Trial Run for Dogs in Resort Rooms

[Ensusieasm]

I ageee with you, for places like the Contemporary it’s not apt. But at POR it absolutely is.

Yes to this^ POR is a truly magical resort experience!

 

[Figfan]

I was at Disney 3 days after last hurricane came thru. I saw many more dogs than usual at my resort, I thought it was a bit odd, but it wasn't a problem for me at all. Only after returning home did I learn that Florida law says all hotels must accept pets during hurricanes. Several guests I had talked to during my stay, had damaged homes or no electricity and were staying for that reason. I am a dog lover and owner, most likely I would not bring my dog, but I like having the option.

 

[mikejs78]

I'm leaving myself open to flames, but here's the email I sent to Disney about our situation. I CC'd everyone mentioned above. the TL;DR is bolded for those who would prefer to skim.


Dear Disney,

I'm a fan. A big fan. I am an annual passholder. I have been bringing my kids to Disneyworld as often as possible since we took our first family trip in 2010. You see, in 2010, my son had his ninth surgery to repair his cleft lip and palate. It was after that surgery that my son's lung collapsed and he went into respiratory and cardiac arrest. My three year old son was in a coma. It is, to this day, one of the most significant experiences of my life. That story has a VERY happy ending: the day we brought my fully recovered son home from the hospital, I called Disney to book our first family vacation. We'd spent so many years in and out of doctor's offices and surgeries that we'd never before taken a family vacation and we decided to do it up BIG. It was an incredible vacation, so filled with magic and memories that we felt we'd left part of our hearts there at Disneyworld when our stay was over. Disneyworld has forever felt like "home" to us ever since that first trip.

For the last year, I've been planning our family's fifth Disneyworld vacation and this time is very, very special. This time, we are bringing along our very best friends in the world and their three foster kids. These people give selflessly of their home and their hearts to be there for kids in tough circumstances. It's a stretch for them in every way you can imagine, not the least of which is financial. In order to make this possible, we are assisting a little in helping our friends afford this once-in-a-lifetime family vacation. For the foster kids, a trip to Disneyworld is a dream. We feel so fortunate to be able to bring them into the magic. As you can imagine, these kids have been through some trauma in their lives. Unfortunately, that means for one of them that dogs create some fear. So, when the new pet policy was announced last week and we learned that our chosen resort was affected, we were disheartened. I've made several calls, but none have put my mind at ease. I cannot bring this precious little one to the most magical place on earth only to have her spend her time anxious that the dogs around may turn on her.

I have few options. We have a large party. I need three rooms that sleep five each. Rooms that sleep five can be tough to come by! The most economical option is Caribbean Beach Resort, but since this is a one time only trip for our friends, we wanted them to experience a resort with all of its amenities open. The value options that sleep five are now also dog-friendly. So, I have been looking at deluxe options. The price difference for the least expensive option that would fit us is $3,561.78.

Now, maybe I could have a garage sale or throw a fundraiser and come up with this. That's not the point. The point I want to make to you is this: when I booked my vacation, I booked it at a dog-free resort. Right now, I feel as though you are holding my vacation for ransom. If I pay you several thousand more dollars, you will give me what I was previously promised: a dog free resort. That feels an awful lot like extortion...bait and switch....pick your term, Disney.

So what do I do? Is my love affair with Disney over? Should I 'vote with my dollar?'

I want to give you the opportunity to make this right. I have called into the phone lines every day since the announcement was made. I have had hit or miss experiences with the various castmembers I've spoken to (though Grant did the best job he possibly could, so shout out to Grant!) It's time to take this up the chain. I look forward to hearing from you.

Good luck, and please keep us apprised of the response. Heartwarming story about your son.

 

[stolen cupcakes]

I don't understand why this is such an issue? Disney is finally catching up with so many other hotels/hotel chains/resorts that have been allowing their guests to bring their pets for years.

 

[dizanimator]

I am against allowing dogs in Disney Resort rooms under the current rules. To me, Irma was not a fair test. Guests were more likely to be understanding of issues with dogs due to the emergency situation. When there isn't an emergency, guests will most likely expect those allowing and bringing pet dogs to the resorts to have made plans for dealing with the issues pet dogs can cause.

Another issue in the rules themselves. I have spent the night at a pet-friendly hotel, and had no pet related issue. However, the rule was that the pet was not to be left alone in the room. Seven hours is a lot of time to damage a room. It seems impossible to get back to the room from inside a park in half an hour, so that really isn't practical. Will Disney even be willing or able to enforce the rules?

