Disney Bed Bug Problem

[rosanne91]

Last year we stayed at a very nice moderate hotel. Unfortunately, we found bed bugs after we signed up for our bounceback offer. We were comped 1/2 price for a portion of our stay and moved to a different room. They also confiscate our clothes to have them washed and sanitised. I had thought this was behind us and never even thought about it as we prepare for this years vacation. That is until my toddler son asked if we had to sleep witht he bugs again. My kids are nervous about going back. I am trying to reassure them, but its hard. Should i call the hotel and explain what happened last year in hopes of everything being perfect this year????

 

[maxiesmom]

Honestly? I wouldn't. Your room is not assigned until right before you show up, and not totally yours until you are in it. So notifying them ahead of time will not guarantee getting a bug free room.

But the chances of it happening to you again are very small. Just check the room over before you let your kiddies (or your luggage!) into the room. Tell your children that what happened was not nice or fun, but not likely to happen again.

 

[goofy4tink]

Nobody is going to be able to make you a promise that there will be no beg bugs in your room. This is a huge issue for ALL hotels and resorts across the country. All it takes is for someone who has been exposed to the nasty critters, to set their bag down on the floor or bed. Then, that bug(s) is there. And yes, it's most likely plural..sad to say.
Disney does their level best to keep the rooms bed bug free. But, if someone brings them in, with them, then it's next to impossible to check for them until they have started to multiply.

Why is it such an issue all of a sudden? The US has prohibited the use of the pesticides that are most effective in the bed bug fight. Evidently they are quite toxic, so alternative methods have been tried. Those methods are only so good.


My advice is to check out your room before bringing in any luggage. Pull the sheets back and check along that corded area on the mattress, check the seam areas...look for little bits of brownish red..that will be a tell tale sign of bugs. Look behind the head board if you can...along the baseboards. You are looking for that reddish brown color. If you see anything that bothers you, go back to the front desk and ask to have your room changed and tell them why.

My dd has had two situations with bedbugs at camp. Last year, they had had them earlier in the summer and had been promised by the exterminators that the bugs were gone. Well....thank God we got there early and my dd grabbed the bottom bunk because two days later her roommate (one of them) had itchies all over her. Massive number of bites..everywhere on her body. My dd had them 'only' on her upper arms and shoulders. Seems they were in the top bunk. Those kids were taken to the showers immediately, they gave an outfit to the counselors to be washed. When they got out of the showers, they were given the clean clothes and sent to another bldg for the rest of their stay. Every single thing they brought to that room with them went through the industrial washers/dryers...even her stuffed Corduroy (yes, she's 16 but Cordy goes everywhere with her). They were not allowed back in that area of the bldg for the rest of the month.

Like I said...it's very difficult to get rid of them. I think Disney handled it very well for you. I would just tell your son that Mickey and Minnie have taken care of the problem..and isn't it a good thing they took care of it and not Goofy????

Like I said, you can let the resort know of your 'issue' but there isn't much they can do.....in order to do what you need, they would have to exterminate a room, let it breath and then hold it empty until you got there. And even then, with the products that seem to be in use now, there is no 100% promise of no bugs!!

 

[zhazhazsu]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

I sure bet they won't!
Great tip, never heard that one before.

 

[jenn1024]

Maxiesmom is right, in that the chances of getting assigned to a room with bed bugs two trips in a row is very, very, very small. BUT, if it would help ease your and your children's minds, there's nothing wrong with contacting the resort.
I wouldn't call, though. I would recommend sending an e-mail and sending a snail mail letter to Guest Communications. I would explain what happened the last time, and that you are very excited, but slightly nervous to return. Let them know that you would appreciate it if the room could be inspected by pest management before you arrive. It is possible that they won't be able to do it, but why not try?

 

[TheRatPack]

My husband always takes a flashlight and we go to the rooms and check the mattresses, behind headboards...etc before turning the light on, before letting kids in and before bringing anything of ours to the room. Now of course if the bed bugs haven't had a chance to fully invade a room I guess we're out of luck.

 

[Hubbs]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

Especially if the manager is a guy.

 

[MyMagicKingdom]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

Oooh good idea!!

