4 WDW Resorts to allow dogs

[Farro]

This is a fantastic suggestion - which was made impossible for some by the way Disney rolled this out.

Someone would have been affected by it at some point. That's the way it goes with most changes. I said up-thread, they would have had to announce it 499 (?) days ahead of time, which would be silly.

And I don't know the numbers, but I highly doubt that people who were booked in the weeks/couple months after it started all decided to bring their dogs with them.

 

[STLstone]

Someone would have been affected by it at some point. That's the way it goes with most changes. I said up-thread, they would have had to announce it 499 (?) days ahead of time, which would be silly.

And I don't know the numbers, but I highly doubt that people who were booked in the weeks/couple months after it started all decided to bring their dogs with them.

No amount of warning would have encompassed every vacation, but if it was announced a year ahead of time, nearly everyone would have had time to reevaluate their hotels choices. If you give 48 hrs notice, that's a near impossibility.

I'm not sure what you meant by when people decided to bring their dogs, but it's clear dogs started showing up within a week after this was announced. So people who were previously booked decided to bring their dogs at some point after they made their reservation (assuming the reservations were made at least a week before the trip started - which is a near certainty for Disney hotels).

 

[LSUmiss]

No amount of warning would have encompassed every vacation, but if it was announced a year ahead of time, nearly everyone would have had time to reevaluate their hotels choices. If you give 48 hrs notice, that's a near impossibility.

I'm not sure what you meant by when people decided to bring their dogs, but it's clear dogs started showing up within a week after this was announced. So people who were previously booked decided to bring their dogs at some point after they made their reservation (assuming the reservations were made at least a week before the trip started - which is a near certainty for Disney hotels).

I agree 48 hours is not any kind of notice & think WDW should have given more notice. However, I also agree with the pp that it wouldn’t have mattered b/c even if they had given more notice ppl who don’t like would have still complained & said things like we have been planning this trip for 15 years & it’s the ONLY resort that our family likes that fits our needs. Like the pp said, WDW probably figured get it over with & just do it. Can you imagine the drama of a year’s worth of anticipation?

 

[Farro]

We went soon after it was announced. Stayed at Polynesian where dogs aren't allowed. Except service dogs.
We saw service dogs in strollers wearing little vests that said service dogs getting on the buses. We saw little dogs walking on leashes wearing service vests. At the Poly.

My point of that is that all hotels have dogs and with service dogs being more "prevalent" these days, I'm not going to assume that any dog at these hotels after this announcement wouldn't have been there anyways at that point.

Anyways it's done. No use crying over spilled milk. Either it will work out and become the norm, or there will be problems and Disney will discontinue.
Only time will tell.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I agree 48 hours is not any kind of notice & think WDW should have given more notice. However, I also agree with the pp that it wouldn’t have mattered b/c even if they had given more notice ppl who don’t like would have still complained & said things like we have been planning this trip for 15 years & it’s the ONLY resort that our family likes that fits our needs. Like the pp said, WDW probably figured get it over with & just do it. Can you imagine the drama of a year’s worth of anticipation?

Maybe split the difference and do six months? Or at least getting through the holiday period with such limited flexibility/availability - although I hear what you're saying...

I can only speak for myself but I'm not sure that would be true for everyone. I understand why they are introducing it, but I definitely resent that Disney changed the policy and I don't have the choice to change my reservation for January (or even have much ability to make any requests). I don't really know, of course, if it will impact me personally at all while I'm there. But it's definitely causing some issues for people in our group - I don't know about everyone, since not everyone even knows (Disney hasn't *officially* notified us of the policy change and maybe won't? We were booked before the policy appeared on the website, so unless people are checking the website for some reason and go back on the POR page, I'm not sure if they will...). I don't think it's been a deal breaker for anyone in the group, although they would probably incur be a financial loss since we've paid for most of the trip.

But going forward, I guess I'm more concerned that Disney has a good set of rules/policy and whether or not they enforce the rules - for the benefit and comfort of everyone...people without dogs, people with dogs, and the dogs themselves! I can make my choices based on that information going forward since I don't have any major issues to consider - although I have a lot of empathy for those that do. It's up to Disney to enforce the rules, of course, but that's what I would hope for, anyway.

(yes, I know service dogs have always been in WDW)

 

[STLstone]

This is probably one of the things opponents of this can point to as a problem.

(pic of a dog at a table at AOA): Experiences at Dog-Friendly Disney Resorts

I'm not positive if this is allowed under the rules. If it is not, and Disney doesn't have a handle on enforcing the rules, it could ultimately lead to the cancellation of the policy.

