The Good, The Bad and the Awful.....

[Tiffster7]

We checked into Wilderness Lodge this past Monday, May 23rd for a three night stay. Check in was uneventful and we were given studio 1514. It was very clean and nice- (well at least it looked clean) We ended up at Magic Kingdom that day. Peter Pan was being rehabbed, and Space Mountain's computer was acting up and stranding people, but we finally rode it. Is it me or do the new cars make the ride bumpier? Still great! We went out and ate pizza at Uno's at Crossroads. I love that place. They have awesome pizza for Florida. The next morning my hubby is complaining about being bit by something and he has bites on his legs. I am telling him it's because he was walking by the pool at dusk, but he says he thinks it was something while he was sleeping. Hmmmmm....
We went to Blizzard Beach for the first time- Amazing park- hundreds of stairs- thank goodness for the lazy river.
Then we did more swimming at the Wilderness pool. They are doing some work on it near the hot tub. Not exactly sure what, but they were noisy during the day. The third day was Epcot. Soarin' was amazing! It was the highlight of that day. That evening after swimming again I agree to switch sleeping locations with the husband. He takes the bed and I take the pull out. In the morning I have to apologize because I now have bites on my legs and on my arms. Bed bugs of abundance! I called downstairs to let them know what happened and of course apologized to my husband for not believing him. The person from Disney didn't even apologize- they just said "we will take care of it. Thanks" I stripped everything off both beds and left a note for housekeeping detailing the bedbug experience and that they needed to spray. Hopefully they will for the next occupant. (Otherwise don't request studio 1514)
We left to visit MGM and when we arrived there we realized that someone had "keyed" our car while we had it parked at Wilderness Lodge. We went to guest relations who got us on the phone with security at Wilderness Lodge. They told us they do not have security cameras in the parking lot, just security patrols and there was nothing they could do for us. Thanks alot.
The lady at guest relations gave us the address to write a letter- so I will do that. We have ressies for Wilderness Lodge in September, but I will be changing those tommorrow to another resort. Maybe we'll have better luck the next time around. We've stayed at Wilderness Lodge before and it was great- but it was a different studio with less "guests".

 

[DVC Jen]

Yikes! We are supposed to check in on Monday and with the week we have had this week (health problems with DH he almost ended up in the hospital) I definately do not want to deal with this.

We will be in a studio and our girls will be sleeping in the pull-out. I am going to be going over it with a fine toothed comb before we even begin to unpack anything.

Thanks so much for the heads up.

BTW I am sorry about your car. Why people do that is beyond me.. almost makes ya wanna wring their necks.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

First, I would like to say that I'm sorry you didn't have a great Disney experience.

If I'm reading this correctly, you basically had two issues with VWL.
- Bed bugs
- Car getting keyed

Just curious, but could you see the bed bugs? I ask because I would like to know what to look for in the future!

Anyway, bed bugs, ants, and all sorts of live creatures have been reported at all DVC resorts on this board at one time or another. Just my opinion, but to single out and blame VWL doesn't seem fair to me.

As far as your car getting keyed, yes that certainly is unpleasant. Again though, that could happen at any resort, or in any parking lot. To imply that somehow this happened because you were at VWL also does not seem fair to me.
They don't have cameras in the parking lots, so I'm a bit confused on what you expected them to say?

Please don't take my post the wrong way. I truly am sorry your experience wasn't what it should have been. I wish every trip report was glowing!

-- Just my opinion...

MG

 

[rinkwide]

...Anyway, bed bugs, ants, and all sorts of live creatures have been reported at all DVC resorts on this board at one time or another. Just my opinion, but to single out and blame VWL doesn't seem fair to me...

Unfair indeed. lf anything, it goes perfect with the whole theme of the place.

 

[Mom B]

I understand why you wouldn't want to stay at VWL again in the near future...regardless of the reasons for your unpleasant experience, especially the car keying part which Disney really doesn't have much control over, it still kinda leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Hopefully your next Disney experience will be better and you can try VWL again another time, hopefully with better results!

 

[CarolMN]

Sorry about the bedbugs and the car. Thanks so much for reporting both. I have no plans to stay at the VWL, but I think it is in all members' best interest to report problems - they can't fix it if they don't know about it.

Even though they couldn't/wouldn't help with the car, at least there is now a report about it - might help someone else in the future.

Best wishes -

 

[scootert]

With all the increased security, it's disappointing to hear they do not have cameras in the parking lots.

Sorry for the troubles you had. We can relate to your car experience -- we were at Vero two years ago, parked under the building where someone backed into the rear quarter. No note, nothing. We don't blame Vero, it's just sad that damaging property is taken so lightly.

 

[DebbieB]

I am surprised that they don't have security cameras in the parking lot. Even if they did though, it would be hard to see who it was. If someone casually ran a key down a car it might not be noticed if the cameras were monitored.

 

[Simba's Mom]

First, I would like to say that I'm sorry you didn't have a great Disney experience.

If I'm reading this correctly, you basically had two issues with VWL.
- Bed bugs
- Car getting keyed

MG

I reread the OP's report and I got the impression her issues were more about their reaction (or lack of it) than the bed bugs or car getting keyed itself. Is this the case? Did the staff say that although they couldn't help finding out who keyed the car, that they were very sorry it happened?

