Dog program extended

[LSUmiss]

I have two dogs and absolutely adore them and definitely feel they are part of the family. That being said I would never take them to a strange place where they are going to he locked in a room by themselves for hours on end with strange noises and smells all around.

Also even though I love dogs that does not mean everyone does. My one son hates them and has a fear of most. Why would I force that on other people. Some people also have allergies so I wouldn't intentionally make anyone sick by bringing the dogs.

I think bringing your dogs to theme parks is selfish.

Do you mean the actual parks or to the resorts allowed?? If ppl follow the rules, then ppl who want/need to avoid them easily can. It has been in place for almost a yr now so there are no surprises.

 

[GusGusTheMouse]

Have airlines changed their rules? As far as I know they only changed rules about not allowing animals others than dogs & mini horses.

I think airlines are now requiring more comprehensive documentation for ESAs, which it should since people have nowhere to escape on a plane. However, I thought that was due to a fight between passengers a few weeks ago. An extremely large Great Dane ESA stepped on another passengers foot, and the passenger then punched the dog, and then the owner then punched the other passenger. Quite the debacle...

I have not heard about an ESA biting someone though. I tend to think airlines are trying to avoid what happened to United with that small puppy in the overhead bin.

UPDATE - I just googled it and I stand corrected. I do agree with the stronger enforcement of ESAs on airplanes, but I think that is irrelevant to a conversation about PET-FRIENDLY hotels!

 

[LSUmiss]

It isn't only the dog being affected. Other guests are also affected through either allergies or fears. While it is generally said that they shouldn't stay at dog friendly resorts is one thing but not everyone knows that some resorts allow dogs.

People needing dogs for medical reasons is not the same as bringing your pet. I stand by my OPINION, and while yours may differ I still think it is selfish.

I think it’s selfish to expect others to tiptoe around my allergy or fear when I have the rest of the resorts to pick from. It is my responsibility if I have an allergy to research the best places to stay.

 

[HopperFan]

I appreciate your response. I do think it would be horrible for a dog to be alone for 8+ hours in an unfamiliar area, which I am sure people do. Especially at the resorts near fireworks as the noise can scare me let alone a pooch. I also respect that some people do not like dogs or cannot be near them for medical reasons. However, those issues can be avoided if Disney implements rules like you said.

I guess my main issue is we do not know how the majority of guests bringing dogs are acting. You know the saying "you only focus on the negative"? I feel like that may be what is happening here. That only what is being remembered are the "bad" owners. I have been checking in on the dog report thread quite frequently and I feel like the majority of responses are positive/neutral/non-existent instances. And maybe that is because a lot of families do come prepared with well behaved dogs and frequently visit their dog throughout the day. However, we continue to focus on the handful of memorable bad dogs, and I fully admit some of the stories were truly icky (reflecting on the dog at AoA sitting on the food court bench). Maybe I am just being optimistic, but I think there are a lot more responsible dog owners than what we are giving credit for. And perhaps Disney found that to be true and it may be a reason why it is being extended. Or I could be completely wrong, and Disney will end it in a few weeks and the costs of the deep cleanings are just not worth the extra $50 a night.
However, it would be a shame for a few bad owners to stop a policy that could really help the good and responsible families enjoy a memorable vacation.

Additionally, I fully support your statement implementing more stricter guidelines. Like many, I am not thrilled about sleeping on the same pillow Old Goofy took a snore on the previous night. If I come san Pluto, I'd like to be assured I am not going to be put in a pet-friendly room. Likewise, if I voluntarily bring Goofy, I better be ready to sleep in a room that smells slightly of old pee. I think Disney should look to Universal as an indicator of a successful pet-friendly policy for an amusement park. If Disney can implement what Universal has done, then I think a lot of these complaints will lack support. However, if Disney does keep a "broad" policy then I may change my mind. But I would at least like to give Disney some time to try and figure things out. Don't knock it down until you give it some time to grow!

Lots of good points as well. Especially the fireworks, my little guy would be shaking and hiding and likely more .....

