Coming Soon: Luxury Pet Resort at WDW

[mickeysaver]

I found the following on another board. I am sooooooo happy to see this is finally happening! I have 3 Chihuahuas that will be coming with us to WDW....this is so cool! Maggie

Beginning January 10, 2008, the Walt Disney World Resort will transition its kennel operations to an industry expert, Best Friends PetCare Inc. Best Friends is a national provider of pet hospitality in the United States, with 44 locations in 18 states.

Conversion of Walt Disney World Resort Kennels to Best Friends will occur in phases throughout the months of January and February 2008 with the anticipated transition schedule as follows:

1/10/08 - Transportation and Ticket Center and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground Kennels

1/24/08 - Epcot Kennel

2/7/08 - Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom Kennels

Best Friends is also slated to build and operate a full-service, luxury pet "resort" at the Walt Disney World Resort. The one-of-a-kind pet facility is expected to open in mid-2009 and will be located on Bonnet Creek Parkway. The luxury pet "resort" will cater to park and resort Guests and will provide a full range of pet hospitality services. Note, with the addition of this facility, there are no plans to allow pets in Guest rooms at any of the Disney Resort Hotels with the exception of designated service animals.

For additional information on Best Friends PetCare Inc., please view their website at http://www.bestfriendspetcare.com

 

[fishermouse]

GREAT NEWS :

 

[CanadianGuy]

I've moved this over to the Disney Rumors & News Board!

Thanks,

Knox

 

[Cheshire Figment]

This of course means that the people working in the kennels will no longer be Disney employees, but working for a contractor.

 

[mickeysaver]

No offense to the fine CM's that have worked at the kennels, but I don't care if the people running the kennels are Disney CM's or Best Friends' employees. To me, what matters is that my dogs will be in a luxury pet resort onsite near us. This is something that I have wished for and prayed about for years.

Having Deuce, Cinderella, and Perdita visits worked into our itinerary is going to make for more pixie dust than ever! Maggie

 

[EUROPACL]

No offense to the fine CM's that have worked at the kennels, but I don't care if the people running the kennels are Disney CM's or Best Friends' employees. To me, what matters is that my dogs will be in a luxury pet resort onsite near us. This is something that I have wished for and prayed about for years.

Having Deuce, Cinderella, and Perdita visits worked into our itinerary is going to make for more pixie dust than ever! Maggie

Not sure if you aware but pixie dust has been outsorced to a third party...from now on Pixie dust is ran by a company that can better serve and has more experince with the picie dust customer.

 

[mickeysaver]

Who cares if the work being done at WDW is done by a low paid Disney CM or someone that still provides excellent service and is most likely being paid more by the company that Disney has contracted with to provide those services? If the work is being done and the pixie dust is there, I don't care if it's 100% fairy generated or not. Maggie

 

[Uncleromulus]

The Disney kennels are pretty "vanilla" operations--food, a warm (or cool) place to sleep and not much else. This new to-be-built operation sounds like it'll have those "country club" features that a lot of owners want for their pets.
And I guess Disney could have continued running the kennels and built and operated the new spot on their own--for some reason they decided not to.

 

[DancingBear]

Who cares if the work being done at WDW is done by a low paid Disney CM or someone that...is most likely being paid more by the company that Disney has contracted with to provide those services?

Are those the only two choices? Do you feel the same about the hotel check-in folks? The ticket takers? Your Jungle Boat captain?

If you have a bad experience at one of these kennels, will that affect your satisfaction with Disney and your Walt Disney World vacation?

 

[DancingBear]

And I guess Disney could have continued running the kennels and built and operated the new spot on their own--for some reason they decided not to.

Sure--for the same reason they outsourced the valet parking and did the Four Seasons deal. Because they have concluded that other folks do those things better than Disney can.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I wonder where on Bonnet Creek Parkway this new resort will go?

Not a very long road, Port Orleans and OKW on one side, Bonnet Creek runs along the other side.

 

[DancingBear]

This won't be that big of a building and area. Looking on Google Earth, there are some pieces on the creek side of that road that might work (if buildings are permitted there), even at the intersection with Vista Blvd. There is also a piece between Old Key West and POFQ where there is actually a service road and you can see trucks parked in the trees.

 

[Uncleromulus]

DancingBear: Actually the new valets have been screwing up the "free" DDE valet parking perk by charging it back to the room.

 

[mrincredible2008]

I found the following on another board. I am sooooooo happy to see this is finally happening! I have 3 Chihuahuas that will be coming with us to WDW....this is so cool! Maggie

Beginning January 10, 2008, the Walt Disney World Resort will transition its kennel operations to an industry expert, Best Friends PetCare Inc. Best Friends is a national provider of pet hospitality in the United States, with 44 locations in 18 states.

Conversion of Walt Disney World Resort Kennels to Best Friends will occur in phases throughout the months of January and February 2008 with the anticipated transition schedule as follows:

1/10/08 - Transportation and Ticket Center and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground Kennels

1/24/08 - Epcot Kennel

2/7/08 - Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom Kennels

Best Friends is also slated to build and operate a full-service, luxury pet "resort" at the Walt Disney World Resort. The one-of-a-kind pet facility is expected to open in mid-2009 and will be located on Bonnet Creek Parkway. The luxury pet "resort" will cater to park and resort Guests and will provide a full range of pet hospitality services. Note, with the addition of this facility, there are no plans to allow pets in Guest rooms at any of the Disney Resort Hotels with the exception of designated service animals.

For additional information on Best Friends PetCare Inc., please view their website at http://www.bestfriendspetcare.com

thanks. we cant wait.

 

[Mecha Figment]

all this for a dog. it makes me chuckle.

 

[mickeysaver]

all this for a dog. it makes me chuckle.

Well, if it makes you happy, that's fine. I never expected to be as crazy about our "kids" as I am. Just imagine what kind of nut I would be if we had a real kid. lol Maggie

 

[Uncleromulus]

Heck--I don't put my 4 dachshunds in Country Club kennels even around here. We actually pay a retired couple to house-sit with them when we're at WDW!!

 

[disneyfan67]

all this for a dog. it makes me chuckle.

This segment of the pet industry is a multi billion dollar a year cash cow. Americans love their pets and some of them are treated better than most people living here and in foreign countries. On my last trip to Orlando I did a split stay at Universal and Disney and stayed onsite at the Portofino Bay hotel for the first time. They allow pets to stay there and the guests love it from what I saw. They even have a room service menu that has items just for pets. I ran into some real nice dogs and the owners of them say they won't stay any place else. I can't fault Disney for trying to get in on some of this money. I don't care too much for the outsourcing though.

 

[Bellamickey]

Yea! My dog "Harley" will be so happy. His first trip to WDW, awesome!

 

[mrincredible2008]

Yea! My dog "Harley" will be so happy. His first trip to WDW, awesome!

NO MORE RUFFIN IT FOR US EITHER.