My other big issue is the inconsistent information being given out by Disney representatives. Assuming everyone accurately posted what they were told, some people were not told the truth. With a change like this, starting so soon after it was first announced, people will want and need accurate information about how this will work. Not someone making something up or just saying what they think the person wants to hear.

I'm not sure that allowing pet dogs at a few resorts will necessarily cause the end of the world, but lax rules that may not be enforced plus inconsistent communication about a sudden change in policy is a very bad combination.

 

[Kay123456]

If they just postponed the trial by a year, 50% of the complaints would go away.

You got that perfectly correct! There would be no issues. Other than those complaining they can’t go to their “favorite” resorts, but atleast they’d have an alternative.

 

[ArwenMarie]

There's a place called Peddlers Village near me that we go to on occasion to shop and dine and walk around. It is dog friendly. In fact this past weekend we were there and there were a lot of dogs there too. I love it when people can feel free to bring their dogs with them.

I didn't see any kids being bitten or dogs running free. No one was acting like it was the end of the world either.

I agree. I get the worries about allergies or barking, but I can't wrap my brain around being worried about them just being there. Dogs are everywhere these days.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Listen I get if someone has horrible allergies to dogs.

But why are some people assuming that some dogs are just going to come up unprovoked and bite a guest?

Because some dogs will absolutely attack unprovoked.

A few weeks ago, I did a 5K which went through the woods. My husband and son (almost 2) came to support me. There was another runner there who had a dog. We were hanging around before the race in the vicinity of the runner with the dog. My son loves dogs and he smiled at the dog. He didn't walk toward the dog or reach out or anything. Just smiled. The dog lunged forward and started barking. Fortunately, the dog was on a leash and the owner was paying attention, so no harm done. I guess if you want to consider smiling at a dog "provoking" it, then he provoked the dog. But at a place like WDW, many toddlers are going to smile and maybe even point or wave when they see a dog. If that sets the dog off, there could be problems, particularly if their owners are busy with check-in and the like and maybe don't have as good of a hold on the dog as they should. It really only takes one bad incident to set off a slew of negative publicity. Look at the flak they got for the alligator incident, and that was a wild animal (not one expressly welcomed on property by Disney).

Another instance - my MIL used to have a poorly behaved chihuahua/beagle mix. That dog would scratch me nearly every single time I visited and attempted to bite me on more than one occasion for no apparent reason. I suppose I could have gotten a minor injury (and she did draw blood scratching me once), but that dog wasn't big enough to cause great harm. Still, it's an example of another dog that would attack without being provoked.

I wouldn't worry about a service animal doing such a thing, because as I understand, they receive very specific and strict training not to interact with humans aside from their handler except on command.

 

[gdrj]

Well, maybe I'm in the minority, but I just canceled my POR reservation because of this and will head off property to a non-Disney resort and will also drive to the parks or DS so I don't have to share transportation with dogs--this just blows my mind when they barely have enough room on the bus/monorail for guests, now we have to share with their dogs???--like I want someones dog panting in my face while I'm riding on the bus/monorail-are they allowed on the boats too?? Bad enough dealing with this at the resorts...the transportation too? Are they crazy!!! This is pathetic. I'm at the point where I am re-evaluating renewing our APs now and I'm not sure we're going to do it...this is just a big issue for us. If there are others out there that are as upset about this as I am (& based on the poll at the top of this thread) they will lose money over this and LONG TIME guests as well.

Might be a bit of an over-reaction, taking someone's post on here as 100% factual and making a decision based on that is not something I would do. 1st thing is PETS are NOT allowed on bus/monorail/boats, only service animals, which always have been. I have visited Disney Parks and Hotels 100's of times and never recall even seeing a service animal on any transportation, I'm sure there are but very low frequency. I am not a fan of this policy, and I will be vocal if I am impacted during a stay. With that said, its not likely that the hotels will turn into petting zoo's. Before I cancelled plans or AP's (unless I had a SEVERE allergy issue) I might wait for a real life experience or feedback over time. As far as losing guests and money, yes it possible, but seeing that the Parks and resorts continue to be more and more crowded and we've heard this story before about losing guests when they raise prices, alcohol in MK, close early for private events, charge for everything, add a dessert party on every corner etc... I doubt the parks and hotels will be hurting. I don't doubt you will make the decisions you say. The only thing that will impact hotels and park attendance (IMO) is a turn in the economy.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You got that perfectly correct! There would be no issues. Other than those complaining they can’t go to their “favorite” resorts, but atleast they’d have an alternative.