I went to Miami on a business trip a few years ago and stayed at The Marriot. The first time I stayed there (the trip was split into 2 weeks in Miami, 4 days home, 2 more weeks in Miami) I could've worn I saw a bug but I just attributed it to something flying in, whatever. No big deal. Bed bugs are too small to see with the naked eye, right? A few days into my second trip, I woke up the next morning and was covered in bites. I was mortified. I went down to the desk and told them my situation, they said it must be just an allergy. To my knowledge there's absolutely nothing I'm allergic to, granted I'm not saying it isn't possible, but...Anyway, if a guest is coming to you completely covered in bites asking for a new room, wouldn't you provide one? The manager said they would go up and vacuum. I sarcastically said, "oh thanks because I do indeed sleep on the floor." Finally, they reluctantly agreed to changing the sheets. Luckily we ended up being sent home early because of a hurricane warning. But now I'm always so concerned about bed bugs so I definitely sympathize with OP!!

 

[Gladys Kravitz]

I'm subscribing to this thread so I can remember to do this check of my room 13 long months from now. Really helpful info.
Thanks.

 

[LilyWDW]

The thing with bedbugs is this... they happen. You can find them at all types of hotels, all levels, and all over the world. Hotels don't want to have bedbugs and they do check for them, but it is possible that there were little to no signs when housekeeping cleaned the room.

Normally they come in in other people's luggage. For example, if someone has bedbugs at home they get into the clothes and the luggage. They are then transported to their Disney resort room when that luggage is placed in the room. So, until we either find a less toxic way of killing them or we make everyone hand their luggage over for inspection and cleaning, they will be a possibility.

I don't think contacting the resort will do much good. No one will be able to promise 100% that that room will not be exposed to bedbugs. Housekeeping can look the room over, but it is still possible for them to be there (buggers can be hard to find, no pun intended). Even extermination isn't 100% effective and it could take 2 or more times. So there really isn't TOO much that can be done.

But remember, it could happen at ANY hotel... so even moving somewhere else won't really reduce your chances (which are very very slim anyways).

 

[goofy4tink]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

Never thought of doing something like that. I wonder if one of those lint rollers would serve the same purpose. Well..not for waving around at the manager, but for discovering the presence of the bugs to begin with.

 

[ntsammy5]

This is hilarious!

 

[JJsmama]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

Haha! We all like your trick. I'm uncertain however. Do you put the sticky onto the fitted sheet or onto the bare mattress?

 

[rcraw45425]

I'd think mattress

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

As other posters have mentioned, unfortunately bed bugs are a significant and growing issue in the hotel industry, but your chances of actually encountering them are still quite small. It has little to do with the cleanliness of the hotel, because they are brought in by guests and, once in a room, are impervious to removal without the engagement of an exterminator.

The only time I've ever encountered them was in a Ritz Carlton, and while their service in addressing them was perhaps a bit better that at a more mid-level hotel, it's still relevant to note that in the thousands of nights that I have spent in hotels over my life my life, I've only seen them once and that was in a five-star hotel.

Check your room carefully and address it with management if needed, but don't stress about it too much! Odds are very good you'll be fine.

 

[Cat0727]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

That's a great tip.

Bedbugs in hotel rooms are my worst nightmare. *shudders*

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

My DH used to work in hotels, and he taught me this trick. Leave all of your bags in the hallway, and enter the room, pull the blankets and sheets off the corner of the bed furthest from the windows ( or light source ), take a maxi pad, and unwrap it, stick the sticky side of the pad to the corner of the bed. If the sticky part of the pad is dirty ( little black or red specks) there are bugs in the bed. Take the pad down to the manager of the hotel and ask for a new room. Very few managers are going to deny you a request when you are waiving a maxi pad around the lobby! LOL!

This is an interesting idea, but I don't think it would work very often. Depending on the stage of infestation, bed bugs may or may not leave any trial.

 

[MommyJack]

Ok now you guys have given me the willie's Good to know, but sometimes it's better not to know these things.

 

[Mary T in PA]

Loved the tip...thanks.. it helped me feel better because after I read a thread like this, I sit here and itch!

The only thing I may try differently is that if bedbugs were found on a maxi, I'd have to have my 6'8" hubby take it down to the front desk!