Bedbugs Report

[goofybiz]

Has anyone come across any of the nasty bedbugs that have taken over the country at any of the Disney on-property resorts?

[faline]

Fortunately, no AND the first thing I do when I check in is pull apart the bed to check for any signs of the little critters.

Other places to check - behind the headboards and pictures frames. If you have a couch or day bed in your room, check there as well.

[SBETigg]

I check the beds and surroundings when I check into a new room, wherever I go. I have never had a problem at Disney, but I know it can and does happen. It's now a part of travel.

[bostonsam]

There was a previous discussion about this before and luckily have never experienced that beforewho really knows how often they have the linens washed,esp if a room isn't being occupiedI will check the beds for sure

[SBETigg]

There was a previous discussion about this before and luckily have never experienced that beforewho really knows how often they have the linens washed,esp if a room isn't being occupiedI will check the beds for sure

If you followed the other thread, you know that the presence of bedbugs has nothing to do with clean linens. Washing does not eliminate the problem. If they're introduced to an environment via previous occupants, they will thrive in the cleanest of rooms. They crawl into crevices and can live in walls for up to three years without feeding. The only thing to be done once they're introduced is a professional extermination, and usually several. This is why it's important to check your rooms when you check in, as Faline described (not just the bed, look around) and report any issues. If there are bedbugs, the room (and rooms adjacent) needs to be evacuated and treated.

[DisneyDudet]

And don't put your luggage on the beds! They can get on your luggage and your can take them home with you! Don't put your luggage on your bed at home either!

[#1donaldfan]

There is no safe place in a resort / hotel room, bed or not !! Anywhere in that room can be a bug, or bug trail, and they will travel quite a way to find the heat source that drives them to you !!! I watched a special on TV not too long ago about a girl who had the bugs, did the EXTREME extermination, and it wasn't determined till later infestations that the apartment next to hers was the core infestation area, and the bugs actually crawled through the wall outlet of the infested room, over and through the outlet of the girl being reported. Now, that said, your not safe at all !! Will we still travel.....Yes !!

[r4kids]

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! I am so grossed out by the possibility. How do we look for them before taking out luggage in? Well I guess can you see them with the naked eye?

[Hull-onian]

My friend is a pest exterminator. He told me to take a plastic trash bag with me. After checking into the hotel and getting settled, take the suitcase, and put it in a plastic bag. He said it works. However, in the twenty four years of going to Disney, I have never seen a bedbug, only clean rooms.....

[nfrustaci]

yuck itchy all over... headed there in nov. thanks for the trash bag idea... i will be using that one. i am from nyc and the bug thing is serious here from what i hear on the news, fortunately we have not had to deal with them at all. yuck yuck yuck !!!!

[badkitty]

I've heard they can travel from luggage to luggage on the airplane and at the airports. Ew.

[Maggio]

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! I am so grossed out by the possibility. How do we look for them before taking out luggage in? Well I guess can you see them with the naked eye?

Unfortunately, DH and I have experienced the horror of bedbugs firsthand. We got them in our apartment outside of Philly -- they were there when we moved in, and we had to move to actually get rid of them. Sadly, they're nearly impossible to get rid of in apartments/hotels because it requires an extremely thorough treatment of the entire building -- otherwise they'll just move from unit to unit, away from traditional baseboard treatments, until the treatment's worn off and then they're baaaaaaack!

Bedbugs ARE visible to the naked eye. They are small and reddish in color, so if you check the crevices of the bed, as well as the walls, headboards, etc., you should be able to see them. (You can also see signs of them, i.e., feces.) If you are bitten, it's usually several bites in a row on exposed skin (although you may see bites on your stomach or calves despite wearing a shirt/pants, depending on your sleeping position). Everyone's reaction is different -- some people don't have problems; DH and I both had allergic reactions (as well as psychological!).

As another poster said, they will travel from luggage to luggage, so if you're flying, you're just as susceptible. You have to do very thorough checking of all of your possessions and the room, because they are very clever hiders!

We like to place our luggage in the bathroom until we've finished checking the room -- it's one place you're not likely to find bedbugs (they're nocturnal unless they're starving, in which case you might see them on the walls, and are attracted to you by your CO2 emissions and body heat). We also always use the luggage racks provided by hotels, never leaving anything on the floor or bed. The trash bag idea is also really helpful -- get large black leaf bags to make sure they fit and you can tie them. You'll feel a little silly, but like I said, it's worth it to avoid bringing any home with you!! When you get home, leave your luggage in the garage until you can check it again. Throw your clothes in the wash right away -- heat will kill anything that might have stowed away, so the dryer is your friend (as long as the clothing permits, of course!). Throw your dry cleaning in a plastic bag and make sure that it's sealed tight!

All this said, we have not encountered a problem at WDW ... and are knocking on wood that we never do!!

Hopefully none of you will ever have to deal with this, and will just find the checking to be a paranoia-fueled nuisance.

[#1donaldfan]

Plastic bags will help only if you place every single item in that bag ... EVERYTHING ... imagine your sleepware, lying on the floor beside the bed but for just second...from there you pick that article up, and place within the confines of that plastic bag into your suitcase......little did you realize that, that article lying on the floor, that one second, now contains a "passenger".... !!!! I'm not worried at all about it, why ?? You can't control everything !! I just hope it doesn't happen to us, but I'm not going on vacation with a case of hefty bags and encapsulate our entirity into them !!