EEE/Mosquitoes

Beckymph

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 2, 2020
Hi all

Since before he was born I have dreamt of taking my son to Disney World with my parents for his third birthday (Jan 2022). Last year we went to New England in September and found ourselves in the middle of the EEE outbreak which was terrifying with a seven month old. We ended up going back to an airport hotel and just trying to get home early.

Being from the UK I had never heard of EEE before, despite having been to Florida 10+ times. Because of the experience I had in New England I’m now really worried about taking a three year old and elderly parents to Florida, where I understand there is an EEE risk all year round.

Can anyone offer any advice about the prevalence of mosquitoes at Disney World in January?

I initially thought we would book one of the monorail resorts, but now I wonder if being right on the water is a good idea (although I do appreciate none of the resorts are far from water!)

Does anyone have any experience of mosquitoes at these resorts in January? Or any suggestions of resort hotels which have less mosquito problems than others?

Any advice would be so appreciated.

Many thanks
 
What is EEE? I’ve never heard of it and I’ve been around mosquitos in the summer all my life.

I’ve been to Disney in January and February and I’ve never been bit or seen a mosquito. I tend to attract them so if they were there, I’m sure I would have been bitten!
 
Eastern equine encephalitis and it is very very rare.
‘As of December 17, 2019, CDC has received reports of 38 confirmed cases of Eastern equine encephalitis virus disease for this year, including 15 deaths. Cases have been reported from the following ten states: Alabama (1), Connecticut (4), Georgia (1), Indiana (1), Massachusetts (12), Michigan (10), New Jersey (4), North Carolina (1), Rhode Island (3), and Tennessee (1).’

A scaremongering first post perhaps? Not funny at this time OP.
 
Thanks for your advice Katherine - appreciate it.
Welsh Dragon - less so. I wasn’t trying to scaremonger at all, just get some advice. I didn’t include any of the horrifying statistics about EEE, or indeed any details at all, so I think you’ve been a bit unfair and unnecessarily judgemental. Also with regard to timing, I think a lot of parents will be thinking a lot more about potential health issues when travelling now. Perhaps you’ve been lucky enough never to suffer with anxiety issues, but for those who have the current situation means existing concerns may be amplified, and often the best way to deal with those is to get information, which is all I have sought to do. I thought that was the point of being able to ask for information on these boards? Rather than it being a place for people to make horrible and unwarranted accusations?
 


I live in Massachusetts and while EEE is certainly a potentially dangerous disease it was geographically situated in one area of southeast Massachusetts. We live in another area and we’re at low risk. Boston and it’s suburbs were low risk. This was also in the middle of summer here which can get sweltering.

You can read up on all the things that WDW does to mitigate mosquitos. In short they have all their water moving around (why you see fountains in ponds) to eliminate standing water where mosquitos breed and hatch. We’ve gone 3 times with our kids, with their ages spanning from 1 to 9, and they’ve never been bit. My kids and my wife are magnets for mosquito bites and they’ve never encountered a mosquito let alone gotten bit. We’ve stayed at the Poly as well. The Seven Seas lagoon is too big and does have lapping water, which inhibits mosquitos.

In fact the only time I saw mosquitos was at 3AM when I got up early for a WDW half-marathon. This was in April in the midst of an extended stretch of very humid weather. We’ve been in January and February and one day it might be hot and sunny and another it might be in the 30s. It doesn’t have the consistently hot and humid weather to breed mosquitos.

Of course if you want to be completely protected you can always use bug spray!
 
Disney is pretty good about treating for all sorts of pests. I can honestly say in over 30 years of going at every single month, I've maybe seen one mosquito the entire time. That's not to say I haven't seen or been bit by other bugs. There was the wasp incident of 89 where I got stung while waiting to get on a ride and discovered that I was semi-allergic. My then 9 year old son had to drag me to the first aid center because I didn't want to go but was whinning about the swelling. Then there was the time while sitting out on my patio at YC and some no seeum bite my foot. I'm "sensitive" to bug bites so that one swole up as well but in all fairness, my patio looked out over the canal between YC and Dolphin and it was about 4 am so I would have been surprised if something hadn't bit me. Otherwise, I've never even seen a bug other than the occasional water bug that since it's Florida you have to expect. Oh and love bugs that have sacrificed themselves to my windshield and bumper of my car.
 
Can anyone offer any advice about the prevalence of mosquitoes at Disney World in January?

I initially thought we would book one of the monorail resorts, but now I wonder if being right on the water is a good idea (although I do appreciate none of the resorts are far from water!)

We spend summers in New Hampshire on a wooded lot so I understand your anxiety about mosquito borne diseases.

We made many trips to WDW over the years staying the the Boardwalk on Crescent Lake and never saw a mosquito. We now spend our winters living a few miles from Disney and really only see a few mosquitos. Disney does a great job with insect control.

To get further input from those experienced in the monorail resorts I propose you repost this question to either the main resorts board or perhaps under one of the monorail resort hotel topics.
 


Been at least 40 times, stayed in many different resorts (including those on the water) and never been bitten by a mosquito.
 
I think that the odds of you encountering many mosquitoes on WDW property in January are pretty low because:

  • January is the coldest month
  • mosquitoes tend to not be as prevalent in cooler times of year
  • Disney must use some of the most epic bug abatement techniques because we spent a week there in June 2 years ago and didn't see one mosquito everywhere. I get bitten more back home in Arizona than I did at WDW.
 
I remember checking into the WL in the mid 90s or so and having a printed sheet regarding EEE and the control measures Disney would be using. It was initially slightly concerning but in the 10 or so days there we never saw a mosquito or was bitten. WDW does a great job with this!! :hippie:🦟
 
It's quite mind-boggling how effective Disney is at keeping the bug/mosquito situation under control given that it's freaking Florida. They do an amazing job.
 
This is an old thread but I'll hop in because I'm bored and mosquitos are still a thing.
The little biters are still around in January as it can be warm enough for shorts and T-shirt, or cold enough for a coat. I have never heard of EEE, but we do have Zika down here, although people don't seem to care about it in the current environment. I'm about 15 minutes west on I-4 from Disney property. I live on a lake and if we didn't have our screened Lanai it wouldn't be possible to hang out outside at any time of the year.
Disney has a pretty amazing mosquito control program. Of all the times throughout the years I can only recall once getting torn up by mosquitos and it was in the Magic Kingdom of all places. Sitting on a brick wall in front of Pinocchio Village Haus watching fireworks from the back side of the castle. I think they were coming from the flower bed. Anyway, that was my brief trip down memory lane. :lmao:
 
Never heard of EEE either so was curious to see what it is. According to the CDC, only about 5-10 cases are reported annually in the USA making it extremely rare. I think you have more chance of getting struck by lighting or winning the lottery then getting EEE. I would apply insect repellent before going outside someplace that might have mosquitoes. OP only posted 2 times here and hasn't returned since May, 2020, so likely long gone.

Frequently Asked Questions | Eastern Equine Encephalitis | CDC
 
I’ve never been bit at Disney. But my husband did once many years ago and we have been to Disney several times. The bites happened at the Halloween party back on a dark trick or treat trail. So maybe stick to the most used and lit areas. Avoid those areas less likely to get mosquito treatments. Overall, it hasn’t been a problem. I get bitten more on my back patio.
 

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