SD crates at rides

[anagantios]

I was in Epcot yesterday and Magic Kingdom today with my service dog Sienna. We have used the kennels at two rides: Soarin and Space Mountain.

On soarin, we went up to the counter and asked the guy, he got his supervisor who came and got us. He walked us to the right of the Soarin entrance, to a CM only area. Inside was a quiet room with a cm inside and a very large wire crate against the wall. We placed Si in the kennel and the supervisor told us that either he or the other cm would be there to watch her the whole time.

We left for the ride, rode it, then went back to the door, where the supervisor and other cm were still present. They told us she did a great job and we took her and left.

Space mountain was similar. Asked a cm, she went to get her supervisor. He led us, again, to a cm only door to the right of the ride. This was an outdoor area, same large wire crate against a wall. It was around a corner so guests could not see or interact with the dog at all. Again supervisor said he would remain with the do the whole time but could not touch or hold the dog. He also told us the kennel was cleaned between each dog. We left her, rode, returns to the door where the supervisor was waiting for us, again told us she had behaved. We thanked him, took the dog and went on our way.

So far so good! A tip: I bought giant "Do not pet" patches for my girl that are very large and easy to read from a distance. As a result, we have had very few people ask to pet and absolutely no one interacting with her without permission in any way. Definitely a good investment!

 

[Bete]

Glad it's working out and thanks for sharing

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you for this information. We did not have any first hand reports, so were guessing that the crates may be at wherever wheelchairs are kept during the ride. Your information and especially the amount of detail is very helpful.

I will be very interested in more information and hope you can let us know details about any others where your dog used a kennel.

This is a list of attractions which are Restricted Locations for Service Animals.

Magic Kingdom Park
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Peter Pan’s Flight
The Barnstormer
Space Mountain

Epcot
Mission: SPACE
Test Track
Soarin’
Sum of All Thrills

Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
Star Tours – The Adventure Continues

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park
Affection Section at Rafiki’s Planet Watch
Kali River Rapids
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain®
Primeval Whirl
DINOSAUR

There are also some where Service Animals are not restricted, but may be too intense for some dogs.

Thanks in advance and hope you (and your Service Dog) are having a great time.

 

[JillyBean1899]

I was in Epcot yesterday and Magic Kingdom today with my service dog Sienna. We have used the kennels at two rides: Soarin and Space Mountain.

Space mountain was similar. Asked a cm, she went to get her supervisor. He led us, again, to a cm only door to the right of the ride. This was an outdoor area, same large wire crate against a wall. It was around a corner so guests could not see or interact with the dog at all. Again supervisor said he would remain with the do the whole time but could not touch or hold the dog. He also told us the kennel was cleaned between each dog. We left her, rode, returns to the door where the supervisor was waiting for us, again told us she had behaved. We thanked him, took the dog and went on our way.

So far so good! A tip: I bought giant "Do not pet" patches for my girl that are very large and easy to read from a distance. As a result, we have had very few people ask to pet and absolutely no one interacting with her without permission in any way. Definitely a good investment!

I *KNEW* we saw Sienna's furry butt in MK on Saturday! We were about halfway down the walkway behind you heading from Tomorrowland towards the Castle while they were setting up for the show at the Castle, but we couldn't catch up with you and we weren't close enough to holler at you.

I wonder why we were told the next morning (Sunday) that Space Mountain didn't have a kennel we could use. That would have been *SOO* much better than what we went through with dogswapping. We didn't have Rusty with us at EPCOT so we didn't use the kennel at Soarin', but it's good to know it's there.

We had a number of times when people asked if they could pet Rusty, nobody really messed with him while we were walking. I was amused by the reactions of people that didn't know he was there until they almost walked into him, because they'd usually jump and squeal. We did have 2 times where J took Rusty's harness off while we were sitting somewhere (in the Finding Nemo Musical at AK and while on a water break at MK) so kids that asked could pet him, which he just ate up the attention. We only used his harness, not his vest because of the heat, so only people walking towards us saw the "working, do not pet" sign.

 

[anagantios]

Might have been us! We avoided most of the shows/parades, but definitely were all over MK on Saturday! We also saw two other Sienna "twins" so there were definitely plenty of fluffy goldens around!

That is weird about space mountain! I was just there with my mother, so maybe having such a small group made a difference? I did notice they were a little more hesitant to let us use the crate than the CMs at Soarin had been. The supervisor who escorted us to the crate was worried I think that we were going to leave and not come back for the dog! He said "please don't forget about her!" and then made sure we walked onto the ride. Maybe they had weird problems with that before? Who knows. The Soarin kennel was definitely my favorite because it was inside and in a very safe place (and the CMs were very reassuring and enthusiastic about it)

We only used the crates one more time and that was with Dinosaur. We went in with our fastpasses and talked to one of the CMs up front. He told us to go through the line with the dog and take the elevator down to the loading platform. The crate was right against the side of the elevator in the wheelchair loading area. This was open to the noise of the ride as well as whoever passed by to take the elevator, but again there was a CM standing guard. It was a little more noisy/active so some dogs might not like it as much. Sienna was fine and enjoyed getting to rest. Also it was nice to be able to see her in the crate waiting as the ride vehicle came up to unload after the ride.

Sienna was a little stressed due to the heat the entire time. We did our best to keep her hydrated and used the SD relief areas frequently. The England one in Epcot was our favorite because of the size and privacy, though we didn't hit all of them. The only one we had trouble with was the one near the Dino restaurant in AK, because it had very large pieces of bark as mulch, and Sienna wasn't too sure about it. We also used the MK one in liberty square frequently because it seemed to be the most central one and we were always passing it.

We also took her on a number of rides. She did NOT take the rides with small drops well at all (Maelstrom and PotC). She was about ready to hop out of the boat after Maelstrom and we got yelled at by the CM unloading because she had stood up at the very end of the ride when she saw others unloading ahead of us and tried to get her paws up on the seat. They are very very serious about keeping the dogs on the floor of the ride. So after that she only got to go on very tame rides. There was also a part of the peoplemover where it goes into space mountain and you can hear people screaming. That seemed to worry her a little. She seemed to especially enjoy Haunted Mansion, Small World, and the Safari at AK.

On Monday we started at Hollywood studios but hopped to MK since the RRC was down. This messed up our fastpasses and so we didn't get to use any! It was also insanely crowded so our plan to reride all our favorites was moot. I hadn't gotten to ride Big Thunder yet but it was a 75 minute line, too long to wait without the dog and my mother wasn't going on. So we asked the CM if there was a way I could not be separated from the dog for so long and he very nicely gave me a FP+ rider swap card and sent me through the FP line, while my mother waited for me at the exit with the dog. He could've just given me a card to wait somewhere else for the 75 minutes (they did this for me at Small World, we didn't have a DAS card in either instance) so this was a nice surprise and I was through the line and the ride in less than ten minutes. Since I was a single rider I guess it was pretty easy to get me through quickly.