Question: Palmetto bugs in Orlando

[bangzoom6877]

I remember going to Disneyworld in August 1985 (my first trip when I was 8), and we stayed at a Days Inn. The motel had the types of rooms like at the Value resorts with the door leading to an outdoor corrider, no interior corridor. My grandparents had a palmetto bug in their room some time during that trip, though I am not sure if it was when we first got there or in the middle of the trip (we stayed either 3 or 4 nights...can't remember all the specific details).

I am going to Disneyworld for the first time with my own children and my husband in July. This will be the first time I have been there since May of 1994. I am petrified of all bugs, especially very large ones. We are staying at the Pop Century and I am aware that the corridors are outside. I know that only the deluxe resorts have interior corridors, and we just can't afford to stay in one of those. I also know that usually at any hotel when housekeeping is cleaning the room, they leave the door open. Of course this is probably how the palmetto got into my grandparents' room all those years ago.

What do I do? I am so nervous about there being a palmetto in my room! Or even seeing one at all! Anyone who has experience with this, can you please put my mind at ease? Do these things hurt people or bite or sting? I can't even look at a small garden bug let alone something so huge as a palmetto. Can't even bring myself to look up facts about it in fear of seeing a picture of one online. Help!

Sorry if this sounds so weird, paranoid or crazy! But anyone else with insect issues probably could relate to all I am saying.

Thanks,
Bonnie

 

[katiesmom2]

I can't really offer you any advice, I just wanted to say you are NOT weird. I am also petrified of ALL bugs, but especially big, scary ones.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't see any bugs on your trip

If it makes you feel better, we stayed in a rental house last year and there was a frog in the toilet when I lifted the seat. Talk about a shocker....LOL

 

[Nienor]

What do I do? I am so nervous about there being a palmetto in my room! Or even seeing one at all! Anyone who has experience with this, can you please put my mind at ease? Do these things hurt people or bite or sting? I can't even look at a small garden bug let alone something so huge as a palmetto. Can't even bring myself to look up facts about it in fear of seeing a picture of one online. Help!

They don't bite, sting or carry awful diseases. So, while you're likely to see one and even run a good chance of having one in your room, they are harmless. Just remind yourself of that while somebody else takes care of the problem.

 

[adoptionmomma4]

I am not afraid of bugs but my 2-year-old DD is. She had a spider web (no spider) in her cozy coop and has never got back in it again I do not think you are weird at all. I think it is a very common fear. While I really do not fear them, I do not want them in my room either!

I have been to Disney 6 times in the last five years. We have always stayed at a place with the door opening to the outside and have never had a palmetto bug in our room. I hope that you are as lucky as we are. I have actually never even seen one outside. I did see the little lizards outside, but they never got in either.

I will share one palmetto bug experience we did have.... Even though I didn’t see the bug The last visit we made was in September 2006. I was traveling with my cousin, my 4 kids and her 2 girls. While I was taking a shower someone knocked on our door. When my cousin came and told me the resort security needed to see me. There was another guest that had just arrived. Upon entering her room she saw 2 palmetto bugs. She was terrified of bugs so her husband called the front desk and they were moving them to another room. The wife was so terrified that while she was trying to move to the new room she back right into the back of my brand new suburban!!! There was minor damage and she felt terrible. We filled a report and went on with our vacation. I did however have to call and tell me DH who was not too happy to hear about our new car.

 

[NotUrsula]

Palmetto bugs are a species of roach. This species lives outside and nests in the wet areas around the roots of trees (thus the association w/ palmettos; they like to live in the pockets at the base of the bush between the leaf stems.) Their presence is NOT an indicator of poor housekeeping, because they don't normally live indoors; they just come in sometimes if they get an opportunity.

Aside from looking prehistoric and icky, they really can't hurt you, unless you go nuts and whack yourself on something while trying to put distance between yourself and the palmetto bug (I've known PLENTY of people who have done this, banging into doors or furniture, or even tripping over their own feet.)

*If* you see one in your room, you might want to attempt to contain it with something (maybe a paper cup) and then call housekeeping to send up someone to get rid of it. You don't have to contain it, but doing so will save you the anxiety of watching it for what may seem like hours as it moves around the room and attempts to get out of the light. (They CAN fly for short distances -- and I'm not telling you that to scare you. You really would not want to be surprised by that ability; see the previous paragraph about tripping over one's own feet.) Don't try to squash it unless you are prepared to clean up the carnage, which btw can be smelly.

You really are not likely to run into them indoors, but you might want to avoid walking off the paths outdoors in landscapied areas, especially the trees planted in parking lot islands. They just love mulch.

 

[brymolmom]

WOW- 'a' Palmetto bug has never been my experience. We went during the 'worst' days of it in Sept back in 2006 and it was more like hundreds. We stayed at All Stars so exterior doors and we likely had about a hundred on our door for at least 3 days when we returned from the parks (and I am NOT exhaggerating at all). I would say - be prepared for the worst and be happy with anything that is NOT the worst. Bring a towel of some sort to leave outside to 'swat' the bugs off your door before opening - bring some sort of bug spray for inside the room.

