Pet Question

[SamRoc]

I am new here and just realized I posted my first message in the wrong place. We took the tour of DVC in the spring and loved it. We are very interested in purchasing, but realize that Disney doesn't have any pet friendly accomodations. We have a 5 lb yorkie and we were interested in knowing what DVC members with pets do with them while at Disney and if they use the kennels there, what experiences have they had. Thank you!

 

[trishy]

I saw a lady once at OKW with her tiny little puppy hidden in her jacket (guess she thought she could pass it off as a tumor???) Anyway, I've seen the kennel by Fort Wilderness because I was just interested and it looked like a really nice place - clean, friendly, surprisingly quiet (well, quieter than I expected anyway). Maybe I'll let my little pooch stay there next time
- isn't he a doll?

(just kiddin' - about my pooch that is...)

 

[JimC]

Disney has a number of Kennels (Epcot, MK, AK, MGM and Fort Wilderness Campgrounds). They are all ABKA members. But make sure you take note of the shots required. Bordatella for dogs is not commonly given, so you must check with your vet in advance. The following is from the WDW site:

"With the exception of service dogs for Guests with disabilities, pets are not permitted in our Theme Parks or hotels, or on our Resort or Theme Park buses. They may, however, stay in one of our air-conditioned kennels, which are members of the American Boarding Kennel Association. Pet Care Kennels are located adjacent to the Park entrance. Kennel fees are $6 per day and/or $9 per night per animal for Walt Disney World Resort Guests ($6 per day or $11 per night for non-Walt Disney World Resort Guests). Guests will be required to visit their pets at least once daily. Dog owners will need to walk their dogs at least twice daily (three times daily for puppies). The Epcot kennel offers a dog walking service for $2.50 per walk. Resort reservations do not guarantee a kennel space for your pets and you should call for availability. Though our kennels were designed for pets such as dogs and cats, we also accept birds, ferrets, small rodents, and non-venomous snakes, if in their own carriers. The kennels are not set up to accommodate exotic animals. All Guests are required to show records of vaccination (rabies, parvo, DHLP, Bordetella for dogs; rabies, FPRC for cats) prior to boarding."

 

[SamRoc]

Thanks for the info. I read on another board that Disney leaves the kennels unattended at night, not sure if i am happy with that. I also read that all of the hotels in Universal are pet friendly, wish Disney would do the same at one of their hotels, would make traveling alot easier. Our family went to Universal once and it was very nice, but we really love Disney.

 

[Lisa F]

I'm not sure why people would want to bring their pets with them on vacation then leave them to sit in a strange hotel room or a strange kennel all day long while they enjoy the parks. I think if you are going on a trip where the pet can actually enjoy themselves (like camping or something) it's one thing, but I am not going to put my pet through the trauma of travel only to have them alone in a strange place most of the day. We currently only have cats so we get a pet sitter in to take care of them. My parents have a dog (and have always had a dog for as long as I can remember) and they generally pay someone to house/dog sit. Other friends who have a dog use a local kennel where the staff knows the dog and the dog knows the staff and the facilities.

About pets and hotel rooms, well, it's been discussed many times before and at least as far as DVC goes, most people would not want to pay higher dues to deal with pet damage (also many people are allergic to animals, if you think the complaints are bad when people get smoking rooms when they requested non-smoking, just watch a little kid get an asthma attack and need to go to the emergency room because fido was there before him. Ugh)


Lisa

 

[TnRobin]

We always have someone babysit our cat. Cats do not like strange places. When we moved, it took me two weeks to get him to come out of the hall closet. We find it best for us and Simba to let him stay home.

**********
Just a reminder to everyone, please do not let this post turn into accusations as to whether a person loves thier pet based on thier desire to take him on vacation or leave him at home. The original poster only asked to hear what you do with your pet.

**********

 

[HookdonWDW]

We board our Bassett at a local kennel when we go to WDW. I feel more comfortable having her with people we are familiar with, and knowing that there is always a vet around if needed.

FYI: Our vets have always required that our pets have their shots up to date, including boardatella, every time they've been boarded. I've always thought that boardatella was routinely needed for dogs being kennelled. They can usually give the shot when you drop your pet off at the kennel. Maybe it's just where we've lived? (MA,NH,NY,MD,HI,AL)

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

We always put our "child" in the same kennel for our vacations. I really think it is harder on us than it is on him. I personally don't think I could put him in Disney Kennel because the only way your "child" gets walked is if you walked him. I would spend all day walking him. That is not a joke, I really would. Then I would cry every night when I had to put him back in and the process would start all over again the next day.

