4 Walt Disney World Resorts to accept dogs

[21stamps]

Your dog is not your child.
If you believe that there is a remote equivalency there is something wrong.
And yes, it does harm me.
Because it is this belief that now has people insisting on taking their dogs everywhere they go, which leads to hotels - WDW accommodating such ridiculous ideas.

20million things are wrong this world.. loving a pet shouldn’t be ranked as one of them.

Dogs are part of our society... you can always seek out places where you won’t see dogs. Stick to indoor restaurants only..don’t walk along a promenade..don’t go for a morning run...don’t go to park...Check pet policies at every hotel you stay at. Hope that you don’t encounter any service dogs..etc etc.

 

[Horizons '83]

Your dog is not your child.
If you believe that there is a remote equivalency there is something wrong.
And yes, it does harm me.
Because it is this belief that now has people insisting on taking their dogs everywhere they go, which leads to hotels - WDW accommodating such ridiculous ideas.

I'll have to disagree... kindly of course.

 

[21stamps]

Not sure it's been asked, this thread growing so fast, but I wonder if this will pretty much put the Best Friends Pet Care out of business?

I think it will give it more business.

 

[Horizons '83]

Not sure it's been asked, this thread growing so fast, but I wonder if this will pretty much put the Best Friends Pet Care out of business?

I almost feel the opposite.
I can see an influx of people leaving their pets there, so the dogs can play and be free and then pick them up after a long day at the park so the dog can be with its owners, almost like a doggie day care situation.

 

[ABQ]

I almost feel the opposite.
I can see an influx of people leaving their pets there, so the dogs can play and be free and then pick them up after a long day at the park so the dog can be with its owners, almost like a doggie day care situation.

Good point. Hadn't thought of it that way. Though that certainly takes the 50-75 per day you're paying for the resort and adds whatever the doggie day care total will be to it.
I always laugh that a week at Disney for me always begins at around 375 dollars before I book my own room as our dog's kennel costs add up to about that. I've stayed in hotels with dogs, some which surprised me not knowing they were dog friendly, but I just can't justify the cost.

 

[Mickey shaped world]

I just hope noise at night isn't going to be an issue.
We just moved into an area with a lot of dogs and now I know the twilight bark from 101 Dalmatians is a real thing.

 

[EOD K9]

Hey, everyone complaining! Here's an idea....stay at one of the many OTHER resorts that won't allow this! Or request a room in a different wing! Geez, you people make it sound like they are getting rid of Figment or something! Breathe everyone.....just, breathe!!!

But but, that's my favorite hotel. Why should I be inconvenienced and not stay at my favorite hotel just because others want to bring Fido. And what do you mean they are getting rid of Figment? First the dogs and now this!!!

 

[xdan0920]

They are a business, which many people forget.

Fantastic satire! I genuinely laughed out loud.

 

[21stamps]

I almost feel the opposite.
I can see an influx of people leaving their pets there, so the dogs can play and be free and then pick them up after a long day at the park so the dog can be with its owners, almost like a doggie day care situation.

Exactly. I’m not familiar with Best Friends outside of @Tony the Tigger ’s Trip reports.. do they work as a Day Care as well? And a flexible one.. for example-would it be possible to keep your dog until 2pm..drop off at the pet care, and then pick back up at 10pm?

ETA, apparently the day care I previously mentioned Now uses Limos instead of busses.. I still like the bus idea better. Paint pictures of Disney dogs..offer the free transportation at least certain set hour choices. That could be extremely popular and convenient.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Your dog is not your child.
If you believe that there is a remote equivalency there is something wrong.
And yes, it does harm me.
Because it is this belief that now has people insisting on taking their dogs everywhere they go, which leads to hotels - WDW accommodating such ridiculous ideas.

Fantastic satire! I genuinely laughed out loud.

I do what I can.

 

[GoofGoof]

Considering Uni allows dogs, Uni is threatening WDW, and this move seems to have been something of a panic move - it may be more people then you think.

Lowes doesn’t allow unattended dogs in their rooms. There are no dogs left for 7 hours at Uni hotels.

