cockaroach OKW style

[DukeStreetKing]

I believe there is a direct correlation between the number of bugs in a room vs. the number of people in the room and the number of refillable mugs brought back from previous trips.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I agree.....roaches, palmetto bugs, lizards, frogs......they're all over FL. We've seen roaches/palmetto even when we stayed at the Contemporary 14th floor concierge !
Just got back from OKW on Aug 13. Had a wonderfully clean (not a speck of mold, dust or anything) 2 bedroom villa in bldg 45. Experienced at least a half dozen visits to OKW since 1995 with never even a glimpse of a roach. We have had small frogs/lizards in the units before (but experienced this at VWL as well). We thought everything was in tiptop shape at OKW this most recent visit

 

[Donna]

Those are bahamian anoles, totally harmless and more afraid of you than you are of them. We saw alot of them last week, not just OKW, but everywhere, way more than usual; could be we usually go in the cooler months and they just weren't out then. The frog is a tree frog. We saw one jump from our stairway, about 2 feet out and come back and land on the ledge below! Luckily, we saw no creepy crawly bugs in the villa. We had an awesomely beautiful villa (bldg 6432-34), everything brand spankin new, still even smelled new to me. If you like a golf view, this is the villa for you! Our a/c went on the fritz the one day but apparently the drip pan was full from condensation and needed emptied and it worked fine. This was by far the best bldg. we ever had since 1998. Only asked for non-smoking and golf view and thats exactly what i got. Now i want this one all the time! Close to HH and close to quiet pool and millers road bus stop and ELEVATORS! on really hot days and tired nights, we LOVED having that!

 

[jonestavern]

You'll find these creatures all over WDW, not just OKW. Anywhere you have trees and shrubs. First we have all the people who want to spend hours cleaning their room, then we have all the people who want to kill all the natural wildlife.
What next? Kill all the rodents, dogs and ducks?

Ducks! This Feb/Mar while walking near the 'beach' at WL DS16 was shocked to see adults kicking sand at a mother duck & her ducklings! I asked him if the mother duck had acted agressive & no. DS said the family had been seated & the parents, encouraging their kids also, both got up & walked to where the duck family was & began shouting 'Go away!' & kicking sand DS said the ducks were about 15+ ft from these morons. when DS said," Hey, please stop!" these wingdings yelled at him saying Disney should keep all the birds away from people! Geez, DS hadn't really experienced full out nut cases, so he was just flabbergasted. and no, these weren't the infamous Devil Ducks! They would've ruthlessly & effectively retailiated!
Anyway, it is the Wilderness Lodge!

Jean

 

[JimMIA]

As others have noted, Florida is a wildlife paradise!

The picture DukeStreetKing posted above is a Green Enole, which is a native species. The get fairly large, up to 12 inches. There is another enole, the Cuban Brown Enole, which is an introduced species. It looks just like the Green Enole, except guess what? Right, it's brown.

The other lizards you will likely see are chameleons, skinks, and the omnipresent gekkos. All are completely harmless. Enoles are big enough to bite, but they're not strong enough to break the skin. None of our lizards are venomous. It's also not likely that you will actually get close enough to any lizard to get bitten.

Gekkos are easy to identify. They lay very flat to whatever surface they are on, as opposed to sitting up on their legs. They have ridged feet that look like little pads and act like suction cups, and allow them to climb straight up walls and windows.

The chameleons we have in Florida are not the weird-looking ones with the rotating eye turret. They're just normal looking little lizards, but their color adapts to approximate the color of whatever surface they have to be on. the color change happens quickly enough to notice and makes a cool nature lesson for kids. (Gekkos also adjust their color) Chameleons can also climb straight up on windows, but they're not as agile on more difficult surfaces like painted walls.

Skinks (we have Blue Skinks) have a very smooth, shiny, steamlined appearance, and actually look wet or slimy. They're not. Blue Skinks have an irediscent blue tail.

You won't see salamanders (which ARE wet and slimy) unless you go turning over rocks in the water or turning over dead branches in the forest.

Most of the frogs you will see are tree frogs and there are numerous species. Completely harmless. Most of the "crickets" you hear at night are really tree frogs screaming to attract a mate.

As noted above palmetto bugs are a sure sign of being near the woods, not of uncleanliness. They are about the size of a small model airplane, and they fly, but they're not quite as noisy. They're not very skillful flyers, so they tend to crash into things a lot...including humans. Harmless.

German Roaches, especially if they're parading around in platoon-strength formations, are a sign of food left out, as are large numbers of small ants. The left-out food is probably more of a health risk than the roaches/ants, but neither is good.

We told you OKW was a Hell-hole! You shouldn't stay there...leave it for us!

Seriously, there's nothing there that will harm you. Enjoy your stay!

 

[Nanajo1]

When we lived in South Florida we described it as HUMBUG! Humidity and Bugs!!

 

[Eeyoregal]

In July, we were at OKW and had a little gecko friend who always greeted us outside our room every day. We took a picture of him! Trust me, if he had made it in the room, I wouldn't have been so friendly!

We were a little alarmed to see WDW "Pest Control" coming out of the room next to ours at one point! But again, at least they were taking care of it!!

 

[Sammie]

Well, it's Florida, so I expect to see bugs, lizards and such.

As far as the dirty rug & bathroom, I'd have called Housekeeping.

Exactly, and I am curious where everyone lives that never have a single bug in their house, or near their house, etc. All you have to do is call Maintenance and they will spray your unit if you have bugs. I would have also reported any conditions that were not clean.

