I just got off Dec 27-Jan2, house for a pooch in the area?

[MolonLabe]

Technically we could leave on Christmas Eve but we'd like to be home for Christmas this year.

The bad news our kennel and backup kennel are both booked solid. We are on the waiting list but these are both crazy popular. They are like the Grand Floridian for dogs, suites with TV's, beds ect. We're picky where we leave our boy.

We've got a great dog, GSD, smart a whip and hasn't went in the house since he's been 9 weeks old. Not a yipper but he will bark, not incessantly but with GSD bass, at loud bangs or sounds. A good thing 99.9999% of the time but if we get a pet friendly hotel and one of the neighboring rooms has a bunch of unruly kids in it banging against the walls and slamming the doors he'll voice his displeasure/warning.

Again, a couple of loud woofs BUT if they keep the noise up he might keep responding. I'd rather not risk getting kicked out of a hotel so we need a house.

VRBO and Airbnb (used them in the past for just us) are no goes, only 2 pet friendly houses anywhere close to WDW and they are 750$ a night and 900$ a night (6 bedrooms each).

Any suggestions?

 

[Bete]

Disney World onsite is now pet friendly. There are 4 resort choices, one on each price tier. You do pay an additional $75/night pet fee, but heck you are onsite with your pooch. The Disney resorts are sectioned off; so, you will be with like individuals in your area. Hopefully, they will be more understanding about barking.

At this short notice, I'm not sure you can get a room, but I would try.

 

[MolonLabe]

Disney World onsite is now pet friendly. There are 4 resort choices, one on each price tier. You do pay an additional $75/night pet fee, but heck you are onsite with your pooch. The Disney resorts are sectioned off; so, you will be with like individuals in your area. Hopefully, they will be more understanding about barking.

At this short notice, I'm not sure you can get a room, but I would try.

I was trying for 2 days before making the original post and last night I managed to grab a Cabin at Wilderness, so it was possible to grab a room this late. I have solved the lodging dilemma but now is the pricing dilemma, with dog fee and taxes it's $659 a night. I paid that with the deluxe dining plan and tickets for 4 people for TPV at Contemporary. Granted it was the first week in Dec and not one of the busiest weeks of the year but still... I'm still hoping a place will open up at our boarding location before we hit the 5 day cancellation window. I hate to "waste" our AP's and not go but at the same time, I didn't get the AP to drop another 4k on a tiny cabin.

 

[Bete]

I just looked and you can get Port Orleans-Riverside for your dates, too.

Those rooms have queen beds and a child pull down bed. It would be way cheaper than a cabin.

You are going at the most popular time of the year. It won't be cheap wherever.

If you have time left on your annual pass, then you can wait and go at a different time when it would be cheaper.

 

[MolonLabe]

I just looked and you can get Port Orleans-Riverside for your dates, too.

Those rooms have queen beds and a child pull down bed. It would be way cheaper than a cabin.

You are going at the most popular time of the year. It won't be cheap wherever.

If you have time left on your annual pass, then you can wait and go at a different time when it would be cheaper.

Not in dog friendly rooms they don't. At least they didn't 36 hours ago. Plus I can't risk going to Port Orleans and having a bunch of brats next door banging on the walls and causing my GSD to bark. We've got a great dog but pounding on the walls will elicit a solid bark with bass. Brats will get to stay, they'll ask us to leave.

We've been to Disney during Christmas before, including in MK on Christmas Day and always stay off site that time of year, sure pricing is higher but $200~ range for a nice 4 bedroom house still isn't outrageous. I've found plenty of places offsite at other resorts and houses but the 85 pound GSD isn't welcome at any of them. If there is a cancellation we can get him into our usual spot, we'll canx the cabin and stay offsite.

On years when we have AP's we utilize them whenever we can, this is a chance to be in MK for NYE and it isn't about postponing to a cheaper period, go or don't go, won't impact other trips. It's just about the insanity of the paying that much.

I'm 100% for supply and demand, they can (and should) charge what they want. I just cant believe people continue to pay it... of course I type that as I'm considering to do it anyway. It's only money and my girls will be grown in no time. It's just the principle.

We haven't stayed on property at a Disney resort in at least 2 years, maybe more. It's just not worth it for the tiny accommodations. We're stuck right now though and over the proverbial barrel if we want to go.

 

[Bete]

Just to let you know we have a dog and she's quite sensitive to noises, too. We have travelled to over 33 states in the last 7 years with her and staying in pet friendly resorts.

We have always left the television on to subdue any other noises. It does help.
Also, we do a lot of playing when we know we will be gone for a longer period of time. We basically exhaust our dog and she really appreciates the rest while we are gone and stays pretty quiet. We have never had a complaint and she is always with us. She couldn't handle being in a kennel with a stranger.

Not sure if there are ear muffs for dogs, but maybe that would lessen the sounds for your dog. If you crate your dog then you could always cover with pillows and blankets over the crate and that would subdue the outside sounds, too. We don't do this, but I have a cousin that has used calming medicine that helps her dog.

I hear you about your dog. You may want to consider day care for the dog some place while you are gone and keep the dog part of the time with you. Also, could you kennel your dog back home instead of taking the dog with you? Some kennels have onsite video for your comfort.

Finally, we never go for more than 6 hours in the parks without a break. We check on our dog and sometimes we go back to the park at night and sometimes we don't.

It sounds like you know what you want to do, but whether it will fall in place for you remains uncertain. I wish you the best to get the answer that fits you best.

 

[MolonLabe]

We have always left the television on to subdue any other noises. It does help.
Also, we do a lot of playing when we know we will be gone for a longer period of time. We basically exhaust our dog and she really appreciates the rest while we are gone and stays pretty quiet. We have never had a complaint and she is always with us. She couldn't handle being in a kennel with a stranger.

