G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
Yes. Really. I have seen them in stores on a leash in the child seat area of the shopping cart resting on blankets on more than one occasion. People really do take these long spindly rats places.
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4 Walt Disney World Resorts to accept dogs
- Thread starter Bolt
- Start date
Yes. Really. I have seen them in stores on a leash in the child seat area of the shopping cart resting on blankets on more than one occasion. People really do take these long spindly rats places.
ThemeParkJunkee
Well-Known Member
I've been gone all weekend and not logged in because I forgot my password on my tablet. I am currently booked for 2018 at POR and am quite allergic. Not deadly asthma allergic but miserable symptom allergic to pet dander. I researched resorts for months. Hubby and I both actually agreed on one for price, location and amenities. Dang! I am concerned but really have to wait to see how this shakes out. Universal does it well. I can stay at their Premium resorts without even seeing a dog. The hotels there do it so well and do not allow a dog to be unattended in a room. I think it may actually be easier to avoid allergens than the actual dogs themselves. If I were still phobic (I used to be after I was bit in the thigh just walking home from a friend's house), it would be hard to eliminate the stressor.
I will not make a change until I see this in action. Anyone with actual reports from these new, dog friendly resorts, I would appreciate reports if you can.
I will not make a change until I see this in action. Anyone with actual reports from these new, dog friendly resorts, I would appreciate reports if you can.
JenniferS
When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
The new policy started today so I’m sure reports will start to roll in shortly.
The good thing about Port Orleans is that it’s very spread out and open. Based on the dog relief areas from the map it appears they will have the dogs contained to a handful of the buildings with large sections of the hotel unaffected. The policy clearly states no dogs that are not service animals are allowed in public guest areas except for the designated relief areas so you shouldn’t see any dogs in the lobby, restaurant, pool areas or even on the paths around the resort if the rules are properly enforced. Because of your allergy I would make sure they know to put you in a room far from the dog areas as possible. They should be able to accommodate that without a problem.
ThemeParkJunkee
Well-Known Member
Understood. It took 15 years after the attack to trust any canine. With desensitization through dear friends.In case you’re not all caught up yet, @Ariel1986 and I are the phobic ones.
Tinkerbell 8
Well-Known Member
I have taken my miniture pinscher to Disney twice and have used the Best Friends Resort for her and she LOVED it, now that Disney is allowing dogs at the 4 resorts I may consider taking her again. I would continue to use Best Friends during the day but it would be nice to have Bella at the resort with me at night. I would never leave her at the resort all day alone. Yes, I work and she is caged while I’m at work, but I’m fortunate to work 5 minutes from my house and I come home every day for my hour lunch to spend time with her and let her out. While I could cage her in our room at the resort, I would never do that to her, it’s a new environment and I’m the type of person that goes open to close in Disney. While I agree that some people would bring their dog to Disney and leave them alone for long periods of time at the resort, I would have to imagine that people who 1) are used to travelling with their dog and 2) and willing to pay the extra $50 a night would have a mindset similar to mine. I treat my dog like a human child and until now (currently pregnant with my first) she has been my baby. I treat my dog better than some people treat their children and it would be selfish of me to bring her to Disney just to be locked up all day. That being said, I am surprised by how negative the overall reponse has been thus far and it just became effective today. I understand people have allergies (I am deathly allergic to mushrooms so I am always mindful when I eat out) it is my responsibility to ask servers/chefs about ingredients and food prep, I never expect others to be mindful for me. I also understand anxiety and fear (I have my masters in psychology and have treated people with severe anxiety). What Disney is implementing is not off the wall, they are doing what other resorts have done for a long time, offering people with dogs an option, they are not removing options from people who don’t want to be around dogs or can’t due to medical reasons. I think before people write off the 4 resorts or think Disney is completely crazy for their new policy we should see how it actually goes. I don’t see a thousand guests all of a sudden bringing their dogs with them.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
I think there’s a good chance this evolves into requiring guests to use the doggy daycare service. Lowes Universal policy is no dogs can be left unattended in their resort rooms. That makes the most sense to me and solves most of the issues I would have with this policy. I’m not sure why Disney didn’t just implement that from the start.