You have to also remember that previous guests are somtimes bad about propping open the doors to load their luggage and/or leaving patio and balcony door open.

 

[erikthewise]

In July, we were at OKW and had a little gecko friend who always greeted us outside our room every day. We took a picture of him! Trust me, if he had made it in the room, I wouldn't have been so friendly!

Especially if he tried to sell you auto insurance.

 

[DVCajun]

Especially if he tried to sell you auto insurance.

 

[Eeyoregal]

Especially if he tried to sell you auto insurance.

But wouldn't I save a bunch of money???

 

[Laurajean1014]

Wow. We've been to OKW over 30 times in the past ten years (that's about 300 nights) and we have yet to see any creepy crawlers inside the room.

Lucky, I guess!

 

[Laurajean1014]

Especially if he tried to sell you auto insurance.

 

[lenshanem]

I think the lizards and frogs are a standard feature of the rooms at OKW...

Once we called the front desk cause we couldn't get a lizard out of the room and they told us to just prop our door open and he'd go out. It was one in the morning! I finally trapped him with a bucket. That was a workout! It was a fast little thing.

We got black feet from the carpet at SSR in July so it doesn't have to do with the resort's age. They aren't changing the water out enough when they steam clean the carpets I'm guessing? I dunno, but that was the first time we had ever got black feet from a WDW resort stay.

 

[DukeStreetKing]

I finally trapped him with a bucket. That was a workout! It was a fast little thing.

When my daughter was younger, she and some friends would catch the anoles all the time and hook the tails around their ears and wear them as jewelry. I would always enlist her to catch them if they were in the house.

 

[Alexander]

Stayed at BCV last week, the little lizards, and small frogs were around on the sidewalks. We aren't particularly fond of these critters, so just request a room that is not on the first floor. So, they are all over WDW as PPs have indicated. This is not an OKW "problem".

Our carpets were actually very clean when we arrived. The ironic thing is they cleaned our carpets while we were there and DS's socks were dirtier AFTER they cleaned than before! I think a PP was correct about dirty water in the cleaner! They ended up putting more dirt down than was originally there!

I do have to say that maintenance was top-notch at BCV, unlike many previous reports from there. They were switching out furniture in rooms on the fifth floor. They even swapped our night stand out and there wasn't anything wrong with it as far as I could see. They were always present and working on something. I think this is a positive turn at the BCV.

Now staying on topic If there are maintenance or housekeeping issues at any resort, including OKW, you must let them know. They don't know unless we tell them! I really think the chronic complaints at BCV have begun to pay off. It sounds like members need to speak up a little more at OKW.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

A cockroach could of come in with the previous guest. They like to travel. If you let management know right away, they can take care of it, before it becomes a real problem.

My dad had a roach problem in his house 3 years ago. In the 69 years he lived in that house, he NEVER had a roach problem, until my brother and SIL brought up a carpet cleaner for them to borrow. It was INFESTED with roaches. Before my dad knew it, his house was infested.

Roaches can come in from grocery stores, cardboard boxes, paper bags. With so many guests coming in from all over the world, and the way these DVC units are set up, most guests bringing in their own groceries, I can see how a unit may have a roach or two.

 

[Nanajo1]

Now staying on topic If there are maintenance or housekeeping issues at any resort, including OKW, you must let them know. They don't know unless we tell them! I really think the chronic complaints at BCV have begun to pay off. It sounds like members need to speak up a little more at OKW.

I agree. It is most annoying to check in to a villa and find problems that have not be reported. I don't mean burned out light bulbs. We had one stay that the the ceiling fan in the MBR was broken, the switch to start the whirlpool was missing,two of the burners on the stove were warped and the dryer door did not close. I know that the immediately previous guests may not have used all of these things but someone had to have noticed something!
BTW
How do you feel about tipping maintenance workers when they come to repair a problem. We always do. Do you think this might be why others don't report problems? Just wondering.

 

[trainfun]

We had a roach scurry into the room with us as we opened the door. My younger son, then about 5 refused to go to sleep with that "big bug" in the room. We chased it down the hall and it ran under the washing machine.

So we turned out all the lights and waited a few minutes, then turned them on and it was in the hallway and we eliminated it.

If you are returning to the resort at night, get in the door quickly and be alert! If you can leave the outside light off, do so, so no bugs will be attracted. Also leave the hall lights in your villa out, so when the door opens the bugs don't come in with you.

We have stayed at OKW about 5-6 times and have only seen 2 roaches including the one we know we let in. The other might well have also come in at night as we were loading up the car for a 4 AM departure and the door was opened and closed numerous times. We have never seen any roaches at Vero (6 visits), BW (1 visit), Hilton Head (5 visits).

This is not to discount PP who have seen bugs in their units, but a little prevention does help. If we saw evidence of any kind of infestation, we'd call the front desk for help.

In moist, warm areas, bugs do amazingly well. I recall a poster who lived on Hilton Head who told this board that those thinking of living there needed to have a very good exterminator who comes once a month.

Overall, I think Disney does an excellent job on the bug front, and we need to let them know when problems arise.

 

[LoriB]

We have been to WDW too many times to count and we have never seen a bug, except on the outside...once we were in line at night outside of the haunted mansion and we saw a whopper roach on the door. I'm sure the southerns will say that it was a palmetto bug...my aunt who lives in SC always tells me that they don't have roaches in SC, they're palmetto bugs......You can call them whatever you want, but they're roaches to me and I don't want them anywhere where I am sleeping and living, bottom line....