Great Trip at OKW - But 1 Thing Made Me Mad

[chrissyk]

You know I don't know about everyone else but what facts do you base your persumptions that this rule breaking is "lower class". In fact how would you even know and what do you use as your determining factor.

If you want to state that rule breaking is done by people with no class, I would agree, however I have the impression this is not what you meant.

And oh by the way Oprah was allowed to bring both her dogs to Disney when she stayed in the Presidential suite at the Grand Floridian.

If Disney can allow Oprah to bring her dogs to the GF, why can't they make a few DVC units and Disney hotel rooms pet-friendly?!! That's a double standard if I ever heard one!

 

[Sammie]

If Disney can allow Oprah to bring her dogs to the GF, why can't they make a few DVC units and Disney hotel rooms pet-friendly?!! That's a double standard if I ever heard one!

Because money talks, it was in her contract, she was doing her show from
WDW and she would not come without the dogs. She did have to keep them in the Suite and out of the public areas and she had to cover the cost of a complete clean afterwards.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

The rules here at DVC are broken all the time with people stuffing people into units beyond capacity which results in wear and tear on the units......This is what happens when a lower class of people dominate an area like they have at WDW in the past 7 years or so.

PA you never cease to amaze me! Where do you come up with this stuff?

HBC

 

[OneMoreTry]

This is what happens when a lower class of people dominate an area like they have at WDW in the past 7 years or so.

FYI, WDW is not exclusive or elitist. Evidently you can't afford such places so you're slumming it with the rest of it. So GET OVER IT. You're not as rich and special as you want to be.

AND rule-breaking is NOT limited to any socio-economic class. I would bet that RICH people break rules as much OR MORE than middle class.

Finally, for what my opinion is worth, the pet and smoking issues are the only DVC forum highly controversial issues on which I come down clearly and emphatically AGAINST the rule breakers. It is a health issue. Many of us would love to bring our pets and go to lots of hassle and expense to leave them home.

 

[walter]

I personally think that housekeeping/maintenance of buildings allowing pets would be greater. Also, people like ourselves donot want to be inconvienced by dogs barking, deficating near or on walkways, etc. We have pets, but have no problem leaving close to home as not to cause situations with fellow vacationers. I would not be in favor of paying additional use/maintenance fees for this privilege. The "clean up" after pets would be difficult to police.

 

[pkitty]

Let me play devils advocate for one minute....how do we know that he wasn't leaving DVC and picked the pooch up from the kennel, brought him up to the room as opposed to leaving him in the vehicle to potentially overheat while they packed up,and was simply taking him back out to the vehicle? Or was just checking in and was heading out to the kennel at that very moment to deposit the dog for the week? I think that it would be nearly impossible to leave the dog unattended in the room for your entire stay without actually having someone notice? It's trash and towel service every 4 days is it not? How would Mousekeeping not notice? Seems a little strange! We leave all 11 of our pets at various locations including kennels, parents house's and friends. It takes a whole day just to scatter everyone. We've tailored the pets needs to there particular caregivers and it has always worked out very well for us. I need a vacation from them and prefer not to travel with them (although I have before).Even though we are pet "enthusiasts" we do not expect to have everyone share our passion and therefore we also would prefer not to hav DVC go pet friendly. I would be supportive of a Kenneling facility located on DVC sight (for the sheer convience of those who travel with there pets) as opposed to actually having the pets in the room. At least this way if you had concerns, your pet could be readily accessed instead of having to head over to Fort Wilderness. Just a thought!

 

[alyssa810]

Wow! We were in #3836 from the 7th-12th; I wonder if this guy was there then too!?!?
Also, I LOVED our room!! it was our first trip down as DVC members, and we were so pleased with the room!! My only complaint was that I found the shower curtain a little hard to move. It was like the curtain rod needed to be greased up or something!
Other than that, we really, really liked OKW!!