IMHO it’s not a given that all dog owners will act similar to what you are describing. I understand that’s your experience and I’m sure many others will do the same but you are assuming everyone will be just as responsible but that’s not a given. Rules have to be crafted to ensure that the less responsible owners don’t abuse the system and create issues that would ruin other guests experiences. It’s why we have chips in our soda cups now. The vast majority of guests never stole soda but there was a fringe group who did.
The allergy issue should not be a problem if people follow the rules. It should be pretty straight forward to keep sections of these resorts and the common areas completely pet free if Disney enforces the rules. Phobias are another issue. If someone has a big enough problem with dogs the stress from potentially having an encounter with a dog isn’t going away just by having a few rules. They are going to have to decide if the anxiety created by the potential to run into a dog is worth the value of staying at the resort. If the answer is no, then choose another hotel. You can’t please everyone. I do think a little more lead time would have been nice for those who wanted to switch.
Not likely. He's a dog.
Gabe1
Ivory Tower Squabble EST 2011. WINDMILL SURVIVOR
Indeed. Some can wig out and or have a genuine phobia of dogs I get that. Still they manage life elsewhere like airports and in the parks and at security checkpoints at Disney. Or likely live in a town where Pups also live and walk the streets. If one avoids Pup friendly places in everyday life I can't image those same people with 'real' phobias ever traveling in airports or train stations let alone at Theme Park entrances where Pups are abundant. Phobias are just that you either cope or completely avoid. Disney isn't a place you can completely avoid Pups as there are service dogs everywhere and genuine Phobias don't allow one to be selective to which type of Lab you have a phobia for. I can't wrap my brain around selective phobias.
Me, I am waiting to see where Disney houses the Pups at the resorts. Pups are restricted to certain areas as pets now at WDW. Like at the Portifino at Uni likely limited buildings near the pet friendly designated areas. I'm thinking IF Disney is as smart as Uni the guests in other buildings at those pet friendly resorts ( the freak out demographic) will be able to avoid all contact with Pups unless they are looking to have a hissy fit. As for their cleanliness in a resort room, I had infants, then preschoolers then children in those rooms. Kids are gross as are so many of their parents. Housekeeping can't disinfect for all the things that children and adults do in those rooms in the few minutes they 'clean' the rooms. Kids and adults get sick and 'do' things throughout the room that make Pups look like angels. And yes pets get wet if it rains. Still my kids and we adults also got wet just visiting the pools and hot tubs. I've seen the pictures of what conditions adults leave resort rooms in when leaving. Pups don't do that.
I can't deal with 'selective' phobias.
Gabe1
Ivory Tower Squabble EST 2011. WINDMILL SURVIVOR
And if Barking was the industry norm high end resorts nationwide would not be allowing Pups. My guess is WDW has a learning curve but since they are behind the industry standard now they will catch up and WDW Resorts will survive. I wonder what Disney will do with their DVC rooms. I am not a DVC owner (or at this time a Pup owner) but now that Disney has opened that Pandora box is DVC next?
JonnyK
Active Member
Im just gonna say this, why not build an pet friendly hotel only for pet owners with their pets to stay at.. I mean i know it wont work that way.
I generally dont like the idea, housekeeping cant find where the owners pet has soiled the carpets and such and would require alot of cleaning, but again if its based apart from the regular rooms ill be fine with it.
I generally dont like the idea, housekeeping cant find where the owners pet has soiled the carpets and such and would require alot of cleaning, but again if its based apart from the regular rooms ill be fine with it.
Nemo14
Well-Known Member
I totally agree. A pet friendly hotel where every guest shares a love(or tolerance) of dogs and their habits, sounds, and smells makes a lot more sense than suddenly inflicting this on select rooms at 4 of the more popular resorts. This only serves to make more people upset. We had a wonderful Golden Retriever for many years and as much as we loved her, we would never have expected everyone else to just accept her wherever we were. Phobias are very real, and wet dogs smell like, well, wet dogs, and dogs are not people; we respected that but apparently not everyone does.
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KBLovedDisney
Well-Known Member
"Only Dogs allowed." ....
I can't bring my baby kitties?
I can't bring my baby kitties?
21stamps
Well-Known Member
I guess we could start designating certain sidewalks as “pet owner only” and “no pets” as well.. put police and security dogs in costumes to make people feel less afraid at the sight of the dog...tell every other hotel which already accepts dogs, that they should build a new structure for the dog families.
