, mattress, keep my luggage off the floor, etc. I'll also keep my fingers crossed that come August, it won't be an issue because they fumigate everything .

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Why?

The snake thread and now this one, why do I do this to myself? Now I'll wake up in the middle of the night itching, heck I'm already starting to itch

I think it's possible for any hotel to get them regardless of how well the room is cleaned. Bedbugs get in luggage and just travel around the world. Now I will be checking out the headboard, rug, mattress, keep my luggage off the floor, etc. I'll also keep my fingers crossed that come August, it won't be an issue because they fumigate everything .

Yeah I had read that snake thread too! We checked all over for snakes but didn't know to check for bed bugs! I am certainly educated now and will do so in the future first thing at every hotel I go to!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Why?

The snake thread and now this one, why do I do this to myself? Now I'll wake up in the middle of the night itching, heck I'm already starting to itch

I think it's possible for any hotel to get them regardless of how well the room is cleaned. Bedbugs get in luggage and just travel around the world. Now I will be checking out the headboard, rug, mattress, keep my luggage off the floor, etc. I'll also keep my fingers crossed that come August, it won't be an issue because they fumigate everything .

Yeah I had read that snake thread too! We checked all over for snakes but didn't know to check for bed bugs! I am certainly educated now and will do so in the future first thing at every hotel I go to!

 

[princessmom29]

Costco has a UV light wand disinfectant thingy. Does anyone know if this would kill bed bugs too? I doubt it but, I would infest in one before our trip if I thought it would help.

I am pretty nieve, but a friend I was traveling with last year, we had adjoining rooms said she saw bugs. She just figured in Florida what can you expect. She is so mellow that she didn't say anything as to not freak me out. I did itch some so when we came home I made our luggage and clothes stay outside in garbage bags sealed for months. (the advantage to traveling to a warm place when you need a coat at home).

I will be anxiously waiting to see how long it take to have the babies die too.... ugh.....

UV is not going to kill bedbugsx, but it might give them a bad sunburn!
Seriously though that is trictly antibacterial, and it is hit and miss at best as to actually being effective.

 

[cinderella73]

I can tell you that bedbugs are not that uncommon anymore.

The thing is that they are sooo hard to get rid of that its important to know to avoid picking them up. We are talking having to remove drywall in your house hard.

I have never personally encountered any but I know of someone who did .A manager at a big time national family hotel chain. It was a nightmare. Here are some things I learned.

Some quick facts. They can go over a year without feeding. They really come out at night when you are sleeping but if you look for them you can usually find some or at least their droppings.

Never bring your stuff into a hotel and set it on the floor , couch , or beds , or chairs! If you must have stuff with you set it in the bathtub.

And most importantly if you do discover bedbugs just throw out everything you have with you! It seriously wont be worth the cost of bringing them home and having to rip your home apart.

They travel through the walls and can go in and out of the outlets and baseboards. So if another room has them be extra extra careful.

There is no publicly available spray that can kill them. They have been banned as they are harsh and dangerous to humans.

Thats why Disney replaced the families belongings as the previous poster mentioned. They wouldnt let the family back into the room even.

 

[thesupersmartguy]

I saw this story on the front page of the paper this morning. I hope I do not come across any this weekend.

 

[praline3001]

Brook You are hilarious!!! but you also brought up a very good point about inspecting the beds....they really should be!

I wonder if I should put on my booking special request
"please no bedbugs" instead of "Castle view please"

 

[J&J]

Help what can you do or take with you. Does anyone know if Disney is doing anything to stop the problem.

 

[J&J]

http://www.bedbugsguide.com/bed-bug-tips-for-travelers.htm

found this web site \this site has another site that will list all hotels that have had a major proplem,

 

[WEDWDW]

This is OLD,OLD,OLD news!There have been sporadic reports here on the Resort Board for quite some time.The only thing you can do is check your room thouroughly before entering or cancel your trip!Yes,it would be a MESS if you encounter Bed Bugs at WDW,but the odds are EXTREMELY,EXTREMELY LOW!