 

[disworldnum1]

Have severly ashtmatic and allergy suffering son,and get very frustrated with people who believe there actions dont effect anyone else.Unfortunately there is always a percentage of the population who care only about there self and this has been proved to me over and over at BWV. I have been put in non-smoking rooms that smelled like an entire convention had stayed there before us.I found that Disney does'nt really care about people smoking in the rooms ,or after they checked out they would do something about it.I had a room that they came in and changed the curtains,bed spreads and covered all the furniture with sheets to cover the smell. Also to be honest I had to change rooms because the people before us had obviously lost there sense of smell because of the amount of perfume and colonge they wore. It would be nice if everyone would think of the next person to stay in the rooms but unfortunately they don't. My question would be do you think Disney would actually do anything to the person that brought the dog in???

 

[arcruiser]

We were in 3826 from 4th thru 10th. I saw him on Friday morning - the 10th. So, yes, he was there during your stay.

how do we know that he wasn't leaving DVC and picked the pooch up from the kennel, brought him up to the room as opposed to leaving him in the vehicle to potentially overheat while they packed up,and was simply taking him back out to the vehicle? Or was just checking in and was heading out to the kennel at that very moment to deposit the dog for the week?

Well, the temp that morning was 73 at 9am per Weather Underground's records, and they say wind was around 12mph, but I don't remember if it was or was not windy at OKW.... I thought it was a little cooler than that myself....
Anyways, I don't think potential pet overheating was an issue.
And I really doubt he was checking in at 9am.

He knew what he was doing.... and he didn't wanna get caught!
That's why he was hurriedly scurrying past the mousekeeping staff.

 

[PMC]

Being extremely allergic to dogs, I would have confronted this guest and made the biggest sceine possible. One of the reasons we bought into DVC was because no pets are allowed. I really don't what to end up in the hospital on my vacation. When we were at VWL on Dec. 1, I noticed quite a bit of dog crap down along the sidewalk by the end of the Main Lodge near the beach area. Disney even has a sign there telling dog owners to clean up after their dogs. Why is there a sign if dogs are not supposed to be there to begin with?

 

[dianeschlicht]

snip...Disney even has a sign there telling dog owners to clean up after their dogs. Why is there a sign if dogs are not supposed to be there to begin with?

I suspect in that case it might be because dogs are allowed at some of the campsites in Wilderness camp ground. Perhaps those folks are walking their dogs and not cleaning up after them.

I do agree that Disney does little to enforce pet and smoking regulations. In my trip report a couple weeks ago, I had evidence of that in regards to folks smoking in a non-smoking building. I too have asthma, and smoke is THE WORST! It was coming in through the vents in the bathroom, so it had to be coming from inside the building. When I complained, I was told "there was nothing the could do", but when I pursued it, they said they would place a formal complaint and have housekeeping check on it and inform whomever was in violation that it was a non-smoking buiding. It did stop after that, so I guess complaining about it DID help.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Maybe the pet owner suffers from a "separation anxiety disorder" and therefore Fifi is classified as a "service dog".

You can get a doctors note for just about anything these days, and Disney would never dare question the validity of an individuals "disability".

 

[TDC Nala]

I was checking into AKL once and the CM doing the checkin told a story that a guest had smuggled a cat into their room. The cat escaped, and she and her colleagues had spent most of the morning trying to catch it.

So, these things do happen at WDW although everybody's probably aware of the pet rules.

She didn't say what happened to the guest or the cat.

 

[pkitty]

:

Well, the temp that morning was 73 at 9am per Weather Underground's records, and they say wind was around 12mph, but I don't remember if it was or was not windy at OKW.... I thought it was a little cooler than that myself....
Anyways, I don't think potential pet overheating was an issue.
And I really doubt he was checking in at 9am.

He knew what he was doing.... and he didn't wanna get caught!
That's why he was hurriedly scurrying past the mousekeeping staff.