Some thoughts ...
- We are a tiny fraction of the Disney visitors so we would have a fraction of the first hand experiences
- Only folks who had personal experience can post on that thread, so my DS experience can not be shared
- That thread is a tiny tiny fraction of experiences so not enough to form any opinions
- Just based on the many many dog owners I know .... if there are no rules, anything goes
- We'll fall back to the "I spent a fortune on this trip I'm going to get my money worth" and Goofy sits ... alone
- I tell you my little guy sleeps glued to my side, if I brought him there is NO WAY I'd keep him out of the bed
- I would never bring him to do that ....... I don't trust others ... dogs are sleeping in beds
- Few bad apples always ruin everything in life, it's how the world turns
- Oh I promise you are sleeping on same pillow and bed as Goofy
- No matter what you might read, it has been reported in numerous places dogs are EVERYWHERE in the resort
- They are in all sections, all buildings, all rooms, concierge etc
- So your odds of sleeping with pee go down
- My ONLY hope is they deep clean after every single pet stay
- BUT now that they are legal, how many pets are there without paying
- Maybe we have seen a large increase in dogs in the parks because they can't stay in room if not registered
- It is very tough to tighten rules, easier to lax.
- Disney started out totally lax and I don't see them able to tighten up
- They are dumb, all they had to do was follow successful programs but no ..... it's a free-for-all

Like I say, not a problem for me personally as I won't stay at those resorts (sad as I love POR and wanted to try AoA) .... and then Disney broke the final straw with my daily room checks ........... so last two trips were offsite (one in dog hotel) and next trip booked offsite. Next is POP but my room is free and no dogs.

LOVE LOVE LOVE my precious dogs ..... but when I went to Disney last week, I left them at the beach.

 

[GusGusTheMouse]

Lots of good points as well. Especially the fireworks, my little guy would be shaking and hiding and likely more .....

Some thoughts ...
- We are a tiny fraction of the Disney visitors so we would have a fraction of the first hand experiences
- Only folks who had personal experience can post on that thread, so my DS experience can not be shared
- That thread is a tiny tiny fraction of experiences so not enough to form any opinions
- Just based on the many many dog owners I know .... if there are no rules, anything goes
- We'll fall back to the "I spent a fortune on this trip I'm going to get my money worth" and Goofy sits ... alone
- I tell you my little guy sleeps glued to my side, if I brought him there is NO WAY I'd keep him out of the bed
- I would never bring him to do that ....... I don't trust others ... dogs are sleeping in beds
- Few bad apples always ruin everything in life, it's how the world turns
- Oh I promise you are sleeping on same pillow and bed as Goofy
- No matter what you might read, it has been reported in numerous places dogs are EVERYWHERE in the resort
- They are in all sections, all buildings, all rooms, concierge etc
- So your odds of sleeping with pee go down
- My ONLY hope is they deep clean after every single pet stay
- BUT now that they are legal, how many pets are there without paying
- Maybe we have seen a large increase in dogs in the parks because they can't stay in room if not registered
- It is very tough to tighten rules, easier to lax.
- Disney started out totally lax and I don't see them able to tighten up
- They are dumb, all they had to do was follow successful programs but no ..... it's a free-for-all

Like I say, not a problem for me personally as I won't stay at those resorts (sad as I love POR and wanted to try AoA) .... and then Disney broke the final straw with my daily room checks ........... so last two trips were offsite (one in dog hotel) and next trip booked offsite. Next is POP but my room is free and no dogs.

LOVE LOVE LOVE my precious dogs ..... but when I went to Disney last week, I left them at the beach.

I guess for the first time in my life I am asking "Why can't Disney be more like Universal???"

Which is a scary thought, but boy do I wish they had just done things like how they do it at Hard Rock Hotel and Grand Pacific. Dedicate the lower floors of certain areas to dog guests only. If you bring your dog, then you must lie in the pee bed you made!

