Just Back...a few thoughts

[disney junky]

Our party of ten stayed in a Grand Villa at Boardwalk. Six adults. Four small kids. Great location. Great facility. We loved the layout of the villa. Plenty of space.

I haven't been on the boards for a while so I expect this has been discussed, but I'm seeing a lot more dogs. In the parks. In the room areas. Little dogs. Lap dogs. I suspect I am not aware of new guidelines regarding animals. How does Disney allow this? Is there some system by which dogs are registered as support animals?

I thought the prices in the store at Boardwalk had become more reasonable for the food items that a party might use in the room. Frozen pizzas, lunch meat, bread, chips, milk. Those types of things weren't outrageous. Obviously, they were higher than shopping sales at home, but given the effort required to leave the site or have delivery, it was more reasonable than I remember.

The bus service to the parks was great. I appreciate having our own runs without sharing with Swan and Dolphin and Yacht and Beach.

We ate lunch at Be Our Guest. We had a reservation. I expected a table. Instead, we checked in, ordered at the kiosks, and were told to go find a table. We had to get our own silverware and drinks. With a party of ten, we were fortunate to be able to find two tables we could shove together to form a table for ten. Beyond that, I wasn't overly impressed with the sandwiches, mostly because of the price. The venue is impressive, but I supposed I'm one of those who goes to a restaurant for the food.

Our trip was awesome. Kids and grandkids trump any negatives. It's about the memories.
I'd love the hear any comments or reactions to my observations.

 

[loves to dive]

Sounds like you had a good trip. Yes, you have to register your dog as a support dog and they are supposed to wear a support dog vest if they are one. Those should be the only dogs you saw. I'm waiting for the day WDW opens a pet friendly resort, I'd pay extra to be able to bring ours with us.

I've never been a fan of BOG, yes the rooms are pretty but I've found the food no better than any other QS, the rooms so large that the noise level is horrible and the price too high. It is a QS though, which is why you had to get your own table.

 

[onestitchloose]

BOG wasn't like that for us, although we went at dinner time. Is this possibly a lunch only thing?

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for the review. I also love the BWV and am very happy to stay there every time we visit.

No idea how Disney is handling support animals. The rules governing them are different than those for service animals (which are narrowly defined and covered by ADA). My guess is that Disney is choosing not to deal with emotional support animals until they absolutely have to.

 

[loves to dive]

BOG wasn't like that for us, although we went at dinner time. Is this possibly a lunch only thing?

Breakfast and lunch it is QS, you seat yourself, dinner it is TS.

 

[onestitchloose]

Is it generally mobbed at lunchtime from your experience?

 

[DVCjj]

Getting back from BWV (and Poly/BCV) Saturday, I also love the Boardwalk very much and it's my DD's favorite resort even though I don't own there. I think BWV's renovated rooms are much cheerier than BCV's renovated ones.
I would love to buy points there to add on but all the MF's are holding me back.

Agree 100% about seeing MUCH more little dogs. I was actually very surprised and have to admit I wondered where a line could be drawn about the dogs being for emotional support. I'm a cat person but adore dogs also and consider all animals emotional support, even for those non-clinical. I can only imagine Disney having to accommodate. The little dogs I saw all had vests on and were adorable.

Totally agree about BOG. I love it for dinner, though a very loud experience, but feel lunch is a 3-ring circus. I knew what to expect and have gone twice but my (adult) family, including the DD I traveled with this time, did not want to go again.

So glad you had a wonderful time. Our trip was awesome also (as it always seems to be over the past many, many trips).

 

[gmboy95]

Our party of ten stayed in a Grand Villa at Boardwalk. Six adults. Four small kids. Great location. Great facility. We loved the layout of the villa. Plenty of space.

I haven't been on the boards for a while so I expect this has been discussed, but I'm seeing a lot more dogs. In the parks. In the room areas. Little dogs. Lap dogs. I suspect I am not aware of new guidelines regarding animals. How does Disney allow this? Is there some system by which dogs are registered as support animals?

I thought the prices in the store at Boardwalk had become more reasonable for the food items that a party might use in the room. Frozen pizzas, lunch meat, bread, chips, milk. Those types of things weren't outrageous. Obviously, they were higher than shopping sales at home, but given the effort required to leave the site or have delivery, it was more reasonable than I remember.

The bus service to the parks was great. I appreciate having our own runs without sharing with Swan and Dolphin and Yacht and Beach.

We ate lunch at Be Our Guest. We had a reservation. I expected a table. Instead, we checked in, ordered at the kiosks, and were told to go find a table. We had to get our own silverware and drinks. With a party of ten, we were fortunate to be able to find two tables we could shove together to form a table for ten. Beyond that, I wasn't overly impressed with the sandwiches, mostly because of the price. The venue is impressive, but I supposed I'm one of those who goes to a restaurant for the food.

Our trip was awesome. Kids and grandkids trump any negatives. It's about the memories.
I'd love the hear any comments or reactions to my observations.

totally agree about "be our guest"....I just dont get it for counter service

 

[disney junky]

I should add, we booked the Wishes specialty cruise and it was spectacular! We were able to see the MVMCP special fireworks. Left from the Contemporary. We had done and Illuminations cruise about 10 years ago, and unless that has changed, I liked this one better.