 

[spiceycat]

I have a cat - Spicey - he started to go to WDW when he was 3 months old - he turned 17 years old this spring - he likes to travel.

of course he is my baby and know it - so me leaving him is not a problem - he knows that I will always come back....

at 17 he sleeps when I am not with him - and I think he would like to slept sometimes when I am there - but he understands that I need him more than he needs me.

we like FW - it has lots of room for dogs to run, and for cats to explore - he really seems some times to love it - other times he wants to get back in his cage. You have to let your animal decide what they want.

he likes the routine at FW so he generally stays there. He has his claws which use to worry the CM's - but he is such a friendly and nice guy that stopped long ago. He knows where he is to go and generally walks there by himself - if they are dog barking in the kennel when we go by I will hold him so he knows that the dogs can't hurt him - underwise he walks.

I also have 2 other cats that stay home - I have tried to have them stay at the vet kennel - bad situation - I have also tried a pet sitter - one animal ran away - I have tried family - so now I sometimes have a friend come back - not to feed them (they have food), nor water, the litter box is self-cleaning - no one of my cats has to be petted..... but it kepts him happy!!!

Spicey has gone on most of my WDW trips and they are all good memories. Of course I put him first - I make sure that I schedule his walk period - once in the morning, once around lunch, once around dinner and generally once before the kennels closes. It depends upon him how long these walks are - sometimes they are less than 5 minutes - other times they are an hour - he decides.

Spicey goes with me because I need him - he kepts me calm - when family or friends are getting on my nerves. Go on vacation to WDW without him - not happening...He likes to travel and if I don't take him somewhere every 6 months or so - he starts acting like a bully to his brother and sister.

we both enjoy our trips - sorry that other members and their pets don't - but each to their own.

I have some pictures I took of the FW kennel that I will post (when my computer and time allows) to my yahoo website - I will try to remember to post here when the pictures are ready.

FW is very easy to get to from OKW - from the other resorts the drive is definitely longer - from VWL you can take the bus to FW - I think it is the Green bus.

I also like Epcot - I too wish there was a easy way to get to the front of Epcot (where the kennel is) from the Epcot resorts - but if you have an annual pass and you love to walk - then you should enjoy this walk.

the studios do not have a good walking area - this was a bad decision - because you go easily get to the Studios kennel on the boat - and the walk is not far to the kennels from the boat docks.

Epcot has a very nice walking area - around where the trams are kept to warm them up - they are running just about constantly - I think this is a big waste of energy - but.....

Also plenty of room to run for dogs and cats can smell and see the wildlife.

on Spicey walks on a lease - so yes I do take him for walks....

sorry this is so long - but I wanted to express the other point of view

 

[cheyita]

We seriously considered taking our pup on our next trip, but two reasons stopped us. One - we'd be so busy enjoying WDW that I doubt we would take enough time to go visit her and walk her. Secondly, the place we took her for training also runs a kennel, and they are very, VERY involved with the dogs. They know our dog and I'm sure she'd get much more and better attention staying with them than she would in a Disney kennel.

JMO - but I enjoy hearing others' experiences at the kennels in case we do need to take her in the future.

 

[lsutiggeratwk]

We leave our "baby" at home. I really thinks he enjoys staying in the house by himself, although he does get lonely sometimes. We have neighbors feed him in the morning and a teen-ager friend come by in the afternoons to walk him, play with him, and feed again. We have a doggy door in the back door so he can go in and out at will. It works for us and for him (he hasn't said otherwise!). Yes, I agree, I don't like leaving him behind but know it is best for him.
BTW, we "dressed" as his mom and dad for MNSSHP earlier this month!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I would never take a dog to WDW if there wasn't a very good reason. We usually hire a dog/house sitter. That being said, we have taken dogs to WDW in the past. Once we went down to Tampa for the January dog shows, and had 2 of our show dogs still with us when we toured WDW after the weekend of shows was over. We put them in the kennels for 5 days and walked them etc 3 times a day. We found the kennel to be imaculate and the attendants to be very good as well. I would not have left our two champions there if I had felt otherwise. This was pre DVC, and we would never take them with us on our DVC vacations, since that wouldn't be much of a vacation! We feel the dogs are safer and happier at home in familiar suroundings.

Service dogs are allowed, and two years ago, we met a blind family who had guide dogs with them staying at OKW. They were DVC owners, and OKW was their home resort. THey had human guides for the parks, but the dogs guided them around OKW and DTD.

 

[princetonnj]

I think DVCers should get to keep their pets in the rooms with them. But if I have 13 people in my 1 bedroom where will my 2 rottweillers sleep?

