Emotional Support Animals when visiting WDW

[Arosebud13]

Hey

So my mom has recently been assigned an emotional support dog to see if it helps with her PTSD. After the trial period to see if it does help break her panic attacks, the dog will be officially certified as a service animal.
The thing is, the trial period is still going on as we go on our trip to WDW in July. We booked this vacation months ago and really would not like to have to cancel.
So, how does Disney handle Emotional Support Animals?

 

[Arosebud13]

Interesting topics. Who assigns a person a support animal? Is a specific animal required or does the person pick their own? I know most service animals are specifically trained. I would guess support animals are not. Just a guess.

I tried to convinced the wife I needed a support 20 year old girlfriend, yeah that did not work

My mom's psychologist assigned her the dog. He had specific tasks he wanted the animal to perform, which led us to the animal we are working with right now.

 

[Disvillain63]

You should be fine as long as he has the vest that states he is a service dog 'in training'. I've seen many with 'in training' vests at the parks. Due to abuse of the term service dog, they are strongly suggesting that the dog have a vest.

 

[Arosebud13]

You should be fine as long as he has the vest that states he is a service dog 'in training'. I've seen many with 'in training' vests at the parks. Due to abuse of the term service dog, they are strongly suggesting that the dog have a vest.

Yeah, it will have that vest and an id with all it's training information

 

[cbettua]

Yeah, it will have that vest and an id with all it's training information

You should be fine, the vest makes it clear he is not just a pet but a service dog for his person.

 

[plaz10]

did it respond to the AA dog onstage?
not the drunk dog, the animatronic one.

That was the first thing I thought of! Haha! Nope it laid on the ground and never made a sound

 

[Arty Cordova]

I saw a dog this weekend at Magic Kingdom, a German Shepard that had a vest on saying PTSD service dog.

 

[BigTxEars]

Ok good info, I was just curious as some of those service animals cost $1000s to train. I was not sure if you had to get a new one or if an existing pet would work.

 

[Arosebud13]

Ok good info, I was just curious as some of those service animals cost $1000s to train. I was not sure if you had to get a new one or if an existing pet would work.

The training does cost, but in my mom's case we are paying for the current training involved with my mom getting used to a service animal and the dog getting used to my mom, and we did not have to cover any costs for the training the dog received before it was selected for a specific owner.

 

[Kristamouse]

Just curious if you are staying on property and if you have to let the hotels know about the pet. I don't ask to be nosy but because I have 2 children with severe allgeries to dander. If we were next to you on COP my kids would have wheezing and swelling eyes. A few years ago we stayed at PORS and our kids had problems breathing in the room and I strongly suspected that an animal had been in there. A deep cleaning helped some but we did change rooms after I took my kids to the front desk to show them what was going on.
I fully respect and know service animal are needed and glad your Mother has one to help her heal. I was just wondering if I could now request a room for my family that was animal free.

 

[s8film40]

Typically Disney's policy is to allow service or emotional support animals without really questioning the validity. There are however some risks for the persons using them. First of all you should consider the animals behavior even a completely legitimate service animal can be asked to leave if there are behavior issues like barking, growling urinating, etc. Again going back to behavior should any incidents occur this is when the validity of a service animal could become an issue and in many cases criminal charges could apply if the animal is not deemed to be a true service animal. Parks are very crowded and you want to make sure your animal could handle it. You are also responsible for any damage or harm your animal could potentially create. You should also check with your hotel it's possible you may get an extra cleaning charge.

 

[Arosebud13]

Just curious if you are staying on property and if you have to let the hotels know about the pet. I don't ask to be nosy but because I have 2 children with severe allgeries to dander. If we were next to you on COP my kids would have wheezing and swelling eyes. A few years ago we stayed at PORS and our kids had problems breathing in the room and I strongly suspected that an animal had been in there. A deep cleaning helped some but we did change rooms after I took my kids to the front desk to show them what was going on.
I fully respect and know service animal are needed and glad your Mother has one to help her heal. I was just wondering if I could now request a room for my family that was animal free.

My mom has allergies too, the jack russell we received is a mixed breed. I just refer to it as a jack russell because it looks more like that than it's other breed part. Basically our dog is an hypoallergenic dog because it was breed with a poodle to give it that the hair on it instead of the fur that causes the allergies. I do know others don't always get hypoallergenic but with my mom's allergies we did.
So with us, no issues around people with allergies, other service animals you can still call to see if they'll move you around if there is an issue.

 

[Arosebud13]

Typically Disney's policy is to allow service or emotional support animals without really questioning the validity. There are however some risks for the persons using them. First of all you should consider the animals behavior even a completely legitimate service animal can be asked to leave if there are behavior issues like barking, growling urinating, etc. Again going back to behavior should any incidents occur this is when the validity of a service animal could become an issue and in many cases criminal charges could apply if the animal is not deemed to be a true service animal. Parks are very crowded and you want to make sure your animal could handle it. You are also responsible for any damage or harm your animal could potentially create. You should also check with your hotel it's possible you may get an extra cleaning charge.

Oh yeah, we made sure before we even accepted this dog for the trial (not trail, whoops) with my mom. I took the dog through the public access test with the trainer near by to verify this dog has been trained to act appropriately. I even had the dog around a couple neighbors who had more aggressive dogs, but our dog supply pulled "ME" back with the harness as he should to make sure "I" was aware there was a potential hazard in my path. Very quiet dog we got that only gives a small yip if the person it is leading at that moment has fallen, because the yip is his signal that their person needs help.

 

[Kristamouse]

Thanks Oddly DH and I were both dog owners before the kids...we are really thinking about a pig now. They can be trained like cats with a litter box and go out like a dog and are dandless. Really want the kids to have a pet they can touch, play with. Our frogs and fish are fun to watch not play with...

 

[BigTxEars]

Monkeys are where its at!

 

[Arosebud13]

Thanks Oddly DH and I were both dog owners before the kids...we are really thinking about a pig now. They can be trained like cats with a litter box and go out like a dog and are dandless. Really want the kids to have a pet they can touch, play with. Our frogs and fish are fun to watch not play with...

Yeah, I'm a big dog person too. But, with my mom having horrible allergies, I just picked out my dogs off that. I got a basenji, it's a hypoallergenic dog and he is very active and goes on all my runs with me. So there are dog breeds for people with allergies; it just took some research and patience in searching shelters for one