Camping With Pets (I am prepared to be flamed)

[Magic Fanatic]

To be clear again, I never said you had to tolerate the piles and I don't one bit. I also sense that it may have been embellished like many fish stories.

Did not get to fish this trip, so there are no fish stories. Wait, was that a passive aggressive way of calling me a liar? Clever!

While I can be very sarcastic at times, I try not to make a habit of lying or embellishing. Not a good trait to pass down to the love ones, or dogs. No one likes a dog that lies, unless they are sleeping. I've always heard you should let sleeping dogs lie, but doesn't that send a mixed message? Thats why I no longer have dogs, you can never trust them to tell the truth.

 

[bama_ed]

As a nobody with no skin in this game, it's my opinion (worth what you paid for it) that this thread is going the way of most threads here on the Camping Board describing a recent visit and encounter with pets.

I've seen this movie and I know how it ends. Can we skip to the end with the who-shot-John sequence?

Personally I don't want the Camping Board to look like some of the others. I don't want a locked thread.

No popcorn emoticon or gif's, no jokes, no kidding.

Please.

Bama Ed

 

[Magic Fanatic]

I thought it was, "Who shot J.R.?", but I digress.

Bama, I think we can moderate ourselves here. My responses are always typed with tongue firmly placed in cheek. I don't attack people, but will defend my position. Unfortunately I have no idea how to do one of those GIF things.

 

[tiggerdad]

This is why I have suggested to my wife that we should start taking the cat on vacation...

 

[Magic Fanatic]

I cannot recall ever being woken up by a neighbors cat. I'm good with cats. Tiggerdad, I could easily share a loop with you at the Fort!

I really am tempted to do one if those emoticon things right now, but no need to tempt fate. I guess I'll just go finish my son's stale popcorn he brought back from Disney.

 

[Teamubr]

This is why I have suggested to my wife that we should start taking the cat on vacation...

With your fascination with squirrels, I can tell you the cat idea probably won't work out well for one of them.

Here's a blurry pic of our neighborhood squirrel teasing one of my cats. And my Illinois squirrels aren't nearly as savvy as the Fort squirrels.

j

 

[tiggerdad]

Actually Jesse (the 15# solid black cat) is really good with squirrels. Birds...well...that's a different story.

 

[skyp4WDW]

Magic Fanatic,
I hope that you will call Ft Wilderness and speak with the General Manager regarding your experience (Your will have to make your way up the chain of command and speak to at least one Day Manager first) Tell them about your experience and request a refund for the week. (You will most likely get it; or a free week on account, because they did not enforce their own rules). Further, if you let this slide, you will very likely encounter more of the same disgusting behavior next visit. So please follow up...

 

[peg110]

Magic Fanatic,
I hope that you will call Ft Wilderness and speak with the General Manager regarding your experience (Your will have to make your way up the chain of command and speak to at least one Day Manager first) Tell them about your experience and request a refund for the week. (You will most likely get it; or a free week on account, because they did not enforce their own rules). Further, if you let this slide, you will very likely encounter more of the same disgusting behavior next visit. So please follow up...

I agree. It's the whole squeaky wheel thing.

I don't mind (and sometimes expect) that there might be some "inconvenience" on my vacation. Sometimes things happen, but sometimes, things happen and can be fixed simply. Someone not cleaning up after their dog is one of those things. Someone not abiding by the rules (as a matter of course rather than an exception) is one of those things too.

 

[bigblock396]

Magic Fanatic,
I hope that you will call Ft Wilderness and speak with the General Manager regarding your experience (Your will have to make your way up the chain of command and speak to at least one Day Manager first) Tell them about your experience and request a refund for the week. (You will most likely get it; or a free week on account, because they did not enforce their own rules). Further, if you let this slide, you will very likely encounter more of the same disgusting behavior next visit. So please follow up...

While I agree that, if you have a SERIOUS problem during your stay, you should contact the front desk and if you feel strongly enough about your issues, follow-up with an email to Guest Relations. However, to request a refund for the week stay is absolutely ridiculous. There are a lot of rules that are not consistently enforced (such as underage golf cart drivers, pool hoppers, quiet-hour drunken parties) and to expect to profit from barking dogs and dog poop is unbelievable. Things are going to always happen when you are camping and you are not always going to be happy with your neighbors but it's just part of camping. Not every trip is going to be perfect.