I almost feel the opposite.
I can see an influx of people leaving their pets there, so the dogs can play and be free and then pick them up after a long day at the park so the dog can be with its owners, almost like a doggie day care situation.

I think this is probably how most dog owners will use this offering but unfortunately by allowing unattended dogs in the room they leave the door open for people to take advantage and having a completely unenforceable 7 hour limit and a rule that says the dog can’t bark is not enough. If it costs $100+ a day to board 2 dogs but I can cut that down to $50 by leaving them in my room all day that’s $350 saved for a week stay. Rules have to be made to account for the lowest common denominator, not just the responsible dog owners even if they make up the majority.

This whole thing is odd. When I think of hotels that accept dogs, I think of cheap Best Westerns in rural areas, and on the other extreme you have the 4 and 5 stars in Manhattan where dogs are considered fashion accessories.

It doesn't seem like either of these fit Disney's model. I could see them doing this at the campgrounds and one or two of the uber-deluxe resorts. Basically to try and reach a NEW customer base (those who would rather stay at a Four-Seasons and bring their dog or those who would rather camp outside the park to bring their pets.

But how many people in the middle tier of hotel budget were choosing to not stay in a Disney resort due to pets? I can't imagine it's alot.

This is a pilot program. They rolled it out in one resort from each price tier plus the campground on a trial basis. With a pilot program if it bombs it just goes away but if it’s successful it will likely be rolled out to every resort. Successful = makes money. The actual increased revenue from the $50/$75 fee is Significantly higher than the added costs. I think it will be around to stay and probably expand in the future unless people don’t use it.

 

[Rogue21]

Wow! After 50 pages of everything from "dogs (potentially) ruined my vacation" to "stay somewhere else if you don't like it" I realize why I sometimes prefer the company of my corgi.

Yet, as much as I miss my pup when I travel, I probably would not bring him to WDW. Of course, I'm thinking I may want to stay at the Yacht Club next trip just to meet some friendly 4-legged dogs. Those giant 2-legged ones scare the bejabbers out of me.

 

[JennSmith]

My heart beats fast and I panic. It's not a nice experience and I'm not saying it's rational- but I don't have to justify my phobia to anyone.

In public I can cross the road or walk away- open spaces are fine. I'm now in a position where I'm sharing accommodation and enclosed public spaces/transportation with dogs and not knowing if there's one next door/if I am going to bump into one in the corridor/have a dog bark through the wall or down the corridor- and this is going to be every morning, every day of our stay I'm going to be anxious of the possibility. It's just creating anxiety that could have been avoided if this had a longer warning time for guests to make rearrangements.

I'm not saying dogs are bad or arguing anything- I'm not trying to prove any point to anyone. I'm just disappointed at the decision and expressing my opinion and anxiety over it.

I totally understand your anxiety. So I'm not belittling it.
I would think and hope that even if you stayed at one of these 4 hotels, you could state that you do not want to be in any of the areas that are blocked as pet friendly. That way, the only times you would ever have to possibly encounter a large dog would be in a much larger area like you do during non vacation times. I would hope this is the case at least...

 

[Nubs70]

I know someone gave an example of 2 big dogs being left in a room roaming free.. and a housekeeper entered without the owners present..and dog escaped.

I do think that a few not-much-common-sense owners who travel exist.. and I think they travel once with their pet, then never again.

I think that probably the great majority of pet owners would not leave dogs alone in a hotel room without being in a crate or a bathroom, first and foremost- for the safety of the pet.. and also because they don’t want to pay in the event of damage.

My dog locked himself in the bathroom, turned on water, stepped on drain stop. Did 25k in water damage.

 

[Bender123]

Why are you so invested in insulting people who love their dogs like a child?

Is it harming you in any way at all? How does someone loving an animal and taking a well behaved dog places with them doing any harm to anyone?

AS somebody with allergies and two of three children with them, it actually does harm us...Not sure how this point is being missed so much.

