Bed Bugs ... EEK! A June 2013 TR

WHO: None other than myself, and of course the wife.
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WHAT: Celebrating our 1st Wedding Anniversary, well just shy of it.
WHERE: Walter Elias Disney World - POP Century Resort - Yacht Club Resort
WHEN: June 16 - 21st, 2013.

So, to preface this Trip Report a few details are needed. This will really be my first trip report, I believe I attempted another one but it was pretty weak sauce if you ask me. I will attempt to be more thorough with my reporting, thoughts, and opinions on experiences etc etc etc.

In July of 2012 we Disneymooned for a whopping 12 days, which was epic on many levels. Considering the length of stay we decided that an annual pass simply made sense. We then followed up our July trip with a weeklong stay at the Swan in March of 2013 with our best friends. We shared a room to save some money and it was overall a fun trip, despite their newbieness and my unfortunate roll of tour guide and historian.

So this brings us to THIS trip report. My wife and I can get pretty impulsive but normally something along the line keeps us in check... that is normally Expedia or Disney themselves. What I mean by that is we'll often share a few drinks then start with the "we should go to Disney next month" spiel but almost always we'll check Expedia or Kayak and we're faced with a 400 dollar flight on late notice. That is an instant trip killer for us. UNTIL this past month! We're hanging around the house after a long day of work, popped a few cold ones, threw on Pinocchio and 2 hours later we were booked for another stay at Disney. The stars simply alligned, flights were cheap at less than 250 a person (roundtrip, flying direct at good times via Jet Blue) and we were on Facebook chatting with my usual KK agent. We went back and forth with the idea of where to stay and we were acting under the guise of being economically sound in our decision making process. We almost instantly eliminated our normal Beach Club stay, with the reality of a wicked high rack rate and almost no availability in such short notice. We then downgraded to POFQ and started to discuss the impact of the bussing, size of room for the value of your dollar, etc etc etc and ultimately came down to the old "lets save some bucks" mentality... choosing The Pop Century Resort as our final stay.

I would be a liar if I didn't say I was a little nervous about the downgrade from Deluxe to Value. But at the end of the day it all comes down to your perceptions and what you value in a resort. For my wife and I we value access, not necessarily theming and resort accommodations. We enjoy the Beach / Yacht because it allows us to walk to two gates and a great collection of entertainment at the Boardwalk resort, plus a wicked nice pool eh? Be it as it may, we simply use the room as a place to crash since we're early risers and usually end our days in the parks.

EDIT: As many of you know, or may not know, I am a photographer. I now describe myself as a photography enthusiast, I now refuse to do any more paid projects. I now focus 100% on myself and my own personal life.

When it comes to photographing Disney there are many, many options to consider. Size and weight is certainly the biggest one that crosses my mind. I have had quite a few DSLR bodies from the cheapest entry levels to Nikon FX bodies. Chase Jarvis likes to say that the best camera is the one you have with you. I'm just not a huge fan of the digital world but it's certainly more convenient. I wanted something that would give me some quality while not weighing a brick. That's where this camera came into play, the Fuji X-Pro1. A hell of a lot cheaper than a Leica M9, same size, but after a week of use and reviewing the cameras files this one is going back to B&H. The camera IQ and image quality is second to none, literally it's THAT good. But there is one caveat with this camera. The autofocus sucks, period. So without going into a huge review or something I'm returning her... which makes me sad because I really wanted to like her. Every image in this TR was taken with the Fuji X-Pro1 strapped with a Fujinon 35mm f1.4. Everything will be in black and white, because that's just what I like.
 

ginadee

Well-Known Member
Our ADR's changed on 6/18 from San Angel Inn to Coral Reef to Chefs de France. I wish we just stuck with San Angel Inn but we actually ended up there on 6/19, booked the morning of for 7:30PM so much for the 180 day mark huh?

We had some strange weather, rained a lot... but it was pretty sporadic. Not your typical Florida rain storms either, they really stuck around for 4 hours or so at a time.

I brought along a pretty lightweight tripod, not the greatest firework shots but not bad considering all I had for this camera was a 50mm equivalent lens and a cheap 2 stop ND filter.

Set up pretty early, was bored while the wife went and shopped a small bit... enjoyed the tripod set up and an awesome Grapefruit Beer from Germany.

breaking the mold here, too many color pictures! ;)

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Chefs De France was my favorite meal last trip.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Well, after enjoying dinner we headed off to the Poly (with our suits packed) to pool hop. Hey, we're saving money at the Pop and I've stayed at the Poly before so I deserve a quick dip! Just our luck the pool was closed, they must have just loaded it with new chemicals because the chlorine was really heavy in the air. We needed to quench our thirst so we decided to snag a few frozen Margs and headed off to the quiet pool at Poly. With the main pool closed there were an abundant amount of kids at the quiet pool, so we didn't last long.


Seems your attempt to pool hop angered the Tiki gods....
 

ginadee

Well-Known Member
6/18 continued...

after really enjoying the Train tour we went off and did our normal MK day again... it was beyond crowded so it was really tough to get things done. It was so busy we waited 20 minutes at the Frontierland station just to take another spin on the railroad. I've never, never waited for a train before! But we tried to utilize the FP system as best we could, third visit in 12 months and a total of 5 visits in 3 years... we're pretty good at this Disney thing now.

