--- title: A Family Vacation, Ruined by Bug Bites description: Someone had better turn Cinderella back into a maid, because one family claims Disney World needs some serious cleaning. They say they got bitten by... canonical: https://time.com/archive/6938210/a-family-vacation-ruined-by-bug-bites/ author: Reed Tucker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-01-27T05:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-23T05:59:26.812Z og:title: A Family Vacation, Ruined by Bug Bites og:description: Someone had better turn Cinderella back into a maid, because one family claims Disney World needs some serious cleaning. They say they got bitten by... og:url: https://time.com/archive/6938210/a-family-vacation-ruined-by-bug-bites/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b291466ba768ad2/698a4f55e6e84a814b2b2303/360_avenger_disney_0120.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 360 og:image:height: 203 og:image:alt: 360_avenger_disney_0120.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Family Vacation, Ruined by Bug Bites twitter:description: Someone had better turn Cinderella back into a maid, because one family claims Disney World needs some serious cleaning. They say they got bitten by... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b291466ba768ad2/698a4f55e6e84a814b2b2303/360_avenger_disney_0120.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Family Vacation, Ruined by Bug Bites > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=ce14df12-e6f7-43be-9719-86b14daed4f4&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=ce14df12-e6f7-43be-9719-86b14daed4f4&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) by [Reed Tucker](https://time.com/author/reed-tucker/) Jan 27, 2010 5:00 AM UTC  A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse sits in front of Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse sits in front of Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Matt Stroshane / Bloomberg / Getty by [Reed Tucker](https://time.com/author/reed-tucker/) Jan 27, 2010 5:00 AM UTC Someone had better turn Cinderella back into a maid, because one family claims Disney World needs some serious cleaning. They say they got bitten by bugs in a room at one of the theme park’s resorts. **Offending Party:** Disney’s All-Star Music Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. **What’s at Stake:** $200 for a two-night stay **The Complaint:** Denine Erlemeier and her family woke up after their first night in the budget-priced hotel to find themselves covered with red bites. A little research online suggested the marks may have come from bedbugs, the reddish-brown, blood-sucking insects that often live in mattresses and bedding. [(See 50 essential travel tips.)](https://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1912492%5F1912514,00.html) **The Outcome:** Erlemeier e-mailed Disney with her complaint, and customer service responded that her family’s bites were not the result of any condition at the Disney resort. In other words, the only bug around there was the one that hangs out with Pinocchio with the lovely singing voice. “I was very disappointed in how they handled the complaint, as I don’t feel it was even considered,” Erlemeier says. When the Avenger contacted Disney, a spokesperson said that the resort has a bug expert on staff who investigated the complaint and found no evidence of bedbugs in the room. So what bit the Erlemeier family? It’s impossible to know. But one thing is for sure: Bedbugs are a growing problem internationally and across the United States. According to the National Pest Management Association, its member pest control companies, which used to receive one or two bedbug calls a year, are now reporting as many each week. Maciej Ceglowski who runs [bedbugregistry.com](https://bedbugregistry.com/), an online user-generated database tracking infestations in apartment buildings and hotels in North America, says he saw a “huge spike” in reports in 2009 — though he can’t say whether the increase was due to the spread of bedbugs or simply to the growing popularity of his site. (The registry has not logged any complaints for Disney’s All-Star Music Resort.) Because of the increasing number of reports, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) last summer held two National Bed Bug Symposiums in Newark, N.J., and Seattle, in hopes of educating hotel operators about the pests. The Environmental Protection Agency also held its first bedbug summit last year in Washington. The bugs are most common in big cities, including New York, San Francisco and Toronto, but the number of infestations is sharply on the rise around the world, in part because of the increase in international travel. Bedbugs don’t crawl in themselves; they’re carried in by visitors. [(See 50 authentic American experiences.)](https://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1909343%5F1909285,00.html) A report produced last year by England’s Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases found a 29% increase in complaints, and in 2006, an Australian entomological study estimated that Sydney was losing $100 million a year in tourism revenue because of an outbreak of the pests. In the U.S., the bedbug problem is “miniscule,” according to Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the AHLA, if one takes into account the fact that there are 4.4 million rooms in the country. “The only people that are making a big deal of it are the media,” he says. McInerney says hotel operators exterminate rooms regularly, not just for bed bugs, but for all kinds of pests. An AHLA bedbug fact sheet recommends that hotels prevent infestations by inspecting rooms daily for evidence of bedbugs in bedding and furniture. Rooms found to have bedbug activity should be put out of service until a pest-control expert eliminates the critters completely. If you’re worried that the creatures might make a meal of you the next time you’re on the road — or, worse, hitch a ride back home in your luggage — there’s good news and bad. The bad: There’s currently no official database where you can check if your hotel has suffered an outbreak, and hotels are not required to report infestations. The good news is that, even if your room does have the bugs, they’re unlikely to sneak up on you. The insects are large enough to see with the naked eye, which means a simple check of a hotel room will determine if they’re lurking there. Peel back the bedsheets and examine the mattress, and check behind the headboard if possible, for black spots of excrement, shed skins or the bugs themselves. It’s not a particularly pleasant operation, but it beats waking up all itchy. [Read “The World According to Mickey.”](https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1942948,00.html) [See pictures of Disney stars throughout the years.](https://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1930766,00.html) [See Time.com/Travel for city guides, stories and advice.](https://www.time.com/time/travel) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6938210/a-family-vacation-ruined-by-bug-bites/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6938210/a-family-vacation-ruined-by-bug-bites/"},"headline":"A Family Vacation, Ruined by Bug Bites","datePublished":"2010-01-27T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-23T05:59:26.812Z","description":"Someone had better turn Cinderella back into a maid, because one family claims Disney World needs some serious cleaning. 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