I’m joking of course.. but people’s fears and imagination are going so high right now. The world doesn’t need to change because a minority of people may need therapy for dog phobias, or have a lack of understanding on actual time between potty breaks for dogs when left alone.
My thoughts on why this is probably shocking to the people freaking out here-
You’ve never noticed a dog across, in front, or behind you on a plane.
You’ve never noticed a dog in the same hotel as you.
But at some point during your travels, there probably was, more than once...and they weren’t the monsters being fantasized about here, so you didn’t notice them.
Tyaloo
Active Member
My daughter is terrified of dogs after an incident when she was very little, but after reading all the rules about dogs being at the resorts - I tend to think I would hardly see the doggies at all. They aren't allowed in public guest areas, so that eliminates a lot of areas of the resort.
I don't anticipate it being a problem, and if people abuse the rules, Disney will shut it down (they do change things that flop, remember those exclusive cabanas, lol?).
We're going to AoA at the end of November - I'll try to report anything related if I see it!
I don't anticipate it being a problem, and if people abuse the rules, Disney will shut it down (they do change things that flop, remember those exclusive cabanas, lol?).
We're going to AoA at the end of November - I'll try to report anything related if I see it!
bhg469
Well-Known Member
Maybe the strike through was too much... Probably could have just added & Soccer moms.
wsmith1978
Well-Known Member
Human beings are also animals.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
They won’t extend this to DVC. It doesn’t fit the model. The rooms at DVC have a near 100% occupancy so it would be near impossible to keep dogs in specific sections and guarantee people with allergies or health issues that they wouldn’t get a dog room. They also struggle currently to turn the rooms over at check-in and check-out. I know these special snowflake dogs all smell like roses, never have accidents and don’t even shed, but when someone checks in with an actual dog the extra time and cost it takes to remove the pet hair or swap out furniture would create major problems. They could throw more housekeeping staff at those rooms but housekeeping is paid for entirely by owner’s maintenance fees so all owners at that resort would absorb the costs which would not go over big. You would have the extra $50 to offset some of those costs but there’s no guarantee that would cover all of the costs. The only way this is extended to to DVC is if they open a specific dog friendly DVC resort where all rooms are dog friendly and the extra time and cost are built into the MFs. Then you just eliminate the $50 charge and everyone pays higher MFs.
Tony the Tigger
Well-Known Member
Had this been in effect just before the hurricane, we would have had a lot less stress and a much more enjoyable stay.
We were at the grand Floridian, and our dog was at the kennel. When I went down to the front desk for guidance on the Thursday before the hurricane, I was told (without even asking) “you know there’s no way your dog will be allowed in here, right?”
The kennel was booked up, we couldn’t go home on Saturday as planned because we live in Fort Lauderdale. We were on a waiting list for the kennel.
By the time we checked out Saturday morning, there were dogs everywhere. We could have stayed after all instead of spending a good chunk of our last two days trying to figure out where we were going to stay and what we would do with our dog.
Disney decided not to tell us that, even in the notice they slipped under every door. When I called to politely discuss what went right and what went wrong with customer service, I was told Disney did not want to advertise this.
I said I understood that, but for a guest already on site with a pet already at the kennel, who already went to the front desk to inquire, and who was notified of all other emergency planning via a paper under our door - that would be a reasonable exception. Also, I don’t know how excited the government would be to learn that Disney “didn’t want to advertise” emergency plans mandated by the government.
It was a very pleasant conversation and most of my feedback was positive. I was encouraged to write to Disney customer service. I did, and they responded offering me two fast passes.
Had this new rule been in place, we could have made plans to move to Port Orleans on Saturday, or we could have switched our reservation before arriving.
Instead, we ended up moving offsite to a property that did advertise a change in their pet policy for the hurricane. To my knowledge, nobody got bitten.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
The one difference I see between Disney and Most high end hotels and resorts is that Disney will allow the dogs to be left unattended in the room all day (or per the rules at least for 7 hours which is completely unenforceable). Most hotel chains I have seen with pet friendly rooms state that the dogs cannot be left unattended in the room. This includes Lowe’s hotels at Universal. I imagine most dog owners would make every effort to curb the dog’s barking while they are in the room, but if you are out for hours how do you know if the dog is barking or not. I get that some special snowflakes never bark but they are the exception and you can’t make rules based on one person’s super well behaved dog.