 

[WDWKOOK]

We stayed in the CR 3/25-4/1. On one night in the middle of our stay I found a bug between the 2 pillows. I put it in a ziploc and checked the sheets for any other bugs. I honestly thought bed bugs were too small to see and this bug was the size of an apple seed. At that point we had no bites. Two of my 3 kids were sleeping and it was 1 AM. My Mom didn't want to mess with reporting it since she didn't think it was anything. I kept the bug and brought it home just in case. Before I brought any luggage in the house I googled and sure enough, no question it is a bed bug! Of course by that time my 2 sons and myself had started to develop bites. Through my research I have found that bed bugs can indeed be big enough to see. The bites can sometimes take up to 9 days to appear. Don't check sheets like I did, check the mattress seams and headboard.

So far I think we have avoided bringing them into the house. It took the bed bug 18 days to die in the ziploc! In the meantime it laid several eggs. These eggs have now hatched several new bugs! I am watching to see how long they last. I have the ziploc double bagged for safety! LOL!

I emailed WDW and sent a letter through snail mail along with pictures of the bug and the bites. I also faxed a copy to the CR so they could get right on fumigating that room! I haven't received any response yet. I doubt they'll do anything for me since I'm home now. I do wish I had reported it at the time but honestly I thought I had a weird tick that I was not used to seeing in Nebraska. Needless to say I won't be staying in the garden wing rooms at the CR again! The hosuekeeping was terrible there and from reading the boards here it sounds like those staying in the tower rooms during the same time had excellent housekeeping so I think the CR is cutting back on cleaning the cheaper rooms. JMO!
__________________
Shel

Shel, congrats! You've made it to the prestigious "Bed Bug Registry!"

Disneys Contemporary Resort
4600 N World Dr, Lake Buena Vista
Orlando, FL


Found 1 report:

Submitted by "Disneys Contemporary Resort" on 04/08/2009

"Stayed at Disney's Contemporary resort 3/25-4/1/09. We stayed in the Garden Wing room 6128, which is first floor pretty near the beach/pool.


We found a bed bug on a pillow. Now it was about half way through the stay and I went to get in bed and moved a pillow that was stacked on top another. There was the bug on the pillow underneath. It was brown and about the size of an apple seed. I put it in a ziploc and searched for evidence of more bugs. I didn't see anything but didn't know to take the sheets off and inspect the mattress. I've never seen a bed bug and I thought they were much smaller. This looked to me like a tick but different than the ticks in Nebraska. Since I saw no evidence of any other bugs and none of us were itching at the time we didn't complain. When I got home I googled bed bugs and there is no question that is what it is. I still have my ziploc and it's still alive after 13 days and has laid some eggs! Wish I would have complained now. I have all my laundry and luggage in the garage so hopefully we avoided bringing anything home. I have composed a letter to Disney with pictures about the matter so they can at least fumigate that room. I doubt nor do I expect that they'll do anything for me."

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Boy there are some things in life that you just don't think about. For 30+ years I've been staying in hotels and have never had a problem, but all it takes is one article to make me rethink everything!

Now I'm going to show up in WDW with my luggage wrapped in plastic.

 

[goofy4tink]

Our paper had the article this morning...I just knew you all would be discussing it here!!!
Anyway.....every single bed in the world is subject to bedbugs...even beds at WDW!! It is not a cleanliness issue. Sort of like lice....they just like a nice environment to set up housekeeping. And they travel with human travelers...from everywhere.
When you get to your hotel room, pull up the sheets, check that cording on the mattress...this is where you will find 'evidence' of bedbug activity..little brown spots (dried blood). Look behind beds, or behind pictures on the walls above beds. These are the spots the little critters like to hang out. Even in dresser drawers!!! If you want to be really safe, put your suitcases up on those luggage things, or on the table, and don't unpack your stuff....live out of the suitcase.