We probably had at least 50 in our room through the week. It WAS pretty gross and IMO the hotel should attempt to do something about it (spray the doors with something or try anything). It did dampen our trip - but not ruin it.

So if you prepare for the worst - HOPEFULLY it won't ruin your trip.

 

[NotUrsula]

Ack -- major bug confusion alert!!!

Brymolmom, what you encountered were Love Bugs, NOT Palmetto bugs. Palmetto bugs are a very large species of roach, with each bug being about two inches long. They do not swarm, and it is rare to see more than 3 or so in one place unless you dig up a bush in a swamp.

Love bugs are a species of fly. They do swarm, twice yearly in May and September, and there is nothing that a hotel can do about getting rid of them at those times. Insecticide won't work, because they are hatching out in the thousands and only live 3 days, and they spend almost all of that time attempting to mate mid-flight (which is why they are called Love Bugs.)

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I don't know if I just wasn't looking but I have never seen any kind of bug in any of the hotels that I have stayed in Florida. I saw them outside, but never in the room. I did see a big roach in Publix .

 

[elderfam]

In all the years of going to Disney I have never seen a Palmetto bug. I think your pretty safe. If it makes you feel better, ask someone else in your party to be in charge to collecting it. My husband is my spider wrangler! That way just in case, you have a plan.

Relax, your going to DISNEY!

 

[PrincessWendyBird]

I am posting this to reassure you. In all of my trips to Disney, I have never seen a Palmetto Bug in our room. I have never even seen one outside around the hotel grounds. We have always stayed at the All Star Resorts during our visits and have never seen one in our room. I hate these bugs! When I was a little girl, we'd visit my grandparents in St. Pete and they were always getting in the house. There were several areas with palm trees close to the house. As someone already stated, they are a type of roach, but live outside unless they ocassionally find their way inside. I wouldn't worry too much about it and I HATE those little critters. Perhaps if you are really concerned, you might request a room on the 2nd or 3rd floors?

Have fun on your trip!

 

[doodlesmommy]

Needless to say, you won't be visiting the Bug's Life movie inside AK. Don't worry; I share your phobia (as does my DD). I don't think you have anything to worry about. Several trips and no roach/palmetto sightings. You'll be so busy and exhausted while you're there I bet you don't even think about it. Enjoy your trip!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you everyone for reassuring me! I do feel better now that I know they don't bite, sting or carry any awful diseases. My husband knows my fear of bugs and he knows the story all too well of how my grandparents had one in their room.

I had no idea what a lovebug was. And I have been to Disney twice in May, and cannot recall seeing one. And believe me, if I had seen one I would surely remember it!

What are lovebugs anyway? These bite, yes? Do I need to worry about them in mid-July?

The lizards and frogs never bothered me, although seeing one in my room (esp. the toilet) would still probably freak me out to an extent, but not like a huge giant flying roach! Interesting though that someone posted above that palmettos cannot fly for too long, made me feel a little better.

We actually requested a room on the 4th floor when we booked. I hope now that we get it!

Bonnie

 

[Feralpeg]

Thank you everyone for reassuring me! I do feel better now that I know they don't bite, sting or carry any awful diseases. My husband knows my fear of bugs and he knows the story all too well of how my grandparents had one in their room.

I had no idea what a lovebug was. And I have been to Disney twice in May, and cannot recall seeing one. And believe me, if I had seen one I would surely remember it!

What are lovebugs anyway? These bite, yes? Do I need to worry about them in mid-July?

The lizards and frogs never bothered me, although seeing one in my room (esp. the toilet) would still probably freak me out to an extent, but not like a huge giant flying roach! Interesting though that someone posted above that palmettos cannot fly for too long, made me feel a little better.

We actually requested a room on the 4th floor when we booked. I hope now that we get it!

Bonnie

Lovebugs do not bite. They just float around and get in the way. They tend to be thick in May and September for a few weeks.

I've lived in Florida for almost four years. I've had one Palmetto bug in my house. That was right after we moved in. At that time, we had a wooded area right behind our house. Since then, no problems. They tend to stay near wooded areas. During all my many visits to WDW, before moving to Florida, I never saw one in my room.

 

[miniprincessellapea]

I know this is very old now, but if I can help anyone, I'm happy.

