Bed Bugs?

[Anne5555]

I was thinking about staying at POR Fall of next year, but then I read about several problems with bedbugs there. (But most deluxe resorts have had an incident or two reported, as well.) Has anyone else encountered problems or made several trips without incident?

Thanks!

 

[Disneylover99]

The room that was assigned to me at POFQ this past August was suddenly taken away from me before I checked in. I jokingly asked if it had bedbugs and the cm did inform me that there was "suspicion" of bedbug activity. I was thankful that they decided to take this room off the market for a few days.

I walked by the room later that night and I noticed the lights were on. When I peeked in, I could see that the sheets were stripped from both beds.

I always thoroughly check every hotel room wherever I go before I unpack. I have a small, bright flashlight I use on the bed and bedpost. I basically strip the sheets, look in corners and seams above and under the beds.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have never encountered bedbugs at Disney but we also do a very thorough check before "moving in".

Now, the giant roach we encountered at the Beach Club is another story....

 

[Syndrome]

I had a nice conversation with a front desk CM at a deluxe resort during our last trip ........actually the CM was giving us a personal tour of the resort and showing us some of the larger rooms at the resort. Lasted at least an hour .
Dont really know how exactly we came upon the subject of the dreaded bed bugs ( I think the CM was telling us how hard it was to take a room out of circulation for an extended period of time at the busiest resorts) , but the CM did tell us how Disney deals with the actual infested room.
Apparently , maintenance has special "heaters" that they use . They close off the room and turn up the heat all the way. Then they bring in a few special heaters to run in conjunction with the room heat. They run the room at max heat ........I could swear the CM said it gets up to about 120 degrees or something, and they hold it like that for approx 2 weeks in the affected room.
After the heating period, they do a deep cleaning of the room .

Nice to know they have a procedure for it .

 

[soniam]

Never had bed bugs, and I've stayed at Poly twice. I used to look and keep all clothes in closed garbage bags, even in the suitcases. I have been getting lazy though. I worry about head lice and scabies too, but they are easier to rid,

 

[tony67]

I've been lucky so far to not experience them (knock on wood), but they are a fact of life now no matter how good the hotel is.

I always check the bed first thing when entering a room and I always live out of my suitcase - never put anything in the drawers.

If you search the web there are many tips on what to look for.

 

[jotrudeau]

Wow! It never even occurred to me to check. I didn't realize BB were such a thing to consider!

 

[kaytieeldr]

No experience with bed bugs in WDW... But I know it happens in the best hotels...

My best friend got them at home once (from a neighbour) ... She's never been the same. Most people who got them once will fear another encounter.

Learning from her experience and reading info, now I don't put my stuff in a hotel room before all the mattresses and even drawers are checked.

I've visited dozens of hotels (4 in WDW so far) and I've been lucky so far.

Never ran into them luckly but read a thread here before where someone did at Disney
I recall them saying they took all their cloths and washed them, gave them a new room, maybe had them pick out an outfit at the resort
Def said everything came back shrunk from the hot water and heat though

I've been lucky so far to not experience them (knock on wood), but they are a fact of life now no matter how good the hotel is.

I always check the bed first thing when entering a room and I always live out of my suitcase - never put anything in the drawers.

If you search the web there are many tips on what to look for.

Not encountering bedbugs isn't "lucky". It's normal, standard, reasonable, expected... the very rare temporary bedbug-containing rooms are the few you hear about. There are over 27,000 rooms onsite, and 365 room nights per room. There are what, a dozen? two dozen? bedbug confirmations?

 

[Polydweller]

Not encountering bedbugs isn't "lucky". It's normal, standard, reasonable, expected... the very rare temporary bedbug-containing rooms are the few you hear about. There are over 27,000 rooms onsite, and 365 room nights per room. There are what, a dozen? two dozen? bedbug confirmations?

Exactly. Yes, it's good to check but the press really way over played the issue like they do with most issues. Sure there are bed bugs but the hotel industry (I'm a hotelier) has taken great strides against the problem and deal with it very rapidly now. The chances of encountering them has actually declined.

