PLEASE check for bed bugs before accepting your room.

[tndislvr]

Just wanted to advise everyone to get educated on how to check for bed bugs before heading to Orlando and then check your room before you bring ANY luggage in the room. Unfortunately we learned the hard way (never thought of checking for bed bugs) and now we are dealing with trying to get the nasty bugs out of our home as they hitchhiked home in our luggage. Got bites while there but thought they were mosquitos or chiggers. I was wrong. Can't tell you the stress and financial burden this is putting us through.

Just hoping to help someone avoid our fate.

 

[BrerSam]

I got bed bug bites all over me when i stayed in the Sheraton Safari, they moved us to another room and checked the bed and told us they did not find any but i had so many bites all over my back and everywhere it had to be them so yeah its good to check!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Check when you check in anywhere.. not just Orlando!

 

[tndislvr]

You are so right.....check anywhere. I guess I said Orlando because most people on this board are headed there. I hope we can remedy our problem quickly....because it is really taking a toll on me. I've barely slept in two weeks, am stressed, anxious, worried (that my kids will get bitten), and just grossed out by the whole thing. My husband wants to take a long weekend trip for the 4th but I refuse because that would mean staying in another hotel potentially bringing more of these things home with us. I don't wish this on anyone.

 

[tndislvr]

So sorry to hear you got bitten BrerSam. I hope they didn't come home with you as well. And the hotel may have been telling the truth - they may not have seen any bugs. The little devils are very good at hiding. We didn't see anything either but I was getting bitten. The pest control company didn't see anything....till they sprayed something on our bed....and that made them come out. So I'm sure that is what was biting you whether the hotel staff saw them or not.

 

[grammynelliebelle]

How can you do a quick check when checking into a room? It sounds like these things can be very hard to detect. Grammy

 

[A Mickeyfan]

How can you do a quick check when checking into a room? It sounds like these things can be very hard to detect. Grammy

rule of thumb is to pull the sheets up off the corners and look for any thing on the mattress creases... like small spots (black/brownish) could be the bugs...also look for blood droplets.

I was bitten in Pop Century. Disney tied saying it was fleas & I must have had an allergic reaction. I know they weren't flea bites... they had to call 911 because my legs swelled so much from the bites. They did change my room but still insisted not bed bugs.. What gets me is, why would they say "fleas" since that is just as bad.. either way there were bugs on that bed. I figured if it were fleas, they would have been in the carpet & others in the room (my DD's) would have been bitten too.. I was the only one & I slept in the bed alone...

 

[Mickeypooh99]

rule of thumb is to pull the sheets up off the corners and look for any thing on the mattress creases... like small spots (black/brownish) could be the bugs...also look for blood droplets.

I was bitten in Pop Century. Disney tied saying it was fleas & I must have had an allergic reaction. I know they weren't flea bites... they had to call 911 because my legs swelled so much from the bites. They did change my room but still insisted not bed bugs.. What gets me is, why would they say "fleas" since that is just as bad.. either way there were bugs on that bed. I figured if it were fleas, they would have been in the carpet & others in the room (my DD's) would have been bitten too.. I was the only one & I slept in the bed alone...

Oh my gosh. Why would fleas be better than bed bugs. Either way is . I hear more and more about bedbugs, and I have been checking beds whenever we are on vacation.

 

[tndislvr]

Fleas are bad.....but trust me, bed bugs are worse. Worse because they are MUCH harder to detect and treat. I used to have pets therefore fleas in the house from time to time. Usually one treatment of the pets and home and fleas were gone. I don't know how many treatments we will have to have to get thebed bugs out of our home. The psychological impact is unbelievable. My DH can't understand why I am so upset by this but I don't think he realizes how fast they could overtake our home and just how hard they can be to obliterate. So for now and the forseeable future we are living out of ziploc bags and praying we don't spread the parasites further. While there are WAY worse things that can happen to a person, waking up with a blood spot on your clothing that you KNOW is from a squished bed bug seems pretty horrible when it happens. I guess the positive side of that is there is one less in my house now!

One other bit of bad news......you may not even see visible signs of them on the mattress or headboard. We had NO visible signs other than I was getting bitten (well, we are probably all being bitten but I am the only one in my home having an allergic reaction to the bites). I think from now on I will carry pesticide with me and treat the mattress upon arrival....and boil my clothes and treat my suitcase when we get back home.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

One other bit of bad news......you may not even see visible signs of them on the mattress or headboard. We had NO visible signs other than I was getting bitten (well, we are probably all being bitten but I am the only one in my home having an allergic reaction to the bites). I think from now on I will carry pesticide with me and treat the mattress upon arrival....and boil my clothes and treat my suitcase when we get back home.

OMG!!! I didn't know that. So even though we check & see nothing prior to settling in the room, there still could be

 

[spiceycat]

they also hid in the drawers - so they are very, very hard to kill.

they will get in everything and they are tiny - so much harder to see than fleas.

since disney does not allow pets in their rooms - would also wonder about the fleas. if it was a service dog - would expect them to throughly clean the room - before allowing in another guest.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

they also hid in the drawers - so they are very, very hard to kill.

they will get in everything and they are tiny - so much harder to see than fleas.

since disney does not allow pets in their rooms - would also wonder about the fleas. if it was a service dog - would expect them to throughly clean the room - before allowing in another guest.

those were my thoughts when they said that to me...

 

[Spanky]

When traveling do not sit your suitcase on the floor of the hotel room. Put it up on a luggage stand or on top of the dresser - same with your shoes - do not leave them on the floor. This helps to make it harder for you to pick up any hitch hiking bed bugs to take home with you. Be especially careful if your travel with your own pillow. It is my understanding the bed bugs love to get inside the pillow and then you take them home with you. Folks, - it is not just cheap hotels - 5 start hotels have bed bugs too. All the international travelling that we now do has brought bed bugs back to the United States after having rid ourselves of this problem back in the 50s when we were allowed to use products that are no longer on the marked. [DDT]

 

[A Mickeyfan]

never thought about my shoes on the floor!!!!

 

[mrzrich]

This is what you are looking for. Bed bug poop.

 

[tndislvr]

It definitely isn't just cheap hotels. We were staying at I'd say a 4 star resort and got them there. It doesn't indicate uncleanliness because our unit was spotless. Just a prior guest had left them behind and we were lucky enough to bring them home. The PCO was able to find them in one bedroom in our home but not in our master bedroom. But I know they are there as I got bitten again last night. Unfortunately I think they may be nesting in my bed frame. Hopefully I caught it early enough that we can get rid of them before they are in every room in the house. However, we've been home 4 weeks and they are already in two rooms so I think their numbers are already large.

On another note, I did call the resort to complain and hopefully prevent the same fate for another traveler. I must say they didn't sound the least bit surprised when I told them.

 

[liznboys]

Thank you for the warning and advice, tndislvr. Hang in there...

 

[Tamdude]

Be especially careful if your travel with your own pillow. It is my understanding the bed bugs love to get inside the pillow and then you take them home with you. [DDT]

I travel with my own pillow all the time - I have never thought of this.... Thank-you for bringing this to my attention!!! This thread has been very helpful!

 

[Tink Mick Koda Miles]

ugh gag me.. what can we bring to treat the matress? n ugh i dont even kno what to look for i thought they were big!

 

[Cadillac_Dreamgirl]

You have to know where you are bitten the most..........is it your bedroom? or living room?.....because if it is your bedroom you have no choice but to throw it away...

The headboard could be saved..........bedbugs dont like heat so put everything in plastic bags real tight and set them out in the sun...........with summer hopefully its hot enough.