As I said...simply playing Devil's advocate. As far as the eoverheating goes...simply speaking from personal experience,my husband had our dog down to the lake...rolled down the windows and ran up the boardwalk to grab dd a bite to eat. He ws gone approximately 10 minutes (thank god he had his resturant receipt). When he got back to the car there was a municipal officer standing there with a citation for leaving the dog unattended in the vehicle. It was about 75 that day too (not sure of the wind speed or direction for that day either) . A good samaritan passerby decided to place a cell call on behalf of our soaking wet chihuahua. My husband has never left her in the car since after the tongue lashing he recieved that day...and he's a cop.Maybe Canadian animal rights are more "extreme"...not sure...could be cultural. Although we Canadians are know for our extreme politeness I probably would have asked the gentleman what was up. Would have alleviated alot of speculation as to where DVC stands on the matter when brought to the attention of a staff member. There reaction would have determined whether or not they care to deal with these types of issues or not. From the earlier cat story doesn't seem like they really care all that much which is a bit disturbing especially to those who have dangerous pet dander allergies. Oh and I check my luggage at 9 am all the time (not completely unheard of)...then I go to the park for the day. Maybe DVC works differently but the resorts are all like this. Guess I'll find out March 1!!

 

[Dean]

At the newer Marriott's, at least the one's I'm aware of, even service animals require insurance, prior notification, documentation and the like. And there are stiff penalties and cleaning fees, even for service animals.

As for the rules, they should be followed. This one is likely more important to the individual member than the occupancy but in many ways they are the same.

 

[mickeysgal]

Let me play devils advocate for one minute....how do we know that he wasn't leaving DVC and picked the pooch up from the kennel, brought him up to the room as opposed to leaving him in the vehicle to potentially overheat while they packed up,and was simply taking him back out to the vehicle? Or was just checking in and was heading out to the kennel at that very moment to deposit the dog for the week? I think that it would be nearly impossible to leave the dog unattended in the room for your entire stay without actually having someone notice?

As I was reading this thread, this is exactly what I was thinking. Yes, the OP saw this person with this dog in the carrier, but its very possible that he was coming/going to/from the kennel at that time. If he left the dog in the car, and one of us saw this, what a thread that would be! And equally as wrong!

 

[arcruiser]

OK then, dumb question - Are WDW kennels open at nite? meaning do they keep pets overnite?

And just having the animal in the room for a brief period of time is OK?

So if 10 minutes is OK, how about 30?

Well, let's make it an hour.... or two.

Heck, we don't need the kennel, we'll keep Fifi here for an hour at a time -
but we'll do it 24 hours in a row!

Now I'm thinking I need a new Duffel Bag.
Anybody know who carries one big enough to hold an 80 lb Golden Ret....

 

[MiaSRN62]

OK then, dumb question - Are WDW kennels open at nite? meaning do they keep pets overnite?

Yep....overnight boarding is available. There are 4 kennels I believe, onsite. It's very reasonably priced too---compared to prices here in PA---I think it's only like $11/night and food is included.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The kennels at WDW are wonderful and not expensive at all. I believe it is $6 per day and $9 per overnight. $15 a day for boarding is VERY reasonable! I would leave them home though.

 

[crisi]

I was checking into AKL once and the CM doing the checkin told a story that a guest had smuggled a cat into their room. The cat escaped, and she and her colleagues had spent most of the morning trying to catch it.

So, these things do happen at WDW although everybody's probably aware of the pet rules.

She didn't say what happened to the guest or the cat.

I have told this story here before....

I once coordinated a large (5000 person) convention - not at Disney - and worked very closely with the hotel. One of our attendees brought (against the rules) a ferret. The ferret got loose - and got into the walls of the hotel. The ferret took about a week to capture - fortunately a maid was able to lock it in a bathroom when she saw it and it did not scare any guests. So ferret was returned safely to the owner (who was not contrite at all and was threatening to sue the hotel if anything happened to her precious ferret). Personally, if I'd been the GM, I'd have poisoned the darn thing - and I'm surprised the ferret didn't end up poisoned - as I'm sure all hotels do regular pest maintenance (i.e. leave out mouse poison in the walls).

I do know that the guest was not allowed to make reservations at that hotel chain again (rather nice large chain....starts with an R). They had someway to blacklist her.

(Can you imagine being a guest and waking up in the morning to an unexpected ferret scrambling across the dresser?!)