Trial Run for Dogs in Resort Rooms

[kelliejason]

Money Grab pure & simple. Since I don't see a cap on the fee, it will cost a guest $350 - $425 for a weeks vacation to bring a dog and probably cost Disney $25-$30 at most for what is being provided and the additional cleaning cost. That's a nice chunk of change in pure profit if even only a few hundred nights worth of reservations per year are made for these "dog friendly" rooms.

Between these resorts, there are approximately 5,000 guest rooms. If 10% of them are available for this purpose and only 20% of those rooms are occupied at any given time year round by pet owners, that's over $1.8 million in fees. Take out overhead and it would be at least $1.5 million in pure profit. From a company standpoint, that's easy money.

That being said, as a guest, I don't like it.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

From rteez post

I was able to get some more info on the dog situation.

• Guests can travel with dogs on magical express but dog must be in a pet carrier

Ugh, I hadn't even considered dogs on DME. This just makes it worse for people with allergies!

 

[LSUmiss]

Really? Comparing children to dogs. WDW is for families...that includes children! As much as people love their pets you cannot in all honesty compare people to 4 legged animals.

It’s not comparing children to dogs. It’s about ppl crying that this will be so unsanitary. I can hardly think of anything more unsanitary than changing a dirty diaper on the table where ppl eat. The point is that it will not be any more unsanitary than some of the things that already go on. Also, it speaks to irresponsibility which is on this thread seems to be only reserved to pet owners.

 

[IanDLBZF from MCMagic]

For the record Loews/Universal does this at their hotels, so let's see what happens here.
Interesting enough the $50 per night fee for pets at WDW is similar to what Loews charges per this:

Pets under 75 lbs are welcome. A fee of $50 per night with a maximum of $150 per stay will be applied at check-in.

 

[HopperFan]

FWIW, the recent YC room renovations installed all solid surface flooring.

But yes, still a terrible idea!

So YC and FW have hard flooring. POR is due for a renovation .... but AoA, that won't end well, there are even things in some suites that look like something it's okay to pee on. I gave you my somewhat unedited version of my opinion. There are so many problems with this.

Yes!


Dogs have a tendency to scratch floors with their nails.

Absolutely, especially faux-wood laminate!

Yes I have 70lb and 12lb furbabies, both have done some nice artwork to my hardwoods and just put in vinyl plank but with ridges in kitchen so I am preparing for that. Its lose-lose, pee in carpet or scratches in hard flooring. Only thing that works is real tile.

 

[wdw4rfam]

From rteez post

I was able to get some more info on the dog situation.

• This is only for canines, and not other pets
• The add on includes Pluto's Welcome Amenity (room/dog friendly items)
• Dogs will not be allowed in restaurants, pool areas, and recreation spots
• Dogs must be properly vaccinated
• This is a one year test for the moment through October 15, 2018
• Guests can have up to two dogs in a room
• No weight or breed restrictions
• Guests can make CMs aware of noises dogs and then owners will be notified
• Guests can use their own personal crate/carriers in the rooms
• Most guests with dogs will be in a specific area of the resort
• Guests can travel with dogs on magical express but dog must be in a pet carrier
• There will be designated pet spaces
• Pet medicine can be stored by Disney until room is ready
• No travel insurance for dogs
• If a guest does not like dogs they can be accommodated to be away from the dogs
• They will work with guests with allergies
• Disney is sending guests letters notifying them of the dog addition to those who are already booked

Guess you can bring 2 pit bulls or your Irish wolfhounds. "room/dog friendly items" wonder if that means old mattresses and ratty carpet. A few old pillows for them to chew on. I can imagine what the wood floors will look like at the YC.

A 1 year test That's a long time.

 

[Spencer Wright]

And yes, one dog barking in one room will set off another dog and so on and so on. I am staying at the Yacht Club and will not put up with this for the amount they are charging, my room will be free if this at all infringes on my vacation

I could not agree with this statement more!!!

 

[Sarahraegraham]

Here's the thing though... to ME it is fantastic, not having to keep my dogs at home in a kennel for a week or so. Not being mean at all, but I generally don't care how it impacts others. Also, common sense would lead you to believe that not every single room will be pet friendly and certain areas around the resort designated for them. People are allergic so they cant just lump everyone together (that's just bad business and Disney is a business after all). However, having specific floors or building would make more sense... Again, though that was common sense but maybe I was wrong.

There is also the option of keeping your dog at the Disney kennel. I’m starting to think Disney doesn’t do a very good job of advertising that they have one! Shrug.

 

[Scrapdolly]

It's all well and good saying if you don't like the idea of dog friendly then Avoid the dog friendly resorts ... I am booked for Novemeber in POR so this isn't a viable option.

I avoid pet friendly hotels everywhere in the world and to suddenly switch with no warning like this is not acceptable.
I don't hate dogs ... I love the, But I don't want to sleep in a room where dogs have been because no, not all dog owners are responsible, not all dogs are well trained, not all are smell free and not all are flea free. So no, I don't think it is reasonable unless the dogs are limited to specific rooms only and there is no chance of people like me being put in one.

