The Disney World Discovery That Made Our Skin Crawl

Staying at a resort on Walt Disney World property is supposed to be an exciting event. However, recent guests have stressed that this experience is going downhill at an alarming rate. While the average cost of staying on Disney property skyrockets, visitors find themselves paying more for less magical experiences from poor customer service to bugs in Disney hotel rooms.

The Disney World Resort Hotel Experience

Staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel in Florida offers guests the convenience of close proximity to the theme parks and transportation options, such as buses, monorails, and boats.

These hotels provide themed accommodations to enhance the Disney experience. Guests enjoy benefits like early access to certain attractions and Extended Evening Hours at the parks. Onsite dining options, pools, and recreational activities are readily available, making it a convenient choice for families and Disney fans.

However, what was once an almost unanimously praised experience is starting to show cracks.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic closed down Walt Disney World, the company policies surrounding a lot of hotel perks have changed since reopening.

Daily housekeeping is now a luxury not given to Disney’s Moderate and Value hotel options. With a less consistent cleaning schedule, many more guests are starting to criticize their experience.

A Tale of Bugs in a Disney Hotel

One guest took to the r/WaltDisneyWorld subreddit recently to ask about the presence of bugs in Disney World Resort rooms.

While they understood Florida is a humid state with many insects finding their way indoors, their All-Star Movies stateroom seemed to have an excessive amount of bugs.

Upon arrival, the poster detailed bugs all over the bathroom and in the sink.

When they woke up after their first night spent at the hotel, they found way more critters in the bathroom and at the edge of the bed. Upon closer inspection, the room also had a ton of dust and a sticky garbage can. The user described their experience in detail:

I get it, it’s Florida, and things are always buggy.

We booked our room at All Star Movies and found a few bugs in the bathroom by the shower and by the sink. Whatever, it’s fine. Bugs happen. The following morning we wake up to 18 (my kids thought it would be fun to count) [gnats] in the sink, about 7 in the shower, and two dead long and skinny ones on the edge of the bed.

Upon checking out the room further, there was a significant amount of dust in the corners of the room, and the garbage pail was sticky at the bottom of it. I felt it was time to call the front desk. It just didn’t feel clean. I never, ever complain about my room, and being a florida resident, I understand the bug situation completely. I don’t care if it’s a value resort, I’m still paying around $150 a night. And it doesn’t even include daily housekeeping.

I’m just curious as to what everyone else tolerates in terms of bugs in your resort room. Obviously the value and moderate resorts will have more, due to the doors going to the outside, but I feel like the lack of daily housekeeping plays a major part in it too.

An Unacceptable Disney World Experience

Responses were quick to point out that this should never be acceptable. One user expressed that they have never seen a single bug in their stateroom in the 30 years they have visited the theme park. They also offered up a reason as to why it could be happening:

We’ve gone to Disney yearly for 30 years. I’ve never seen a bug in any room. I did read recently about gnats in someone’s house, though, and apparently, they often come up through the drain. They were told to close them when not in use.

I’m not sure how a hotel could fix that, other than pouring something down there every day. I only had to change rooms once at Disney bc of a musty smell. I just called the front desk, and they sent someone up to switch us. That was at a moderate, but it was no big deal.

The general consensus was that the guest should immediately notify the front desk. All-Star Movies Resort has rooms with doors leading straight outside. While cleaning rooms, housekeepers may leave these doors open, allowing a chance for critters to find their way inside.

However, most guests don’t come across them in excess or at all. One commenter explained that they always request a higher floor at the Value resorts as insects are less common when they do:

Ok, that’s a lot IMO. I’d probably inform a cast member about it. There’s only been one or two occasions (at most) where we had multiple bugs in our room that I can recall. Most of the time, when staying at a value resort I prefer to stay on a higher level (not ground floor) because the one time we stayed on ground floor we did have a handful of bugs that crawled their way into our room (not roaches or anything, just some smaller bugs that we found crawling around our luggage under the bed, nothing significant). Of course if you’re dealing with gnats and/or flying insects then I’m not sure what to tell you other than that seems unacceptable (considering how many you’ve found).

Related: Guests Disgusted by Obscene Disney Hotel Prices

Hopefully, this guest got the situation taken care of. It is never acceptable to deal with dirty rooms, and Disney World is held to a much higher standard than typical hotel experiences. One of the company’s keys is literally “show.”

This proves the value of daily housekeeping that Disney has yet to bring back in full.

Have you ever had a less-than-magical experience at a Disney Resort hotel? Let us know in the comments!