 

[Tiffster7]

Wow some of you get so uptight about a bad report from a resort. We have stayed at several different DVC's including Saratoga, Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge. And yes I was really most disappointed about the cast members reactions. Is this board's mantra- "if you don't have anything good to say don't say it at all? " Since we weren't camping at FT Wilderness we didn't expect to get bit while sleeping. I am sure since we left a message for the mousekeeping as well as called they will take care of it. However, we will try another resort next trip because even if the bugs didn't bite us again at VWL we would be thinking about it. It's hard to sleep when you fear things crawling on you.

And you know- Disney is a business- they are there to make money. I don't put them on some ridiculous pedastal. We expect things to sometimes go wrong. Noone's perfect, especially Disney. I will get slammed for this, but pixie dust is still just dust and it's just a theme park. We enjoy it when we go, but it's not real life. Just a question- if your car was stolen from Disney's lot would they be responsible? If valets parked your car would they be responsible for damage to it? I don't know - just asking.

 

[goldilocks_63]

At my previous place of employment,

A ring of car thieves tried to steel my older car for parts.... and someone interrupted them, we had video on the parking lot, finger prints.....

and still the police never could find them....

so it might not have helped anyway....

Sorry for the inconvenience. What I did do, is take pictures of the car, to submit to insurance for my claims (and got the date / time etc), and had the police fill out an report.

SOrry for your troubles...... Goldi

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Wow some of you get so uptight about a bad report from a resort.

---------snip------------

Is this board's mantra- "if you don't have anything good to say don't say it at all? "

Tiffster, I'm sorry you interpreted my post as you did. I honestly didn't mean to sound uptight. I tried to emphasize that with:

"First, I would like to say that I'm sorry you didn't have a great Disney experience."

"Please don't take my post the wrong way. I truly am sorry your experience wasn't what it should have been."

"Just my opinion."

I do think it's important to express all DVC experiences.... good and bad.
Personally, I just really try not to bash any particular resort for generic things... but that's just me.

I sincerely thank you for your trip report!

MG

 

[NMW]

So sorry you did not have the best possible trip. I would have freaked about the bedbugs!

 

[Tiffster7]

No offense taken - We all have our likes and dislikes. Now excuse me as I scratch and look for some calamine lotion.

 

[DVC Jen]

I understand your frustration with the CMs lack of caring at VWL. Two years ago we went swimming one evening and when we got back into the room, I nooticed that my DH and both DDs brandnew swimsuits were bleached out really bad. My youngest DD also had swollen and very very red sore eyes. We called the management because we were sincerely concerned they had made a mistake with the clorine in tehe pool. The manager came toour room to see the swimsuits, made a comment about them being cheap and said she would credit our account for only 40.00. At that point we hadn't even asked for compensation, we were really concerned for health/safety reasons. She really insinuated we were just trying to get money from them and if we had better quality swimwear (they weren't cheap but not expensive either)they would have "bled" like they did. She said she was sure there was nothing wrong with the quiet pool. I really wasn'tupset until she started talking to us the way she was. It was because of her attitude that I took the 40.00 credit (we weren't going to at first).

And .. much to our surprise the villas pool was closed down the entire next day.. they wouldn't have done that if there wasn't a problem found.

Do I blame VWL for this? NO! I just think at that time we were dealing with a not so nice and rather snotty manager. Will we go back? You bet! We love the lodge and are checking in on Monday.

There are so many wonderful CMs at WDW and there are a few that make your jaw drop and take away from the magic. I didn't take the OP to be blaming the lodge, just venting at the lack of caring concern she encountered.

And you can bet a life time amount of pixie dust on the fact that I will be checking the mattresses for "droppings" or "dirt/stains" from the bed bugs. I am glad she told us.. we may not encounter a problem at all (i hope not), but I know to check before we unpack and take a chance on getting those bites and or infesting our personal belongings.

Bed bugs are becoming a problem everywhere and anywhere. We just need to be aware of the situation and do some checking when we first get in the room.

Thank you for reminding us of that.

 

[ddave]

Bed bugs of abundance!

How do you check and what do you do about it?

 

[Tiffster7]

you can check this website. Bed bugs are visible but according to the site difficult to get rid of.

http://www.bugclinic.com/bedbug.htm

 

[colleen costello]

When a bedbug thread last appeared I researched the little guys on the internet. They are becoming more and more common as pesticide use is regulated and international travel abounds... They are more common in less industrialized countries and are big on hitch-hiking in luggage. An infestation doesn't mean lack of cleanliness, simply that they were brought into the room.

They hide in mattress crevices and room crevices during daylight. They come out at night if they sense a "victim." They bite humans for their blood and leave itchy welts. These spots are more annoying than dangerous unless you have an allergic reaction. The telltale sign of these little guys are rusty-colored skidmarks on the mattress or sheets. They typically over-indulge when eating (hey, it's WDW!) and they will excrete the extra blood they have ingested.

We always check the mattresses now whenever we check into ANY hotel room. Any sign of small brown bugs or the rusty spots and we are gone!

 

[Beach_Bound9]

Good to read a cautionary post. Negative experiences are welcome, lets others know what to watch out for.

 

[Bugeye]

Getting 'key-waxed' is a bummer but another possibility is a very inconsiderate guest slinging an item over their shoulder and running it along your car (unknowingly) and leaving the scratch. Doesn't make it any less a problem but it may not have been deliberate.