Bug Lake Tower ???

[GrumpySue]

I am here at BLT with my DH and I must say that this place is really fantastic !! We are in a studio on the 4th floor with a partial MK view. The room is immaculate and just perfect for the two of us.

However, last night we were all ready to watch the fireworks from our balcony when we noticed swarms of gnats all over the patio door. They must be attracted to the lights. There was no way we could go out there, we would have been covered in them. In walking around today we noticed dead gnats all over the windowsills all over the place. It's really a shame because the view is pretty important, especially at night.

[pluto 77]

We just returned home from our stay there and I must say we noticed the same thing. We were on the 5th floor with a partial mk view and the gnats were terrible. We could never use our balcony at night, and we also noticed they were bad on the balcony at the top of the world lounge as well. I think it definitely had to do with the lights. We also noticed the dead ones all around the door and in the corners of the building on the way out to the pool. We thought it was possibly so bad because of the crazy heat wave that we were stuck in, but I am curious if this was unusual.

[BrerGnat]

I've read a lot of similar reports from here and other discussion sites...

That and the bird poo thing is really disturbing.

What is most unusual is that these problems seem confined to BLT, and are not issues over at the CR tower. We just stayed in the CR tower in April of this year, and we didn't even see any birds...and no bugs out on our patio either. We were on the 10th floor, MK side.

Wonder what is going on? I have read reports of the "dead gnats" all over the lobby floor at BLT ever since opening weekend back in August.

These issues are seriously making me reconsider BLT as a place to stay in the future...

I hate bugs. And, every single species of flying/biting insect seems to LOVE me. :(

[mjaclyn]

We just stayed at BLT 10/4-10/10 and I didn't notice any bugs at all. We used our balcony almost every night to watch the Electrical Water Pageant. We also went up to the Top of the World Lounge and didn't notice a problem. I also didn't see any in the lobby... we were on the Bay Lake side though, is it just the MK side that's getting the bugs?

[GrumpySue]

That is really odd. Why only BLT and not the CR ?? They are literally everywhere, the maid was sweeping them off the balcony because they were piled up in the corners. Must be a freak thing, maybe because if the recent unusually hot weather.

I haven't noticed any "bird poo problem" but now I am afraid, there are huge buzzards flying around here all the time !! (yikes)

[divinedi]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, could they have been lovebugs?

[pox24]

Thats surprising. We were there last month a saw no bugs at all.

[faline]

I, too, would suspect the "infestation" is comprised of love bugs.

[Aurora]

People in Florida report that the love bug infestations happen in the spring and fall -- the autumn one is usually around mid-September and can last anywhere from two to five weeks. They can look like gnats if you don't examine them close up.

We experienced them in October 2006 at Disney's Vero Beach resort. We too could not use our balcony at night because there were swarms of them. (In fact, when we checked in we had to request another room because a housekeeper had apparently left the balcony doors open and the bugs had gotten into the room.)

Wikipedia also reports that they are attracted to "light-colored surfaces, especially if they are freshly painted, but the adults can congregate almost anywhere by reacting to the effects of sunlight on automobile fumes, asphalt, and other products affected by environmental factors still not completely understood."

[GrumpySue]

If they were love bugs wouldn't they have been around during the day as well ?? These were only out after dark, during the day we could hang out on the balcony with no problem.

I have seen the lovebugs before and I am pretty sure this was not them. Our second week there the heat wave broke and it got pretty cold and there were no more bugs. They were gone ???

[mouseketeer mom]

Ugh. Thats truly bothersome if you can't enjoy the balcony. I haven't heard these reports until now!

[birdie1410]

Love bugs are easily spotted compared to gnats-the LB's have an orange or reddish area on them and are much larger than gnats. Also, as one poster stated, they are out in the daytime. In fact, moreso in the day than the evenings. We have what is called "no see-ums" in FL,too. They are more bothersome as they will fly at you. Tiny, annoying bugs but not harmful. One thing you need to remember is that BLT is where there used to be pine trees and grass. The gnats were probably from eggs laid last season and this is their regular area. Piles of them? Yup, seen it before. It's not pretty but really, do you expect Disney to be out sweeping up bugs all day and night so it looks better? The whole area used to be a swamp so there will be bugs. At least these, unlike our giant mosquitoes, do not bite! LOL Just try to overlook it, if they are not biting or harmful bugs and enjoy just being at Disney World.:)

[BrerGnat]

They've been building BLT for YEARS now. It's been a LONG time since there were old trees and brush in the area. Prior to BLT going up, there was the North Wing of the Contemporary in its spot...