The real test is how does the hotel deal with them and Disney is one of the best. I check when I go from habit really but you actually have to be unlucky to come across them.

 

[maryj11]

I was thinking about staying at POR Fall of next year, but then I read about several problems with bedbugs there. (But most deluxe resorts have had an incident or two reported, as well.) Has anyone else encountered problems or made several trips without incident?

Thanks!

We stayed at POR this past May in building 18 and never had any problems with bedbugs.

 

[TinkerbellsMom0923]

We just returned from 8 days at BW. I saw guys walking halls and unoccupied rooms with a beagle. When I asked, they said it was a beg bug sniffing dog. They patrol hotels with the dog. My son, a cast member told me the same thing. I personally have not seen any at any Disney Resort.

 

[Heard02]

Just returned from Contemporary (floor 12) 3 days ago and woke up one morning to several bites behind both ankles and my left leg. Called Disney tonight and they are allegedly checking tomorrow to see if there are any signs in the room we stayed in. They also asked me to file a claim, which I did.....we will see, but from what I've seen online and comparing the bites, they are very, very similar. I sure hope I am wrong!

 

[OKWMom]

My sister and her family had a horrible experience with bed bugs at a non Disney hotel. Since then, when we travel together, she takes the beds completely apart - checking the seams on the mattress, top and bottom sides and checks the box springs and under the beds. Then she checks all dresser and vanity drawers before she allows anyone to move anything into the room.

Once we were in, she didn't allow anyone to unpack and called to the front desk to have extra luggage stands brought in because she said nothing should go on the floor. I haven't been that careful by myself but she swears once you have lived through that ordeal once, you never want to repeat it.

 

[Syndrome]

Just returned from Contemporary (floor 12) 3 days ago and woke up one morning to several bites behind both ankles and my left leg. Called Disney tonight and they are allegedly checking tomorrow to see if there are any signs in the room we stayed in. They also asked me to file a claim, which I did.....we will see, but from what I've seen online and comparing the bites, they are very, very similar. I sure hope I am wrong!

Keep us posted on what you find, and how Disney handles the situation !

 

[sam1998]

It's also nice to remember that not all bites are bedbugs. We just got back from an 8 night stay at POR and five park days. After the ridiculous rainfall they had in late September, the Mosquitos and noseeums are in full force and my legs and ankles were a mess. We were getting bit on our faces while sitting in the hot tub! Even in MK we were getting bit while waiting for MSEP.

It's always smart to check ANY hotel room for bedbugs, Disney or otherwise. We did, and the room, mattresses, linens, and drawers were spotless and we never saw anything that pointed to bedbugs. I'm 100% sure the bites I got can be attributed to the other biting creatures in hot/humid Florida LOL.

 

[mevelandry]

My sister and her family had a horrible experience with bed bugs at a non Disney hotel. Since then, when we travel together, she takes the beds completely apart - checking the seams on the mattress, top and bottom sides and checks the box springs and under the beds. Then she checks all dresser and vanity drawers before she allows anyone to move anything into the room.

Once we were in, she didn't allow anyone to unpack and called to the front desk to have extra luggage stands brought in because she said nothing should go on the floor. I haven't been that careful by myself but she swears once you have lived through that ordeal once, you never want to repeat it.

Actually luggage racks are risky since luggage (infested) could have been there.

Apparently, your best bet is putting the luggage in the bath while you make your inspection.

 

[berryinDC]

We just returned from 8 days at BW. I saw guys walking halls and unoccupied rooms with a beagle. When I asked, they said it was a beg bug sniffing dog. They patrol hotels with the dog. My son, a cast member told me the same thing. I personally have not seen any at any Disney Resort.

This is sooo good to hear. Actually, this whole thread has been very reassuring. I brought bed bugs home from a non-disney trip several years ago and it was awful getting rid of them. I actually don't react to the bites at all (most people don't and therefore have no idea they've been bitten) but my wife is highly allergic. She's basically the canary in the coal mine for bed bugs b/c she gets so sick and gets large swollen welts. We ran into them at a B&B in upstate NY this past July, and in a giant convention hotel in Sacramento two years ago. Both times the hotel's response was pretty lackluster. Never run into them at WDW and it sounds like that's because they do a pretty good job addressing it proactively.