 

[Jen1995]

Have airlines changed their rules? As far as I know they only changed rules about not allowing animals others than dogs & mini horses.

Oh yes. They now have a relatively arduous process for emotional support animals. 48 hours advance notice with submission of documents showing your DSM V condition, signed by a licensed medical professional who is treating you as a patient, why you need the dog, etc. They will call the professional for validation before the flight as well.

 

[Woody412]

I was under the impression that they had ended this experiment. We were at POR for 5 days and didn’t see or hear a single dog. In fact, the only dog we saw was a golden retriever puppy in Disney Springs. Couldn’t have been older than 10-12 weeks and pooped all over the sidewalk. The young owner was fully prepared to walk away but her friend insisted that she get napkins from one of the vendors and clean SOME of it up. I’ve had dogs in my home for my entire life. I’ve never even dreamed of bringing mine to WDW, but as long as nobody else is being inconvenienced I don’t have a problem with it.

 

[Jen1995]

View attachment 340562 Another vote for cats! I can just as easily carry around one of my babies in the lovely carrier bag/purse like we saw at EPCOT last week with a little dog in while the owner was walking around Italy stores.

One of your cats (in the front) looks so much like mine that my daughter went up to confirm ours was still in our house!

 

[Scott MC]

I think it’s selfish to expect others to tiptoe around my allergy or fear when I have the rest of the resorts to pick from. It is my responsibility if I have an allergy to research the best places to stay.

While I understand what you were saying, and respect it, I circle back to what I said earlier which is that it is frustrating if you have been lucky enough to stay at many Disney resorts but really have come to find one of these new pet friendly hotels to be your “home” and now have to choose to stay elsewhere. My favorite resort is YC and we are staying there for our honeymoon in two weeks, and I don’t know what it will be like, but if we end up disliking the experience it will be disappointing to night stay there anymore. I am not allergic to dogs, I do not dislike dogs, I am not scared of dogs, but I am fully expecting Disney to completely look the other way on the majority of these rules… And there have been enough experiences noted on this site, Trip Advisor, and the Internet in general to support that.

 

[LSUmiss]

While I understand what you were saying, and respect it, I circle back to what I said earlier which is that it is frustrating if you have been lucky enough to stay at many Disney resorts but really have come to find one of these new pet friendly hotels to be your “home” and now have to choose to stay elsewhere. My favorite resort is YC and we are staying there for our honeymoon in two weeks, and I don’t know what it will be like, but if we end up disliking the experience it will be disappointing to night stay there anymore. I am not allergic to dogs, I do not dislike dogs, I am not scared of dogs, but I am fully expecting Disney to completely look the other way on the majority of these rules… And there have been enough experiences noted on this site, Trip Advisor, and the Internet in general to support that.

But in that regard it’s selfish to bring your dog on vacation AND break the rules not just to bring your dog where it’s allowed & follow the rules. I would argue that is no different than other guests who selfishly break any rules. The pp said it was selfish to bring your dog on vacation regardless if you abided by the rules.

 

[bumbershoot]

This is what drove the airlines to change their rules as well.

Hardly a rule change. Get the documentation ahead of time. Have a note for esa. And I think they limited the most of esa animals.

Big headlines about changes, with very few changes actually made.

 

[ellbell]

But in that regard it’s selfish to bring your dog on vacation AND break the rules not just to bring your dog where it’s allowed & follow the rules. I would argue that is no different than other guests who selfishly break any rules. The pp said it was selfish to bring your dog on vacation regardless if you abided by the rules.

I did not say it was selfish to bring you dog on vacation. I would take my dogs many places. I said it was selfish to take your dog to a theme park vacation.
Disney hasn't implemented rules that people are breaking. There are very few rules regarding dogs at Disney resorts. Which is part of the problem.