Honestly, I'm not so sure that would appease enough people based on these comments. True, choice is good in many cases but you'll still hear it from people who said "But I wanted to stay at that resort but now it's pet-friendly." Which you have mentioned.

Again I'm totally understanding on the time they advised of this new policy. That part is unfair to both sides as I've mentioned before. But to that person who wants to stay at POR or AOA or YC, etc it's not going to appease them at all if that is the only place they wanted to stay at. There have been multiple comments from multiple posters as to the exact choice of the chosen trial resort so giving them time won't change that.

Anyone being told "you have other choices right now as it's only 4 resorts" is being met with "but but but" and of course it's related to cost which is a huge factor but so is the choice of the resort the person chose to begin with. I don't forsee giving X amount of time to change that. No matter what a person who wants to stay at X resort typically won't take well to someone telling them "well you have an alternative" if they now want to avoid that resort right now.

Even right now people do have an alternative to staying at one of the 4 pet-friendly resorts but it's just not an ideal situation. Whether it's from a cost standpoint, an availability standpoint, the desire to stay onsite, the desire to stay at that resort, etc.

 

[Texans_loyal]

as someone who is severely allergic, it's a no for me. i don't want to worry about my epi pen all day on vacation.

 

[Nichols4]

I spoke to a friend who plans on taking their 2 lab mixes. They bark incessantly at everything and one pees indoor continually. I feel sorry for anyone near that room!!

 

[Darbie]

Well, okay. At least they won't allow the dogs to relieve themselves IN the pool, like some kid did last week. I still think it is a great idea for those of us who love their pets. However, I was assuming they would have the pet friendly rooms separate from everyone else. People also need to remember that not everyone who has a dog will actually want to pay extra to bring them. People are acting like the dogs are going to take over the whole resort.

I love my pet. That doesn't mean I want her on vacation with me.

 

[Jafar30]

I spoke to a friend who plans on taking their 2 lab mixes. They bark incessantly at everything and one pees indoor continually. I feel sorry for anyone near that room!!

Well then he or she is just a bad owner

 

[gdrj]

as someone who is severely allergic, it's a no for me. i don't want to worry about my epi pen all day on vacation.

I'm not a fan of the policy and am fortunate that I do not have any severe allergies. Sincere question, when you stay at hotels in general, how do you deal with pet allergies, I find that highway hotels are not exactly on top of Pets nor clean extremely well. Also what about rental cars, or other airport transportation.

 

[Miumiu4me]

For those who have phobias, how do you deal with dogs in your community? I know on my street, 3 of the surrounding houses have dogs, dogs are always in their yards which are adjacent to mine. Dogs walk by my house all day. Wouldn't you just do the same thing at WDW that you do at home if necessary?

This. I understand being upset about the lack of notice. But some of the reactions on here are pretty strong.

 

[Darbie]

Here is the e-mail to send your thoughts to:
WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com

Thank you for posting the address again. I just sent an email with my thoughts about the new dog policy.

 

[Cornish Lad]

Listen I get if someone has horrible allergies to dogs.

But why are some people assuming that some dogs are just going to come up unprovoked and bite a guest?

Nothing to do with allergies - just don't want dogs around on my holiday - I have owned a dog in the past but I would never have taken it on a Disney holiday. For goodness sake just put them in a kennel at home and let the rest of us enjoy a dog free break.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

The only place I've heard anything negative about this new change is on here.

Probably because Disney is censoring the negative responses posted on all of their social media platforms.

 

[reereef]

Well, I changed my Resort. I phoned Disney again today. Initially I was told that there was no availability and to upgrade would be at my expense. I was unhappy with this and politely explained my full reason for not wanting to stay at POR. The fact that I had a fear of dogs much like people have a fear of spiders and whilst I probably would not even see a dog on my trip, just knowing I might would be like knowing there was an excellent chance a spider might crawl on you every day of your holiday. That’s not how I wanted to spend my vacation.
I was transferred to Dale, who went above and beyond to accommodate me. He was so understanding. He luckily went through other avenues to find me accommodation at Port Orleans French Quarter.

Having stayed at FQ, I know it’s not my resort of choice. I find it small and not as beautiful as Riverside. I love walking and nature. At Riverside I see otters and bunnies. Not so much at FQ. So there is a real pang of disappointment that I don’t get to stay where I want to, but at least I won’t be nervously checking over my shoulder constantly or have my holiday ruined by a silly anxiety.

Dale was amazing and had it all switched quite quickly and very efficiently. I was very grateful to him.

I really and rather selfishly wish that this had happened next year after my holiday, or even better 2019, when people knew what they were booking.