 

[MuppetFan418]

to ME it is fantastic, not having to keep my dogs at home in a kennel for a week or so. Not being mean at all, but I generally don't care how it impacts others.

It is EXACTLY this attitude that concerns me. I will not spend THOUSANDS of dollars to vacation with entitled dog owners who don't care about the impact that their pets have on others.

 

[Lehuaann]

Money Grab pure & simple. It will cost a guest $350 - $425 for a weeks vacation to bring a dog and probably cost Disney $25-$30 at most for what is being provided and the additional cleaning cost. That's a nice chunk of change in pure profit if even only a few hundred nights worth of reservations per year are made for these "dog friendly" rooms.

I don't think so. I think Disney genuinely believes they are moving in a positive direction for those that have been requesting it for years and industry trends (?).

This also doesn't surprise me with how much praise was heaped on them for taking in pets during Irma.

 

[paradesintherain]

Definitely in the minority (and I'm not even a dog owner; I have cats) but I'm ok with this change. The announcement made it seem like specific rooms would be used for pets since it said close to animal relief areas. Maybe I read too much into that.

I love meeting dogs when I'm on vacation and this was the one thing Disney lacked! I understand why people are concerned but I think it can work out fine.

 

[Sarahraegraham]

It is EXACTLY this attitude that concerns me. I will not spend THOUSANDS of dollars to vacation with entitled dog owners who don't care about the impact that their pets have on others.

Our only option is to make a lot of noise to Disney about this. We are thankfully not booked at POR this year, but we will be visiting during this test and are booked there next year just after it ends. I will be that woman in the lobby everyone is staring at because she won’t back down. This is not okay. Like someone else said, we all spend THOUSANDS of dollars to come to Disney because it’s supposed to be (and for me has always so far been) magical. I work my *** off for that money, and if this infringes on that at all, they won’t hear the end of it. BOARD YOUR DOGS AT THE DISNEY KENNELS and go see them morning noon and night. No one else wants to.

 

[Dis703]

It stinks they chose POR as one of the test hotels. With only 2 mods with rooms for five and CBR having just removed an entire village, if you are a family of 5 who doesn't want to (or can't) be around dogs this limits your affordable room choices even further.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

For those of us who booked a room at one of the new dog friendly resorts, then this is a big deal. In the future I will avoid them, but right now we are at POR, arriving in 12 days, and we have made all our plans already. Most likely we won't end up anywhere near a dog, but it still worries me.

For what its worth, I also get upset when there is a last minute closure to a pool or restaurant at the resort. Disney never seems to give enough notification for big changes to the resorts.

FWIW it's also new for people to bring dogs and none would have been planning to at this point - I doubt there would be many if any that would suddenly decide to that weren't already doing so as a service animal. I'd guess you will be just fine.

Really? Comparing children to dogs. WDW is for families...that includes children! As much as people love their pets you cannot in all honesty compare people to 4 legged animals.

No comparisons have been done that way. It was simply about sanitary conditions. When I first read about people talking about pet waste the first thing that crossed my mind is just how much human bodily waste ends up around that people never think about.

 

[rteetz]

For those interested, @rteetz has a good post with some more info on the news/rumors thread: 4 WDW Resorts to allow dogs

This is directly from Disney so the info is 100% accurate.

 

[Pdollar88]

I am one of the biggest dog people, but I echo most other people on here who are a bit leery of this idea. My own father is a terribly irresponsible dog owner when he travels. His dog will not stop barking when he leaves it alone in the room, so he turns the television up to "drown it out." He's the kind that wouldn't apologize and expect others to just deal with it. So if he's any indication -- if things like this happen, and they will, this sucks out all of the deluxe feel of some of the resorts.

I just booked at the Yacht Club and am irritated that I have to worry about planning around this now. Especially when I splurged to upgrade to a deluxe.

I wonder when it will be appropriate to call and ask which area of the resort is pet friendly. I'm trying to decide what to request/which area to request, and I don't want to have too many requests.

 

[rteetz]

Guess you can bring 2 pit bulls or your Irish wolfhounds. "room/dog friendly items" wonder if that means old mattresses and ratty carpet. A few old pillows for them to chew on. I can imagine what the wood floors will look like at the YC.

For the dog items. Disney is providing dog bowls, mats and a couple other small things like a door tag notifying that a dog is in the room.

 

[Pdollar88]

Our only option is to make a lot of noise to Disney about this. We are thankfully not booked at POR this year, but we will be visiting during this test and are booked there next year just after it ends. I will be that woman in the lobby everyone is staring at because she won’t back down. This is not okay. Like someone else said, we all spend THOUSANDS of dollars to come to Disney because it’s supposed to be (and for me has always so far been) magical. I work my *** off for that money, and if this infringes on that at all, they won’t hear the end of it. BOARD YOUR DOGS AT THE DISNEY KENNELS and go see them morning noon and night. No one else wants to.

Who would be best to contact to register concerns? Since our stay is a while out, I only say concerns. I don't want to be irate or complain - just voice my concern over this decision.

 

[Disneylover99]

A 1 year test That's a long time.

Yeah. That's not a test.