4 Walt Disney World Resorts to accept dogs

GoofGoof

Premium Member
The "policy" appears to be being re-written hourly. They released the maps with doggie Doo areas, implying restricted areas, but initially didn't impose any restrictions of room types. Later they said YC will allow dogs in any garden, water, pool view rooms excluding club level, so anywhere in the resort, and at POR again any non- preferred rooms. After the number of requests to be away from dog areas, they decided to allocate certain blocks at POR as dog-friendly, but no guarantees are given.

Crucially you don't have to notify Disney in advance that you intend to bring a dog, so if someone turns up with a dog, they might have to be allocated another room, according to what room type they booked.

They are trying to move people where possible, those booked at YC are so far being offered several other deluxe options. But those at POR and AoA are finding there's lmuch less alternative availability.

I expect they will be updating the policy to try and make sure dogs are pre-booked, so they can allocate different rooms / blocks as they need to.
Where did they say the dog rooms would be spread across the resort. The initial Disney Parks Blog announcement stated:
We will also designate certain floors or sections of a hotel as dog-friendly, while the majority of areas will remain canine-free to accommodate Guests with allergies or other concerns.
Do you know that they changed that plan or is this just fake news;)

I also agree that dogs should be pre-booked. I can not imagine the administrative nightmare of trying to organize all of those people checking in and out at the same time as it is without throwing the dog rooms into the mix. It would also be good for them to ensure the dogs are pre-booked for DME. Someone yesterday brought up the issue with riding on the long bus ride with allergies to dogs. It would help to know ahead if the bus will be dog free. I think that’s a pretty easy compromise for the dog owners to be allowed to bring their pets.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
http://www.wdwmagic.com/amp/resorts...-areas-at-walt-disney-world-resort-hotels.htm

As far as I know, it wasn't said but implied by the locations of the dog relief areas across the resorts. The only place that might be isolated is the Yacht Club.
Yeah, so each resort has 2 to 4 relief areas implying there will be several buildings at least at POR and AoA that will allow dogs. That still leaves the majority of buildings dog free. I would have thought it would make more sense to keep all of the dog rooms together for logistics and cleaning purposes but maybe they spread them out so one cleaning crew wouldn’t have all of the dog rooms.

I think they will also try to keep dogs to the first floor. I don’t have any proof of that, but it’s logistically easier for the dog owners and also avoids extra cleaning of common areas and chances of an accident in an elevator or on the stairs.
 

beachlover4444

Well-Known Member
I just looked up this from Universal.. wondering if Disney tried to match the fees, but a 1up with the ‘allowing to be unattended for 7 hours’.
I personally think that rule would be the first to disappear before all pets would have to go.
I’ve stayed in hotels that didn’t require constant attendance with your dog, but they are also in very dog friendly areas where your dog will be with you most of the day anyway.. can’t do that at WDW.

View attachment 239075
yes but will people really obey these rules? they cant even obey rules standing in lines or no flash photography or video.
 

beachlover4444

Well-Known Member
Yeah, so each resort has 2 to 4 relief areas implying there will be several buildings at least at POR and AoA that will allow dogs. That still leaves the majority of buildings dog free. I would have thought it would make more sense to keep all of the dog rooms together for logistics and cleaning purposes but maybe they spread them out so one cleaning crew wouldn’t have all of the dog rooms.

I think they will also try to keep dogs to the first floor. I don’t have any proof of that, but it’s logistically easier for the dog owners and also avoids extra cleaning of common areas and chances of an accident in an elevator or on the stairs.
if they are smart they will keep them on ground floor for cleaning purposes and to avoid dogs going up and down stairs or elevators. the problem is people wont stay in the designated areas any more than trying to keep kids from running in pool areas. the apartment place i lived in provided doggie pick up bags and a designated area and i still stepped in doo doo in the picnic areas. SOME people are just inconsiderate
 

21stamps

Well-Known Member
yes but will people really obey these rules? they cant even obey rules standing in lines or no flash photography or video.
if they are smart they will keep them on ground floor for cleaning purposes and to avoid dogs going up and down stairs or elevators. the problem is people wont stay in the designated areas any more than trying to keep kids from running in pool areas. the apartment place i lived in provided doggie pick up bags and a designated area and i still stepped in doo doo in the picnic areas. SOME people are just inconsiderate

Read reviews from Loews Universal resorts, The Four Seasons, or any of the other thousands of hotels who already accept dogs.

There’s a Universal forum on this site, how many “OMG MY VACATION WAS RUINED BY A DOG” threads exist?
 

beachlover4444

Well-Known Member
FYI you cannot restrict Service animals to a designated room area by law. They can get any room, any location. So there is always a chance at check in that you are entering a room that has had a service animal. And people lie all the time about having service animals. I think that is why Disney caved and said bring them but you will pay. But honestly, you dont have to pay, you can just lie, because the hotel cannot ask you to provide paperwork that it is a true service animal anyway, believe me I know, we have atleast a couple every week and the worst offenders are people who work at hotels bringing their dogs because they know the laws better than anyone.
 

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Premium Member
Yeah, so each resort has 2 to 4 relief areas implying there will be several buildings at least at POR and AoA that will allow dogs. That still leaves the majority of buildings dog free. I would have thought it would make more sense to keep all of the dog rooms together for logistics and cleaning purposes but maybe they spread them out so one cleaning crew wouldn’t have all of the dog rooms.