 

[skyp4WDW]

Buccaneers,
Vacationing in the middle of barking dogs and dog poop is Not money well-spent for most (If you're okay with that, then, fine. I am not!) Magic Fanatic would not "Profit" from a refund. He simply did not get the vacation he paid (ALOT) for in the first place.

 

[peg110]

While I agree that, if you have a SERIOUS problem during your stay, you should contact the front desk and if you feel strongly enough about your issues, follow-up with an email to Guest Relations. However, to request a refund for the week stay is absolutely ridiculous. There are a lot of rules that are not consistently enforced (such as underage golf cart drivers, pool hoppers, quiet-hour drunken parties) and to expect to profit from barking dogs and dog poop is unbelievable. Things are going to always happen when you are camping and you are not always going to be happy with your neighbors but it's just part of camping. Not every trip is going to be perfect.

I agree that you should not expect a full refund. Every situation is different. I do believe that if you made the complaints and nothing is done to rectify the situation, that you should be entitled to some compensation.

To complain after the fact and expect compensation may be difficult at best. That's not to say that it's not worth the effort to send a message to guest relations about your experience.

We have had issues at various locations (not just WDW) and if something is not right (for whatever reason) to the point that it's worth mentioning, then I mention it. I am not usually expecting a compensatory return, I am however expecting that something is done to make it right. As a good example, at one restaraunt (again not WDW) a larger chard of glass was in my food. I fortunately found it before I ate it. Definitely worth a "Complaint". I told the waitress, who took my plate away. They quickly got me another one and me and my DW ate for free that night. I felt that was fair and didn't even request anything other than a meal that was safe to consume.

 

[jbrostek]

Funny, I never actually suggested you boondock. I simply stated that there is a vast difference between boondocking and staying in an RV park. You could have just as easily had that family of 5 next to you at the same hour in the morning making just as much noise. Kind of like a hotel.....heck sometimes I find hotels on my work stays quieter then an RV park. The entire point I was trying to make that seems to have been missed is that there is a give and take on what should be tolerated what clearly should not. But also that by a small polite action you can in most cases resolve a problem. Sure there are pet and non pet people that could care less what you have to say, but not most of them.

We have slowly become a society that would prefer to rant on anonymously on the internet then speak to someone face to face and lay out the issue. I have no idea if the 6:30am dog issue would be cured, but how do they know its disturbing someone if nothing is ever said?

Actually, I wish I was camping at Disney last week, but alas I was not and my preferred loops are the 300 and 500 due to access to the dog park. I am just an avid RV and pet owner that reads way too many rants where part of the story is missing or the accusations are grossly embellished. If I was at the 400 loop, I would have spoke to the 6:30am dog owner and if I came across multiple piles left by careless owners I would have done something about it as a responsible owner. But again, attack me if you wish I was just giving my view of things and had no intent of my post to be an attack on you.

 

[North of Mouse]

Things are going to always happen when you are camping and you are not always going to be happy with your neighbors but it's just part of camping. Not every trip is going to be perfect.

Seriously??? Pardon me, but I so disagree! Campground rules are in place for a reason and Disney should be obligated to enforce them when they are impacting guests - otherwise don't have rules. I will not camp in 'questionable' campgrounds that have no rules. Disney's prices, rules, location, and beautiful campground should ensure an enjoyable (near perfect) experience. That's what we pay for, and for the last 40+ years have received with only a couple exceptions, and they were made right - 'that' keeps us coming back!!

 

[peg110]

We have slowly become a society that would prefer to rant on anonymously on the internet then speak to someone face to face and lay out the issue. I have no idea if the 6:30am dog issue would be cured, but how do they know its disturbing someone if nothing is ever said?

The reason that we have gotten away from the face to face, is that there are far too many unstable people out there. You never know if the person you are approaching is reasonable and will understand (and hopefully comply with) your request or if they will pull out a weapon. Then there are the vindictive types who would smile and nod and say ok, but when you are at the park (or elsewhere) they would put nails under your tires (or something like that).

I personally try and test the waters and make a "Casual" mention about issues to see if I can get a result, otherwise I would rely on the facilities staff to address the issue (of course after I have informed them.)

I think for many that there is this perception that it's "Disney" and that when you pass through that Arch coming on to the property, that everything should be magical (as it should be) but the reality is, is that there are plenty of people who can pay the bill to go there and still be an

 

[North of Mouse]

The reason that we have gotten away from the face to face, is that there are far too many unstable people out there. You never know if the person you are approaching is reasonable and will understand (and hopefully comply with) your request or if they will pull out a weapon. Then there are the vindictive types who would smile and nod and say ok, but when you are at the park (or elsewhere) they would put nails under your tires (or something like that).

