Just Back : Attack of the Flies!!!

[Lindymagoo]

We were there from 7th-12th, staying at the cabins at Ft. Wilderness. I brought a ton of bug spray, and to be honest, I think I sprayed our deck area one night, and that was it. I did not notice the swarms of flies that everyone has been talking about while we were there. But then again, I was not looking for them either.

We did see some love bugs, and several hundred tried to hitch a ride on our car for the ride back north, but I am pretty sure, none of them made it out of Florida alive. Lol.

 

[FortForever]

But then again, I was not looking for them either.

Oh, believe me, you would not have to be looking for them. If you hit a pocket, you would surely notice.

Many posters seem to be missing the fact that they are not everywhere. They are in isolated pockets within the parks and some resorts. Of the swarms that I encountered, only two were near food places.

I have spent 12 days in WDW in the past three weeks. I didn't run across the flies every day. The majority of all the parks were fly-free. Then, out of nowhere, I would be in the middle of a swarm. The swarms were not always located in the same locations day to day.

It's hard to describe to people who have not been unfortunate enough to run into them. You could spend a week at the parks, and if you were never in the wrong place at the wrong time, you would never encounter them.

 

[dawgem]

What a terrible thing to read while planning a trip.

More meals at the condo.

 

[dawgem]

I read the one post about applying deet online.

Does anyone have a tip about what to use to deter evil flies?

 

[Kimbysmom]

We flew home on the 3rd, and I'm grateful after reading this thread. Although, we were in MK on the 2nd, and my dd and I both noticed a small swarm of flies in front of Cinderella's Castle. One thing that did gross dd out though, were the numerous dead ants floating in the Cars pool at AOA

 

[FortForever]

I read the one post about applying deet online.

Does anyone have a tip about what to use to deter evil flies?

You will not need it. The flies are easy to get away from. They are not everywhere. If you run across a swarm, just walk away from it. For some reason, they stay together.

 

[ChrisnKim913]

Touring Plans just posted on Twitter that the doors of the Liberty Tree Tavern were closed for dinner. When they asked a CM, they said its due to the flies. Nice to see WDW is aware of the problem

 

[MyHappiestPlace]

We noticed the fly situation this past weekend as well. We went to DTD and visited The Basin - tons of flies!! Of course the doors were open but I have never seen flies like this before in this store even w/ doors open. The next day we went to Blizzard Beach and again more flies!! I live about 20 min from WDW and I have never seen anything quite like this. Its annoying! I mean lovebugs are annoying to a point; but these werre SUPER annoying.

 

[TwinkleKS]

I must live a fly infested life because I didn't think the bugs seemed that horrible.

We were there last week, and yes there were love bugs around, but I wasn't really bothered by it. Sure they swarmed near trash cans, so I stayed away from the trash cans unless throwing away trash. Plus, I think the love bugs are pretty harmless. They don't do anything to you, unlike mosquitos. So we didn't use any bug spray and I can remember maybe a handful of times in seven days when one of my kids squeeled because the bug was actually on them.

 

[lillykat]

You will not need it. The flies are easy to get away from. They are not everywhere. If you run across a swarm, just walk away from it. For some reason, they stay together.

They have been pretty bad. The flies seem to have been everywhere at the magic kingdom yesterday. There was no gwtting away from them there. Everyone was commenting on them.

But not sure bug spray will do much. They are everywhere and annoying but other than all over they haven't bothered us.

 

[BoardWalkBelle]

Love bugs and flies have been very few the past two days. Hopefully they will be completely gone. I know the love bugs will be gone very soon. The flies have been nuts!

 

[AddiesDad]

We just got back today, the flies were out of control. One cast member did tell us it was from the new "organic fertilizer" they were using and that the management was aware of the issue. They seemed to be most attracted to strollers, as there was always a bunch on the canopy when we came back to where we parked it. The area around The Lunching Pad was especially infested. There were huge patches of flies under tables - even tables people were eating at. Kids were jumping trying to squash a few.

 

[Feralpeg]

We just got back today, the flies were out of control. One cast member did tell us it was from the new "organic fertilizer" they were using and that the management was aware of the issue. They seemed to be most attracted to strollers, as there was always a bunch on the canopy when we came back to where we parked it. The area around The Lunching Pad was especially infested. There were huge patches of flies under tables - even tables people were eating at. Kids were jumping trying to squash a few.

The flies are bad all over the area. They are bad at my home and I haven't used any new fertilizer. I was swarmed at Winter Garden Village which is at least ten miles from Disney property. It's just a bad year for flies!

 

[bwang123]

we are here now and while eating my frankfurter in germany a group of flies snatched half of it and took off when i wasn't looking. when i chased after them a few of their friends flew off with my beer. i complained and disney gave me free captain eo fast passes.

 

[FortForever]

They have been pretty bad. The flies seem to have been everywhere at the magic kingdom yesterday. There was no gwtting away from them there. Everyone was commenting on them.

But not sure bug spray will do much. They are everywhere and annoying but other than all over they haven't bothered us.

Ack! Then they're getting worse. I was at MK on Saturday and you could still get away from them at that time.

 

[Kitkat6595]

we are here now and while eating my frankfurter in germany a group of flies snatched half of it and took off when i wasn't looking. when i chased after them a few of their friends flew off with my beer. i complained and disney gave me free captain eo fast passes.

 

[LoriR]

We just returned and have never seen so many flies everywhere! I've been to Disney during many seasons and never encountered so many flies!

 

[Magpie]

Are they flies (big filthy critters that stand around on your food rubbing their hands together evilly) or gnats (clouds of tiny critters that fly up your nose)? Do they bite? Do they follow you around, or mostly ignore you? Are they attracted to garbage?

Small flies that bite are blackflies and midges, but you'd know if you had them. They don't hang out in large groups. They act more like homing missiles and their bites will leave you bleeding.

If they're gnats, then the massive clouds of them are just them having sexy parties. They're random, and not interested in you (although they can seem to follow you around sometimes if you get your head stuck in the middle of a sex cloud) or your food. It was probably an unusually wet or warm spring, and a ton of them hatched all at once. Gnats are annoying, but harmless. When they're in breeding mode, they don't even eat.

From everything I've been reading, these sound more like gnats than flies.

 

[scrapquitler]

Are they flies (big filthy critters that stand around on your food rubbing their hands together evilly) or gnats (clouds of tiny critters that fly up your nose)? Do they bite? Do they follow you around, or mostly ignore you? Are they attracted to garbage?

Small flies that bite are blackflies and midges, but you'd know if you had them. They don't hang out in large groups. They act more like homing missiles and their bites will leave you bleeding.

If they're gnats, then the massive clouds of them are just them having sexy parties. They're random, and not interested in you (although they can seem to follow you around sometimes) or your food. It was probably an unusually wet or warm spring, and a ton of them hatched all at once. Gnats are annoying, but harmless. When they're in breeding mode, they don't even eat.

From everything I've been reading, these sound more like gnats than flies.

I think maybe people are actually seeing love bugs, not flies. This is around the time if year we went when we were inundated with gazillions of love bugs

 

[Magpie]

I think maybe people are actually seeing love bugs, not flies. This is around the time if year we went when we were inundated with gazillions of love bugs

A few of the posters have been insisting they're not love bugs, but if there's enough of them, I'm sure they could look just like flies...

Here's a pic of them swarming at a Disney bus stop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swarmoflovebugs.jpg