 

[gwynne]

While I understand what you were saying, and respect it, I circle back to what I said earlier which is that it is frustrating if you have been lucky enough to stay at many Disney resorts but really have come to find one of these new pet friendly hotels to be your “home” and now have to choose to stay elsewhere. My favorite resort is YC and we are staying there for our honeymoon in two weeks, and I don’t know what it will be like, but if we end up disliking the experience it will be disappointing to night stay there anymore. I am not allergic to dogs, I do not dislike dogs, I am not scared of dogs, but I am fully expecting Disney to completely look the other way on the majority of these rules… And there have been enough experiences noted on this site, Trip Advisor, and the Internet in general to support that.

I totally understand what you are saying. I'm very hesitant to book YC anymore due to the designated dog hotel policy.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

While I understand what you were saying, and respect it, I circle back to what I said earlier which is that it is frustrating if you have been lucky enough to stay at many Disney resorts but really have come to find one of these new pet friendly hotels to be your “home” and now have to choose to stay elsewhere. My favorite resort is YC and we are staying there for our honeymoon in two weeks, and I don’t know what it will be like, but if we end up disliking the experience it will be disappointing to night stay there anymore. I am not allergic to dogs, I do not dislike dogs, I am not scared of dogs, but I am fully expecting Disney to completely look the other way on the majority of these rules… And there have been enough experiences noted on this site, Trip Advisor, and the Internet in general to support that.

Our Favorite resort was the YC and now we stay at Jambo due to people with pets at the YC resort. I live in a neighborhood with obnoxious pet owners. We don't have pets and the last thing I want to do on vacation is to be subjected to people pets. Why are they not stopping people that bring them into the parks? Not talking about licensed service animals but the purse pooches, etc.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

WDWNT in typical fashion declares the dog policy is over just a few days ago, then flip flopped to say it's staying. Their mole needs to get it straight. Unless I missed it Disney has said nothing and the website still says it is a test until October.

Maybe they read the title of this thread.

 

[HopperFan]

Our Favorite resort was the YC and now we stay at Jambo due to people with pets at the YC resort. I live in a neighborhood with obnoxious pet owners. We don't have pets and the last thing I want to do on vacation is to be subjected to people pets. Why are they not stopping people that bring them into the parks? Not talking about licensed service animals but the purse pooches, etc.

There is no such thing as "licensed" ... right now you have to take their word for it. Given the pet culture (again I adore my furbabies) right now I think this all needs to be reevaluated. The folks who spent thousands of dollars for their highly trained service dogs need to be able to set themselves apart from the rest. Some formal system would be in their best interest.

 

[LSUmiss]

I did not say it was selfish to bring you dog on vacation. I would take my dogs many places. I said it was selfish to take your dog to a theme park vacation.
Disney hasn't implemented rules that people are breaking. There are very few rules regarding dogs at Disney resorts. Which is part of the problem.

So why is it selfish if ppl bring them & follow the rules?? It’s selfish to break the rules like anything.

 

[Jen1995]

Hardly a rule change. Get the documentation ahead of time. Have a note for esa. And I think they limited the most of esa animals.

Big headlines about changes, with very few changes actually made.

Not sure about that. before it was very easy to just use a faked note from the internet. now it has to be from a provider who is actively treating you, who is then called and verified prior to the flight.
Also, if the dog in any way is misbehaving it is immediately classified as a pet with all applicable requirements and fees. Any aggression and it is off the plane and in the cargo hold on the next flight.
A child was bitten in the face. And a man had his face severely maimed. And the airlines ARE liable because this outcome (people being bitten by untrained animals) is easily predicted by a "reasonable person."

 

[Jen1995]

So why is it selfish if ppl bring them & follow the rules?? It’s selfish to break the rules like anything.

I think the problem here specifically with dogs is that breaking the rules with a dog can end up with pretty serious problems for other people. It's not like line jumping. If a dog bites a child at the pool, that's a big deal. And there is documentation all over the internet that Disney is turning the other way re: dogs in pool and food areas.

 

[Minniefan2296]

So why is it selfish if ppl bring them & follow the rules?? It’s selfish to break the rules like anything.

Because we all know people won't follow the rules and Disney won't enforce their rules, therefore impacting everyone.