I think they will also try to keep dogs to the first floor. I don’t have any proof of that, but it’s logistically easier for the dog owners and also avoids extra cleaning of common areas and chances of an accident in an elevator or on the stairs.
This is a link from a POR FB group.

http://www.portorleans.org/news.php?first=131017
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
FYI you cannot restrict Service animals to a designated room area by law. They can get any room, any location. So there is always a chance at check in that you are entering a room that has had a service animal. And people lie all the time about having service animals. I think that is why Disney caved and said bring them but you will pay. But honestly, you dont have to pay, you can just lie, because the hotel cannot ask you to provide paperwork that it is a true service animal anyway, believe me I know, we have atleast a couple every week and the worst offenders are people who work at hotels bringing their dogs because they know the laws better than anyone.
Real service dogs are pretty rare. You can’t ask for paperwork, the only thing you can ask is if the dog is needed because of a disability (you can’t ask what the disability is) and if so what type of service does the dog provide. The dog has to provide some kind of skill other than just being Company for the owner. Emotional support dogs are not legally service dogs so they don’t qualify under the law. I’m sure some people do lie and just say they have a disability and the dog has a skill. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that if they have the option to do this legally within the rules they will as opposed to lying to beat the fee.
 

Pixieish

Well-Known Member
Real service dogs are pretty rare. You can’t ask for paperwork, the only thing you can ask is if the dog is needed because of a disability (you can’t ask what the disability is) and if so what type of service does the dog provide. The dog has to provide some kind of skill other than just being Company for the owner. Emotional support dogs are not legally service dogs so they don’t qualify under the law. I’m sure some people do lie and just say they have a disability and the dog has a skill. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that if they have the option to do this legally within the rules they will as opposed to lying to beat the fee.

They'll lie to beat the fee, and then they'll lie to bring the dogs to the parks.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
They'll lie to beat the fee, and then they'll lie to bring the dogs to the parks.
The ADA has been around for years. You don’t need this policy to use it fraudulently. I don’t see very many dogs at the parks today. Could that number increase since they are at the resort anyway? Maybe. But I don’t think it’s certain.
 

Driver

Well-Known Member
I think you missed the point of my post. I am not doubting that people have allergic reactions, nor am I doubting the impact they have. However, there are the allergens that I mentioned that re already present at WDW, and cannot be controlled, yet people who have varying levels of reactions to these allergens visit WDW, and have found a way to minimise the effect the allergens have on them, otherwise the reactions would be bad enough that they would not visit. People who are allergic to pets should be able to control their reaction to dogs just as other people control their reaction to dust, pollen, mold, etc, especially when interaction with dogs at WDW can be controlled on a much higher level-there will be a much higher chance of breathing in pollen or dust at a WDW resort than getting close enough to a dog to have it affect you.
Ok I have a better understanding of what you said however I'm not all in on people controlling a pet allergie. I went through this years back with my issue with cats and basically what the Doc said was " you can avoid cats, dogs etc. but the pollens and etc. you can't and that's what they will help you with. So if some poor soul happens on an animal, that's where that persons problem begins. I get you can stay somewhere else but as some have posted what about folks who like returning to a particular resort because it's a favorite and now dogs are allowed and they got an allergy issue. They may not want to take a chance going there and that takes the fun out of it for them. I am genuinely curious how this will end up.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Very interesting. It’s like they read my posts and then said this guy knows his stuff, let’s put all the dogs in one building;)

I suspected the volume would be pretty low right now. Dog owners were as caught off guard by this as the people against it. I think volume will pick up some for sure. They need to require the dogs to be registered when the reservation is made. Just add a box next to number of kids for number of dogs.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Real service dogs are pretty rare. You can’t ask for paperwork, the only thing you can ask is if the dog is needed because of a disability (you can’t ask what the disability is) and if so what type of service does the dog provide. The dog has to provide some kind of skill other than just being Company for the owner. Emotional support dogs are not legally service dogs so they don’t qualify under the law. I’m sure some people do lie and just say they have a disability and the dog has a skill. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that if they have the option to do this legally within the rules they will as opposed to lying to beat the fee.
Ah, but what about horses?
Guide_horse.jpg
 

Pixieish

Well-Known Member
The ADA has been around for years. You don’t need this policy to use it fraudulently. I don’t see very many dogs at the parks today. Could that number increase since they are at the resort anyway? Maybe. But I don’t think it’s certain.

No, but it all but blatantly encourages abusing the ADA laws. The Feds need to up their game and do something about the abuse of services meant to help people who truly need them.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
No, but it all but blatantly encourages abusing the ADA laws. The Feds need to up their game and do something about the abuse of services meant to help people who truly need them.
The ADA is flawed. It’s desigmed to protect those in need from unnecessary scrutiny but leaves the door open for abuse. I would think this room policy at least helps limit the ADA fraud with hotel rooms.

As far as the parks go, why would people want to bring their dogs into a theme park anyway? Service dogs have no choice, they are working but there’s nothing good for a pet to do there. I don’t get that at all.
 

Pixieish

Well-Known Member
The ADA is flawed. It’s desigmed to protect those in need from unnecessary scrutiny but leaves the door open for abuse. I would think this room policy at least helps limit the ADA fraud with hotel rooms.

As far as the parks go, why would people want to bring their dogs into a theme park anyway? Service dogs have no choice, they are working but there’s nothing good for a pet to do there. I don’t get that at all.

People are inherently stupid. I once saw someone complain about someone allowing their dog to lay ON a table people eat at in one of the Disney parks. I guarantee that was not a service dog. And don't get me started on the yahoos that think therapy or support dogs deserve the same classification.
 

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