A few years ago, I got a phone call from my dd at camp. Seems they found bedbugs in one of the dorm style rooms....emptied the entire building, the kids slept out in a field....with ticks and mosquitoes I would assume.... The building was emptied of all wooden furniture and burned. They replaced the bunk beds with metal bunkbeds!!!
When my dd got home, her cloths all stayed in the garage while they awaited being washed...in hot water!!! Then dried on the highest setting. Good thing she took only old, yucky stuff with her.

There is nothing any hotel/resort can do about bedbugs, other then be on the lookout for them. They travel between rooms, so when they are found, the surrounding areas are also impacted. And the only way to get rid of them is to ues extremely strong pesticides.....and the best ones have been made illegal in this country.

 

[Lynne M]

Help what can you do or take with you. Does anyone know if Disney is doing anything to stop the problem.

There is absolutely nothing that any hotel can do to prevent bedbugs from getting into their rooms, short of strip-searching every guest and going through their luggage before they're allowed into their room.

Bedbugs come in with guests, or their luggage. They don't 'infest' a hotel. When a guest or a housekeeper finds bedbugs in a room, Disney eradicates them. Listings of hotels that have had bedbugs serve no purpose, since any hotel that finds them wipes them out immediately, and any hotel not on the list could have a guest bring them in tomorrow.

Just to be clear: Disney resorts do not have a 'bedbug problem', any more than any other hotel does. There are sporadic reports of bedbugs, but from everything we've heard, Disney does a good job of eliminating them once they're found. There is nothing you can bring with you to spray for them. If you wish, you can check the mattress when you arrive.

Honestly, it's not worth worrying over.

 

[cinderella73]

There is absolutely nothing that any hotel can do to prevent bedbugs from getting into their rooms, short of strip-searching every guest and going through their luggage before they're allowed into their room.

Bedbugs come in with guests, or their luggage. They don't 'infest' a hotel. When a guest or a housekeeper finds bedbugs in a room, Disney eradicates them. Listings of hotels that have had bedbugs serve no purpose, since any hotel that finds them wipes them out immediately, and any hotel not on the list could have a guest bring them in tomorrow.

Just to be clear: Disney resorts do not have a 'bedbug problem', any more than any other hotel does. There are sporadic reports of bedbugs, but from everything we've heard, Disney does a good job of eliminating them once they're found. There is nothing you can bring with you to spray for them. If you wish, you can check the mattress when you arrive.

Honestly, it's not worth worrying over.

I agree that Disney is no worse for bedbugs than anywhere else. In fact they may handle it better than most.I would worry less there than most places.

However to say hotels simply eradicate them is simplifying it to much. Its not that easy. The place I know is STILL battling them from 2 years ago. Controlling them to a very minimal population is what they do. Even though they try to get rid of them completly its very difficult .They call in places like ecolab and rip out carpets , bedding , furniture , and baseboards but they are often behind the walls even and all it takes is one to restart the cycle. Now for the record not all of the rooms have it. But there are a few that do. Maybe 5 out of 300 ? Just because a few rooms do does not mean they all do. But of course without proper control and treatment it could and would happen. Disney may have a few problem rooms but I would not take that to think the whole resort was infested as they do call in specialists to help control it.

By the way the place I speak of is a $600 a night place. Not some flea bag type motel. There is no seperation of the classes when it comes to bedbugs. They dont care if its motel 8 or Hilton.

Not to say that hotels cant and dont get rid of them . But its very hard to do . Especially in a hotel type situation where the rooms are right next to each other and you have a high aount of traffic.

Should you worry? No . It would serve no good. Just use common sense and know what to look for going in. I would feel better at Disney than anywhere else just knowing that if something did happen Disney would make it right. Check your room , then relax and enjoy your vacation. Odds are high you wont have any issues.

 

[TallyTutter]

I agree, there is no need to worry. When you check in to your hotel (any hotel!) & BEFORE you bring your suitcases into the room, leave them in the hall for a minute and pull all bedding (covers & sheets) down from the top on both beds, check the mattress & it's crevices, check all around the headboard. If you see anything that looks like a freckle or a spot, use your discretion & ask for another room.

Google "How to Check for and Treat Bed Bugs" and it will not only show you what they look like but give you more info on how to look for & treat them.