How do People Handle Service Dogs @ the park?

[MissDrawingDisney]

First off I'll tell you some of my background, I am 19 years old headed to Disney World in September. This isn't my first time, but it is going to be the first time I bring my Service Dog Bella. I have Ehler's Danlos Syndrome, and am confined to a wheelchair. Bella goes with me everywhere, but I'm not sure how people, and cast members will handle her. She is also not your typical looking service dog. She is a Yorkie who weighs about 6 lbs. I tend to get a lot more children coming up to me because I have such a small dog, and Bella is really good with them, always gentle. But I tend to get rather rude looks, since people don't think she isn a regular service dog like a golden retriever. She actually senses when I pass out from pain. If it wasn't for her, I would have had a lot of trouble in my past. I really want to take her to Disney, but it worries me that she can't ride some rides... Are the cast members usually nice with a person with a service dog? Has anyone ever had any trouble with having one on the park?????

 

[lanejudy]

True service animals are welcome at Disney parks. This is WDW's link to information about service animals: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/service-animals/ You can also find other threads by searching the disABILITIES forum.

I recently closed a very contentious thread about service dogs in the park. I will allow this thread to remain open as long as it remains civil.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[dismiss]

You will need to have a friend or relative stay with the dog if she cannot go on the ride and then you can do a rider switch. CMs are not allowed to supervise service animals while the owner is on a ride.

 

[SteveMouse]

You will need to have a friend or relative stay with the dog if she cannot go on the ride and then you can do a rider switch. CMs are not allowed to supervise service animals while the owner is on a ride.

Services animals can go in/on some attractions but not on others (safety-such as no restraints for animals on roller coasters or other kinds of issues). The link the PP included lists of those attractions. In some circumstances, an attraction may have a temporary kennel for you to use while you are on the attraction. For others, you can use Rider switch, treating the animal as someone too short or choosing not to ride.

Have safe travels!

 

[cobright]

Here's the thing. ADA says your service dog can go where you go if it is needed to mitigate some aspect of your disability. But if you plan on riding rides you will need to have a friend come with you to hold the dog while you ride. If you have a friend with you, is the dog really necessary?

If the only service the dog provides is alerting someone(?) when you have or are about to lose consciousness then there are a wealth of assistive devices that can accomplish the same thing and let you and your friend ride the rides together.

If you want to be a good citizen and play by the rules, then you have to ask if your reason for bringing the dog is that it is a dedicated tool that is the best way to manage your disease in all circumstances or if it is because you love Bella and get a great deal of comfort from having her near you. Because I have designed and deployed sensors and indicators to alert for loss of consciousness and I guarantee you will get a speedier response with one of these devices than from a barking dog. I have pilot systems that trigger oxygen in the even of a pilot fainting, they can trigger a pain pump just as easily.

That said, I'm the last person to judge. I self medicate with clear rum pretty much constantly on my trips through the parks. I stole a peanut from a squirrel in EPCOT one hungry morning waiting for world showcase to open up. I spent almost an hour trading shots of gin and beverly soda that day as well.

So, whatever, If the dog get's you through the day a bit easier then do whatever it takes. No CMs are likely to give you any slack. I would guess that your wheel chair will be enough indication to keep fellow guests in line. If anyone asks, tell them that the dog senses seizures which allows you to take medicine to prevent them. It's pure bull poop, but it's something people are likely to understand and believe.

In any case, good luck.

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm going to close this thread before it goes any further down the same path the other thread took.

I will add a couple of things
- there is some information about Service Dogs in post 3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. You can find that thread near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature.

- there is information about attractions with warnings in a post on page 2 of that thread. Many of those are the more 'wild' attractions that a service dog can't go on. For those, you could have someone else in your party hold the dog while you ride, then you would exit with the dog while they ride. Some of those attractions have kennels ether a dog can be confined while the guest rides.

- with Ehler's Danlos Syndrome, it's not likely you would be riding most of the attractions a dog is not allowed on because those attractions would likely be too rough
The 2 exceptions I can think of would be Peter Pan and Soarin'
Both are gentle rides, but are suspended, which is why a dog can't ride. Peter Pan has a moving walkway which can't be stopped or slowed and has a pretty short time to get on.

- small dogs can be service dogs. One of my daughter's friends has a Yorkie as her Service Dog. He alerts a few minutes before a seizure so she can get to a safe place and turn off her power wheelchair before the seizure begins. He also fetches people in her household to come to her when she needs help
He always wears a service dog vest when he is working and, even though kids like him because he is cute, she doesn't allow anyone to pet HM or give him much notice while he is working. He has a job to do, and he needs people (kids included) to leave him alone while he's working.

- my youngest daughter has a service dog, but we have never been to Disney World with him because the things he does (pick things up, come get DH or I, etc) are not things DD needs on a vacation.
We decided the benefits of having her dog don't equal the disadvantages of bringing him.