Agree! That's what Disney is for - to give us an enjoyable stay for monies paid!
An occasional annoyance, deal with it, something impacting our stay - no!! We would never confront strangers. Anyone tying there dog outside at 6:30 in the morning to let bark constantly (or any time) knows they are being annoying and shouldn't need to be reminded of common sense - why put him/her out alone to bark at all if 'they' were already not being annoyed!

 

[bigblock396]

Reading a lot of these posts has me realizing that I am probably more tolerant of inconveniences than others. When I come to Disney, or anywhere for that matter, I do not have my rose-colored glasses on. I realize I'm not going to have perfect campers next to me on every trip, not everyone is going to follow the rules, some of the kids are going to yell and scream more than I would like to hear it, a car is going to drive too fast through the loop, a golf cart is going to be driven with an under-aged kid at the wheel or drive the wrong way in the loop, there will be loud drunks at the next sites, etc. you get my meaning. Whether these are "rules" or just an "occasional annoyances", they are going to happen. I'm not going to waste my vacation time by being " 'permanent fixtures' at the Outpost until the issue was taken care of!!" (quoting another poster.) I don't come to WDW expecting Disney to give me a "near perfect experience" because you can't control what all of the thousands of other people are doing.

If I were in the OP's situation and I had requested a non-pet loop then I would have made sure I was not in a pet loop. I would have researched ahead of time which Premium loops were designated as non-pet loops so that when they assigned me the 400 loop, I would have know it was pet friendly. Possibly his request got lost or overlooked. I'm sure they would have had a site available in the 1000 through 1400 loop which are designated non-pet. Granted there is always the possibility that there will be a pet in one of those loops but you stand a better chance that there will be less pets. You also stand a better chance getting a dog problem resolved if you are in a non-pet loop. If all my attempts to get a non-pet site fail, then I make the best of it -- after all, I'm at Disney. You can tell by the previous posts who likes (or has dogs) and who doesn't because if you have pets you tend to be more tolerant because you realize stuff like this will happen. However, today more and more people are traveling with pets so it's more common to have a pet camping close to you.

Also if I checked into a site that had a lot of dog poop in it, I would immediately call the front desk to get someone out there to clean it up. Obviously the previous camper on that site was not a considerate pet owner. Hey, it happens so you either clean it up yourself, call maintenance or request another site.

Just my thoughts!!!!

 

[Letsbgoofy]

When we take our pets to the vets (where they also board animals) the dogs are always barking. I could never leave my dog in a situation like that. We will bring her to WDW with us knowing that we are going to have to accommodate her (as in short trips to the parks). We bought a monitor so that we can see and hear our dog when we do leave her. If she is having a problem, then we leave the park. She very rarely barks; I'm more concerned with her being scared.

When we camp with her, she is never outside if we are not. We are usually up around 6 am out walking, but I will try to walk in areas where there are no dogs - she doesn't bark but other dogs will bark at her when we walk by. I never leave the house or camper without poop bags in my pocket. I really hope there isn't poop at the dog park, that drives me crazy!

We camped Memorial Day weekend at a state park. A few sites away from us was a family with 3 kids. I ran a daycare for 24 years and I have never heard children scream so loud and for so long. It started right at 7 am and lasted until about 8 pm. In watching the parents, I realized that they must be immune to the noise. Maybe some dog owners are the same?

This thread has given me a lot to think about. I'm not sure what the right way to handle the situation the OP encountered would be. I will say that I wish every campground would enforce their rules so that the campers don't have to deal with uncomfortable situations themselves.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We often bring our dogs with us camping, but only when we are expecting to spend most of our time are the campground.

Places like FW, no we rarely bring the dogs. I possibility of them barking and disturbing other campers is always a possibility. However most important, being away most if not all day is a problem, especially if the power goes off and/or the AC breaks down, we wont take the chance of hurting them.

AKK

 

[Flametamr]

The way the world is going now you are risking you life or health confronting people with bad behavior. Many people feel entitled and think they are above common rules. Their kids or dogs are too. I agree with the theory of trying to befriend them first. It has worked but most of the time it won't. In the situation I described earlier after my wife's altercation I went to the office and demanded to be moved. A spot I had originally wanted had opened up so we moved. Problem solved. But at Disney they will most likely deny moving you due to being fill to capacity. Then you have a choice to be miserable for your very expensive vacation or complain until something is fixed. I personally will complain.