(We should get half price park admission and front of line privileges also) IMO

 

[SamRoc]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Its great to hear there are other pet lovers out there. Next April will be our first vacation since we got our 5 lb. yorkie and we want to make sure everyone in our family is happy!

 

[married@wdw]

We found a WONDERFUL cat sitter. She charges $15/day. She feeds Belle & Beast and plays with them for about 15-20 minutes each time she comes. She also brings in the mail and changes around which lights are on to make it look like we're home. She only deals with cats and has worked for a vet in the past. She brought them a toy last time and Beast was coughing up hairballs (we now know he excessively cleans himself when he's nervous and he gets very nervous when we're away) so she picked up some hairball treats for him which solved the problem.

Just make sure if you hire a service that they are licensed and insured to have the business. We used to pay a family friend but I really like that with our cat sitter, if anything goes wrong with the house and it's her fault, she's insured for that too! So I feel like we're taking care of our kids, oh, I mean cats, and our home.

 

[buzz5985]

In 2002 we brought my dog Bonnie with us. We usually have a family member watch her, but they were all with us. We drove down from the Boston area.

She was 11 at the time. Weighs around 20 - 23 lbs.
We used the AK kennels. If you look to the right of the ticket booths - that's where the kennels are. I don't think the animals are left unattended, well they are, but we always found the security guard in there with them. He had to let us in when the park was closed. It was really fun going to AK at 1 am to walk the dog, hearing the birds etc. When we went in to walk Bonnie - we would make sure the other dogs had water, some of the big guys were always tipping theirs over. I think most people with dogs there checked on the others when they were visiting theirs. Oh, plus, Bonnie was in a huge cage. One you would put a large breed in. As long as they have the room, they will put them in a bigger cage. I would recommend them.

One kennel I wouldn't recommend was the one at Seaworld. We went to Seaworld for the day, and brought Bonnie so we could walk her. She was the only dog there, but they put her in a small cage. Plus the cage was metal, and a little rusty under the trays.

We are heading back next summer for 1 week at HH, and 10 days at BWV. Bonnie is coming with us, since our whole family is going with us. She will be turning 13. So I think Bonnie will be staying at the Epcot kennel, or MGM.

I felt more relaxed on vacation with her. Not worried about her.

 

[jmminarik]

Every pet owner has their own neurosis about their pets...we used to have my single friends come and stay with them, but Uncle Joey and then Uncle Tommy got married and that ended that.

We did find a local kennel that we were comfortable with...the people are great and the dogs each have their own 4'x10'ish (plus the same outdoors) run.

Our kennel refuses to take dogs if the Bordatella vaccine has been administered with 8 weeks of boarding. The theory is that the live organism used in the vaccine is more likely to infect other dogs. *shrug* Out of twenty or so boardings, only the Dopey one has gotten kennel cough, and only once. They're usually just hoarse from barking like idjits.

As far as bringing the kiddies, well, we're going on vacation...why would we want to have to worry about them? It will be bad enough when the two legged children come along and we have to stand in line to get X character's autograph.

-Joe

 

[MelissathePooh]

My mother always insists on bringing Miss Molly Margaret (her 8 year old miniature yorkie) - she refers to me as the "ugly stepsister", but thats another story!

Anyway - my mother always uses the TTC kennel or the FW kennel. Both have easy access parking and FW has a ton of space for walking (not that a 4lb yorkie needs it).

I didn't think the Epcot and MGM were all night kennels, but I've not looked into it too deeply, but I thought my mom told me that at some point.

 

[spiceycat]

a couple of years ago WDW made all their kennels overnight - they had a problem with some of the parking - overnight kennels must have easy access parking - but they just moved AAA and handicapped over. In some places kennels and AAA share the same spaces.

buzz - did you have walking space - green grass and trees (must have trees) close enough to the AK kennel - I have not tried it yet because I was told there was less space to walk the animals than at Studios.

yes the security guards can be called when you need to do something for your animal and the kennel is closed. I generally only call them when we are leaving early (I generally leave around 2 or 3:00am in morning). I have never called them to walk my animal - I might try it next time. Do you tip them or what? they refused a tip when they help me get my animal at night to leave.

Oh if you are ever stuck in the park or DD or PI - security guards will take you back to your WDW resort hotel - only works if you are staying at a WDW resort hotel (which all DVC resorts are).

 

[timC]

We found a "dog camp" near home that is basically a resort for small dogs... no cages. It breaks DW's heart to leave him behind, but there is way I can see us having a good time at WDW with a dog at a kennel to worry about.