 

[LSUmiss]

This is probably one of the things opponents of this can point to as a problem.

(pic of a dog at a table at AOA): Experiences at Dog-Friendly Disney Resorts

I'm not positive if this is allowed under the rules. If it is not, and Disney doesn't have a handle on enforcing the rules, it could ultimately lead to the cancellation of the policy.

No, it’s not allowed b/c they’re not supposed to be anywhere but designated areas & the food court is not one of them. I hate to see this (not that it really bothers me), but it is against policy & will make the opponents freak out.

 

[MuppetFan418]

This is probably one of the things opponents of this can point to as a problem.

(pic of a dog at a table at AOA): Experiences at Dog-Friendly Disney Resorts

I'm not positive if this is allowed under the rules. If it is not, and Disney doesn't have a handle on enforcing the rules, it could ultimately lead to the cancellation of the policy.

Yeah, that breaks more than one rule. Gross.

 

[Farro]

No, it’s not allowed b/c they’re not supposed to be anywhere but designated areas & the food court is not one of them. I hate to see this (not that it really bothers me), but it is against policy & will make the opponents freak out.

Exactly. I don't like to see it because it's breaking the rules/rules aren't being enforced and that will ruin it for everyone, but for myself, I'd probably go up and pet him!

 

[HopperFan]

This is probably one of the things opponents of this can point to as a problem.

(pic of a dog at a table at AOA): Experiences at Dog-Friendly Disney Resorts

I'm not positive if this is allowed under the rules. If it is not, and Disney doesn't have a handle on enforcing the rules, it could ultimately lead to the cancellation of the policy.

And this part got lost at the bottom of the post .............

At Art of Animation on Sunday, eating off the table.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

For me this is the thing.... Disney put this in really hastily....

Disney needs to have policies based on reasonableness. Had they said the following at the start this would have been a non-starter....

1/ Basic requirements about dog sizes (should be small dogs since rooms are small) --- that disney considers a 150lb dog the same as a 10lb dog is just plain weird. The resonance of the barks of our 72lb aussie is vastly different than our 30 pound aussie. They are equally awesome dogs but one dog is simply louder and wouldn't fare well in 380 sq ft room.
2/ Dogs should be contained. (I don't want dogs on the furniture (bed, sofa, table, etc....) because it's just not very clean. Yeah I get that some people aren't clean either.
3/ The rooms they have access to should be limited.... designate X rooms to be eligible for dog friendly rooms. They can then verify that X-room hasn't had a dog....
4/ When a dog has been in a room it should be hyper-cleaned as a matter of course and Disney should do the black light check (and clean even more based on that....) Thinking that urine on a carpet, bed, sofa is that much worse in a hot humid environment.
5/ Letting dogs loose in the rooms unattended is crazy.... Barking, peeing, etc... nothing good can come from that. It also essentially means that rooms that have dogs won't be checked by housekeeping for an extended period.
6/ Disney adds waivers for dog owners liability but how does that help a guest who is bitten or injured but the guest isn't properly insured.... Just how does WDW know that a particular owner is a responsible one (who trains their dog, their dog isn't agressive, has adequate insurance coverage, etc...)
7/ Some assurance for people that had booked previously that this wouldn't affect them
and that if it did WDW would care and react appropriately....

This was Disney that did this poorly.... Had they come out with a reasonable policy that would address both pet lovers and non-pet lovers then it would be hard to argue.... They massively failed and now it becomes emotional debate for both sides... not good at all.

 

[ralphie]

Just returned from 4 nights at AOA, I was under the impression dogs were only permitted in Little Mermaid rooms. We encountered a man walking two poodles, one reg. and one small thru the Number 5 building in theFinding Nemo Suites. I believe he stated he was staying there? Why was he walking dogs thru the building if he was staying in the Little Mermaid rooms? We purposely stayed there to avoid dogs.

 

[Moliphino]

Just returned from 4 nights at AOA, I was under the impression dogs were only permitted in Little Mermaid rooms. We encountered a man walking two poodles, one reg. and one small thru the Number 5 building in theFinding Nemo Suites. I believe he stated he was staying there? Why was he walking dogs thru the building if he was staying in the Little Mermaid rooms? We purposely stayed there to avoid dogs.

From the map, it seems like there's one dog friendly building in each section.

https://cdn1.parksmedia.wdprapps.di...ation-resort/Pet-Policy_CARD_DAAR_0221-KM.pdf