We're bringing tennis balls and other stuff to help get the ants out of his pants in between excursions. Plus half the time one of the girls or my wife wants to go rest for a little bit anyway, so it should work out.

I hear you kennel wise, that's why we are in such a bind. We use a pet 'resort' so our boy has his own suite, big room, it's own bed and we can watch him on web cams 24/7, both in his suite and as he runs around outside. They take crazy good care of him, it's not cheap but it's worth it for us. There is a similar facility about 45 minutes away we have as a backup but both are booked. Our fingers are crossed for the waiting list on both.

Finally, we never go for more than 6 hours in the parks without a break. We check on our dog and sometimes we go back to the park at night and sometimes we don't.

It sounds like you know what you want to do, but whether it will fall in place for you remains uncertain. I wish you the best to get the answer that fits you best.

I'm going to bring a smart cam and try and leave it in the room with him so we can watch in the cabin while were gone and see and hear what he's doing. I'm hoping it will link through the wifi fine there. Disney rules say you can't leave an animal for more than 7 hours unattended. I'm not sure how they'd know and we'll leave our boy alone for up to 8 hours if we need to but in a strange place we'll keep it closer to 6 and maybe even shorter up front. Arrival day hopefully our cabin is ready at 3pm checkin. One of us is going to sit (or nap if it's me) with him that first afternoon and into the evening to make sure he acclimates. Lots of chew bones and kong toys to keep him occupied and distracted from the hubbub of what might be going on around him.

If the smartcam works, it'll go a long way to having peace of mind that he's chilling out while we're gone.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

You could check & see if any of the Extended Stay America hotels in the area have availability. They do allow pets, but larger pets require approval from a manager. Even if the Lake Buena Vista location is unavailable & ya have to stay 5 or 6 miles away - that would be worth saving $500 a night in my book!

 

[KristinU]

OP, I hear you on the size of the cabins at the Fort, but of any of the resorts that is the one that is great for dogs. Plenty of space for walks and there is a dog park for getting the "ya-ya's" out before heading out to the parks. We have two labs that we travel in our RV with and they do great there. They get way more walks than at home and snooze away in their crates with the AC cranking while we visit the parks. Fingers crossed that a house pops up for you (and I hear you on wanting a house and not a hotel), but if not the Fort is a nice place to spend Christmas!

 

[MolonLabe]

You could check & see if any of the Extended Stay America hotels in the area have availability. They do allow pets, but larger pets require approval from a manager. Even if the Lake Buena Vista location is unavailable & ya have to stay 5 or 6 miles away - that would be worth saving $500 a night in my book!

I did try the ESA at LBV they are booked up unfortunately. We stayed there without the dog for a night a couple years back, not a bad place to crash and close.

The next closest was full too but at 6 miles away that makes it nearly 20 minutes extra each way. Making travel time to take out the dog well over an hour round trip which is just too long to do IMO.

 

[Bete]

From a previous post by original poster: Disney can watch you like big brother now when using magic bands. Magic band will have the time you enter a park. When you get back to the resort to get into your room the magic band will know when you are entering. Subtracting the two will show how long you have been gone.

Now, if you do something other than a Disney park it would be much harder to track you.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I did try the ESA at LBV they are booked up unfortunately. We stayed there without the dog for a night a couple years back, not a bad place to crash and close.

The next closest was full too but at 6 miles away that makes it nearly 20 minutes extra each way. Making travel time to take out the dog well over an hour round trip which is just too long to do IMO.

I see what you are saying, good luck regardless of where you stay! Are you driving to the different parks from the Fort? Because if using WDW transportation, ya likely won't save much time over driving from several miles away.

 

[MolonLabe]

I see what you are saying, good luck regardless of where you stay! Are you driving to the different parks from the Fort? Because if using WDW transportation, ya likely won't save much time over driving from several miles away.

Generally speaking, yes we will drive. To be blunt, Disney transport sucks. It doesn't matter what resort you are at, it's quicker to drive / taxi / uber than it is to wait for a bus. The best transport we had was at Pop century during our first onsite visit. The worst was at Contemporary, bus wise anyway.

We visited the fort before, even though this will be our first stay. For transport to say it sucks would be an understatement. Newyears eve we'll use transport because everyone leaving via car *should* be much more taxing than waiting for a bus, but who knows. Plus if we are Epcot, I'll likely have a couple of drinks and I have a strict no drinks and driving rule.

 

[KristinU]

Generally speaking, yes we will drive. To be blunt, Disney transport sucks. It doesn't matter what resort you are at, it's quicker to drive / taxi / uber than it is to wait for a bus.

Totally agree, we've used Uber/Lyft several times to get back to the Fort to tend to our dog boys rather than waiting on Disney busses. So much faster. I suppose the Minnie Vans are now a good option for this too.

 

[MolonLabe]

Totally agree, we've used Uber/Lyft several times to get back to the Fort to tend to our dog boys rather than waiting on Disney busses. So much faster. I suppose the Minnie Vans are now a good option for this too.

We have used Uber in the past when we split up and the other group wanted to get a late start / or leave early when staying off site.

Do you know if the Minnie Vans will drop off or pick up at a cabin or at least the closet bus stop to your cabin? Minnie vans do direct drop off at the hoopdeedo for example. I really dislike the idea of having to take the internal bus on top of a car service.

 

[KristinU]

Just posted a thread asking about Minnie Vans in the Camping at WDW forum, @MolonLabe. I think if anyone would know the answer it would be someone on that board