Jun 9, 2009 10:07 pm US/Central
Bed Bugs At Disney Resort Ruins Family's Vacation
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Melissa Pecina had hundreds of bed bug bites on her body after staying at a resort near Disney World.
CBS
They are smaller than your fingernail and come out at night. By the time you see them, it may be too late. That's the case for a suburban family who says they were attacked by bed bugs inside their hotel room at a popular Disney resort. CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports.
The family says they wanted a trip to remember. And they got that. But now, they're warning people to check the beds in their hotels when they check in.
The home video shows that it started as a happy Disney World vacation. But the family says it ended in a red, itchy mess.
Melissa Pecina said bumps appeared after bed bugs attacked her in her hotel room.
"And I had a lot of them," Melissa said. "I think I counted over 200 at one point."
The Pecinas say they stayed at Disney's All-Star Resort early last month and on the last day Steve Pecina woke up feeling as if something was biting him.
"I pulled the sheet off the bed that I was sleeping under and they were just crawling around on that sheet," Steve said. "So they were between the sheet that was on top of me and the sheet that was underneath me."
"And I don't like bugs, so I was like I don't even want to go look at them, I don't even want to know they're there," Melissa said.
"It immediately just popped in my head it's got to be bed bugs," Steve said. "Because I squished them and blood came out."
Bugs, they say, looked like ticks and can dig into the skin.
Bites Melissa says dotted her body in little lumps that appeared about a day after they left the resort.
"I noticed I had three bumps right here and they were really itching and I was like, hmm," Melissa said. "And I got a couple more on my arm and I woke up Monday morning and I had them over my arm, over my lower back, down my hip."
So far, Walt Disney World will not confirm if pests pestered this family. They wouldn't even use the phrase bed bugs.
Instead their statement said: "The 'traveling bug' is an industry-wide concern. We have an extensive and aggressive pest management program, including trained entomologists on staff, as well as a thorough treatment process for rooms when there is a confirmed case."
Some five weeks later, Melissa's bumps are finally fading.
But with a young daughter and son so far unbitten, the Pecina family says their biggest concern is whether they've brought the bugs home in their luggage.
"It's been kind of a scary thing," Melissa said. "You know, it's not something you would expect."
The Pecinas say a housekeeping manager looked at the bugs and the resort refunded them for one night of their stay.
Experts say we are seeing more bed bugs in the United States now. It's partly because they're becoming more resistant to pesticides.
If you're planning a hotel stay, check the beds, pull up the sheets and inspect the mattresses. And if you think you see bed bugs, ask to change rooms.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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