 

[jiminy14]

We visited WDW at the beginning of November and saw quite a few service dogs at EPCOT during the F&W. The most amazing thing I have ever seen was when I was leaving EPCOT one evening. There were 3 service dogs with their trainers walking back to WS along with a miniature horse with a service animal vest on. Wish I had been quick enough to get a picture of that.

 

[bwvBound]

We visited WDW at the beginning of November and saw quite a few service dogs at EPCOT during the F&W. The most amazing thing I have ever seen was when I was leaving EPCOT one evening. There were 3 service dogs with their trainers walking back to WS along with a miniature horse with a service animal vest on. Wish I had been quick enough to get a picture of that.

The mini-horse service animal offers a far longer service life than most dogs -- thus, longer return on the investment.

 

[loves to dive]

We visited WDW at the beginning of November and saw quite a few service dogs at EPCOT during the F&W. The most amazing thing I have ever seen was when I was leaving EPCOT one evening. There were 3 service dogs with their trainers walking back to WS along with a miniature horse with a service animal vest on. Wish I had been quick enough to get a picture of that.

I would have loved to have seen that, too cute. I do feel sorry for some of them especially at Epcot during F&W with the heat and crowds. It can't be comfortable for the poor puppies.

 

[seelyt2]

Do you think those staying with animals have specific rooms assigned for people traveling with pets? While not knocking it, I am incredibly super allergic to pet dander and wonder how they assign. Any clue?

 

[CarolMN]

Do you think those staying with animals have specific rooms assigned for people traveling with pets? While not knocking it, I am incredibly super allergic to pet dander and wonder how they assign. Any clue?

I doubt they consistently assign specific rooms to those traveling with service animals. Don't think there is much you can do to prepare except perhaps request a special "deep cleaning" due to your allergy.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Personal opinion:

The ADA prohibits asking about service/support animals for a very good reason, but the issue has become that many people buy cheap harnesses on eBay and drag their dogs everywhere even though said dogs are NOT actual trained animals for documented disabilities.

It's messy.

My friend's seeing eye dog (fully, expensively trained) was attacked and bitten by one of these animals, and had to be retired from service.

I don't know what a good solution is, because the ADA's reasoning is really solid and it should not be the role of random people everywhere to determine "legitimacy" of disability or animal.

 

[drusba]

The bus service to the parks was great. I appreciate having our own runs without sharing with Swan and Dolphin and Yacht and Beach.

Your comment on buses sounds like you had direct buses to both MK and AK. The last time I was there (in Jan), they had the direct bus to and from MK but AK was still a shared bus with S/D. Has that now changed?

 

[Anal Annie]

Breakfast and lunch it is QS, you seat yourself, dinner it is TS.

Is it generally mobbed at lunchtime from your experience?

Yes, BOG is very busy at lunch and you need a reservation.

totally agree about "be our guest"....I just dont get it for counter service

We used to enjoy dinners there on previous trips but when we went on our June trip they had changed some of the menu items and we were not happy with the menu any more - we were very disappointed. The best thing we had were the mussels we shared as an appetizer. They had removed the Shrimp & Scallops with lobster sauce in a puff pastry thing and made it just a seafood dish without the puff pastry - that was the best part!! And now I see they've changed the Mussels Provençal on the appetizers to "Marseilles-style Mussels". (They WERE incredible and perfect the way they were but now I don't know if I would order them since they keep messing with everything.) Also, no more salmon. The French Onion soup is a staple but it has gone from $6.00 to $9.00 (on the dinner menu).

We have only done lunch there once before and at the time when compared to dinner thought it was pretty meh but I ran into an opening for a late lunch on our departure day on our next trip in January so I snagged it (figuring we have to eat somewhere and we can use TIW & if we eat late it should "hold us" thru the trip home). I am not in a hurry to go back again for dinner with the current dinner menu. They ruined it. Should our lunch in January be another bust we'll likely give the whole place a break for a couple of years until they get their act together.

 

[disney junky]

Your comment on buses sounds like you had direct buses to both MK and AK. The last time I was there (in Jan), they had the direct bus to and from MK but AK was still a shared bus with S/D. Has that now changed?

The only buses that were shared with S/D were the DS buses.

 

[AdamsMum]

We visited WDW at the beginning of November and saw quite a few service dogs at EPCOT during the F&W. The most amazing thing I have ever seen was when I was leaving EPCOT one evening. There were 3 service dogs with their trainers walking back to WS along with a miniature horse with a service animal vest on. Wish I had been quick enough to get a picture of that.

Ummm, where does one accommodate a horse in a resort? Just curious.

 

[ivanp91]

We visited WDW at the beginning of November and saw quite a few service dogs at EPCOT during the F&W. The most amazing thing I have ever seen was when I was leaving EPCOT one evening. There were 3 service dogs with their trainers walking back to WS along with a miniature horse with a service animal vest on. Wish I had been quick enough to get a picture of that.

Was this Nov 11 by any chance? I encountered the party with service dogs/service horse at F&W that day... I was so taken by surprise I didn't even think of snapping a pic!