 

[Ariel1986]

I totally understand your anxiety. So I'm not belittling it.
I would think and hope that even if you stayed at one of these 4 hotels, you could state that you do not want to be in any of the areas that are blocked as pet friendly. That way, the only times you would ever have to possibly encounter a large dog would be in a much larger area like you do during non vacation times. I would hope this is the case at least...

Thanks- it took a couple of emails after getting generic responses/no response to enquires about the dog room locations or requests to not be near those- but eventually I got a call from Disney and they were helpful & empathetic. They offered to move us to another resort (with no cost to us). I was told that the room I had booked (Garden View) is where the dogs will be, on the ground floors- so they were fine to move us (although as I said it took a few emails).

So I'm happy with that. I would of been fine to start with if we'd just had enough notice of this new policy- I wouldn't have booked Yacht Club to start with. They said they were getting a lot of calls about this.

 

[rsm]

Considering Uni allows dogs, Uni is threatening WDW, and this move seems to have been something of a panic move - it may be more people then you think.

That would make more sense then.

 

[njDizFan]

Lowes doesn’t allow unattended dogs in their rooms. There are no dogs left for 7 hours at Uni hotels.

I think this is probably how most dog owners will use this offering but unfortunately by allowing unattended dogs in the room they leave the door open for people to take advantage and having a completely unenforceable 7 hour limit and a rule that says the dog can’t bark is not enough. If it costs $100+ a day to board 2 dogs but I can cut that down to $50 by leaving them in my room all day that’s $350 saved for a week stay. Rules have to be made to account for the lowest common denominator, not just the responsible dog owners even if they make up the majority.

This is a pilot program. They rolled it out in one resort from each price tier plus the campground on a trial basis. With a pilot program if it bombs it just goes away but if it’s successful it will likely be rolled out to every resort. Successful = makes money. The actual increased revenue from the $50/$75 fee is Significantly higher than the added costs. I think it will be around to stay and probably expand in the future unless people don’t use it.

Uni also has this policy>
It's odd that Disney will allow an unattended animal in a hotel, that I think is the most curious.
"A $10 per hour "time out" fee is assessed by Loews Hotels if a pet is left unattended and needs to be removed from a guestroom."

From the Loews website https://site.universalorlando.com/military/Images/Pet_Agreement_Policy_tcm55-21186.pdf

 

[21stamps]

My dog locked himself in the bathroom, turned on water, stepped on drain stop. Did 25k in water damage.

Are you serious or joking?

AS somebody with allergies and two of three children with them, it actually does harm us...Not sure how this point is being missed so much.

Because people who live in dog friendly cities appear to be just fine. I’m not doubting dog allergies.. I’m doubting that people are on plane rides having allergic reactions to pets on the plane who aren’t hypoallergenic.. as a more than once, if any, occurrence. I think more often than not most people don’t even realize that dogs are in the cabin. How would you even know?

I also doubt that a large amount of people at a resort are going to have severe allergies all at that the same time just because there are dogs on the same large premises as them.

 

[AEfx]

That must make it hard to take care of puppies.

Neither cats nor dogs recognize their offspring visually. It's all olfactory. A puppy or kitten smells like it's mother because it comes out of them and spends so much time with them nesting/etc. That smell and the sounds/actions of the puppy triggers their maternal instincts and tells them "I have to take care of this".

Of course, dogs have varied personalities - it's our projection on dogs that thinks they recognize them after separation. Some dogs just like puppies or the general olfactory profile of certain breeds - this has been scientifically proven, so while they may seem "excited" when they see their offspring months/years later, they get just as stimulated by non-related puppies/dogs of similar breed.

The reason for the (very brief, usually a day or three at most) behavior changes when a dog or cat is separated from their young is due to the hormonal/biological changes that occur when they cease nursing.

Apparently, they forget where they are every 5 minutes or so, so each hour is 12 new experiences in getting to sniff out all the new things.

Do you not know the difference between long and short term memory? Oddly enough, you are actually pointing out what happens when they go into a new environment, like, say, I dunno - a strange hotel room.

Please, if you are going to quote the posts that explain it, then at least read them and make some attempt to understand. Because you just sound silly. It's amazing how many people have dogs but don't seem to know the first thing about them at all.