 

[heehee611]

My aunt, uncle, and family got bedbugs while staying at Disney last year, don't know which resort. Disney paid for most of the cost of their trip in return. They definitely didn't take them to the gift shop to pick out clothes though - my uncle said they had to go to walmart to get a new wardrobe and had to fight to get Disney to pay for it.

Always check your room - my dad and his girlfriend brought bedbugs home after a trip this summer, and it has cost them over $5000 to get rid of them. Better safe than sorry!!

 

[mgsquared]

We did not encounter them at Pop this year and I am relieved.
As careful as I am sure Disney is- infestations happen quickly and from unassuming people who don't react to the bites and don't know they have them! (I react very badly. Hence my paranoia)

So alway check your rooms guys. Always. Wherever you are. You don't want to find out you're allergic the hard way. And yes, they are very expensive to get rid of.

 

[LowesChevy]

For over 30 years we have been traveling and every year we come to WDW. In 2012 my brother, sister in law and nephew joined us at our home Bay Lake Tower for a stay we won't forget.

The one morning my father woke up and was complaining about a weird rash or bites on his legs. I wasn't quite functioning yet, but rolled over and put on my glasses and noticed some spots on the bed. I pulled down the sheets and saw blood stains all over and I about freaked!! I can't believe he didn't notice for one, but there were bugs hopping around. I knew exactly what they were and knew about what we were in for experience wise.

He went calmly to the lobby with a bug that he caught in a contact lens case and asked to speak with the manager. They told us to go ahead and go on with our day while they inspected- i.e. bring in the bed bug sniffing dog.

Well we had breakfast and went over to the Magic Kingdom and not long after we got the call to meet the housekeeping managers at our room. The gentleman picked up my DFs pillow and they came pouring out and he threw it down quickly. I don't think he had ever seen a case this bad, but he was a relatively young man to be fair.

So basically we were instructed to gather all of our belongings anything with fabric, so all of our clothes, bags, suitcases were separately bagged just about everything else. We were left with the clothes on our backs and a swimsuit. Things we could keep cameras and wallets and stuff we had to put in plastic Disney shopping bags.

In the meantime, the HKM had to find us a room for 6. First they offered two rooms at the Contemporary and then tried a cabin at Ft. Wilderness. You had to be kidding with that one! It is a big inconvenience to go without a kitchen and laundry if that what you are paying for, plus the rooms wouldn't be together. This was my parents first trip with their grandson-pretty tough to replicate.

I told my mother to be firm and demand a location on the monorail. Don't except something less, this is something we had no control over. Finally they hooked us up with an amazing suite at the Polynesian, but the problems didn't end there of course.

Our belongings were not done at 5:30 PM for the last textiles truck to drop them off, so we had our clothes on our backs for dinner at the Cali Grill. We had no pajamas or undergarments which I explained to the textiles manager. I was not sleeping in the clothing I wore all day or naked with my father and brother present, so allowed us to go to the gifts shops and we were reimbursed for our purchases.

The next day we woke up and put on our favorite clothes and headed over to the AK. Our things were supposed to be delivered first thing in the morning, but of course that didn't happen. Our tickets didn't work at the gates because the gals checking us in at the Polynesian didn't scan them properly, so another 30 minutes out of our day for them to call the Polynesian and get it sorted out. We rode a few rides and I went back to the resort because to top it off I had a sinus infection.

We lost 1 day and a half of our park time and although we were compensated very nicely with a suite and concierge service the whole situation was a disaster. I will use the word lucky because if my bro and sis hadn't come my parents would have never slept in the other bed in my room and I may have brought them home. Leaving us to deal with all of the cleaning expenses.

Never in a million years did this germaphobe think we would encounter bed bugs especially since we travel 4-6 times a year. Bottom line is it can happen anywhere. I do thorough inspections everywhere we go now!

We laugh about it now and of course we dubbed our home resort Bed Bug Tower, but we haven't had an experience like that again thank goodness. I also hope we never have that again. My DF is still burned they kept his bloody pajamas!