1. Turn off images in your browser (and flash, probably) before you search disgusting/scary topics.
2. I never saw one in Disney or any hotel. Or one fly ever (thank goodness, because I think I'd have a heart attack).
3. I've lived 3 hours south of Orlando for a few years (wow, about to be 5) so I now know some things. My friend pretty much lied to me (I guess they weren't evil lies though) about these bugs so I wouldn't just stay where I lived before/grew up instead. It's OK because I found love fast (part of the plan, move to meet new people) but we're not able to move away yet...
A. Third floor won't help. In fact, it might hurt. We moved to a 3rd floor apartment thinking like everyone above. We live here and like it (read on) but quickly we learned the lizards don't get (just one baby last week! first one since Jan.) in but the bugs do. That's bad because the lizards cut down on bugs (they eat 'em, blech to think about, but helpful - something's got to kill these off better than humans - long live lizards!).
B. What you CAN do, where you live or just stay, is plug up your sink and tub plugs. They even have black removable things for the kitchen. This is the ONLY thing that helped us here - not even frequent sprays (perhaps living near the glades is bad, but we have a great deal and we need it - not rich but I'm picky). If you have a fancy bathroom sink, it might leave some damage. It seems easy to fix, maybe with CLR, but I feel like I'll just be re-doing it a lot, heh (I'm kind of that rare "why make the bed?" woman - and it's not like cleaning toilets, it's minor). I worry more about these bugs than this minor visual worsening (that'll never give me a heart attack).
B1. Of course, unplug to use sinks, tubs and showers, then leaving a little water on top of the plug seems to help weigh down the closure, so my honey thinks. (That's how there's some discoloring to a sink here. Maybe I'll figure out preventing that later.)
B2. Also, apparently - and I don't wanna know much about THIS - pour bleach down your toilet?? I dunno, the men in the fam were talking. Do we wanna know? No, just do it. I always repeat that old saying, "it's better to be safe than sorry."

And if YOU (anyone) move(s) here, think about getting a big pet lizard and letting him out at night? I dunno, sometimes I think about it.

I thought I had arachnophobia bad, but this is worse. What I've developed while living here is a major phobia that's wacked out my mind (even more than before, haha). And my spider phobia's perhaps not minor; when I see a spider on the outside of my passenger seat window, I almost cause a car accident. With these nasty devils, I cry, get mega paranoid almost every day, jump on furniture, let it affect my sleep, pretend to punch the air when I think of them just because it soothes my mind and ... yeah it effects my life. I really hate them, too.

My honey is afraid of spiders, too, but he'll kill for me. <3 He's really afraid of daddy long legs, which I got more used to young, and I always say "BMI! BMI! BMI!" (body mass index - of the bugs!) Think about it!

BTW, even lizards make me jumpy because I don't like surprises popping up. I like to know what's around and with some animals, potentially under my feet (even though they take care of themselves, unlike dogs, hehe). I even see small black things and freak out (fearing these bugs).

What I find kind of embarrassing is I kind of freak out when a butterfly comes at me, even though I'm not afraid (and I like to try to catch a photo from a bit farther off - difficult). It's just my personal space kind of issue, and the same surprise kind of thing.

Fearing these grossy-grossies seems normal. Down with 'em!

 

[dzorn]

I remember going to Disneyworld in August 1985 (my first trip when I was 8), and we stayed at a Days Inn. The motel had the types of rooms like at the Value resorts with the door leading to an outdoor corrider, no interior corridor. My grandparents had a palmetto bug in their room some time during that trip, though I am not sure if it was when we first got there or in the middle of the trip (we stayed either 3 or 4 nights...can't remember all the specific details).

I am going to Disneyworld for the first time with my own children and my husband in July. This will be the first time I have been there since May of 1994. I am petrified of all bugs, especially very large ones. We are staying at the Pop Century and I am aware that the corridors are outside. I know that only the deluxe resorts have interior corridors, and we just can't afford to stay in one of those. I also know that usually at any hotel when housekeeping is cleaning the room, they leave the door open. Of course this is probably how the palmetto got into my grandparents' room all those years ago.

What do I do? I am so nervous about there being a palmetto in my room! Or even seeing one at all! Anyone who has experience with this, can you please put my mind at ease? Do these things hurt people or bite or sting? I can't even look at a small garden bug let alone something so huge as a palmetto. Can't even bring myself to look up facts about it in fear of seeing a picture of one online. Help!

Sorry if this sounds so weird, paranoid or crazy! But anyone else with insect issues probably could relate to all I am saying.

Thanks,
Bonnie

You will find them at all levels of resorts they are apart of Florida native wildlife. It is very possible you will may see one, but Disney sprays routinly.

Denise in MI

 

[Ennazus8810]

After many trips to WDW, I have never seen one on Disney property or in my hotel. However on our last trip there was on crawling on the wall at Chili's behind my husbands head. We calmly (ok, not so calmly) jumped up and the manager came running. He quickly killed it, apologized repeatedly, comped our meals and called an exterminator while we were still standing there. It wasn't really a big deal to us, we were in FL and I know they are very common. Still I hate bugs, so I was more than happy to see him remove it.

My husband now likes them, as they got him a free meal

 

[BlueBeagle]

I always thought palmetto bug was the nice southern word for big honking roach!

 

[dzorn]

I always thought palmetto bug was the nice southern word for big honking roach!

Yes it is a species of roach.

Denise in MI