We left MK around 1PM and took a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge. WOW... that place is stunning and two things occurred. One, the wife wants to stay there now... two, the wife said she'd consider a DVC membership there. The place is absolutely beautiful and she agreed on the theming of the resort in the fashion of those at the Old Faithful Inn (or lodge, something along those lines) where she stayed as a kid out in Yellowstone.

The reason we came here... simple. On the train tour they told us that there is a room in the WL DVC common area that is dedicated to the Carolwood Pacific Fair Weather Route Railroad. They have two of the actual cars from Walt's 1/8th scale train... amazing for any lover of the history of Walt and his trains.

From there we moved on to Epcot for our ADR at Chefs de France... to review this meal, pretty simple. One of the worst meals I have had on property, both on quality of food and for value. I started off with the French Onion Soup which should be called french broth soup, no onions to be seen. Perhaps this is my ignorance but I have never had an Onion Soup sans onion... maybe this is an authentic french way of preparing the dish. The DW had the duck and I had the scallops/shrimp dish. The duck was cooked well done, far too cooked in my experience with duck in a culinary setting. The scallops were frozen, flavorless and unseasoned. Shrimp were delicious, but overall 2 scallops and three shrimp sautéed with tomatoes, onion, and potato for 33 dollars? Again, I know there is no bargain at Disney but this was just bad.

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Oh no...i just posted how this was my fave meal last time and just read this. Sorry. Im reading backwards here.
 
Oh my! I read the bed bug find earlier when I was eating a bowl of leftover dirty rice. I'd like to thank you for keeping me from eating the entire bowl. I shouldn't have put so much in anyway. LOL! Seriously, I would freak. I've got a little pink flashlight I carry in my bag with me when we travel. As soon as I get in any hotel room no matter where it is I promptly whip out my flashlight, pull the bedding from the edges of the bed, and inspect. I'm terrified of bringing bed bugs home. They're hard to get rid of!

I read the part of your report about how Disney handled the whole situation when you called the front desk to my husband. We both agree they did a phenomenal job...as did YOU! You're right, it's a pretty common thing no matter what level star-rating hotel is. I think what sorts the better establishments from the rest is how they handle it. ;)

Love that y'all didn't let such a huge mishap kill your groove. Best to keep on rolling with it, right? The train tour sounded wonderful. Thoroughly enjoying your pics. They're gorgeous!

This is a great idea...I will definitely be taking a flashlight with me from now on to check the beds.
How big are bed bugs? I thought they were super small....almost too small to notice.
Maybe I am thinking of dust mites. :eek:
 

ddbowdoin

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This is a great idea...I will definitely be taking a flashlight with me from now on to check the beds.
How big are bed bugs? I thought they were super small....almost too small to notice.
Maybe I am thinking of dust mites. :eek:

They are super small... Little red specks almost. But those are the small ones, a full adult bed bug is definitely noticeable. Trust me, I know. I'm going to say we had at least 50 bugs noticeable with the human eye crawling on the white bed sheets.
 

ddbowdoin

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OMG. Thank you. Now I know what to look for.

I AM itchy :eek:

Ok- now I officially have that itchy crawly feeling. I know they are everywhere- but I keep feeling like it's just a matter of time before we have a bed bug encounter.

Love the pics...the black and white really was great for the train photos. Can't wait to read/see more.


I'M SORRY for making everyone itchy!
 

coachwnh

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
We're early risers, no doubt about that. The type that is up at 6AM, showered, quick breakfast, and off to the parks. When we're staying at the BC we might come back for a mid day swim but we had no intention of doing this while staying at the POP.

6AM comes around, alarm goes off. I am pretty groggy, laying in bed... the wife is up making coffee. Now I thought I felt something on my hands and I can recall flicking something off my hand. I wake up and turn the light on to my left on the nightstand... kind of get out of bed and I see blood on the sheets. Now at first I wasn't shocked, I have a tendency to pick at a cut or something when I am sleeping but then I saw blood on my wife's side and I instantly knew something was UP. My wife has pristine skin, seriously... no blemishes or anything so I instantly turned all the lights on at full blast and there they were... BED BUGGGGGGGGGGS!
@DisneyDebNJ see below!
That is gross!!!
 

ddbowdoin

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That is gross!!!


I know huh...

and to top it all off my wife had a bunch of dresses that were either dry clean or delicate wash, came back and they're a little short on her bottom now. Seems they just washed them and they shrank in the heat. Great... not like those were worth hundreds totaled up or anything.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Im scratching non stop here!

I totally read it at the wrong time. I had just come in from the garden picking veggies and herbs for some homemade pizza...but the garden can feel a bit buggy. Sure, it's not bed bug buggy...but you couple that with this and, well...ewwwwwww!!!! At least we should be good now that we're moving past the bed bug portion of this TR :)
 

ddbowdoin

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I totally read it at the wrong time. I had just come in from the garden picking veggies and herbs for some homemade pizza...but the garden can feel a bit buggy. Sure, it's not bed bug buggy...but you couple that with this and, well...ewwwwwww!!!! At least we should be good now that we're moving past the bed bug portion of this TR :)
Yes... MOVING on lol
 

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